4A - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 * Jackson County Floridan FLO R DAN Managing Editor: Michael Becker Our Opinion Give this bill a hearing While it smacks of a primary elec- tion stunt, we hope the proposal itself will be given serious considera- tion. On Tuesday, Jackson County's state senator, Democrat Al Lawson of Tallahassee, announced he had filed a bill seeking to delay the January implementation of a state law that will require mandatory inspections of every septic tank sys- tem in the state every five years. The timing is interesting - Sen. Lawson is locked in a battle with incumbent U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D- Monticello, for the Aug. 24 primary. Any chance this might be an election ploy? Be that as it may, the proposal itself is a good one. As Lawson points out in his announcement, these inspections will-cost $500 or more, and homeowners that fail to comply face fines of $500 or more. "These same inspectors are the ones certified by the state for repair - a questionable arrangement that may not Be in the homeowners' best interests," the senator noted in his announcement. "In addition, the dis- tovery of any tank-related problems could result in a complete septic tank replacement - costing anywhere from $3,500 to $8,000..." As we have noted on this page before, there are an estimated 17,000 to 19,000 septic tanks in Jackson County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 20,709 housing units in the county in 2008. The septic tank law will hit the vast majority of the. county's home- owners, at a time When many are still struggling to make ends meet. Sen. Lawson's bill to delay its January implementation is a good one, regardless of the senator's motives. However, he has asked that the bill be included in any special session that may be called. With elections in November, it is unlikely the state legislature will meet in time to con- sider and pass the bill before January. County officials had said the\ hope- to soften the law's effects in the reg- ulation stage, when the nuts and bolts of how the law will be imple- mented are worked out. So while we hope the proposed bill will be considered, we urge our offi- cials to continue to monitor the drafting of those regulations. Obama's Afghan policy tracks Bush in Iraq BY MORTON KONDRACKE President Barack Obama is an unremitting critic of George W. Bush, but in Afghanistan he's walking in Bush's shoes. How ironic. But also, how encouraging. Ironic, of course, because as a senator, Obama was among the strongest critics of Bush's 2007 troop "surge" in Iraq. He predicted that additional troops would actually worsen the sectarian violence raging in that country - though by September 2008, he acknowl- edged that "the surge has been successful," buit "in ways that not even President Bush expected." Obama's. stance is encour- aging because, like Bush in Iraq, he believes in the poli- cies he's pursuing in Afghanistan and is willing to buck opposition. "We now have a strategy that can work. We've got one of our best generals today, (David) Petraeus, on the ground," he told CBS on Monday. "I've been very clear that we're going to move forward on a-process of training Afghans so that they can pro- vide for their own security. "Then, by the middle of next year, we're going to start thinning out our troops and giving Afghans more respon- sibility. "If I didn't think that it was important for our national security to finish the job in Afghanistan, then I would pull out today, because I have to sign letters to ... families who have lost loved ones." Opposition to Obama's Afghan policy comes primari- ly from within the Democratic Party, of course, though there is also opposi- tion from members of the U.S. foreign policy "estab- lishment." So it was for Bush in Iraq. When the going got rough, prominent Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) declared the war "a lost cause" and a "quag- mire," and a rhajority of Congressional Democrats supported measures to curtail funding. Congressional Democrats are turning against the Afghanistan War in increas- ing numbers, though oppo- nents are still short of a majority. - Last week, 102 of the -House's 255 Democrats (plus 12 Republicans) voted against funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama, who's a nonstop critic of Republicans for opposing his domestic poli- cies, owes GOP members at least some thanks for support- ing his Afghan policy. But Democrats are not about to humiliate a president of their own party, and he is getting expressions of support from figures such as Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (Mich.) and' Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (Mass.). They would almost certain- ly be denouncing the Afghan war effort if Bush were pur- suing it - as would Vice President Joseph Biden. The three not only opposed Bush 43 on Iraq but his father's 1991 decision to go to war when Iraq invaded Kuwait. In this case, Biden is fore- casting that when Obama's "thinning out" process com- mences next July, it probably will involve "as few as a cou- ple thousand" soldiers. Biden, of course, argued against Obama's "surge" when the policy was being. formulated. Obama also is sticking with his policy against mounting public dissatisfaction and expressions of doubt by . "establishment" figures - most recently by Richard Haass, an official in both Bush administrations and now president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Haass wrote