Debt not always a crisis
Although being in debt is always a concern, debt in itself is not a “crisis;” just ask Dick “Deficits Don’t Matter” Cheney.
Our Nation and our government have always been in debt. We go into debt to fight wars and recessions and achieve strategic goals. Deficits however, have always been followed by surpluses. After we borrowed, we raised revenues and lowered the debt. However, for the first time in our nation’s history, the Republican administrations of Reagan and Bush I and II, with their huge tax breaks and massive military spending, exploded the nation’s debt load to $12 trillion during their administrations. Add in the trillions of dollars handed to the 1% because of “voodoo economics” and ill-conceived financial de-regulation and you have a recipe for disaster.
All of Colorado’s Republican Representatives have pledged their allegiance, not to the United States, but to Grover Norquist and his Junior High School notion that you should never raise taxes. These legislators brag that they will “never compromise;” so revenues, as a percent of the Gross National Product, are the lowest they’ve been since the Korean War. The Republican platform even calls for larger cuts, on dividends and capital gains, which is how the wealthy make their money, while raising taxes on middle class wage earners by removing the home mortgage interest deduction and privatizing the social safety net.
Debt reduction is important and necessary and both parties have to find some common ground for any meaningful action to occur. We have to pay down the debt, but not on the shoulders of working America.
The entire Nation will re-elect President Obama, our responsibility, in Huerfano County, Colorado, is to remove Tea Party obstructionist Scott Tipton and elect Sal Pace. It is time to restore common sense to the US House.
~David Gnaizda
Farisita
Name calling diverts attention from real political issues
I must assure Mr. Holman that I am not talking through my hat and did hear Candidate Obama say he would give your grandmother a pill rather than a hip replacement. I don’t think that this was something anyone would joke about. This was not taken out of context and I am not lying as you implied. As far as not having a sense of humor is just ridicules.
I lost my mother after she fought cancer for eight years. We did not measure her life in money; the years she did have were not always easy for her but she did get to enjoy her children and grandchildren during those years. When she gave up it was her decision not her children’s and thankfully not the government’s.
As far as David Gnaizda’s history lesson stating that Republicans voted against social security in the 1930’s. How was this relevant today? I wasn’t even born then. But while talking about history, why did so many Democrats vote against the Civil Rights Bill of 1964? Without Republicans this would not have become a law.
Calling people liars and making stereotypical remarks is just vicious and bigoted but is a good strategy because it keeps the conversation off important issues such as the economy. Some people just don’t want to discuss important issues.
President Obama’s remarks to business owners was not taken out of context and an insult to everyone that started a business by mortgaging their house and working seven days a week to build a business and get through all the government regulations and red tape that are nothing but roadblocks. Roads and bridges are paid for by the taxes we pay and not a gift from the government. I will vote for 100% of the people.
~Brian Manning
Chairman Huerfano County Republicans,
La Veta
Writer says, vote for Ray and Max
We all understand two things: First, most people these days lack confidence in our
political institutions. Second, the health and well being of our economy are in danger. As the great Democratic politician Tip O’Neil said: “All politics are local.”
Huerfano County is near the economic bottom of the list of Colorado counties. Our
schools are struggling, our employment rate is staggering. According to the bureau of labor
statistics, one of eight people who want to be in the workforce could not find jobs as of March 2012. That number does not count those who have given up searching for a job. That number is nearly one and a half times the percentage of those statewide who are unemployed. This is
unacceptable. Our young people wonder why they should work hard in school when in
Huerfano county there is no place to use that education. The solution is easy for anyone to state: Local Economic Development. Implementation is harder. This is where we see a clash of values. Our local newspapers have used barrels of ink on the clash of values over natural
resource development.
All wealth is initially generated by agriculture or mining. Every physical thing you own it was either farmed or mined. Agriculture and mining are resources Huerfano County has to develop. While with all activities there is a potential for mismanagement that means appropriate oversight is important.
With that in mind, I look at the local candidates for the Board of County Commissioners.
Ray Garcia brings remarkable experience in working with the infrastructure for economic development; i.e. Water and Electricity. Ray has served in a number of roles as a board member for San Isabel Electric Coop. He has also been the water commissioner for District 79. Ray understands these issues.
Max Vezzani has thirty years of experience working for agencies within the Department of Natural Resources, including time at the highest levels of management. Max understands
the issues and can translate that knowledge into good practice.
While economic development alone will not solve all the challenges facing Huerfano
County, it is the foundation for other needed programs. Both Max and Ray both trace their family roots to Huerfano County. They are interested in seeing the County develop, but only in a responsible manner that is sensitive to the physical and social landscape of our home.
