Not good luck or fortune
During a soak the rich speech before a group of politically naive college students, President Obama implied that anyone who is a millionaire or is financially independent is there because of “good luck” or “good fortune.”
Excuse me Mr. President, did you ever hear of hard work and motivation to succeed?
Doesn’t he realize that if a person starts out in life by paying attention to their teachers in elementary school, junior high school, high school, college or university, graduate, medical, or law school, studies to become a licensed plumber or electrician, a skilled carpenter, or for that matter any occupation in which hard work and study will prepare them to become a productive member of society?
It is not a matter of good luck or good fortune.
Think of all the immigrants that arrived at Ellis Island with a lack of our language skills and only possessing the clothes on their backs and a high motivation factor to succeed in the new world.
Think of all the heads of corporations with non-American names. There are very successful citizens with Irish, Italian, German, Hispanic, Jewish. Polish, Russian or Eastern–European, Chinese, Japanese surnames and others that I apologize for omitting, but I think the reader sees the picture.
Since the founding of the United States, the strongest in our society are celebrated causing other young men and women in society to work very hard to become the best warriors, the best philosophers, the best in intellectual affairs, and the best planners.
This country has always held winners in high esteem. This mind set is the reason we have had excellence in almost every single industry and endeavor in human life.
The nation’s leaders have promoted freedom and therefore, we have enjoyed freedoms. Therefore, we have promoted those who believe in freedom to be our leaders.
We must not become nonchalant about our freedoms that we possess and allow socialism to cloud our judgment regarding the political candidates that we choose.
Obama has never given credit to our nation’s character. Instead, he is the champion of the welfare state.
The Progressive/ Democratic Party is hell-bent on our society to move away from possessing the traits of perseverance, hard work, achievement, performance, integrity, strength of character, honesty, dedication, and commitment.
Obama wants to raise taxes on small business owners, high income earners, and job creators.
He will put the entire tax burden on these top tax payers, redistribute the income, punish success and reward those who did nothing to deserve it (except reward Obama).
If we give in to the changes that Obama and his party are planning for our nation we will swiftly slip down the slippery slope of empty promises into a socialistic utopia and we will lose our freedom and character.
Notice that in all of Obama’s “tax the rich” speeches, it is always other people’s money he wants to redistribute.
He had a great opportunity on tax day to show real leadership to the nation by paying higher taxes.
He chose to keep his own money. Like all socialists, he likes to keep his own money and also to keep other people’s money.
If we Americans r-eelect him in 2012, we have only ourselves to blame. Our grandchildren will never know what freedom means if we don’t get out the vote.
Art Blenk
Pawleys Island
Budget debate
While channel surfing trying to avoid coverage of the Royal Wedding, I came across an interesting news story. A group of religious folk were on a panel discussing “What Would Jesus Cut?” It was an effort to bring some theological focus to the ongoing budget debate.
I applaud their effort. In my opinion, people of faith have not entered the important public policy discussions of the day as they should. (The separation of church and state means the separation of the state as an institution from the church as an institution so that neither controls the other, but does not mean the separation of religious value from forming public policy.) The public table is large and many points of view have to be there if we are to develop the most helpful public policies.
However, again in my opinion, the title of the panel could have been more focused. "What Would Jesus Ask?" Jesus had a way of getting right to the point. My impression is that he might ask folks in both parties in Washington and Columbia, "Whenever you make a budget decision, what impact will it have on the poor?" Jesus reminded the disciples that they would always have the poor with them. This was not a statement of demographics. Jesus was saying that we will always have the opportunity to show God how we treat those whom God has a special concern for.
In recent years there have been lots of stories printed and legal cases brought about whether or not public bodies could begin their meetings with prayer. That is a good religious and legal exercise. However, the most religious thing a public body deals with is not the prayer at the beginning of its session, but the budget decisions made during its meetings.
When one begins to ask about the impact upon the poor of those decisions, we might be treading on dangerous political grounds. For example, in South Carolina, rather than talking about cutting Medicaid, we might begin to take tax reform seriously. If we did that, we might have enough revenue to insure that we don't have to cut health care for the poor. And ironically, we will wind up saving money as primary care for the poor negates more costly acute critical care.