in Newsweek last month that "It is time to scale down our ambitions there and both reduce and redirect what we do." Haass does not favor a full-scale or sudden withdrawal, which "would almost certainly result in the collapse of the Karzai government and a Taliban takeover of much of the coun- try." Rather, borrowing an idea from Robert Blackwill, a for- mer U.S. ambassador to India, Haass favors "decen- tralization" - what amounts to partition - of Afghanistan, handing over Pashtun areas to the Taliban and equipping other ethnic groups to defend themselves. This idea parallels ideas floated by foreign policy experts as alternatives to Bush's Iraq surge - includ- ing a partition plan proposed by Leslie Gelb, Haass' prede- cessor at CFR, and "rede- ployment" proposals by the Iraq Study Group. The latest Gallup poll' shows that - no doubt because.of mounting U.S. casualty levels - a growing number of Americans (43 percent) believe that the United States made a "mis- take" sending troops to Afghanistan, even though the question stipulated this first happened in October 2001. That, of course, was a month after al-Qaida, then based in Afghanistan, toppled the Twin Towers. The memo- ry seems to be fading. Since then, some 1,220 U.S. service personnel have lost their lives in Afghanistan. Last month, 66 died, the highest monthly toll in the war. However, that's far short of the 4,400 who have died in Iraq and the record month, with 131 deaths, in May 2007. As U.S. commanders have explained, the rising death toll is the result of increased military action to defeat the enemy. By 2008, the monthly average in Iraq was down to 26 deaths as the surge suc-, ceeded. Of course, Iraq and Afghanistan are different countries. Petraeus' coun- terinsurgency strategy may not work as well in Afghanistan as it did in Iraq. And yet, it has to be tried. The United States has aban- doned Afghanistan and its nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan, again and again - too many times to maintain our credibility as a superpow- er, should we do it again. Obama is not giving up, much as Bush didn't. We can only hope that both are vindi- cated. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Scholl gets our vote Dear editor, As many of you are aware, our nation is in grave danger. We are on the verge of losing all the freedoms our forefathers fought and died for. This administration and this Congress have saddled us, the American citizens, with a mounting deficit of $13 trillion, mandatory govemmept health care control, government takeover of industry and banks, the threat of cap and trade, unprotected borders, and ques- tionable Supreme Court judges, just to name a few. There are members of Congress, not to mention the president, who want to drasti- cally reshape what our found- ing fathers created. Allen Boyd, our congressman, has gone along with all these poli- cies. We live in Jackson County and for months we have vetted candidates to enable us to determine who would best rep- resent us and be able to defeat Allen Boyd and return our country to it's founding princi- ples. We have found him - Republican David Scholl. We followed candidates from all parties, attended debates in Marianna and several other counties and have listened and asked difficult questions of them. We have concluded that David Scholl's ability and background more than qualify him for the position. He is not part of the establishment (fol- low the money) but brings fresh energy to the effort of regaining our country. His knowledge of the U. S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, and other "founding documents" is unsurpassed. He is very concerned and knowl- edgeable about the issues fac- ing our nation, and has solu- tions. On July 19, in Marianna, a debate was held with six Republican candidates (Barbara Olschner was absent due to illness) This is the result of the straw poll taken after the debate of those participating: Scholl - 45.6 percent Southerland - 23.2 percent McNeil - 10.8 percent McKain - 8.6 percent Hendry - 7.2 percent Berryhill - 4.3 percent You have only to meet David and hear him speak to realize he is exactly the per- son we need representing "we, the people" in Washington. This is the most important election of our time. We all need to do our part and vote with knowledge. Jim and Patty Keiser Dinah Rhodeback Sybil Andreasen Russell and Elaine Thompson CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE Rep. Marti Coley, R-District 7 Marti.Coley@mynfloridanhouse.gov Capitol office 319 The Capitol 402 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300 (850) 488-2873 District office Building L, Room 108 Chipola College 3094 Indian Circle Marianna, FL 32446-1701 (850) 718-0047 Rep. Brad Drake, R-District 5 Brad.Drake@myfloridahouse.gov Capitol office 313 House Office Building 402 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300 (850) 488-4726 District office NWFL State-Chautauqua Campus #205 908 U.S. Highway 90 West DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433-1436 EDITORIAL www.JCFLORIDAN.com Publisher: Valeria Roberts LETTERS To THE EDITOR Submit letters by either mailing to Editor, P.O. Box 520, Marianna FL, 32447 or faxing to 850-482-4478 or send e-mail to editorial@jcfloridan.com. The Floridan reserves the right to edit or not publish any letter Be sure to include your full address and telephone number These will only be used to verify the letter and will not be printed. 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