> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
Democratic leader: GOP head not looking out for you
This April, my husband and I will again send in our tax forms with thanks that we live in the United States and pleased that our taxes provide good governance and multiple public services we have benefited from our entire lives. I have visited countries with minimal governance and no organized public services, and it is not a place you would want to live.
Dave Matthews, Floyd County GOP chair, recently shared his angst at “having to contribute” to pay for U.S. budgets. How sad that he sees this in such a negative light. More than most Americans, Matthews has benefited mightily from the U.S. government. Retired from military service, he enjoys unlimited free health care for the rest of his life. He benefits from the only truly socialized medical care in the United States.
However, as chair of the local Republican Party, he will work very hard to make sure none of us ever have such fabulous medical support. Matthews was trained as a pilot at a cost to the U.S. government of $1 million (source The Air Force News). Few of us will be able to receive $1 million worth of free education. As a Republican leader, he is sure to lead the charge against Pell grants and other support for low income students. Matthews now collects a comfortable pension that is guaranteed by the U.S. government. Yet, he will fight proposed regulations of Wall Street that would protect others from having their retirement incomes decimated by unscrupulous hedge fund managers.
Coming out of the service, Matthews was able to get a job as a pilot with UPS (thanks to the $1 million of government training). According to UPS, the average salary of their pilots was $174,830 in 2004. Of course, Matthews is a member of the pilot’s union and benefits significantly from that representation. As chair of the local Republican Party, you can be assured that he will work hard to make sure others do not have strong union representation.
Matthews is doing quite well. You think he would feel blessed and pleased to support a government that has provided so well for him and his family and not approach each tax season grumbling about the “need to contribute” so others can have a fair share.
— Susan Ryan, Floyd County Democratic precinct chair, Floyds Knobs
How about moving to the center?
Lefty Loosey was a very promising young woman, who had flaws like the rest of us. She couldn’t dance, had two left feet and she couldn’t write well with two left hands; she was all thumbs.
One day while driving to town on the left side of the road to get a side of bacon for her leftover stew she had prepared the night before, she arrived at the store and parked at the left end of the market. Having chosen meat from the left side of the hog, she paid the butcher with one of her left hands.
She returned home once again driving on the left side of the road. When she finally reached the front door, she found a note that her husband had left her, the kids had left her, even the dog had left. What was Lefty Loosey to do?
Then came a knock at the door, it was Rightly Tightly, a pillar in the community. Well, they hit it off right away, because Rightly Tightly was just the opposite of Lefty Loosey. With two right feet, he couldn’t dance a lick, and he couldn’t write well with two right hands; he was all thumbs.
Being an outstanding driver, he had never received a speeding ticket, since he obeyed the traffic laws and drove on the right side of the road. The two hit it off favorably, dancing and going around in circles and writing a first book. Now they drive everywhere together in the center lane.
The moral of the story is, it just goes to show you, if Lefty Loosey and Rightly Tightly can drive in the center, why shouldn’t we all be bipartisan and drive in the center lane, all going in the same direction and arriving at the same destination at the same time?
— Leroy Heil, Jeffersonville
Opinions
News and Tribune letters: Feb. 14, 2012
- Opinions
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DODD: An unexpected Angel
- CHEERS AND JEERS — For May 26-27
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STAWAR: The souvenir state of America
Recently, my wife Diane and I spent the day aboard the Belle of Cincinnati with our daughter’s family. We all had a good time, even though the diesel-powered Cincinnati attraction isn’t a real steamboat, like our own Belle of Louisville, and despite the fact that it poured down rain the whole time.
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NASH: Making a Memorial vacation
Memorial Day weekend is upon us which brings us to the start of the summer travel season. With the mild winter we had around here most schools didn’t have much in terms of snow make-up days so many kids have already finished up their semesters and are ready to get on with their holiday. Not to worry parents it will only be a couple of weeks before the back-to-school sales kick in and in no time at all it will be time for those youngsters to go back.
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HARBESON: A handy little idea
After having worked hard the past few months, I now have something new to add to my resume — “I was Lead Project Manager for a major construction venture, supervising every aspect in the creation of a privately funded community building.”
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MORRIS: Nancy Hogan was more than just an employee
Pulling into The Tribune parking lot each morning was pretty uneventful in the old days. Nothing good happens between 5:30 and 6 a.m. Nothing at all.
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HAMILTON: Is this really the best we can do?
As you know if you pay attention to national affairs, the United States faces a perfect fiscal storm at the end of this year. A confluence of deadlines and policy triggers unlike anything I can remember in a half-century of public life will produce massive budget cuts and serious tax increases amounting to a 3.5 percent hit on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
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LETTERS: May 23, 2012
— Tea Party leader responds to bridges column
— Bridges need a new approach
— Wives of JPD officers say thanks for service
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BEAM: Lost memories found
As time elapses, so do our memories. I forget things now. I can’t remember his height. How did he curl his lips into that sardonic, wholehearted smile? I only recall flashes of a moment. Wearing his jacket at prom. His golf clubs in the back of his old, golden car. Notes passed in the hallway. Listening to Boys to Men in his basement.
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STANCZYKIEWICZ: A gift for mom and dad
Two strategies for parents are important. First, parents need to model for children how to disagree. “When you’re talking with your spouse and you’re whining and complaining and nagging, you shouldn’t be too surprised when your young person does the same thing,” Allen said. “We need to be good role models.”
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