The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1481456
South Gibson Star-Times B-8 Tuesday, October 11, 2022 OPINION The Thomas' are American patriots Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his political activist wife, Ginni, are a high-profile Washington conservative power couple. Power couples are a common Wash- ington phenomenon. Each spouse wields political power and influence in a certain arena. Together they concen- trate power and influence. Per Public Citizen, of the 115th Congress, 59 % of retiring congress- men remained in Washington, taking jobs as lobbyists or in consulting firms, trade groups or business groups, work- ing to influence government. So, we have power couples that are in office, that were in office - - congress- men and ex-congressmen, federal regu- lators and former regulators, lawyers, etc. But there is something very differ- ent about the Thomases. Washington power couples are about money, power and influence. But the Thomases are about principles. "America is in a vicious battle for its founding principles," says Ginni Thomas. Really, if the Thomases are success- ful in their struggle to restore America's founding principles, the result is less power and influence peddling because the result is much less government. Those who are concerned about influ- ence peddling in Washington should enthusiastically support the principles that Judge Thomas and his wife, Ginni, stand for. It is exactly what the founders of the country had in mind. Limit influ- ence peddling and corruption by limit- ing the size and scope of government. In 1900, total take of government from the U.S. economy was 7.8 % . In 2020, this was up to 43.3% . Those on the left who are so critical of Judge Thomas and Ginni Thomas are also those who support the vast expan- sion of government that we have expe- rienced and struggle with today. This wholesale expansion of government is exactly what the founders did not want for the very reasons we see today. What about those who argue that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from cases in which his wife has been politically active? The rules for recusal, as I understand them, are far from black and white. It is very much a subjective decision on the part of the judge to recuse himself/ herself. A key issue is it that it is forbidden for a judge to discuss a pending case with a third party. Ginni Thomas cate- gorically rejected that such discus- sions ever occur between her and her husband in her recent voluntary testi- mony before the House Select Commit- tee on Jan. 6. "I can guarantee that my husband has never spoken with me about pend- ing cases at the Court," she told the committee. "It is an iron clad rule in our home." But perhaps most importantly, Thomas noted "It is laughable for anyone who knows my husband to think I could influence his jurispru- dence - - the man is independent and stubborn, with strong character traits of independence and integrity." It should be clear to anyone who has followed Judge Thomas over the years that this is true. He is a man of deep principle who loves America and is very serious and committed in his Christian faith. Bottom line on the whole thing is that Judge Thomas and his activist wife are the solutions we need, not the problem. We are getting the problem from big-government leftists who view Judge Thomas and his wife with such animosity. We should also give Ginni Thomas credit for her activism for American principles. It is ironic the criticism she gets from the left, from the femi- nists, who pretend to be advocates of strong and independent women. This is exactly what Ginni Thomas is. She should be the role model for the left, for professional women and young women who aspire to be professional. We keep the country free, per the founders, by limiting government. The source for guidelines for ethical behavior is in the very Christian prin- ciples that the left has worked so hard to purge from our nation. This is exactly what Judge Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas bring to the table, for the benefit of all of us. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." race for the cure By Star Parker Give Me a break By John Stossel Hurricane myths In just the last few weeks, Liz Truss, Britain's new prime minis- ter, has been denounced by critics as a "fascist." So has Giorgia Meloni, Italy's newly elected prime minis- ter. Along with all Republicans in Congress, Texas and Florida GOP Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSan- tis and, of course, former President Donald Trump. Every one of the tens of thou- sands of "MAGA Republicans" who attend Trump rallies, too. Danger- ous fascists, for that matter, all of whom critics say need to be shut up. Truss is a fascist because she wants to cut taxes. Meloni is a fascist, and getting banned from several social media platforms, because she gave a rousing speech endorsing God, family and country. What a danger- ous tyrant. Republicans in Congress are fascists because they support work for welfare and are trying to block the Green New Deal. Hillary Clinton said after a recent Trump rally in Ohio, "I remember as a young student...I'd watch news- reels and I'd see this guy standing up there ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms." Trump's defeated 2016 Democratic presidential rival was referring to Hitler. "You saw the rally in Ohio the other night," added Clinton, the former first lady, senator and secre- tary of state. "Trump is there rant- ing and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised." She didn't quite say it, but the implied message was clear: These crazy Trump supporters wanted to say, "Heil Hitler." At least President Joe Biden doesn't call his political adversar- ies fascists. They are only "semifascists." What a relief. Aren't these the same people who have urged rais- ing the level of civil discourse? Wasn't Biden supposed to "unify" the country with Trump out of the picture? What is so infuriating about these slurs is that the Left doesn't even understand what a fascist is. Accord- ing to the Merriam-Webster dictio- nary, fascism is "a political philos- ophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government." The Britannica Dictionary defines fascism as "a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the govern- ment." Let all that sink in for a minute. Who are the fascists here? A govern- ment that "controls the lives of the people." Let's see - - we have a group of politicians who shut down schools, businesses, restaurants and churches during COVID-19. A government that is now telling us what kind of light bulbs we can put in our homes, what temperature we can set our thermostat in our living rooms, what kind of car we can buy