Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 046, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 2010 Page: 4 of 12
twelve pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Friday, January 8, 2010
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
Sweetwater
| \ OWCCLWclLCI 1
Reporter
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/235-4967
Website:
www.sweetwaterreporter.com
E-mail addresses:
publisher@sweetwaterreporter.com
business@sweetwaterreporter.com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
circulation@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwaterreporter.com
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for
expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled "Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
Michael
Coleman
THE VIEW FROM THE BALCONY
The new
Captain America
This weekend I will celebrate another birthday.
They don't bother me much anymore. Can't do much
to change how many you had and after I hit another
milestone age a few years ago, I realized it was still
cool to be that age. I didn't come to this idea on my
own, I was helped by the knowledge that my hero,
Keifer Sutherland, was the same age I
was. Well it wasn't Keifer on his own
but his character, Jack Bauer, that
made me know I could do anything at
my "advanced" age.
Jack Bauer inhabits the world of the
24 television series. When the show
debuted, it was viewed as ground-
breaking because the entire season's
story is told in a real time, 24 hour
day. Each episode you watch is 1
hour in the life of Jack. If you are a
fan of the series, you know that every
moment of every episode, anything
can happen to change the course of
the day's focus.
For those of you who have never caught the action
packed 24, it is the story of Jack Bauer, a maverick
federal agent with the fictional Counter Terrorism
Unit; CTU. He has spent the past seven seasons bat-
tling bad guys at home and abroad. Jack, however,
is no profiling racist. The enemies he has stop, pre-
venting the end of the nation and world as we know,
come from all over the globe. They have all been ficti-
tional countries but they range from Middle Eastern
to Eastern European to South African to the Chinese.
He even helped with the down throw of an evil presi-
dent who seemed to resemble Richard Nixon way too
closely.
Jack does appear to be super human, even more
than many comic book heroes. He has undergone
several moments of torture including actually having
died for a few moments. But death is no friend to he
who fights the war on terror. Last year, Jack even
survived the ravages of being exposed to a biological
weapon. And amazingly through the entire span of
this 24 hour m ind bender, none of the characters eat
or use the restroom. No time for those meaningless
actions.
Unfortunately, his great luck and cheating death
has never been passed on to his work mates at CTU.
The only one to survive from the start to this past
season was Agent Tony Almeida. OK Tony actually
died two seasons prior, but amazingly reappeared as
a bad guy this past year. Sadly in the seven seasons,
we lost Agent Mason, who flew a private plane car-
rying a small nuclear device into the desert. We lost
Regional Director Chappelle to Bauer's own bullet as
part of a deal to stop a terrorist. And the best/saddest
ending of any season anywhere, anytime, was the
death of Jack's wife at the end of season 1.
Not to say there haven't been a few humorous
times during these years. Majority of these were due
to Data Analyst/Computer Guru Chloe O'Brian. This
info-know-it-all has continuously rubbed her bosses
the wrong way even though most of the time she is
right. Her only true ally has been Bauer himself.
Through all this action and superhero efforts by
our main character, 24 has really been ahead of
its time with characters and events. The show in
the past seven years has introduced the ideas of an
African -American president and, as of last season, a
female president. It has raised important questions
about the pros and cons of torture for information
before we even heard of waterboarding. It brings to
light the possibilities of other enemies to this coun-
try besides Islamic radicals. Finally, and sadly, we
see how power can corrupt in politics including the
White House.
So next week, when 24 returns, I will be glued to
my television to see how my country is saved by Jack
Bauer and his friends at CTU. Thank you Kiefer and
your alter ego Jack Bauer for showing someone our
age can still kick some tail and always look cool doing
it.
Michael Coleman is a resident of Sweetwater.
Comments about this column may be e-mailed to
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com.
GUEST COLUMN
he way forward
Edwin
Feulner
In 2010, Americans
should demand that our
leaders be followers. They
ought to do what the rest
of us are already doing.
Let's begin
with spending.
According to a
poll conducted
by Consumer
Reports maga-
zine, two-thirds
of Americans
planned to red uce
their spending
on holiday gifts.
Tha t made sense
in this economy.
