A wise man once said, "The only thing we have to fear is death and taxes."

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Wait! That's not right. It should be: "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Still, I wasn't too far off. I do fear it's a sure thing we're going to have more taxes. And soon, too.

The Georgia House fast-tracked a bill to raise $90 million in fees and licenses and will vote on it Monday. Also -- and keep your eye on this -- they've formed a blue- ribbon panel to study the state's tax system and report its findings no later than Jan. 10.

NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT, THIS CHEESE IS BINDING: Georgia's cheese factory Wheys and Means Committee has found the ways and means to milk enough from the state's herd to make a $90 million dollar hunk of cheese to use this year. Wheys and Means is desperate for cheese, and sensing that the latest milking plan will sour when the cows find out what's in store for them, they're moving fast.

Wheys and Means Chairman Larry O'Neal and the rest of the big cheese makers also outlined plans for a new blue-ribbon milking machine called the 2010 Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians. But the cows won't be getting any of the blue ribbons. Just more milking.

I think it's time for the herd to stampede.

I DON'T THINK MCDONALD IS OLD OR A FARMER: I received an e-mail from F. McDonald , who said he finds it ironic that I mentioned Georgia's cows producing less milk in City Ink.

"May I suggest you give Blythe's famous cow a rest and look into to the true sacred cows under Gov Perdue's (a different species of livestock) grand plan," Farmer McDonald wrote. "What are these sacred cows? Glad you asked.

"1. In Sonny's world, Georgians over the age of 62 do not have to pay taxes. Presently under state income tax law, taxpayers over 62 can exclude up to $35,000 of income from Ga taxes ($70k for married taxpayers). This retirement income exclusion, in addition to the exclusion from state tax of federal taxable Social Security benefits combined with standard or itemized deductions and exemptions, have exempted 98 percent of this age group from paying meaningful state taxes. In Sonny's world, cows reaching age 62 should no longer be milked, but they continue to graze at will in the pasture."

(Yes, Farmer McDonald, but they squeezed us dry for 62 years, and we'll soon be grazing that big pasture in the sky.)

He goes on:

"2. Timber conservation amendment passed just two years ago in statewide elections that was sold as save our environment but means pad our profits for the rich land owners and timber industry. You could not fill a barn with the people who are benefiting from this gift. Ask Steven Kendrick if the county has received their check from the state which was to pay for any decrease in taxes due to this allowance. Dig deep and find out from the State what the projected cost for 2009 was."

(I didn't have time to dig deep last week, but I did call Tax Commissioner Kendrick, who said he's not sure that's how the system works, but land in conservation in Richmond County is nominal.)

"3. The sales tax exempt industries -- farmers, timber harvesters, commercial fisherman, etc. Too lengthy to list all.

"4. Kaolin industry

"If I see mention of any of the above livestock in your future columns, I will submit to you additional livestock. Old man Perdue has quite the farm."

WORSE THAN SHERMAN'S: Lynn from the country also e-mailed on a different subject.

"Do the citizens of Augusta realize that MCG is marching slowly, under the cover of night, to Athens?" she asked.

Well, I don't know, but I called state Rep. Barbara Sims , who is on the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee for higher education, to see what she thought. She and I go way back to when she almost cut her hand off while I was interviewing her in her kitchen right after she was appointed to the Augusta Commission seven years ago to fill the District 3 seat Stephen Shepard left to become city attorney. She was cutting onions for a pot roast and talking a mile a minute when the knife slipped. That essentially ended the interview because she had to go get her hand stitched up.

Anyway, Sims said the two-year program in Athens is already set, and the state does need more doctors. She's against spending more money on a new medical school in Athens or anywhere else until the Medical College of Georgia is fully expanded and all potential residency slots in the area have been filled.

We also talked about Augusta State University's hopes to buy "the Patch" from the city and eventually triple enrollment.

"You have to have a vision," she said. "And I think it's a win when a campus expands and a college grows."

LOOK AT WHAT ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR PAINE COLLEGE: ASU President William Bloodworth has written City Administrator Fred Russell asking that the city donate land on the west side of Damascus Road, site of the city's skateboard park, for expansion of the west campus.

His request will be discussed at Monday's finance committee meeting.

Commissioner Joe Bowles said he's not into giving anything away. Commissioner Bill Lockett said he thought it was a great idea, with one addition -- part of the property has to be used for overflow parking from the aquatics center.

WRITE 6.35 MILLION TIMES: I WILL NOT SLANDER THE SHERIFF: Sheriff Ronnie Strength's lawyer Freddie Sanders has filed a request for a hearing in York County, S.C., in an effort to collect a $6.35 million judgment the sheriff was awarded in a slander lawsuit three years ago.

The sheriff sued Brian L. "Ryan B'' Doyle , radio station WAAW-FM (94.7) and owner Frank Neely over a 2007 broadcast in which Mr. Doyle called the sheriff a killer. A caller and Doyle discussed on the air a fatal shooting in the 1970s and said Strength was then a vice officer and the one who pulled the trigger without justification.

At the time of the shooting, Strength was actually a manager at J.B. White's department store.

Richmond County Superior Court judges have refused to set aside the judgment, and the Court of Appeals of Georgia upheld the ruling.

Neely owns several radio stations and other property in South Carolina that Sanders plans to attach and sell.

The sheriff said most people think he's already collected the $6.35 million.

"They think when you get a judgment, you get paid," he said. "That's not the way it works."

But the sheriff said you can bet Sanders won't sleep until he gets the job done.

"Being the nationally known and recognized local attorney he is, I have the utmost confidence in his abilities," he said.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Joey Brush has slowed down since his days in the state Senate, when he got a speeding ticket on his way to a Georgia-Georgia Tech football game and was accused of trying to get the ticket fixed. He hasn't gotten one since, he said.

He's plenty busy, though, trying to keep a development business going during tough economic times.

"We're just trying to keep our heads above water running the family businesses," he said.

People are always trying to get him to run again -- for county commission, school board, state House, Senate, whatever.

"Every time something comes open, or there's somebody in office they don't like, they call me," he said. "I wonder where all these friends were a few years ago. Maybe it was a case that they didn't miss me until I was gone."

There's always the possibility he'll run.

"It's a strange sickness," he said. "It seems there's no cure but death."

Brush left in 2004 after two terms in the state House and four terms in the Senate. He was divorced after leaving office and remarried in 2009.