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Published on 6/18/2009

Sanderson on stimulus funds

Mr. Sanderson's love of big government spending and higher taxes is clear.

He says tax cuts are "obnoxious." He loves big government controlling and spending more of our money. Yet as he points out, the stimulus money will be all spent by next year. Then what?

We will be right back where we are today. Will we get another 700 million? No. President Obama says the federal government is broke, and I agree with Mr. Sanderson. It is Bush's fault; but he is gone.

Sanderson says Obama is fixing our financial mess. Really, Obama has promised to spend more money than all of the previous presidents combined.

Obama makes Bush look like a piker when it comes to breaking our bank.

We have to change the way we tax and spend, and we have to offer families a choice in education. He uses the usual liberal scare tactics. When liberals want more of our money, they say things like, "We are going to have to lay off teachers, and police."

You will never hear them talk about laying off bureaucrats, pencil pushers, and 3-man crews changing a light bulb.

Mr. Sanderson says the status of the stimulus funds has left families under siege, parents at their wits end, and our education system in limbo.

Maybe he lives in that kind of paranoid state worrying about not being able to spend money we don't have; but the rest of us send our kids to school, and live our lives.

We are under siege from big spending liberals, at our wits end because of high taxes, and our government schools are failing our kids.

I have asked Mr. Sanderson before: "Why are you against letting low income families have the choice to escape failing government schools?"

All of Mr. Sanderson's political heroes from Clinton to Obama sent their children to private schools.

Sanderson says low income families can't afford private schools. He's right; that's why Gov. Sanford wants to give low income families a choice.

Mr. Sanderson makes it very clear that he is against giving families a choice. He wants government monopoly and union boss control.

Mr. Sanderson's group should be renamed Forever Minimally Adequate, because that's all you will ever have with a government monopoly run by union bosses.

Tom Slagsvol

Georgetown

Thanks Peggy Wayne

This coming weekend, the 22nd Harborwalk Festival will be celebrated. What an honor it has been for me this past year to be a recipient.

Thanks again to Peggy Wayne, organizer, and her staff, the City of Georgetown, John Carr, Dianne Bone, Angie Taylor Carroll, Jason Leslie, Vickie Tompkins, Scott Harper, Debbie Feathers, the Georgetown Times staff, Post & Courier employees, my family, and all of my friends that came and helped me celebrate such an honor.

From that moment until now, I still have people stop me and congratulate me.

We sometimes forget all of the hard work these people have to do to put on an event such as this.

Vickie Tompkins, I am proud that you will be the 2009 person that Harborwalk will be dedicated to! Thanks again everyone. Love you all.

Ramona McConnell

Georgetown, SC

Rebuttal to Korten and Pibel

I read with amazement your "guest" editorial by Messers: Korten and Pibel. To begin with, I believe the article should have contained icons of a hammer and sickle or a picture of Lenin in the title copy.

Let me comment on a few of their statements. "The Service to community, rather than profit, is the primary justification for a business to exist." This is beyond belief unless you are in Cuba.

Would the authors please explain from where these "businesses" would get their operating capital and investments, with the lofty ideal of community service rather than profit.

Would bond purchasers simply accept a zero return on their investment to fund a business venture or expansion? And just exactly what is a "human scale" business and when and by whom would the decision be made that one company has become too large and should be disassembled?

Second. There are already community banks filling the niche for local development, etc. But, probably to the dismay of the authors, they, too, need to make profits

Perhaps the authors can "donate" their earnings from column syndication in the spirit of the public good? After all -- "from those of means to those of need"!

Third. "Financial speculation does not create real wealth" & "since it serves no public interest etc." Some fictional entity, I suppose, would determine where investors must put THEIR money, again for the common good using "green" technologies and "closed loop production cycles" whatever in hell that means.

In other words, a government agency would dictate how we all invest OUR money? What's next, Big Brother telling us where we can live, what clothes we can wear, foods we can eat (wait -- they're already working on that)?

Fourth. All I need say is "91%" top end income tax? with a government who can confiscate the accumulated family estate wealth under the pretext that it will level the playing field for those less fortunate?

So, let me see, all people have a right for cradle to the grave care by an all-knowing government, the right to a job, fair housing, a living wage, etc. ad nauseum -- but NOT to the monies left to them by parents who busted their buns to earn it -- pay taxes on it several times over. And all of this in the name of fairness. What hypocracy!

Why do progressives, (a term that should be shelved as it has nothing to do with actual "progress") constantly seek to help the lower classes by lowering the status of those higher on the monetary chain?

Why not simply work to elevate those in the lower class without confiscating the earnings of productive citizens in the name of someone else's definition of "fairness."