U ne mployment
was up, employ-
ee pay wasn't,
and people
wanted to hang on to their
hard-earned money. If
only our federal govern-
ment would do the same
thing.
Instead, Washington
closed out 2009 by prom-
ising to increase spending
even more.
In a December radio
address, President Barack
Obama declared that his
administration would
keep trying to "spend our
way out of this recession."
Obama wants to throw
more federal funding at
infrastructure (whatever
happened to the "shovel
ready" projects we heard
about last February?) and
create new tax breaks for
consumers who invest in
energy-efficient retrofits
in their homes ("cash for
caulkers").
Keep in mind that
the administration's
current spending
plans would create
as much govern-
ment debt as every
otherpresidentfrom
George Washington
to George W. Bush.
Combined.
Obama plans a
trillion more in new
federal spending,
he wants to spend
a trillion on health
care reform, he
tossed away $787
billion on an ineffective
stimulus plan, and on and
on and on.
Consumer Reports
puts things very nicely. "I
always tell people to stick
with cash whenever pos-
sible, because when you
have to take money, put
in your hand the actual
dollars and see them fly-
ing out of your hand into
the cash register, it makes
you much more of a disci-
plined shopper," the mag-
azine's "Tightwad" Tod
Marks says.
It's time for our policy-
makers to show some of
that same discipline, and
stop piling up debt that
will need to be repaid by
our children and grand-
children.
Congress should also
follow public opinion
on health care. By early
December, polls showed
little support for the
reform bills being raced
through Congress. A CNN
poll in December showed
that a mere 36 percent of
61 percent opposed it.
In January, members of
the House and Senate will
have to reconcile the differ-
ent bills each house passed.
But instead, lawmakers
ought to agree to just kill
both of these unpopular
measures and start over,
especially since the Senate
bill turned into what's
known in Washington as a
"Christmas tree."
"I don't know if there is
a senator that doesn't have
something in this bill that
was important to them,"
Majority Leader Harry
Reid put it just before
Christmas. "And if they
don't have something in
it important to them, then
it doesn't speak well of
them." Actually, it doesn't
speak well of our elect-
ed officials when they're
buying votes with our tax
money. They should show
some real leadership, start
over and draft a reform bill
that really helps people.
Finally, nobody likes a
tax increase, so Congress
should get to work on mak-
ing the 2001 and 2003 tax
cuts permanent. Many of
those cuts are set to expire
at the end of this year.
Unless they're renewed,
lower-income Americans
will suffer. For example, at
the end of 2010:
•The 10-percent tax
bracket would disappear,
replaced by a 15-percent
rate.
•Couples would see the
marriage penalty return.
•Taxpayers with children
would lose 50 percent of
their child tax credits.
It's seldom a good idea
to raise taxes. But jacking
them up as the country is
struggling to recover from
recession would be espe-
cially bad and could push
us back to the brink of
economic disaster.
As this election year
kicks off, our leaders
would do well to listen to
the wisdom of the people
— before they learn it first
hand in November.
Ed Feulner is president of
The Heritage Foundation
(heritage.org). Comments
on this column can be
emailed to editor@sweet-
waterreporter.com.
., AHYTHINKS YCM SM
OR DO CAN BE USED
WSMN&T YWMK
cam OF
W 'U^TOlTTO
kN wroRtcr....
*Y "■ * ■
a X ~v ■ vStisSSZ.-- ■ ■■ J
GUEST COLUMN
An unchained Dodd rides into finance reform
not
With polls showing
that Connecticut Sen.
Chris Dodd would prob-
ably lose to most everyone
running against him, the
Democrat's decision
to seek re-election is
a relief to all but his
Republican oppo-
nents. A Senate
seat from true-
blue Connecticut
isn't something
Democrats should
have to worry about.
They've already got
enough 011 their
hands dealing with
the state's other sen-
ator, independent
Joe Lieberman.
Dodd's plan to
leave the Senate after three
decades should move his
compass point from poli-
tics to policy. Chairman
of the Senate Banking
Committee, Dodd has
been pushing for strin-
gent regulation of the very
financiers whose reckless
conduct he used to tol-
erate. Had he supported
these needed changes
— such as a strong con-
sumer protection agency
and joining the four bank
regulators into one effec-
tive overseer — two years
ago, his political future
would have been con-
siderably brighter today.