I urge you to consider voting for this team to work for Huerfano County to get us on a track that leads to Local Economical Development and a healthy and prosperous social and economic future. I believe they will support the values that we in Huerfano County share.
~Dennis Hoyt
Walsenburg
Water and Ray Garcia
Huerfano County is one of the poorest counties in the state; well over 20 % of our residents live below the poverty level. We desperately need prosperity. That will come only when we attract employers who offer well-paying jobs.
New businesses inevitably require direct or indirect access to adequate water supplies. Water may be a necessity for their business. Water will certainly be needed for their employees’ homes; free-flowing streams will be essential for their quality of life.
There are two Huerfano County organizations that can protect and preserve our water – the Water Conservation District and the Board of County Commissioners. Only the Commissioners are elected. When making our choices in this November’s election of County Commissioners, we should select the candidate with the greatest capacity to provide leadership on water issues.
All who care about the county’s water should support Ray Garcia for County Commissioner. Few of us understand the ins and outs of water rights. He is a fifth generation local farmer/rancher and the water commissioner for 28 years for the Huerfano River, District 79. As a result, Ray is one of the few water experts in the county. He works with water right administration on the river every day and knows its over 1300 water rights intimately. He has demonstrated leadership in non-water contexts as well. No candidate is better qualified to bring water expertise and leadership to the new Board of County Commissioners
Please join me in supporting Ray Garcia for County Commissioner.
~Sandy White
La Veta
Writer’s views on liberal Democrats
Liberal contempt for ‘rugged individualism’ never ceases to amaze. Why is dependence on federal government embraced and encouraged by liberals rather than neighbor helping neighbor, local community taking care of their own, and family taking responsibility for their loved ones?
Chairman Gnaizda, have you ever been to Reading, PA? Reading is an example of “progressive” induced squalor, crime and failure just on the edge of Lancaster PA, where the Amish community thrives. Evidently, Amish know more about what enables a healthy community than government busybodies.
Let’s get Civil Rights Act(s) history straight too. A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Furthermore, not one Democrat in Congress voted for the Fourteenth Amendment or the Fifteenth Amendment. Not one Democrat voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The KKK was organized and made up of Democrats whose victims mostly Republican, black and white.
It was President Wilson, the personification of Democrat progressivism, who segregated federal facilities. Wilson stated, “If the colored people made a mistake in voting for me, they ought to correct it.” Wilson also gave us the Federal Reserve Bank, the IRS and federal income taxes. Yes, Wilson was indeed a “progressive” dream come true.
In 1934, FDR re-defined the dollar. This amounted to a 41% devaluation of the dollar. US citizens woke up one fine morning to find that what cost them $20 dollars to buy yesterday, today cost them $35 dollars. The poor are still being robbed today via the cryptic tax called inflation, thanks to ‘progressive,’ Keynesian economic policies.
~R. B. Sarafian
Walsenburg
A line in the sand
In choosing Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate, Mitt Romney drew a line in the sand. On election day each of us will chose a very distinct side of that line.
The Romney/Ryan side is a chance to move toward the republic our forefathers had the insight to formulate: an America founded upon distinctive moral, political and economic principles.
Thomas Jefferson recognized that every species of government has specific principles, and that “Ours are perhaps more peculiar than those of any other in the universe.” Those unique principles were natural rights to life, liberty, personal property, and the pursuit of happiness; a government deriving its authority and power only by consent of those who are governed; a government of equal rights, not unequal entitlements to selected recipients; and a government that protects its people and their rights.
On the other side of that line drawn in the sand is a pattern where the principles that were “self-evident” to the men and women of 1776 are violated by government.
Our present government has routinely exercised powers — at enormous expense and un-funded debt — nowhere authorized in the Constitution. These include executive orders that contradict our laws and regulations that are not authorized by them. Too often, we have responded with only disinterest. Gradually our leaders have convinced many people that the solution to their problems is for government to take from some Americans so it can distribute to others it chooses: thus allocating homes, jobs, insurance and other goods where it wants. This is a switch from a nation of constitution to one of redistribution as determined by the powerful.
So, the question then becomes, will we allow government to violate parts of the Constitution until it violates all of it, or will we step to the other side of the line and build on the historically proven strength of our nation? The future of our country depends upon our character and fortitude in the choices we make in November and beyond.
