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The Conservative Voice for North Georgia

Letters and Opinions Expressed by HCRP Members - 2010 - 2011

Hall County includes the cities of Buford, Chestnut Mountain, Clermont, Flowery Branch, Gainesville, Gillsville, Lula, Murrayville, Oakwood, & Rest Haven.

The Hall County GOP welcomes and respects all opinions and letters from HCRP members and will do it's best to represent all corespondence in the alloted space.

Don't forget, there are many ways to contact us. In addition to attending our monthly conservative forums you can also contact us by email at Hall GOP, Hall GOP Webmaster, Hall Officials.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Bethel Midgett

Letter to the Editor

The Gainesville Times

1 January 2011

Legal applicants should get priority to immigrate to US.

I would like to "borrow a phrase" that Arturo Corso borrowed for his column Dec 23: "When a defining moment comes along, you must define the moment or the moment will define you."

Corso was clearly defined by his column. He paints with a broad brush anyone who opposes illegal immigration and labels them racist, which is far, far from the truth.

I am one of those who has no objections to immigration, if it is done legally! The United States has a procedure for would-be immigrants to follow to become citizens and it does not encompass sneaking across the border under the cover of darkness and staying hidden from law enforcement officers.

True immigrants are the ones who apply to enter the United States legally and should be given priority. Instead, they languish in the files of the immigration agency for years without any action. The reason, I believe, is that there are so many border jumpers here illegally that they can't afford to let the legal applicants in.

The last time I checked immigration's website, there were more than 330,000 applicants waiting to be processed. They are the ones who should be given priority and those here illegally should be deported immediately.

Corso seems to think these border jumpers should be allowed to just say, "please excuse me" and be allowed to stay. Not so in my book and if that makes me a racist by Corso's definition, then so be it. I applaud all the senators and representatives who vote against blanket amnesty, which would be a come-on for more and more to come here illegally, get a job, be paid under the table, pay no taxes, live off food stamps and use the emergency room for primary care free of charge.

Corso also implies that everyone should be afforded a college education but he offers no solutions to paying for it. Does he really believe the government should guarantee everyone a college education?

In the first place, not every student is college material. How do I know? I was one of those students. I could never have done college work and would have benefited greatly if there had been trade schools I could have attended but back then there weren't any.

What part of "illegal" is it that these liberals fail to understand? Corso is a lawyer and should know the law on immigration.

Anyone who goes through the established guidelines for citizenship is welcome but those who cross the border under the cover of darkness are not. And I will do all I can to help defeat any politician who advocates blanket amnesty!

Bethel Midgett

Gainesville

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Letter to the editor

Gainesville Times

December 9, 2010

Cartoonist gets it backward in attacking GOP

Chan Lowe gets things backward in his "Profiles in Courage" cartoon Monday in The Times. First, he attacks Republicans for supposedly not caring about the unemployed; he should recall that Republicans' top priority since the financial collapse in 2008 was to create new jobs. In the midterm elections, voters punished so-called progressives who put other things before jobs and the economy.

Second, when Republicans fight tax increases for high-earning Americans, they are fighting job-killing policies. In other words, they are pushing policies that provide incentives to invest in ways that create jobs.

This is especially important when 10 percent of Americans remain unemployed. The president himself recognizes this and has worked out a deal with Republican leaders.

An earlier tax increase that was a favorite among class warriors showed just how jobs are created and destroyed.

For "progressives" this 1990 tax increase seemed perfect: a targeted blow in class warfare, one that would supposedly hurt the rich. It raised taxes on luxury goods that only the wealthy could afford, from yachts to private jets.

But instead of hurting the rich, this tax cost 9,000 middle-class men and women their jobs, crippling the New England yacht industry. Instead of raising revenue overall, it actually cost the treasury money.

The luxury tax was supposed to generate $31 million in revenue, but it only raised half the projected amount. The rich cut their purchases of luxury goods. This is how higher taxes affect behavior in the real world when demand can vary with cost.