and what kind of drugs we need to be inserted into our arms. Who is the leader who is vastly super- sizing our central- ized government? Biden and congressio- nal Democrats have already spent $4 tril- lion expanding nearly all the power struc- tures of government in Washington. If this isn't fascis- tic, what is? But here's the rub. The defini- tion of "fascism" has gradually been evolving over time. Nowadays, according to the Collins Dictionary, fascism "is a set of right-wing polit- ical beliefs that includes strong controls of society and the econ- omy by the state" (emphasis added). By this definition, leftists can't be accused of being fascists because they want to use government for virtuous ends, while the Right wants to use government to further enrich the rich, spread racism and deny science. What we have here is a clinical case of "projecting." Democrats and other leftist parties around the world accuse the Right of want- ing to expand government powers when that is precisely the overriding objective of the modern-day Amer- ican Left. It is prototypically fascistic. Elevate race and skin color into the public debate. Trample civil liber- ties. Squash those who disagree with the reigning government. Partner up Big Government with Big Business and micromanage the economy through dictates from the central planners. Put your political enemies in handcuffs and jail without a trial. Trample over the traditional guard- rails that were installed to protect liberty – by changing voting rules, ending the 60 -vote filibuster in the Senate and discrediting and trying to pack the Supreme Court. Declare everything, including COVID-19 and climate change, an existential threat to justify more power to the politicians. So what is a fascist really? The Left says it is anyone who opposes what they want to do to expand government. But the real definition of a fascist is a leader who wants to exploit governmental power to suppress the basic liberties of indi- viduals. It is the partnership of government and private industry for political power and monetary gain. To find it in modern-day America, the folks at the White House may want to look in the mirror. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an econ- omist with FreedomWorks. His latest book is "Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government is Devouring our Economy." Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore Who are the neofascists? Hurricane Ian is gone, but the media's myths about hurricanes live on. Reporters say the federal govern- ment must direct disaster response, as if only the feds have the knowl- edge and money to do it. "Debate is already growing about how big federal aid must be," says CNN. Why?! Don't they know that government has no money of its own? That everything federal bureaucrats spend is taken from the rest of us? They don't think about that. Federal "disaster relief" is doled out after storms because, as a New York Times headline put it, "A Big Storm Requires Big Government." But it doesn't. My video this week debunks four myths about hurricanes. Myth No. 1: We need the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief. That's just dumb, given FEMA's history of incompetence. FEMA once spent millions on bottled water and expensive trail- ers for housing. Then they just left them on an airfield. Matt Mayer worked at the Depart- ment of Homeland Security during Hurricane Katrina. He says the federal government was just too bureaucratic to be much help. "States, locals, communities, neighbors" just do a much better job, Mayer told me. FEMA fails because, like all government bureaucra- cies, there's no incen- tive to spend efficiently. Charities are more flex- ible, and "they've been doing it for 200 years." Right now in Florida, while some people wait for FEMA, religious charities help people rebuild. Myth No. 2: Govern- ment must stop greedy businesses from abus- ing customers. Some businesses do raise prices when storms approach. Politicians call that "illegal price gouging." This is just dumb, if not cruel. When storms approach, people rush to buy supplies. If stores don't raise prices, people buy anything they might possibly need, and prob- ably some stuff they won't need. The first shoppers buy extra bottled water, generators, sandbags, etc. Stores sell out, so only the quick- est customers get what they need. But if stores raise prices for items in demand, fewer people hoard, and more people get what they need. Yes, it's tough on poorer people, but the price boosts give stores extra incen- tive to restock. Prices quickly come back down. Banning price increases harms more people. A fter Hurricane Katrina, when John Shepperson learned that parts of Mississippi lost power, he bought 19 genera- tors, left the safety of his home and drove 600 miles to the disas- ter area. He offered to sell his generators for twice what he paid for them. People were eager to buy. But Mississippi police called that "goug- ing." They jailed Shepperson and confiscated his generators. I bet the cops used the generators themselves. What the law calls "gouging" is just supply and demand. It saves lives. Myth No. 3: Hurricanes are getting worse. The media say, "Storms are getting worse because of human caused climate change! " Are these "climate experts" sure it's "human- caused"? All of it? Never mind. When I showed video of report- ers talking about hurricanes getting stronger to the late climatologist Pat Michaels, he shouted, "No, they aren't! Look at all the hurricanes around the planet. We can see them since 1970 because we've got global satellite coverage. We can measure their power ... There is no significant increase." There isn't. Even our government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration admits, "There is no strong evidence of century-scale increasing trends in U.S. ... major hurricanes." There may be evidence in the future. But there isn't now. That doesn't stop media fools from saying there is. Myth No. 4: America must have government flood insurance. A fter all, private flood insurance costs "too much." But private insurers charge more for good reason: Homes in flood zones are more likely to flood. That's why federal flood insurance is a scam and a handout that rips off taxpayers. I should know. I once built a house near the ocean. It was a stupid idea. The ocean was a stone's throw away. Private insurers wanted fat premi- ums. I couldn't afford that. I wouldn't have built had I not discovered cheap government insurance. Thanks, Uncle Sam! Ten years later, my house washed away. It was upsetting, but I didn't lose money. You covered my loss. I won't do it again, but others will. Until we learn the myths about government "help," we'll keep making the same costly mistakes.