~Stanley K. Mann
Walsenburg
Mitt Romney’s Mormonism
Mitt Romney, already under relentless attack by the Obama Administration and his media lapdogs, is now (and we knew this was coming) being attacked on a new front, his Mormonism. I am not a Mormon, but I have recently started attending a Mormon Church. What is clearly obvious to me is that Mormon values and principles are far more in accord with those of our forefathers, the freedom-loving Americans who made this country great, than are the values and principles (or lack thereof) of Obama and the liberal left. In fact, Mormon teachings and beliefs are very much in line with those of the Founding Fathers.
Mormonism teaches hard work, honesty, self determination, self reliance, individual liberty, charity, service, preparedness, thrift, honor, love of family, lawfulness, peacefulness through strength, patriotism, adherence to the Ten Commandments, and salvation through repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Though the Mormon version of Christianity is somewhat different than other versions, the Holy Bible is a fundamental tool of their worship, as is the Book of Mormon.
The Mormon Church has grown and prospered because Mormons tend to be hard-working achievers, like the Christianity-based Americans who built this nation into the greatest country the world has ever seen. For example, did you know that J. Willard Marriott was a Mormon? Mr. Marriott started out as the son of a Utah sheep herder. Through incessant hard work, he built a business empire that included 1,900 hotels, several restaurant chains, and multiple theme parks, and cruise ships. His flight kitchens also served 150 airlines. Mr. Marriott, a great American capitalist, built an empire worth more than $3.5 billion.
Mr. Marriott believed in hard work, about which he said, “No person can get very far in life working 40 hours a week.” He also loved America. He once said, “I have always felt that America is the land of unlimited opportunities for those who will pay the price.”
Capitalism built America, and Mitt Romney understands and appreciates the incredible opportunities a vibrant capitalistic system provides. I have no doubt that Mitt Romney will turn this country around in his first four years — restoring the economic engine that will provide millions of jobs and make us all prosperous again, securing our borders, and returning us to a powerful, but peace-leading international political, military, and economic force. I also believe he might well bring us to complete energy independence in eight years.
In my view, his Mormonism is a big plus, not a negative.
~ Darrell Arnold
La Veta
The truth for Darrel Arnold
Mr. Darrell Arnold has completely missed the point of my recent letter, which showed that people who believe the rants of their favorite media pundits often only spread their lies.
The only people who “have been had” by the “brilliant” Rush Limbaugh are his listeners.
President Obama graduated from Harvard Law School Magna Cum Laude and was elected president of the Harvard Law Review and that, dear readers, is the truth.
~Bill Kramer
La Veta
Writer says a vote for Obama hurts Medicare
When you vote for a president in November, you will also choose between the Ryan/Romney Medicare plan and Obamacare. The Ryan plan was sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans and passed in the House of Representatives by 270 votes of both Republicans and Democrats. Obamacare did not receive the vote of a single Republican.
Under the Ryan/Romney plan, Medicare will not change at all for anyone 55 and older. Overall funding for Medicare will continue to grow. As younger people reach retirement age, they can choose to use Medicare or use the average amount of money the government spends on each Medicare enrollee to buy private insurance. These private plans offered will offer the same benefits Medicare does. This approach is called premium support and is like Medicare’s successful prescription drug benefit.
Obamacare raids Medicare for $716,000,000.00, seven hundred sixteen billion dollars, as stated by the Congressional Budget Office on July 24, 2012. This gutting will effectively end Medicare. On March 3, 2012, Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, admitted in a House hearing that the money was being double-counted to fund Obamacare and Medicare.
Under Obamacare, the unelected, unaccountable Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) will ration care and choose treatments for seniors. This is only one of the 159 new boards, agencies and programs set up to govern medicine under Obamacare. Value-based payments, reporting requirements, and government comparative-effectiveness boards will dictate how your doctors practice medicine. Planned payment reductions to Medicare providers of $575,000,000.00 will cause more doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
Be thoughtful about your vote in November. The result of this election will affect your health.
~Wilma Martinez
Walsenburg
A review of Obama’s presidency
Being a trained historian, I thought to do a short review of President Obama’s first term in office to see what we could see.
Obama campaigned on the promise that he would create jobs. His “SHOVEL READY” plan was a bust. I do not know of any project that were accomplished under that plan. Railroads, highways’ bridges and airways were supposed to be modernized during his administration. It didn’t happen.
The stimulus plan was a waste of money. Any jobs that were created were “overseas”. The Military services were overextended and underfunded!
Like many people I subsist on Social security. That has been frozen for three years.
The U.S. Government is one of the largest employers in the country. Their salaries and retirements have been frozen for the last three years.
