The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/619413
C-6 Opinion Wednesday, December 23, 2015 The Press-Dispatch Sweet's column Call us–812-354-8500 SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? By Barbara Sweet Hi stars and welcome to this big stage all lit up in bright colorful lights for this Christmas season and decorated to help celebrate with all our stars who will have a birthday or anniver- sary in the week of Dec. 23- 30, so don't be shy and come on up onto this big stag and take a bow. Dec. 23 – Randy Meyer will be 60, Tommy Richard- son will be 9, Casey Thorne. Dec. 24 – Arvle Wade will be 66, Ernie Hume, Emi- ly Bayne will be 25, Aslynn Noelle Hulfachor will be 8, Donnie and Jan Stephens will celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary. Dec. 25 – Aunt Donna Collins will be 84, Carol Al- pine Fickel will be 87. Dec. 26 – Cynthia Raney will be 47, Leann Stephens will be 46, Sierra Simmons. Dec. 27 – Ed Gerber will be 50, Jeffery and Debbie Meyer will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Dec. 28 – Louis and Glen- na Russo will celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary. Dec. 29 – Misty Jones, Kelly Ingle will turn 25. Dec. 30 – Christopher Meyer will be 41, Lorin Hummer will be 11. May all our stars have a really grand day and may all your wishes come true throughout the year to come. Keep in your heart and your prayers all our stars who need the comfort that comes from caring and helpful stars. Colds, flu, aches and pains, doctor vis- its, therapy will go smooth- er with visits, phone calls, cards and those daily thoughts. More Pike County stars have passed – Leann Ste- phens' father, William Sutt, 73, passed away Dec. 10. He loved picking with a col- lection of guitars which we viewed from a picture. The next star is Doug- las Rogers, 46, who passed away Dec. 14. We knew Doug through my relative, Greg. They hunted together. May all the stars remem- ber those grand times, share your memories and more memories will appear for comfort. William and Douglas will be missed, but not forgotten. The events com- ing up in Winslow and surrounding areas: Dec. 25 – Christmas Day – Jesus' birthday and a time for kids to show their sur- prise when Santa brings that toy you really wanted. There will be travelers on the roadways so keep an eye on the road for deer cross- ings. Have a safe and en- joyable day with family and friends. Go out later and see all the Christmas dec- orations in your area. Also don't rush through the day, enjoy each minute together. Dec. 31 – Leaving behind and or saving some memo- ries through the year and look ahead and plan for 2016. Jan. 1 – New Year's Day – Resolutions begin. Winslow seniors meet at the Community Center on Monday and Tuesday. Pe- tersburg seniors meet in the courthouse basement on Monday, Tuesday, Wednes- day and Friday. No postcards or points of interest at Sweet's Column, Winslow, IN 47598 and the mailbox is checked daily. I guess this could be a point of interest. Did you know that the Simpsons Show on T V is on their 27th year and still running. I used to watch it with Laura and Norm. The Girl Scout cookie sale began on Dec. 18 and ends Jan. 17 – the cookies are $4 a box. Our regular Girl Scout in your area may stop by your house soon, I'll be ordering. Another "did you know" is did you know that winter has begun, so look out for faith weather. Yes, I'm wish- ful thinking. I would like to see a few flurries on Christ- mas or before but without the cold icy wind that ac- companies the flurries. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas all over the world, but in Pike, Du- bois, Gibson, Van- derburgh and Da- viess, it sure looks terrific when you pass by a yard or house that shows someone loves to decorate for all to enjoy this Christmas sea- son. In Winslow areas of town, you have to slow way down to see everything or just get out and take a walk and see the hidden objects not lit. Growing up in St. Louis for a few years, my family would get in the car and drive to the downtown stores at Stix Baer and Fuller and Famous Barr just to walk those blocks in the cold wind to see the many window dec- orations with moving parts in a few windows. But all the years we were a family do- ing stuff together and that's why I love to see the deco- rations to up for some hol- idays. Friday is the last day to enjoy Christmas in the Park from 6 -9 p.m. Donations are accepted. To all our stars who enjoy Sweet's Column, we wish you and yours a very Mer- ry Christmas. Whether you take a train, plane or auto- mobile, travel safe, have lots of laughter with family and just have the best day you ever had in your whole life. Gifts are always present at this holiday but the spe- cial gift of seeing your child have that surprise on their face, that makes a gift spe- cial, especially to a child. Gifts should always be giv- en in love, not responsibili- ty or obligation. Have a very Merry Christ- mas to all, but as always, smile, wave and say "hi" to everyone you see this week. Letters to the Editor Woodstock in Paris Is the Republican Party two-faced? The earth shook and the globe wobbled slightly on its axis as the "Woodstock-in- Paris" Climate Change Par- ty concluded last Saturday. It shook and wobbled not be- cause of the substance of the agreement but from the si- multaneous launch of all the private jets headed back to their constituencies to bring home the bacon without fry- ing any of their own. Secretary Kerry is be- ing bluntly disingenuous to claim that the U.S. did not push for definitive standards or an enforcement mecha- nism for the agreement in or- der to avoid calling it a trea- ty and thus subject to Sen- ate ratification. In actuality, the U.S. does have standards and an enforcement arm. It is called the U.S. E.P.A. and only applies here. If the cov- eted United Nations enforce- ment oversight of all 186 agreement countries were consistent and anything like that of our own E.P.A., one could actually see for more than half a block in down- town Beijing or