The Committee to Elect Hayden Collins welcomes you to the official website of Hayden Collins, a Conservative Republican candidate for State Representative.  This website is unique, in that it offers links to Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.  These sites will keep you up to date on the latest issues of importance to the citizens of the 15th District, as well as the entire State of Georgia.  This website also includes several community service links of which Hayden has been a part of and associated within his community.  Over the past 18 years, Hayden and his family have served Bartow County and the State of Georgia as Foster/Adoptive Parents.  Hayden’s other community service includes such groups as the Boy Scouts of America, Civil Air Patrol, ESGR, and the Georgia Youth Challenge.  Please take the time to get to know Hayden.

Hayden Collins

 One of the critical things when under attack is to know who the enemy is. And is not.

 If you listen to many of the national speeches being made about what is imperiling our country, you’ll hear that wealth redistribution – through bigger, stronger government, and through changes in who is taxed and how much – are the necessary counter-attack.  It’s implied that the cause of our current crises is social inequality.  But it is not.

What threatens us now is the “red menace” of our day: debt.  Debt leads to downgrades.  Yet if you listen to those speeches, the Progressives and Democrats are not concerned about the debt, they’re spending their energy on taxes – on getting to the “fair” share of contributions that everyone should be paying. And some of their versions of fairness call for radical measures on the level of class warfare. 

What if we let the examples of the credit downgrade in Europe educate the Progressives & Democrats in the U.S.: downgrades do not care about your class.  Debt affects us all equally.  Could those elected representatives who are focusing on taxes be trying to take your attention away from the debt they’ve enhanced?   Case in point: our country’s GDP – gross domestic product – was released recently and the numbers indicated about 2% growth.  Yet here we are, just a couple of weeks later, and they are already revising the numbers.  Their focus has always been on taxes, with no concern for spending or debt.  When our country hit its debt ceiling this past August, a “super committee” was appointed to address it, but all they talked about were taxes.

The can that was kicked down the road in the past three years has grown – during which time the U.S. debt has almost doubled.  Today we don’t even own the can or the road that they are kicking it down.  $6 out of every $10 the government spends is now borrowed. As a country, we are upside down in our debt, and the simple economics of this kind of situation is being played out in Europe at this moment. 

And at this moment, the future doesn’t look much better.  The new entitlement programs set to take effect soon will add even more debt.  In those speeches, the existing political machine will try to sell you anything to buy your entitlement vote and promise anything to gain control for its own self-preservation.  Allowing an even bigger government to provide big government answers to big government problems will only result in more government.  They know no other solutions.

We have seen people try to make their monthly payments more “fair” by re-financing their homes, but those who don’t have the focus to use the savings to pay down their debt often lose their homes.  We have seen people who switch to “healthy” foods to try to reduce their weight, but if they don’t cut back the amount of those foods they consume and exercise to burn off what they already have, their diet fails and sometimes they gain even more weight.  It isn’t about being “fair” – when the situation is this critical, you simply have to cut.

Another critical thing when under attack is to know what your resources are, and the best way to deploy them.  While in charge during operations, sometimes an officer in command has to consider what orders he or she is receiving, and if the information is correct to make the correct decision.

It’s time to redirect our leaders’ focus to identify the most harmful thing to our country, greater than any enemy: the national debt.  At the national level they may call this class warfare, but here on the ground, everyday individuals don’t see the class war – they only see the struggle to pay the bills.   The decisions being made to address a class war are nonsense that no one has time for because each person is making decisions in their operations, despite the information that command is sending down.  That information is not current and does not reflect the current needs to make good decisions. 

The election is almost upon us and it’s time to consider just how much more damage we want the current leadership to bring upon our country. We can control our own future and economy, but business is the answer, not government.  We don’t need speeches and we don’t need numbers- adjusting.  When the situation is this critical, we simply have to cut.  After the effects of the past three years, no incumbent should go unchallenged. Each person in a leadership position needs to be personally challenged to address the economics of the current problem. 

We do not need and cannot afford bigger government.  Allow business to grow and provide jobs and we will be stronger, and in a better position to combat our debt.  In the 2012 elections, support business and support your economy – vote out debt spending, tax increases and bigger government. 

Reported from Kiev this week: in Germany – which adopted old American economic ways – unemployment is low with retail sales showing a 9% increase in sales over previous years, and very solid economic standing using good proven American economic policies. (Germany’s Chancellor grew up in the former East Germany and knows how Marxist socialism destroys a society.) 