What makes ethical sense can also make economic sense. In terms of education, if we revisited the legislation (388) that undercut funding for schools, we might have enough resource generated to fully fund schools. And again, in the long run, fully funding education will improve the quality of life and employment opportunities for all our citizens. Farther down the road we just might wind up saving money as prison costs go down.
Sometimes the question is the question.
Rev. Dr. Jim Watkins
Pawleys Island
Labor unions and Boeing
It’s a sad time for unions in America. The Obama goons, in the form of the National Labor Relations Board, which is the Obama Administrations personal link to labor unions, is threatening to sue a company, Boeing, for locating a factory in S.C.
Is this the America that we have fought for? Is this the “change” that we expected? Not me!
The next thing you know we will be hearing union leaders cry about the high unemployment rate while voting to close a mill! Or maybe screaming about not getting a harbor dredged when the Corps needs more tons of freight shipped from that harbor to justify dredging. But guess what!? Tons are down because the mill was closed and could be closed again whenever the union chooses to strike again AND the mill is shipping freight out of the port in Wilmington!
Bill Hills
Murrells Inlet
Point of Sale
I am writing to express my strong support for repeal of the Point of Sale (POS) requirements. Point of Sale has severely impacted both commercial and residential real estate investment in South Carolina.
Economists say that POS has cost South Carolina over $2 billion since 2007. With repeal of POS, assuming a 25% increase in commercial sales alone, South Carolina would see a growth of over 2.4 million dollars in investments and over 4.2 billion in total economic impact.
The South Carolina REALTORS® recently released a report that projects over 35,000 new jobs could be created with a repeal of POS. These new jobs would make it more likely that folks could buy homes — therefore increasing property tax revenues for local governments. That would mean more money for schools and other city and county projects. Simply put, more jobs mean more money for people to put back into the local economy.
While facing an almost 10 percent unemployment rate, South Carolina’s leaders really need to nurture and encourage a favorable business environment right now. Repeal of POS is a critical step.
I urge you to contact your elected officials now and tell them to repeal Point of Sale reassessment today.
Drew Streett
Pawleys Island
During a soak the rich speech before a group of politically naive college students, President Obama implied that anyone who is a millionaire or is financially independent is there because of “good luck” or “good fortune.”
Excuse me Mr. President, did you ever hear of hard work and motivation to succeed?
Doesn’t he realize that if a person starts out in life by paying attention to their teachers in elementary school, junior high school, high school, college or university, graduate, medical, or law school, studies to become a licensed plumber or electrician, a skilled carpenter, or for that matter any occupation in which hard work and study will prepare them to become a productive member of society?
It is not a matter of good luck or good fortune.
Think of all the immigrants that arrived at Ellis Island with a lack of our language skills and only possessing the clothes on their backs and a high motivation factor to succeed in the new world.
Think of all the heads of corporations with non-American names. There are very successful citizens with Irish, Italian, German, Hispanic, Jewish. Polish, Russian or Eastern–European, Chinese, Japanese surnames and others that I apologize for omitting, but I think the reader sees the picture.
Since the founding of the United States, the strongest in our society are celebrated causing other young men and women in society to work very hard to become the best warriors, the best philosophers, the best in intellectual affairs, and the best planners.
This country has always held winners in high esteem. This mind set is the reason we have had excellence in almost every single industry and endeavor in human life.
The nation’s leaders have promoted freedom and therefore, we have enjoyed freedoms. Therefore, we have promoted those who believe in freedom to be our leaders.
We must not become nonchalant about our freedoms that we possess and allow socialism to cloud our judgment regarding the political candidates that we choose.
Obama has never given credit to our nation’s character. Instead, he is the champion of the welfare state.
The Progressive/ Democratic Party is hell-bent on our society to move away from possessing the traits of perseverance, hard work, achievement, performance, integrity, strength of character, honesty, dedication, and commitment.
Obama wants to raise taxes on small business owners, high income earners, and job creators.
He will put the entire tax burden on these top tax payers, redistribute the income, punish success and reward those who did nothing to deserve it (except reward Obama).
If we give in to the changes that Obama and his party are planning for our nation we will swiftly slip down the slippery slope of empty promises into a socialistic utopia and we will lose our freedom and character.