New Deli. As for the much-ballyhooed agreement by the Chinese, reported pre-meeting, the only thing they have agreed to in recent memory was to reach their peak of pollu- tion by year 2030. That is very different from the stiff E.P.A. standards and com- pliance deadlines about to be imposed on U.S. power plants and manufacturers through its "Clean Power Plan" (CPP). In addition to regulation at the power gen- eration point, coal is being increasingly subjected to multiple levels of lethal reg- ulation with the obvious goal of making coal impossible to mine. So, do not blame "Big Business" for going over- seas seeking a friendlier business climate. "Tipping Point" is a term widely and dearly used in the environmental commu- nity to describe the theoreti- cal point at which reversal of the effects of anthropogenic global warming is irrevers- ible. That term is equally ap- plicable to the point at which coal fired power generation and coal mining ceases to be affordable or even practi- cable. For unlike business- es that can move off shore, mining and power genera- tion have to take place here. That tipping-point, not theo- retically but in actuality, will come suddenly and with con- sequences we will not like. Do not blame the power gen- erators when you see your bills rise by double-digits in the next ten years. Be sure of the route before you em- bark, for it may lead to a des- tination marked by misery. To give credit to United States business segment and its regulatory watchdogs, we have over the years done re- markable work in cleaning up the environment here. However, the low hang- ing fruit has already been picked from the next sever- al levels. It would seem that each generation of ecolo- gists, environmentalists and regulators want to reach for another level of regula- tory fruit to add to its lega- cy, although we "Boomers" have educated them through dollars earned in manufac- turing, mining, farming, and other occupations now called "dirty." Eve, at the be- ginning of Genesis, picked the highest hanging fruit and humankind has suffered ever since. Our government seems bent on reaching that level themselves. George Boyles Cruz and Trump, not even a contest Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker New polling shows Ted Cruz picking up major steam and looking very serious in challenging Donald Trump's leadership in the Republican presidential candidate field. A Bloomberg News/Des Moines Register poll shows Cruz now leading in Iowa. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Cruz jumping up 12 points from 10 percent in late October. Now, at 22 percent, Cruz is just 5 points behind Trump. True to form, Trump is beginning personal attacks against Cruz. "I have far better judgment than Ted," said Trump on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. That same day Trump told Fox News, "You look at the way he's dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like –frank- ly, like a little bit of a mani- ac. You're never going to get things done that way." Maybe it's time for Re- publican voters to step back and think about what kind of leader Americans need in these troubling times. Trump, a world-class salesman, hits an emotional bull's-eye with his campaign theme "Make America Great Again." This is indeed what we want. This is what got the Tea Party started to begin with. Now, with our economy growing well below histor- ic average, with our national debt equal to the size of our entire economy, with Medi- care and Social Security in- solvent to the tune, by some measures, of $100 trillion, with the American family in shambles and almost half our babies being born to unwed mothers, you have to be on another planet, or a Demo- crat, to not know America is in decline. But it takes a leader that's "a little bit of a maniac" to take on turning this big ship around. It takes some- one who cares more about coun- try than about self to stand and fight against an entrenched status quo. Ted Cruz has stood courageously alone since his day one in the Sen- ate, shining light on what is wrong: about growing debt, about Obamacare, about tax- payer funds going to Planned Parenthood, about immigra- tion. Donald Trump today is reaping the harvest of pub- lic awareness that Ted Cruz has been sowing for years. Trump should be thanking Ted Cruz. When Trump compared himself a number of months ago to President Reagan, Stu Spencer, who ran Reagan's presidential campaigns, and Ken Khachigian, Reagan's chief speechwriter, wrote a column headlined, "Trump Is No Reagan." Speaking about Reagan, they wrote, "It was Ameri- ca that was great, not him – a studied contrast with Trump's overwhelming self- absorption." While Ted Cruz has been fighting the lonely battle, what has Donald Trump been doing? According to the Cen- ter for Responsive Politics, Trump's political contribu- tions from 1989 to 2015 to- tal $1.4 million. During the 19 years from 1989 to 2009, more than half went to Dem- ocrats. This includes thou- sands to Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid. Trump justifies this by saying, "As a businessman you want to be friendly to ev- erybody." It's exactly this unprincipled culture that has turned Washington into a cess- pool. At a time when we must rebuild our values, does a man who is on his third marriage, who has been all over the place on abortion and defining mar- riage, represent the kind of values we need? Can we believe that Trump, who played football and base- ball in prep school and then got a medical deferment to shield himself from the draft during the Vietnam War, and now questions whether John McCain, tortured for years as a POW, is a hero, is some- one who puts America first? Or is his real love affair with Donald Trump? We need a leader who is committed to a task bigger than himself, to values of which he is part. Not some- one born with a silver spoon in his mouth and who is now on a massive ego trip. America is about God, truth, freedom and personal responsibility. And we need a leader who can get these truths to minority Ameri- cans, trapped all these years by the lies of the left. Frankly, between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, it's not even a contest. Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Contact her at www.urbancure.org. ELLIPTICALS • RECUMBENTS • FITNESS BIKES • TREADMILLS REM 804 MAIN STREET, JASPER CALL 812-634-1454 BICYCLE CENTER It is obvious that there is a split in the Grand Ole' Party. If you have been pay- ing attention to the republi- can primary races, it's evi- dent that the party has two different visions of elect- able candidates. This is be- cause the values and princi- ples of the two faces of the Republican Party are differ- ent. One face of the Republi- can establishment, or more commonly known among conservatives as "Rinos or The GOP," refers to the per- manent political class and structure that makes up the Republican Party. The second one is Conservative Republicans, which is com- prised of both fiscal and so- cial conservatives. The Tea Party movement was born from the frustra- tion of the conservatives due to the inactions of the ruling establishment Re- publicans. The split be- tween the establishment and the conservatives is causing friction within the party, which has lead to lost elections and the pos- sibility of the formation of a major third party. Pres- ident Obama's 2012 elec- tion victory is directly re- lated to this friction within the party; some conserva- tives didn't show up to vote for the establishment's can- didate, Romney. Rinos want the conservatives out of the Republican Party. Conser- vatives want the 'GOP RI- NOs' out of the Republican Party. Let's look at the differ- ences between the two fac- es of the Republican Party. First, we have the 'Estab- lishment' republicans. The establishment controls the rules of the party system, party elections and fund- ing disbursements. The establishment is typically viewed as party ELITIST, and politically out-of-touch with conservative voters. The establishment tends to support ideologically mod- erate candidates whom they deem "safe" and attempt to push their chosen candi- dates through primaries. They view winning at any cost more importantly than winning with a good conser- vative candidate, or Party over Country mindset. The establishment also tends to operate under a "good old boy system." They follow the next-in-line strategy when it comes to elections, deciding who "deserves it" based on how long they have been around and their network of fellow establish- ment insiders. They want to preserve the status quo because they directly ben- efit from it and don't chal- lenge the political-indus- try. In fact, they embrace the pro-corporate anti-indi- vidual and anti-small busi- ness element. This face of the Republican Party push- es for growing the power of certain big corporations and moving as much tax- payer money as possible to the corporate coffers (Cro- ny Capitalism). Second, we have the 'Con- servative Republicans.' Fis- cal conservatives desire to reduce government spend- ing, pay off the national debt, and limit the size and scope of government. Nev- ertheless, the Republican Party is most often cred- ited with creating the fis- cal conservative ideal, de- spite the big-spending ten- dencies of the most recent GOP administrations. Fis- cal conservative politics has little or nothing to do with social issues, and it is therefore not uncommon for other conservatives to identify themselves as fis- cal conservatives. Fiscal conservatives remain wea- ry of government spend- ing. They advocate lower- ing the federal budget, pay- ing off the national debt and withdrawing military forc- es from overseas in an effort to curtail military spend- ing. Although fiscal con- servatives of today remain pro-business, they are hesi- tant to increase spending as a way to spur the economy. They believe the best way to promote a healthy econ- omy is to cut taxes, reduce government waste and cur- tail frivolous federal pro- grams. They believe social services should be funded with money from philan- thropists and advocate tax breaks for those who con- tribute to worthy charita- ble organizations. Then, we have Social conservatives who adhere strictly to a moral ideology based on family-values and religious traditions. For so- cial conservatives, Chris- tianity—often Evangeli- cal Christianity—guides all political positions on so- cial issues. Social conserva- tives are mostly right-wing and hold firmly to a pro- life, pro-family and pro-re- ligion agenda. Social con- servatives are the most recognized group of con- servatives on this list due to their strong ties to the Republican Party. Most so- cial conservatives are also fiscal conservatives and be- lieve not only that the fed- eral government should be smaller and less intrusive, but that there should be lim- its on the reach of govern- ment power. Should the conservatives break away from the GOP and form a third party, it will become a powerful ad- versary for the GOP to deal with. Libertarians, Moder- ate Independents and the Religious Right can all find common ground with con- servative principled Repub- licans. This is why Tea Par- ty membership is increas- ing; they all agree that the government is out of con- trol. Do you truly believe the Constitution means what it says? Think about whether the government should es- tablish laws to control peo- ple's lifestyles or should people move freely through society doing as they wish so long as they don't impede the fundamental rights of others. Ask yourself wheth- er the government is better than you at deciding what is morally right in your life. Think about whether the federal government should override the powers of the states when the states de- cide to pass laws. Where do your values and princi- ples lie? Ted Metzger Warrick Co. 812-354-8404 292 W. Main St. • Petersburg ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Hours: Monday, 9am - 6pm Friday, 8am - 5pm Plus appointments by special arrangement. WALK-INS WELCOME Most insurances accepted. Adults & Children