Know who your enemy is: the enemy is our debt – and the individuals who are ignoring it.

Hayden Collins during a roof top Solar Review in Dalton Georgia

 Bringing new energy projects to Bartow County offers economic advantages for our residents and the businesses that are already here, and an incentive to attract new businesses.  It also provides us with an opportunity to be more self-sufficient and less vulnerable in a shaky world economy.  And due to recent advances in technology and the current economic slump, the high start-up costs you may have heard of in the past are no longer an obstacle.  For an example of this, we don’t have to look any further away than Dalton, 50 miles up the road in Whitfield County, Georgia.

 And more specifically, the plant where the largest solar energy system in the state of Georgia is located – covering the entire roof of a factory with solar arrays, and generating enough power to more than maintain the factory’s needs during peak times, and providing supplemental electricity during normal demand.  This kind of system has a lifespan of 30-40 years. Not long ago, it took 20 years or more to earn back the cost of installing solar energy generating arrays, which limited the market for them.  But due to improved technology as well as the rising cost of energy, the return on the investment is now realized in a much shorter time: the solar arrays that were just installed in Dalton four years ago, will be paid for this year.   What that means is that the initial costs are paid back in 4-7 years, and for the remainder of the lifespan of the system – 25-35 years – companies in Dalton will profit from their longterm decision to provide for their energy needs and gain a better position for being more self-sufficient and competitive. 

How could such an example be used in Bartow County – and without scary risks for taxpayers?  We could consider a use like this for the vacant 800 acre industrial park and initiate a partnership with a Georgia-based solar power company to lease them the property. allow the solar power company to install clean energy solar cells there at their cost, maintain them at their cost, and we agree to buy the power from those cells in Bartow County at a reduced cost.  This kind of deal is a power purchase agreement: like a performance contract, if they don’t perform, they don’t get paid.  So there is no risk to the taxpayer, because we would not maintain the equipment or own the equipment until the end of the agreement, we would only be obliged to purchase the power for existing demands.  And at the end of the agreement, we would inherit the cells and the arrays for the remainder of their operational life, at no cost to the tax payer – receiving free  energy for over 20 years and reducing our need for outside energy sources.

This would be one step toward become more self-sufficient.  Another step could be the upgrading of a co-generation plant near the industrial park and landfill – using landfill methane gas to generate both steam and electricity – and allowing us to attract business to Bartow County by providing cheaper costs of doing business.  We can see the success of this kind of operation in Albany, Georgia.  Bartow County could even consider using such a program to grant incentives of providing free steam in the industrial park for up to five years, to companies that bring their jobs and their businesses here.

This is not competition to existing providers such as Plant Bowen, because it is a different type of power.  Under current legislation to expand the use of green and renewable energy, Georgia needs more green energy opportunities, which they could take advantage of if they partner with us in the operation.

This is a leading edge, longterm economic plan, to help enhance our longterm self-sufficiency.  Economic plans have to be developed for the future, and to provide guidance and an environment for business and the community to succeed in a self-sufficient environment.  Plans like this are not hinged on the success of a single business enterprise, but provide opportunities for any small business – or large business, for that matter – to come to our community and take advantage of the lower costs of doing business here.

Until we can make the decisions and carry out plans like this, we are going to be behind the learning curve.  If we expect our children to be successful, we have to set an environment for them to be successful.  And it is our responsibility as a community to bring such competitive advantages here, let Bartow County lead, and let the others watch our smoke.  The solar cell programs, methane generators, the co-generation steam plants – we can create that edge in our county, and our children will benefit with jobs – jobs not based on disposable income, but professional jobs providing a future for the county.  We can be the example that others will look to – of being more self-sufficient, putting ourselves in a position to benefit in spite of the rising price of energy costs, and providing a conducive business environment to attract manufacturing, technology and educational programs to Bartow County.

And in addition to providing for ourselves, our success in this this will force other counties to compete – and as we do this within the State of Georgia, our state will also become more competitive and more attractive to business.  Using the advantage that clean, low cost electric or steam power can provide for business can make us a stronghold for business in the South – leading the rest of the country, generating competition, and making the U.S. more competitive.  Business can lead the way where no government program can. And a favorable environment for business to create jobs is enhanced by the government getting out of the way.  Our self-sufficiency will be the greatest resource of all for our successful future.