While the tax did generate $16 million in revenue, the government lost money, approximately $7. 6 million. The loss occurred because the government paid out $24 million in unemployment benefits.

This symbolic flogging of the rich cost middle-class people 1,470 jobs in the aircraft industry and 7,600 jobs in the boating industry. That wasn't supposed to happen in the progressive understanding of how the world works, but it is exactly what happened in the real word where economics 101 operates, where cost, supply and demand prevail.

A progressive, Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts, led the charge on the floor of the U.S. House to repeal the higher luxury tax. He was joined by others who recognized that their tax increase on the rich actually destroyed jobs.

Now, the challenge is whether "progressives" in the House and Senate will learn the same lesson and agree with the compromise their president has reached.

Jim Pilgrim

Gainesville

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April 2, 2010

Americans Wanted a Limited Reform, Not a Radical Overhaul

Without a doubt, for the past few years, Americans clearly wanted reform in health care. Something had to be done. But in fact is, most Americans have basically been satisfied with the health care they get; including the doctors they choose, the quality of treatments, the effectiveness of procedures they undergo and any surgery they might have. The care they get is generally excellent and second to none anywhere in the world.

Cost was the thing; Americans wanted reform that would address high and rising costs. Instead, they got a radical overhaul—passed over the opposition of most Americas—that swallowed one-sixth of the economy in one big gulp, a radical overhaul that piles bureaucracy on bureaucracy and tangles red tape with more red tape.

This so-called reform is packed with new government entities, new departments, agencies, commissions and all their bureaucratic kin - more than 150 if them.

Our current problems and the prospects for Obamacare need to be seen in this light: Our “private” health care system has come to be infused with heavy doses of government influence and control in recent decades.

Medicare reimbursements to hospitals have been under price controls for a quarter of a century and reimbursement to doctors for more than 15 years. Insurance companies were cast as the villains by the reformers - not taking into account that Medicare is the nation’s dominant insurer and shapes many aspects of the system.

Like dealing with Medicare? Obamacare is Medicare on steroids, a bulked up version of distorted pricing and disincentives that will deliver doctor shortages and slow innovation in pharmaceuticals, advanced equipment and the development of new life-saving techniques. Eventually, we’ll spend a lot more time in waiting rooms in the doctor’s office and will wait longer for needed treatment.

We’re already are seeing shortages. Anyone moving to Gainesville or other cities looking for a new physician, have found it’s much more difficult than it was 15 years ago.

The political strategy for implementing Obamacare is diabolical. The Democrats are going to move slowly; given the opposition, so they don’t frighten Americans or reinforce the idea that the Republicans were right in warning of dire things to come. So initially, as the president pointed out, a number of Americans will get real immediate benefits. Mentioned most often is Children being able to remain on their parents policies until age 26.

Before the November elections, such benefits will get a lot of attention. These benefits will be the deception of Obamacare. Americans won’t yet see that their biggest concern—high cost—won’t go away. For many, costs will go up substantially—but not immediately.

The big ticket items, such as huge increases in what Georgia and the rest of the states will pay for Medicaid, won’t show up until after the 2012 Presidential elections. These unfunded mandates will threaten the already stressed state budgets. This is the reasoning why Gov. Perdue will appoint a special attorney general to join 15 other states in fighting Obamacare in the courts.

In the longer term, Obamacare will not only damage health care but it will damage our economic recovery. Social Security is in trouble, Medicare is in trouble and Medicaid is in trouble. We cannot pay for them now and we’re adding yet another entitlement.

Americans indeed wanted real reform, reform based on a broad consensus. The 216 votes that gave us Obamacare was indeed a majority, but it was clearly not a consensus. Americans want real reform, one that leaves them plenty of choice in doctors and treatment, one that continues to develop most of the worlds new drugs and advanced equipment, and one that continues to supply plenty of doctors.

Republicans remain committed to delivering real reform, that will keep America as the world’s leader in medical innovation, able to deliver first-rate care.

Jim Pilgrim, Chairman

Hall County Republican Party