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. — We must trim and cut public projects
Your guest editorial “How do we create better government” written by The Evening Star of Auburn has a few flaws. It is a liberal attack on the conservative money-policy thinking of former Terre Haute City Council member Ryan Cummins.
The mishmash thinking of the writer has an interesting line in the last paragraph: “Good government doesn’t begin with saying, ’I’m right. You’re wrong.’” Yes, it does. That’s what you do when you vote in an election. And guess what, the biased thinking approach of the writer in the editorial makes this sentence a statement of hypocrisy.
The editorial states that Cummins’ “goal is to get people thinking about the benefits of limited government. The millions of dollars that schools, towns, cities and counties are being required to cut from their budgets make this an ideal time for his mission.” Sounds to me like Mr. Cummins is in step with the times.
Mr. Cummins’ examples of choices for not spending government money upon may be matters of opinion but that doesn’t mean his concept is wrong.
The ability we had to pay for extra government activity is gone. The Chinese and others have it (we gave it away) and as the developing nations continue to modernize (the pace will be faster and faster in the next decades), the U.S. will become a less popular place to invest money or buy T-bills. That’s not politics. It’s just the way the money market works.
The tactical choice to discredit Mr. Cummins made by the editorial and the Kendallville mayor is that they took one exception to the rule and made the exception the rule (failed privatization of a cemetery’s care). Cemetery funds have to be watched closely anyway because of the sticky finger problem. I know of two cases where public officials helped themselves in recent years and I’m sure there have been plenty of cases I don’t know about elsewhere. Just because government personalities are involved in something doesn’t mean it’s honest.
The money problem in many state governments as a result of having too much government solution to problems is well established in crisis proportions and an example is right next door to you in Illinois. Too much taxation in Indiana caused a property tax revolt, and local governments have had to embrace austerity measures.
What isn’t mentioned (the writer may not know about it anyway) is the fact that all taxes levied by schools, towns, cities, and counties are regressive in nature. Those at the lower end of the income spectrum have their lives more affected by tax increases than those at the richer end. The more frivolous items paid for by local government, the heavier the burden on the poor. But then again, who cares about poor people?
Examples may be given of projects that help the poor, but you can find plenty of examples of government spending which subsidize the rich and only benefit a certain interested elite (where the poor don’t or can’t go).
We’re not going to learn to live with less voluntarily. It’s going to be forced upon us. The world has changed and we must adapt to it by trimming away existing and not starting anew as many frivolous government projects as we can.
— Warren J. LeFever
Marshall, Ill.
Obama’s credibility going up in smoke
In response to President Obama’s claim that his recent rise in his cholesterol can be linked to the political battles over health care; I politely disagree that this is the cause. Obama also claimed he would persuade Congress to pass health care even if it kills him.
The real reason his cholesterol is on the rise — he is a smoker! It is a big, dirty secret the White House and the mainstream media keep closely guarded. What happened with “complete transparency and honesty”? Smoking will get him long before Congress or political battles will.
Smoking has been linked to stomach, mouth, throat and lung cancer. Smoking causes yellowing teeth and foul breath. Smoking has been linked to high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, heart disease, emphysema and COPD. Smoking is not illegal. It is a personal choice. People choose not to smoke because of the adverse health effects it causes.
President Obama lives a double standard, as does the mainstream media. “Do as I say, not as I do.” How can we blindly put our “faith” in a leader when he doesn’t live what he is preaching. One other point — isn’t smoking banned in all federal work places? Isn’t the White House federal property and taxpayer funded? Doesn’t President Obama receive his paycheck and all his “perks” from us, the taxpayers?
Bottom line — we are buying his cigarettes for him, we will pay for his chronic long-term health care when the effects of smoking begin to take his body apart and we will all suffer long-term effects if his misguided health care policies become law.
— Teri Mandeville
Terre Haute