Lastly, the authors feel that the government (again) should dole out cash for debt free money to create living wages and restore domestic production.

This last issue actually makes some sense but there is still risk in having government run/subsidized manufacturing competing with private sector companies not blessed with the deep coffers fed by tax assessments.

I am aware that the country voted for change and I will never forgive George Bush for scrapping conservative principles and leaving us bare naked in front of the ravenous liberal hoard.

But did we truly vote to become a new version of Communist China --WEST? I don't think so!

Steve Kronski

Pawleys Island

Kindness of strangers

Next time your car suddenly sputters and chugs to a breakdown, hope that it happens in Georgetown.

On a recent road trip with three girlfriends, we came to an unexpected halt just outside The Sunset Lodge on Route 17.

As we stared inside the open hood in ninety-degree heat, Richard, lawn mower at the Lodge, rode up to lend a hand. He offered to ride over to Ed's Auto Repair just down the road to send a tow truck, but not before providing us four ice-cold bottles of water.

While waiting, a local woman pulled her car over, to make sure we were O.K. Then, Mike Small, owner of The Sunset Lodge, offered to open up an apartment with air conditioning for us.

But before we could take Mike up on the cool room, Larry Ethridge, owner of the shop and two mechanics arrived to take a look at our vehicle.

Within minutes, they suspected that the gas we pumped into the car two miles down the road might be diesel instead of unleaded. Turns out they were right. Oops!...

Because Larry didn't want us to be too inconvenienced or get too hot, he drove us to The Maryville Diner to kill some time having lunch while he drained the diesel.

He asked the waitress to call him when we were done, so he could come and pick us up yet again.

Several of Georgetown's finest police officers were also lunching at the Maryville Diner and reassured us that Larry is a great mechanic and that our meal would be top notch. They were right on both counts.

I highly recommend the flounder and shrimp special. As well as the homemade blueberry pie. We absconded with the last two pieces to give to Larry and Richard as a meager "Thank You."

After lunch, back at the shop, Larry let us wait in the air-conditioned office (though we secretly hoped for a game of pool with the guys in the garage).

If you need to hang out and wait for a car repair, it appears to be a good place for pool sharks.

It turned out we didn't need to be pool sharks. When one of my friends nervously blurted out, "Please hurry, we're in a rush to get to our tennis tournament in Hilton Head!"

I figured the bill would skyrocket, fearing we looked like easy-target princesses.

I was wrong. Larry charged us a very reasonable rate, and had us back on the road in under two hours.

The kindness of many Georgetown strangers turned a disaster into a delight. We now consider all of those strangers friends.

Jackie Hallock

Pawleys Island

Support Fathers on Father's Day

Today marks a little known or celebrated 100th anniversary.

In 1909, a woman named Sonora Dodd in Spokane, Wash., was listening to her preacher's sermon about the importance of honoring Mother's Day.

Although she agreed it was an important day, she felt it unfair that no recognition was given to fathers.

After Sonora's mother died, it was her father who made the big sacrifices in her life. He was the one who made sure she had food on the table, warm clothes to wear and that she said her nightly prayers.

Why then, she wondered, were fathers not being honored in the same fashion?

Sonora began her life's mission to see that fathers received the same recognition as mothers for making the necessary sacrifices for their children.

She began having a father's day celebration during June, her birth month, every year thereafter in Spokane. But, it was not until 1972 (63 years later) that a permanent national observance of Father's Day on the third Sunday of June was established.

Today, we need to ask a similar question as the one posed by Sonora 100 years ago.

Why is it that the importance of having an engaged and active father remains largely devalued and unrecognized?

While Sonora's father was loving and attentive, many fathers today are not so involved.

Father absence has dramatically increased since the 1960s. More children are living today in father absent households than during the height of World War II.

Research clearly reveals that father absence has significant negative consequences for children, including child poverty.

Society and taxpayers pay a tremendous price as well.

Because many disregard a father's worth and fewer people reach out to them, support for fathers is spotty and underfunded throughout our nation.

However, progress is being made in South Carolina. The Sisters of Charity Foundation has invested more than $16.5 million to support advocacy and fatherhood programs in South Carolina over the past ten years.

The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, an outgrowth of this initiative, supports six fatherhood programs in 12 locations across the state and serves more than 1,500 low-income fathers who want to become great dads.

Fathers receive guidance, support, information and resources. They earn respect and are respected.

Support for these programs is worthwhile. They save taxpayers money and change lives. Not just for this generation but for our future generations.

We can not afford to wait 50 or 100 more years to prioritize this issue that impacts us all. Yes all of us.

Join Sonora's legacy, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families and countless other partners who are working to recognize and reach out to fathers. Let your voice be heard.

Tom Keith, Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina president