The Bailout

"One man's stimulus is another man's pork - at least when it comes to the economic bailout plan under consideration in Washington this week.

"President Barack Obama is proposing an $825 billion plan with the backing of the Democratic-led Congress. It can be summed up as a return to the kind of FDR-style big-spending, big-government solutions that, contrary to popular legend, did not end the Great Depression, rather only prolonged it. Yes, there is a need for the kind of infrastructure improvements Obama desires, but most of them are not urgent needs, and at any rate, it would be years before work could begin even on the "offthe shelf" projects. By that time, the economy could very well be going full speed again all by itself."

Source: Marietta Daily Journal

Atlanta left high, dry

"There's a price to be paid for being stubborn, obstinate and unwilling to compromise and Atlanta, thanks to the state's misguided leadership on water issues, is about to pay it.

"Nearly all of its basic water supply, already insufficient, has now become susceptible to legal challenge by neighboring states.

"Taking the view that every drop of rain that falls on Georgia belongs to Georgia - and then actually adding the argument that any raindrops found in the Tennessee River also are Georgia's despite that river's location - was asking for a court challenge. Alabama and Florida proceeded to do so, won in federal court, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear Georgia's appeal, in effect saying the lower courts are correct."

Source: Rome News Tribune