If you draw Social security, work for Civil Service or are retired Civil Service, your income has been “frozen” for the last three years. To make himself look generous the President unfroze these salaries and retirements for the election year. The salaries and retirement annuities were not brought up to date, but restored at 2009 levels. So these people are subsisting on incomes that are three years behind the rest of the economy!
Mr. Obama claims to have studies the actions of Franklin D. Roosevelt to manage the economic crisis we are in. I HAVE studied F.D.R.’s programs. If Obama did, he flunked the course! He did exactly the opposite of F.D.R.’s actions!
~Jerry Price
Walsenburg
Will you vote for economic suicide?
It is time to stop our insane economic downward spiral that first started with the Democrats’ super majority during the final two years of Bush’s second term. To make things worse, we added a Democrat president. When first elected, Obama’s primary goal was to “fairly” redistribute wealth created by private sector entrepreneurs, i.e. confiscate it and spend it for what progressives term “the public good”.
This country was built on the concept of property rights to be protected by the government. Liberals interpret property rights as their right to the property of others.
Obama belittles accomplishments of business owners by telling them they could not have succeeded without government infrastructure. Of course, government “did not build that” either. It merely acted as contractor. Private companies performed the work and the private sector paid for it.
Obama tells business owners that “there comes a time when you’ve made enough money”. Money being the reward for productivity, he actually tells them to either stop being productive or turn all their profits over to “the people”, which is the basic concept of communism.
We must stop progressives from destroying our productive private sector, from hog tying businesses with regulations and suffocating them with taxes. The private sector is being crushed by the behemoth of our government bureaucracy. Businesses are closing down and jobs are lost every day because running a business becomes ever less rewarding. We are increasingly dependent on products manufactured overseas because we can no longer afford much of what we used to produce at home.
Voting Obama and his Marxist cronies out of office this November is absolutely critical to our country’s economic survival! A vote for Obama will continue our downhill slide towards Marxist poverty and misery for all. I have personally experienced it and know what I am talking about!
~Claus Enderlein, Walsenburg
Truth
On a related note to my previous letters, it is a gross conflict of interest for the Walsenburg mayor to be on the staff of the only newspaper based in town. Journalism serves a very important role in keeping people and governments honest and trustworthy. It is here to expose wrongdoings and spread information. These two obligations are put at risk when the highest ranking official of small town government is in such close ties with its only local source of information. I don’t mean to overdramatize the situation, but I’m reminded of 1984’s Ministry of Truth.
There is a high potential that we aren’t being given all the information relating to activities that could leave a stain on Patrick’s time in office. I don’t make any accusations in mentioning the fact, nor do I question Patrick’s honor. I only bring forth the very obvious truth that exists. Even as I write this, I wonder, “Will any of my letters be published?”
This conflict, this insecurity leads me to one conclusion, for the remainder of Patrick’s term, unless he steps off of the staff, I suggest that an independent newsletter that details the activity of city matters be published and distributed. It’s the only way we can be certain we are holding our officials accountable for their actions.
With respect,
~Jacob Vigil
Golden, Colorado
Dear Editor
Looking back at the Obama administration is sadly disappointing. There was an omnibus bill, a stimulus bill and a few unemployment compensation bills. These included a banking bailout and an auto industry bailout. Successful or not depending on your point of view. A health coverage law passed against the wishes of 78% of the people. It is a law containing the highest tax increase in history and guts medicare of 716 billion dollars. The war on energy has spawned a green energy industry that can’t support itself without large sums of tax dollars, tax breaks, and handouts. Meanwhile causing unemployment in other forms of energy we still must have. Unemployment after adjustment is above 8% and unadjusted is above 15%. 49 million people are now on food stamps and 50% of Americans don’t pay any taxes. Gasoline hovers around $4.00 a gallon and this administration hasn’t created a budget since Obama was elected. 1200 new regulations controlling farmers and ranchers have been created though. Obama has insulted our allies and praised and apologized to our enemies. Behind our backs they have attempted to make gun control more acceptable with the foiled “fast and furious” program which they are covering up with an executive order. They were prevented from using the United Nations to pass an international arms treaty with the power to confiscate our firearms. During all this the Obama family lives like royalty on vacation over 60 times in 31 months. Their dog gets a jet of it’s own. We can miss our jobs and our tax dollars but the president doesn’t miss a tee time. Now at the democratic convention a keynote speaker is an abuser of women who was impeached and disbarred. It don’t believe I want any more of these guys.
Thank You
Russell Keeling
La Veta, CO
