By TONY WILHELM
Special to The Citizen

(Part One in a three part series)

Purchasing a home should be a dream come true, but poor planning can turn it into a nightmare. To make the process as stress-free as possible, it is important to follow the right steps, in order, as you begin your search. Read More»

By Mary Watts
Special to The Citizen

On January 1, the Senate and House passed H.R. 8 legislation to avert the “Fiscal Cliff.” The bill was signed into law by President Obama on January 2. So what does that mean to you as a homeowner? There are several specifics of the agreement that directly affect homeowners. Make sure that you are aware of the following when developing your 2013 Financial Plan. Read More»

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations.  Here are a few questions that I have gotten over the years and via email for this column,

Dear Father Paul:  Is hell real?  Who made hell?  God?  If so, why?  — Shawn
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By Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. Gallaway

If we ask the question, “Are there lessons to be learned from history?,” the likely answer is, “Yes.” On the other hand, if we inquire, “Do we learn from the patterns of history?,” the probable answer, regrettably, is, “No.”

To illustrate this cognitive dissonance, all we need do is explore the history of the last two major business cycle downturns in America, that beginning in the third quarter of 1981 (National Bureau of Economic Research dating) and the present episode, which the NBER dates as commencing in the fourth quarter of 2007. Read More»

Last week the Georgia General Assembly convened on Monday through Thursday for legislative days 14-17 of the 2010 Georgia General Assembly session. There were several important bills considered on the floor of the House; also a number of significant bills are working their way through the legislative committee process.

On Tuesday of last week the House passed H.B. 908 by a strong bipartisan vote. The measure provides local school systems with additional flexibility and freedom from certain state mandates to help in managing the current budget crunch. Read More»

By Gov. Sonny Perdue

Last month I proposed a new plan that will transform the way we compensate K-12 teachers and leaders in our state. It will put them on the same playing field as our state’s top coaches who are rewarded for consistently winning games. Read More»

By E. Frank Stephenson

The General Assembly convened this year facing the daunting challenge of closing a billion-dollar budget hole, partly caused by the slumping economy and the consequent decrease in tax revenues.

Few, if any, forecasters or policy-makers foresaw a recession or revenue decline this sharp. Feckless Washington policy-makers have exacerbated the problem by creating an uncertain investment climate for families and entrepreneurs. Read More»

I recently re-read Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6. Usually we stop at verse 8, where, when God asks, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah volunteers and says, “Here am I. Send me.” This time, however, I read further. I read to what Isaiah was called.

Isaiah 6:9: And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’

Isaiah 6:10: Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.” Read More»

BY Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
President Obama could learn a lesson or two from the lyrics of my favorite country music singer, Coweta County native Alan Jackson.

In Jackson’s “Here In the Real World,” he sings sadly about how life doesn’t always turn out how you’d hoped, like it does in the movies.

On the silver screen, the song lyrics state, “Cowboys don’t cry and heroes don’t die. And good always wins again and again.” Read More»

By Ronald E. Bachman

It turns out that “Joe the Plumber” gave us the real insight to the ultimate goals of the Obama presidency and the current Congress: redistribution of wealth.

Centralized government power, federal control and redistribution of wealth seem to be behind many of the proposed “reforms.” This includes more than $1 trillion in redistributed wealth in the guise of health reform. Read More»