Necessary Roughness

U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) gets the House to apologize for racism, but the group he wanted to join employs that same racism.

This fall my girls will be enrolled in a Lutheran private preschool where Bible verses are part of the curriculum. If this were to happen in a public school, families of other religions could request memorization of other religious books. Many religions would demand their fair share, paid for with your tax dollars, and they would have different standards of what offended them. Our religious teaching is best left to our homes, our churches, and church-sponsored private schools.

The Americans for Tax Reform reported that July 16 was “Cost of Government Day,” or the day when the average American worker makes enough income to pay for the per capita share of government spending. Last year’s COGD was July 10, and in 2005 the COGD was July 4.

Trade protection crushes incentive for superior American products. It’s a shame, but cynically appropriate, that the symbol of freedom has strings attached other than the flag’s lanyard.

We wouldn’t be in this mess that crushes the value of our currency, if banks didn’t have this guarantee from the federal government. Yes, a bank would fail here and there because of mismanagement, but nobody would be forced to fork over $2.25 billion. This authority Paulson seeks will not be temporary, even though he wishes it to be. There is no incentive to perform better when the federal government supports the status quo.