My take on the news

No secret, there's government fat to cut

Lonnie Barham
Posted 4/26/12

OUR "NOT-SO-SECRET" SERVICE: The secret is out of the bag. When public servants, especially those who may think they are above the law because of their positions, travel far from home, they sometimes …

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My take on the news

No secret, there's government fat to cut

Posted

OUR "NOT-SO-SECRET" SERVICE: The secret is out of the bag. When public servants, especially those who may think they are above the law because of their positions, travel far from home, they sometimes do things they would never do at home – such as engaging in multi-hour poolside drinking parties followed by indoor partying with prostitutes. What does this tell us about the Secret Service? It says they are under-worked and overstuffed! Since these agents had so much extra time to hang poolside with margaritas and bedside with senoritas, clearly too many were sent to do the pre-visit security work. Just goes to show that our federal government still has a lot more fat to cut and a lot more taxpayer money to save.

MEDIA ATTACK ON "STAND YOUR GROUND" LAWS: The Providence Journal and other media outlets have condemned "stand your ground" laws, labeling them unnecessary and pro-violence. What happened to the principles on which our country was founded? If our country is attacked, do we advocate retreat? Did we retreat after Concord and Lexington? Did we retreat after Fort Sumpter? Did we retreat after Pearl Harbor? Of course not! So, why should a law-abiding citizen who is attacked in a public place be required to run when he has the ability to "stand his ground" and defend himself? There is no logic to such a requirement. We pat ourselves on the back when we march in mass in "take back the night" parades – yet we are afraid to walk the same street alone. If we are serious about taking back our streets, then we should accept that an attacker will be far less comfortable trying to rob or rape us if he knows we may fight back instead of being obligated by law to cower into the shadows.

MORE DIPLOMATIC FAILURES: North and South American countries participating in the Summit of the Americas did not sign a declaration at the conclusion of the summit because President Obama could not overcome other countries' objections and convince them to issue a joint proclamation. Simultaneously, the Obama administration is again negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program against the wishes of Israel who accuses Obama of giving the Iranians "a freebie" by allowing them extra time during resumed negotiations to hide their nuclear weapons-grade uranium enrichment program. While Americans' minds are on the economy, we tend to overlook Obama's foreign policy weaknesses.

THE "WAR ON WOMEN": The Obama campaign is pushing the fiction that Republicans are waging a "war on women." Be careful what you engage in; it might backfire on you. That's what Obama's campaign learned when Mitt Romney fired back. From the time the recession began in 2007 until Obama took office in 2009, 66 percent of job losses were suffered by men. However, from Obama's 2009 swearing in until 2012, the job losses have been felt disproportionately by women 92 percent of the time. No, Obama is not waging war on women, but his policies seem to be having an equally deleterious effect; so he should be very careful about labeling Republicans as misogynists.

SENATOR WHITEHOUSE'S ANGER: Why is it that those who are the angriest about millionaires "not paying their fair share" of income taxes are, almost invariably, millionaires themselves. Could it be these angry millionaires, like Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, feel guilty about how they accumulated their millions? Many of the angrier ones accumulated their millions through inheritance, insider stock information or trading political favors. What about the millionaires who actually worked to earn their money, who started businesses and struggled to make them successful, who created jobs for millions of people? You don't hear them demanding to pay more income taxes. Whitehouse's jobs-killing bill would have increased federal revenues by a mere $47 billion over 10 years – far short of the $16 trillion we need to eliminate the national deficit. Furthermore, Whitehouse knows that millionaires already provide a hugely disproportionate share of the nation's total revenue. But, it's an election year and Whitehouse's seat is up for grabs. He knows cerebral issues won't grab his voting block, only visceral issues designed to divide instead of unite will get him re-elected.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: For the first time ever, 2011 saw attendance at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library eclipse that of the Lincoln Library. In fact, attendance at the Reagan Library is now greater than attendance at any other presidential library, to include those of Democrat icons Kennedy, Johnson and Clinton. Could it be that more and more Americans are identifying with the anti-tax, anti-spending philosophy Reagan espoused. The Reagan philosophy is summarized by a few of his more famous quotes. Describing big government’s propensity to tax, regulate and spend: “If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.” Regarding the odious nature of politics: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” And lastly, regarding how fragile our freedom is from big government: “Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.”

NATIONAL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY INITIATIVE: Has anyone heard of this initiative? Has the press pursued stories about it? Apparently not. The initiative, supported by the left and the right for different reasons, involves pumping CO2 into depleted oil wells to force previously unavailable oil to the surface. It will benefit the economy because it will add greatly to U.S. oil availability and thus reduce prices at the gas pump. It will also help address global warming since it will sequester underground a huge amount of CO2 that would otherwise be added to the Earth’s heat-trapping ozone layer, thus slowing climate change. The initiative seems to promise a win-win result. Why haven’t the American people heard more about it and why isn’t Congress eagerly pursuing it?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: From an unknown Internet poster: "So I'm supposed to be more angry about how Mitt Romney spends his money than how Barack Obama spends my money."

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  • TheDeal

    Reagan would never win his partys nomination with today's GOP.

    Wednesday, May 2, 2012 Report this