Notice that in all of Obama’s “tax the rich” speeches, it is always other people’s money he wants to redistribute.
He had a great opportunity on tax day to show real leadership to the nation by paying higher taxes.
He chose to keep his own money. Like all socialists, he likes to keep his own money and also to keep other people’s money.
If we Americans r-eelect him in 2012, we have only ourselves to blame. Our grandchildren will never know what freedom means if we don’t get out the vote.
Art Blenk
Pawleys Island
Budget debate
While channel surfing trying to avoid coverage of the Royal Wedding, I came across an interesting news story. A group of religious folk were on a panel discussing “What Would Jesus Cut?” It was an effort to bring some theological focus to the ongoing budget debate.
I applaud their effort. In my opinion, people of faith have not entered the important public policy discussions of the day as they should. (The separation of church and state means the separation of the state as an institution from the church as an institution so that neither controls the other, but does not mean the separation of religious value from forming public policy.) The public table is large and many points of view have to be there if we are to develop the most helpful public policies.
However, again in my opinion, the title of the panel could have been more focused. "What Would Jesus Ask?" Jesus had a way of getting right to the point. My impression is that he might ask folks in both parties in Washington and Columbia, "Whenever you make a budget decision, what impact will it have on the poor?" Jesus reminded the disciples that they would always have the poor with them. This was not a statement of demographics. Jesus was saying that we will always have the opportunity to show God how we treat those whom God has a special concern for.
In recent years there have been lots of stories printed and legal cases brought about whether or not public bodies could begin their meetings with prayer. That is a good religious and legal exercise. However, the most religious thing a public body deals with is not the prayer at the beginning of its session, but the budget decisions made during its meetings.
When one begins to ask about the impact upon the poor of those decisions, we might be treading on dangerous political grounds. For example, in South Carolina, rather than talking about cutting Medicaid, we might begin to take tax reform seriously. If we did that, we might have enough revenue to insure that we don't have to cut health care for the poor. And ironically, we will wind up saving money as primary care for the poor negates more costly acute critical care.
What makes ethical sense can also make economic sense. In terms of education, if we revisited the legislation (388) that undercut funding for schools, we might have enough resource generated to fully fund schools. And again, in the long run, fully funding education will improve the quality of life and employment opportunities for all our citizens. Farther down the road we just might wind up saving money as prison costs go down.
Sometimes the question is the question.
Rev. Dr. Jim Watkins
Pawleys Island
Labor unions and Boeing
It’s a sad time for unions in America. The Obama goons, in the form of the National Labor Relations Board, which is the Obama Administrations personal link to labor unions, is threatening to sue a company, Boeing, for locating a factory in S.C.
Is this the America that we have fought for? Is this the “change” that we expected? Not me!
The next thing you know we will be hearing union leaders cry about the high unemployment rate while voting to close a mill! Or maybe screaming about not getting a harbor dredged when the Corps needs more tons of freight shipped from that harbor to justify dredging. But guess what!? Tons are down because the mill was closed and could be closed again whenever the union chooses to strike again AND the mill is shipping freight out of the port in Wilmington!
Bill Hills
Murrells Inlet
Point of Sale
I am writing to express my strong support for repeal of the Point of Sale (POS) requirements. Point of Sale has severely impacted both commercial and residential real estate investment in South Carolina.
Economists say that POS has cost South Carolina over $2 billion since 2007. With repeal of POS, assuming a 25% increase in commercial sales alone, South Carolina would see a growth of over 2.4 million dollars in investments and over 4.2 billion in total economic impact.
The South Carolina REALTORS® recently released a report that projects over 35,000 new jobs could be created with a repeal of POS. These new jobs would make it more likely that folks could buy homes — therefore increasing property tax revenues for local governments. That would mean more money for schools and other city and county projects. Simply put, more jobs mean more money for people to put back into the local economy.
While facing an almost 10 percent unemployment rate, South Carolina’s leaders really need to nurture and encourage a favorable business environment right now. Repeal of POS is a critical step.
I urge you to contact your elected officials now and tell them to repeal Point of Sale reassessment today.
Drew Streett
Pawleys Island
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