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September 9, 2010

By HARRY HARPER Local Guest Columnist The News and Tribune Thu Sep 09, 2010, 01:07 AM EDT

> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Kelly Khuri’s letter to the editor Sept. 5 has prompted me to respond. In recent months, far too many folks have written similar letters, which read as fact, but are nothing more than the writer’s opinion.

Ms. Khuri states that the recently enacted health care legislation will cost Indiana at least $3.16 billion over 10 years. That may well be, but absent is any form of support for the number — it is nothing more than opinion and you should read it as such. She further states that several current Indiana programs will have to be restructured with the implication that that is automatically bad. May I suggest the possibility that, as a result of a working history with the program, restructuring might actually improve the program.

Ms. Khuri chose to write her letter, in the manner she did, in an attempt to gain support for her cause — namely everything the current administration and Congress has done since January 2009 has been wrong.

Before writing this letter, I Googled Ms. Khuri’s name in an attempt to learn more about her. From the research, I found that she is a member of two on-line groups — Smart Girl Politics and Support Glen Beck. This is in addition to her work with the local Tea Party group.

Ms. Khuri wrote a very appropriate response to an April 5 Leo article, written by a staff columnist named, Jonathan Meador (don’t know him and have never read Leo). In the article, Mr. Meador made some generalizations about Tea Party supporters, which were not flattering. Without appearing to be patronizing, if I were a supporter of the group, I would have taken offense and would have been compelled to respond as did Ms. Khuri.

It’s obvious that she is passionate about her beliefs. She has every right to submit as many letters to the editor as she feels appropriate. But, I question how she is advancing the cause of her group with blanket unsupported statements such as, “The stimulus is a failure. Small business is dying.”

The Sept. 3 Jobs report (bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) shows that the private sector had gains in employment in August of 67,000. According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, small businesses employ just over half of all private sector jobs (sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf).Therefore, it would seem that the Jobs report doesn’t support Ms. Khuri’s statement that small business is dying.

A report issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (cbo.gov/ftpdocs/117xx/doc11706/08-24-ARRA.pdf) covering the second quarter of 2010 stated that, as a result of the stimulus, the gross domestic product was raised by 1.7 to 4.5 percent; the unemployment rate was lowered by between .07 and 1.8 percent; the number of people employed increased by between 1.4 and 3.3 million; and, the number of full-time-equivalent jobs increased by between 1.4 and 3.3 million. These numbers do not support Ms. Khuri’s statement that the stimulus was a failure.

I don’t want to suggest that Ms. Khuri is alone in the way she presents her opinions. Unfortunately, you can read or hear opinions presented in similar fashion in broadcast and print media, and certainly in the multitude of blogs that apparently anyone who can use a computer can write and post.

I’m not exactly sure how we got to the point where so many find it impossible to even attempt to work toward a common goal — making America the best it can be. From what I understand, our congressional leaders refuse to even try to reach across the aisle because of fear of losing their base back at home or, perhaps worse, fear of retaliation from those of their party in Congress. In either case, it would probably mean they are out of office next election. When did remaining in office become more important than working toward the common goal I mentioned earlier?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to say, “OK, I hear what you are saying, but I need you to help me understand where that number came from, or help me understand why you believe ‘our freedom is being choked out,’” as Ms. Khuri stated. The fact that Ms. Khuri’s letter was published, I assume as written, shows that at least one of our freedoms is intact.

— Harry Harper is a Jeffersonville resident

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