Yarbrough: Easy money sitting there under noses

I have a way to cut the state's $2 billion deficit significantly while keeping members of the General Assembly, the state's constitutional officers and assorted bureaucrats busy doing something meaningful for a change. Impossible, you say? Hear me out.

I was inspired by the legislature's latest "teacher appreciation" gesture. Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, has suggested the state's 125,000 school teachers be furloughed for six days to save money. Given the humongous amounts of money school teachers are paid, and the few hours they work, this would seem to be a great idea. What do teachers do, anyway, besides trying to ram education into recalcitrant kids while politicians, bureaucrats, school boards, superintendents, principals and the news media second-guess every move they make? Oh, did I mention the piddling issues such as drugs, poverty and public apathy that teachers deal with on a daily basis?

I have a better idea. As Lindsey was trotting out his proposal, state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham released 1,000 pages of businesses in Georgia that owe our state a reported $453 million. I'll bet the money owed us by these companies is as much or more than would be saved by stiffing our schoolteachers. And I'm not even counting Lindsey's 22 colleagues in the General Assembly who haven't paid their taxes.

So, here's my proposal: Commissioner Graham should divide the list of tax-delinquent businesses among the 236 members of the General Assembly. These august public servants would then take a furlough and collect the money. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I believe making legislators take a furlough would sit better with most Georgians than furloughing teachers.

But I'm not through. Save some of those 1,000 pages for the governor and his staff. Same for Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson. And don't forget the attorney general, insurance commissioner, labor commissioner, secretary of state, Supreme Court justices, the game and fish guy, the head of the state patrol and even university presidents, who have to spend most of their time raising money anyway. It wouldn't be hard to come up with about 500 temporary tax collectors in state government.

Think how effective it would be to see Gov. Sonny Perdue standing at your office door: "Hi, I'm Sonny Perdue, and I am here to collect the $15,463.24 you owe the state. I must leave here with a certified check, or I'll call out the National Guard, and we'll blow this building to smithereens. We also accept American Express."

At the risk of over-selling this idea, not only could we get the money rightfully owed us, we would have the politicians and bureaucrats out of our hair for a few weeks.

I have not discussed my plan with Revenue Commissioner Graham yet. But what is wrong, pray tell, with requiring those people who are so anxious to spend our tax dollars to go out and collect from those who haven't paid, as well as cutting our deficit by almost a half-billion dollars?

Here is the best part. With Lindsey and his friends busy collecting taxes, teachers can get back to teaching and will not have to worry whether they can pay their bills next month because of the latest cockamamie scheme in the legislature.

• Reach Dick Yarbrough by e-mail at yarb2400@bellsouth.net.

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