Autographs here!

It's always nice to see your name in print--well, let me edit that... It's always nice to see your name in print for a POSITIVE story! Read THIS ARTICLE from the AJC and hear a bit of positive news about Real Estate. Plus, it's great to have a comment from our own Jeff Harris included! Cheers! Bo

The best column I've read about Health Care "Reform"

Someone forwarded this article to me from Hillsdale College. No clue about the school, no clue about Congressman Paul Ryan. I do, however, think this is incredibly well-written! Read it and see what YOU think...

Give...

What's important to you? I know it's still a rough economy out there and to even contemplate giving away money is difficult to consider. But still, we try. Needs are still great and we all do what we can through charities, churches and other organizations. As a Rotarian, I support many charities, both locally and internationally. Years ago I made an annual commitment to give to the Rotary Foundation and it will be a struggle to keep that promise, but I must. Check out Rotary.org to see what good works are done in the name of Rotary (such as the worldwide eradication of Polio). Check out Shelterbox.org to see how Haitians and many others in the world have been helped in their time of need. Why Rotary? The money given to Rotary goes straight to the charitable effort named. NO administrative costs, etc. Check out your favorite group and see how they compare!
Recently I was asked to co-chair the North Fulton "March for Babies" for the March of Dimes. As noted above, it is a goal of Rotary to eradicate Polio in the world. Who 'cured' Polio? The March of Dimes! That's an interesting story-they cured their disease and faced the wonderful reality of "Now What?" Their focus shifted to babies, babies and more babies! Premature births are on the rise and that is one of the many focus areas for the March of Dimes. There are so many other charities under the research umbrella of the MOD--Leukemia, Cystic Fibrosis, Autism, Diabetes, Cancer, and Heart Disease are just a few. Please consider either joining our walk or even consider donating a few dollars to the cause? Thanks for your consideration!

Bet on ATL!

I love positive articles about ATL! Here's one from John Adams noting that we shouldn't count Atlanta out yet. I share his optimism!

Interesting article on Milton County

Whether you're for or against splitting up Fulton county, here is an interesting article on the history of Milton County. I for one am annoyed at the constant media portrayal of this being only against the 'rich white North Fulton' versus the 'poor black South Fulton'. Actually, this is all about MONEY and REPRESENTATION. Fulton County is too large to govern properly and the Fulton County Commission seems to only tax North Fulton more and provide less services to them in return. Last I checked that's why our country was founded (e.g. taxation without representation); why not allow Milton to declare its independence? Yes, I know that there will be duplicated services as the article states; yes there will be some ineffeciencies at first. However, I can't believe that Milton County could ever be as much as a mess as Fulton County is today. Fulton County stepped in to help years ago; now it's stepping in to 'help itself' and send the money back to others. I don't think that's fair and if I lived in Fulton I'd be all over this issue. By the way-that's one reason WHY I won't live in ATL or Fulton again. Too many taxes and too little service. Again, my 2 cents. Happy Monday : )

Mind your own business, Walter G. "Pete" Borden

Here's an article for you, from a guy that is trying to stop the installation of artificial turf on Cobb County football fields. I wrote this comment on a 'letter to the editor' on the Marietta Daily Journal website:
I voted FOR SPLOST. WHY? Because of each line item in the proposal. I CHOSE to vote for this as my kids are in Cobb County Schools and I wanted their equipment and schools to be upgraded. YES, that includes the football field at Sprayberry (my son) and Kell (when my daughter is older). If you were out there watching football you would have seen the dustbowl at Osbourne in 2008 when we played 'away'. In 2009, you would have seen the mud and puddles (and heard about games being cancelled due to water on the field, etc.). There is a high cost to maintain the fields and you cannot escape this fact. My yard? I don't spend a dime on it. Not important to me. As for the Mr. Borden, he doesn't even pay school taxes so where is his standing to sue? I read the proposal and voted FOR this money to be used. If you don't like it, don't vote for it. IT PASSED, get over it. Now our tax money is being wasted on thousands of dollars in legal fees (ask a litigator-the average price to bring a lawsuit to trial is over $5,000-$10,000. Could a teacher have used this money in the classroom?). Bottom line, after the laptop debacle, they clarified where every penny would go; that's why I voted for it (and why it passed, I guess?). To use a silly sports analogy, stop "Monday Morning Quarterbacking"!
In essence, this could delay the installation for Fall sports. Is this the most important issue in my life? NO. However, one guy is holding up everything and I hate it. I just wanted to vent; should you desire to get involved, call the Judge who will be presiding over the case: Judge Steven Schuster – He needs to know that the people of Cobb County voted for this and we expect him to honor that vote! Staff Attorney-Brittany Jones (770) 528-1851 Administrative Assistant-Janet Smith (770) 528-1849 Office Fax (770) 528-1854

Headline: "Not much impact from repeat buyer credit"

Saw this article on my startpage today; my response is a big DUH. The points made in this story are correct (that the 'carrot' may not be big enough, and you can't buy a home without a job). However, the main point is the one that was not stated: this tax credit was worthless from day one. Read the actual law--I'm in the middle of working on taxes right now (don't get me started, but all I can say is PASS the FAIR TAX!) so I will simply refer you to this prior post to explain the tax credit. In essence I believe that you had to be in the same house over 5 years (i.e. it had to be your principal residence for 5 of the last 8 years) to be eligible for that tax credit. Stop right there... How long have you lived in your current home? I have NEVER lived in one house for 5 consecutive years. SO I couldn't even get this tax credit if I wanted it! So we have a highly transient populace and the 'move up' market is definitely transient. Is this $6500 credit going anywhere? Not as it was written friends.... Our 'friends' in Congress didn't help us at all with that one.