Unfortunately, he wasted
much time and opportu-
nity defending many risky
practices of the financial
industry.
Does Dodd's pullout
from the race free him
from liberals demand-
ing that he hang tough
on plans to reform Wall
Street? Or does it free him
from doing the business of
Froma
Harrop
the fat cats, under whose
Spindletop of gushing
millions he's held many a
campaign bucket?
An optimist, I'm going
to predict the latter. Dodd
has always been
the affable type,
though often
prone to making
bad judgments.
Who can forget
his decision to
relocate the fam-
ily to Des Moines
as a means of
currying favor
with presiden-
tial caucus voters
in Iowa? Such a
spectacular act of
taking an elector-
ate for granted has rarely
been equaled.
While in Davenport
before the Iowa caucuses,
I watched a flesh-pressing
Dodd hug familiar report-
ers from New England
with genuine joy. But I
was struck by his appar-
ent non-concern over the
deep sulking going on
back home in Connecticut.
For this trouble, Dodd
picked up only one Iowa
delegate.
Let it be said that Dodd
hasn't entirely deserved
all the raps he's taken of
late. The senator very well
might have been truth-tell-
ing when he insisted that
he didn't know about his
being a "friend of Angelo."
That would be Angelo
Mozilo, the former head
of Countrywide Financial,
whose fallen sub-prime
mortgage empire is cost-
ing taxpayers an unset-
tling sum.
The Wall Street bailout
that Dodd shepherded
through the Senate in
October 2008 remains
highly unloved in populist,
among other, circles. But
what choice did he have,
really? Days before, a coali-
tion of angry Republicans
and Democrats had sent
the bill to defeat in the
House. And as the votes
were being counted, the
Dow Jones Industrial
Average took a swan dive,
ending down nearly 800
points for the day. The
tough-talkers reconsid-
ered whether the pleasure
of sending Wall Street into
the fiery pit of bankruptcy
was worth the cost, and
Congress quickly passed
the bill.
Finally, we should also
recognize that the big
money movers are also
hometown employers for
much of Connecticut. They
provide jobs for janitors
and car dealers, as well as
hedge-fund billionaires.
So wither Chris Dodd?
A natural politician, he is
son of the late Connecticut
Sen. Thomas Dodd. The
father's career sunk after
the Senate censured the
elder Dodd for the misuse
of funds. The son has said,
"Every time I walk on the
Senate floor, I feel he's
vindicated."
Dodd now has a bit of
vindicating to do for him-
self. But liberated from
running for office, Dodd
can strap on the blinders
and concentrate on serv-
ing the public's interest.
Legacy seems to matter
to him, and that could
bring progress on enact-
ing the financial reform
that America desperately
needs.
To find out more about
Froma Harrop, and
read features by other
Creators Syndicate writ-
ers and cartoonists, visit
the Creators Syndicate
web page at www.cre-
ators.com.
The SWEETWATER REPORTER
(USPS 5300-860) is published daily
except Saturdays and holidays by HPC
of Texas Inc. (Periodical Postage Paid)
112 W. 3rd, Sweetwater, Texas 79556
Postmaster: Send address changes to:
SWEETWATER REPORTER
P.O. BOX 750.
SWEETWATER, TX 79556
City Delivery $9.00 per month, $90.00
per year, 6-months $50.00, 3-months
$26.00. By mail In-County Rates
3-months $36.00, 6-months $65.00,
12-months $115.00. Out-Of-County
Rates 3-months $50.00, 6-months
$88.00, 12-months $140.00.
Correction Policy
Editorial:
As a matter of policy, the
Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
236-6677.
Advertising:
Publisher reserves the right
to reject, edit or cancel any
advertising at any time with-
out liability. Publisher's liabil-
ity for error is limited to the
amount paid for advertising.
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
V
__ Sweetwater
Reporter
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 046, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 2010, newspaper, January 8, 2010; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229060/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.