CROSSVILLE —
Everywhere people think they pay too much to the federal government in taxes. That government is too big, too far reaching and definitely too wasteful. This is not always true and in many circumstances, government’s reach is not large or powerful enough! In this country of nearly 313 million, an effective and strong government is sometimes needed!
Our Tennessee qualifies for “Federal Aid” each year and receives back $1.27 from Washington for every $1 paid in taxes. That, folks, is “welfare”! How many of you who detest “welfare” and disrespect those receiving it realize that Tennessee is a “welfare state”? This means other American taxpayers provide us welfare! In fact, ten of the top receivers are Southern “non-union, right to work” states! Tennessee has a low cost of living because few workers here make a true “livable” wage. Some with college degrees qualify for food stamps! Poverty levels are very high. We have high illiteracy rates, too many school dropouts, a high rate of teen pregnancies, etc. As a result, the rest of America needs to bail us out.
Too many Southern workers are undereducated and considered difficult to train. Few “high tech” corporations who offer decent pay move here. Instead, we attract those who take advantage of the low taxes and cheap labor, using Tennessee and all of its people! Most of the country, though, sees improving education and poverty in the South as worthwhile. They consider it an investment in our country’s future.
On the other hand, government money is truly wasted by the lack of oversight and regulations on corporate managements who lack self control and discipline. Few punishments are enforced for CEOs who allow their personal greed to overrule their obligations! Many in our Congress find ways to enrich themselves financially, abusing their fiduciary responsibilities to the United States they supposedly represent. Pentagon funding is our largest expense and the greatest “waste” year after year. The U.S. spends as much as the next 17 countries combined, including China and Russia. While most of the money flowing through our economy is “recycled” throughout America (Social Security, Medicare and welfare funding), military spending is pretty much an expensive single shot! Congressional decision makers, who personally “invest” in Pentagon contractors, should be indicted and jailed. How can we stop votes for “profitable” (for some) wars with the few regulations we now have?
Most of our existing financial problems are still the results of the wasteful Bush Administration’s intentional re-distribution of the surplus, paid by the tax payers during the Clinton years. Many of you are “tired” of hearing how everything wrong today is still “Bush’s fault.” But, until the $10,600,000,000,000 debt he left is repaid, it IS still the Bush Administration’s fault! Particularly, the huge amounts wasted (and “lost”) during the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions.
President Lincoln (Republican) stated government should be “of the people, by the people and FOR the people”! Health care, education and economic support FOR the people is money well spent! Wars that financially profit only a few at the top are not!
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This column represents alternative thoughts to other published columns in the Crossville Chronicle. “We the People” is published each Wednesday. Opinions expressed in “We the People” columns are not necessarily those of the Crossville Chronicle publisher, editor or staff. For more information, contact John Wund, editor, at jwund@frontiernet.net.
Opinion
WE THE PEOPLE: Government should be ‘for’ the people!
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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