Easement Aid
Greenbacks For Greenspace

The extensive list of sales-tax funded projects that voters will approve or reject in November includes over $4 million for buying or protecting additional greenspace in Clarke County. About half that money would go to purchasing permanent "conservation easements" on land that serves naturally as "green infrastructure," that is, land that functions to improve water or air quality, or to prevent soil erosion. According to the project proposal prepared by Athens Land Trust, New York City has dramatically demonstrated the practicality of protecting "green infrastructure" by buying up some of the watershed areas which supply the city's drinking water. The city spent over a billion dollars doing this, but would have spent many times more to filter the water if these natural areas were not available for natural filtration, the proposal said. If the one-cent sales tax is extended for another six years, a citizens' committee will select which lands are to be protected, based on their usefulness for "green infrastructure" and suggestions from "landowners, county departments, neighborhood associations, etc."

According to the project proposal, "participation in the program by landowners would be on a voluntary basis." The county wouldn't buy the land outright but would instead purchase a conservation easement on each piece of property - thus saving the county money. (An easement is the legal right to a particular use of a property. A conservation easement gives the easement owner the right to prevent development, while the landowner would retain rights to other uses of the land. The landowner would also continue to pay taxes, although the taxable value would be reduced.) In Oconee County, a similar arrangement was recently used to protect the 63-acre Breedlove farm, using $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Greenspace Program. The owners still live on that farm, and can sell it or pass it on to their children, but it can never be developed.

The list of sales-tax projects includes construction of two new trails. One is a wide multi-use path that would run from Pulaski St. (near Dougherty) through the undeveloped creek area east of Pulaski, then past the Council on Aging in the old Hoyt Street train station, and along College Avenue to the existing Greenway trail. The location of the second trail has not yet been decided: it will either connect the existing Greenway trail to East Athens Community Park (the design favored by the citizens' group that sifted the sales-tax projects); or it will connect the Greenway to the Holland Sports Complex on Vincent Drive; or it will extend the Greenway south along the Middle Oconee river to College Station Road from its present end at Dudley Park; or the money will go to canoe-launching facilities and public rest rooms on the river at Oconee St. and at Whitehall Road.

John Huie
John Huie is still trying to avoid the answers to life's persistent questions.

Paper Trail
Jobs? What Jobs?

I received, in early August, a campaign advertisement from Max Burns, Republican Congressman for District 12 of Georgia. I don't normally read campaign materials, but I read the Congressman's material, and I'm troubled by his claims.

The mailer is titled "More Jobs. Stronger Economy. Brighter Futures." Below the Congressman's photo, there's a caption: "Creating and Protecting Jobs in Georgia" [the italics are mine]. On the other side, there's a headline saying "1.4 million New Jobs in 2004." Beneath that, there's a blurb from the Congressman, touting his voting for an "economic stimulus plan that is doing just what we intended; it has strengthened our economy and created new jobs [italics are his]." To the right, there is a list of the number of jobs created:

       January 2004: 159,000 jobs created

       February 2004: 83,000 jobs created

       March 2004: 353,000 jobs created

       April 2004: 346,000 jobs created

       May 2004: 248,000 jobs created

No source is given for these numbers, but they total out to 1,189,000 jobs - 1.2 million jobs.

In the interest of fairness, I went to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website to check the Congressman's numbers. I saw that he had not recorded two months: the jobs for June (78,000, a preliminary estimate) and the jobs for July (32,000). Adding these numbers to the tally brings the total up to 1,299,000, which is (rounding up) 1.3 million "new jobs."

However, if I'm going to use the numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, I'll also have to deduct 40,000 jobs: their total for May, 2004, is 208,000 jobs, while the Congressman's tally is 248,000.

The final score is 1,259,000 "new jobs" created in 2004. That's 1.26 million jobs in the first seven months of the year, and while that number is off .14 million, a mere 140,000 jobs, the Congressman's math is the least of my concerns.

Max Burns took office in January, 2003. Because I found it curious that he said nothing about job creation in 2003, I checked the record. Again, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (blsdata_staff@bls.gov) offered statistics that the Congressman omitted. In the Congressman's first month, 94,000 "new jobs" were created. However, during the next seven months, job growth figures were nothing but negative numbers: -159,000 (February); -110,000 (March); -20,000 (April); -28,000 (May); -14,000 (June); -45,000 (July); -25,000 (August). Job growth entered the black in September, 2003 and stayed in positive territory to the year's end: 246,000 jobs were created in that year.

For 2003 as a whole, there was a net loss of 61,000 jobs.

I can understand why the Congressman didn't include the 2003 numbers. The omission, though, is indicative of other, more serious problems with the Congressman's job-creation math.

First, the Congressman touts the figures on national job creation and juxtaposes those figures (1.4 million by his math; 1.26 million by mine) with his claim that he's "Creating and Protecting Jobs in Georgia," which is the overall title of the flier. I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the Congressman's claim is region specific - he's working for Georgia. His numbers, though, reflect the number of jobs that have been "created" (I'll explain the quotes in a moment) nationwide. Certainly, I'm not accusing the Congressman of claiming to have created 1.4 million jobs in Georgia since the beginning of 2004. I am suggesting that touting job growth on the national level says absolutely nothing about job growth in Georgia. I'd agree that 248,000 jobs created in May is impressive, but it says nothing about the Congressman's district, and the juxtaposition of the local with the national is misleading.

I'll agree to let the Congressman take a Mulligan on this particular point. However, his touting of job growth suggests his pride in the Bush Administration's record, and here his numbers are misleading to the point of being ingenuous.

In May of 2003, the Bush Administration passed a tax cut package that it called its "Jobs and Growth Plan." Officials predicted that it would create 5.5 million jobs by the end of 2004 (i.e., the election) about 306,000 new jobs a month.

The actual number of jobs created, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has attained or exceeded the target figure of 306,000 only twice: in March, 2004 (353,000 jobs were created); and in April, 2004 (346,000 jobs were created). The accompanying chart is from the Economic Policy Institute's Job Watch website. It details the differences between Administration projections and actual performance.

While economic projections are notoriously unreliable, I think that the Administration's figure of 306,000 can be used as a baseline. In January, 2004, Max Burns says our economy created 159,000 jobs. That's 147,000 jobs shy of Administration projections. In February, the Congressman touts the creation of 83,000 jobs. That's 223,000 new jobs short of the Administration's goals. In March, job creation stood at 353,000 new jobs, 47,000 above expectations. April was another good month: 346,000 new jobs, a whopping 19,000 jobs better than the target figure. In May, June, and July, though, the figures get bleak. Congressman Burns says 248,000 jobs were created in May, a figure that's 40,000 jobs over the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and 98,000 jobs shy of the Administration's projections. In June, the Administration missed its goal by 228,000 new jobs, and July's figures were even worse news. There were 32,000 new jobs created, which means the Administration missed its target by 274,000 jobs.

Supporters of the Congressman (and, by extension, the Bush Administration) will contend that it is unfair to measure performance against projections. However, those projections - 306,000 new jobs a month - were what helped sell the 2003 tax cut: it was designed to create 5.5 million jobs by the end of 2004. That's why it's fair to use those projections to assess the Administration's (and, by extension, the Congressman's) claims.

And using those figures, I'm forced to several conclusions. Congressman Burns has taken figures for job growth out of context. He has blurred the distinction between national and local job growth. He has ignored the Administration's poor record in job creation for the sake of riding a popular president's coattails. He has trusted his constituents' complacency, and their unwillingness to check the figures.

He has, however, left a trail. The records are public, and they are not encouraging.

Sam Prestridge
Sam Prestridge is a local freelance writer.

Schedule
The Republican Convention

       6:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance

       6:35 p.m. Ceremonial Burning of Bill of Rights (excluding 2nd Amendment)

       6:45 p.m. Salute to the Coalition of the Willing

       6:46 p.m. Seminar #1: Katherine Harris on "Are Elections Really Necessary?"

       7:30 p.m. Announcement: Lincoln Memorial Renamed for Ronald Reagan

       7:35 p.m. Trent Lott "Re-segregation in the 21st Century"

       7:40 p.m. EPA Address #1: Mercury: It's What's for Dinner

       8 p.m. Vote on which country to invade next

       8:10 p.m. Call EMTs to revive Rush Limbaugh

       8:15 p.m. John Ashcroft Lecture: The Homos Are After Your Children

       8:30 p.m. Round table discussion on reproductive rights (men only)

       8:50 p.m. Seminar #2: Corporations: The Government of the Future

       9:00 p.m. Condi Rice sings "Can't Help Lovin' That Man"

       9:05 p.m. Phyllis Schlafly speaks on "Why Women Shouldn't Be Leaders"

       9:10 p.m. EPA Address #2: Trees: The Real Cause of Forest Fires

       9:30 p.m. break for secret meetings

       10:00 p.m. Second Prayer led by Cal Thomas

       10:15 p.m. Carl Rove Lecture: "Doublespeak Made Simple"

       10:30 p.m. Rumsfeld Lecture/Demonstration: "How to Squint and Talk Macho Even When You Feel Squishy Inside"

       10:35 p.m. Bush demonstration of trademark "deer in headlights" stare

       10:40 p.m. John Ashcroft Demonstration: New Mandatory Kevlar Chastity Belt

       10:45 p.m. GOP's Tribute to Tokenism, featuring Colin Powell & Condi Rice

       10:46 p.m. Ann Coulter's Tribute to "Joe McCarthy, Great American Patriot"

       10:50 p.m. Seminar #3: Education: A Drain on Our Nation's Economy

       11:10 p.m. Hillary Clinton Piñata

       11:20 p.m. John Ashcroft Lecture: "Evolutionists: A Dangerous New Cult"

       11:30 p.m. Call EMTs to revive Rush Limbaugh again

       11:35 p.m. Blame Clinton

       11:40 p.m. Newt Gingrich speaks on "The Sanctity of Marriage"

       11:41 p.m. Announcement: Ronald Reagan to be added to Mt. Rushmore

       11:50 p.m. Closing Prayer led by Jesus Himself

       12 a.m. Nomination of George W. Bush as Holy Supreme Planetary Overlord

Ripped from the web with thanks to the by-now anonymous wit who wrote it.