posted May 21, 2008
I'm offended.
That doesn't happen very easily, offending me, but it's occurring more and more frequently the past couple or three years.
I've traveled a bit in my short 50 some odd years but I always thought of Chattanooga and Southeast Tennessee as home. Granny bought my first BB gun at the old Red Bank Hardware. I suspect the aunts may have helped out a little with that because I was, after all, the favorite, at least until the youngest one came along and licked the red off my candy. Her daddy worked in the coal mines for a dollar a day until he could save up enough money to buy 100 acres, and start a dairy farm. My late father once told me I was conceived here. My mother disagrees, but those two couldn't agree that the sky is blue. My spirit has been at peace here, it's home. Maybe it's true that each of us has a spiritual home. All I know is throughout my life there have been times while off, figuratively, slaying dragons that I needed to come home to get my batteries recharged before jumping back in the ring to go a few more rounds.
We've always had a little graft and corruption here to some extent, just like every town in America. Three years ago we began with several of our local politicks who, according to some, would have been about as easily pulled out of office as a tick off a hound. Charles Love (I sure miss old Sally, from a little east of us, who was unelected), Crutchfield, Cotton, Newton, names of those busted for accepting gratuities from the feds in a sting operation.
Then last year we discovered there was a Chattanooga City Councilperson who didn't live in the district she had been elected to serve. Was she sanctioned by the courts for such issues as voter and campaign fraud? No. And she wanders around the packy club meetings as though nothing has ever happened. I guess some of us are entitled to break the law with impunity.
A while back our sheriff got busted for drugs, real drugs. Not just a bunch of sissified whacky baccy, not our sheriff. He had to be involved with cocaine, and bribery, and extortion, and whatever else that may yet to be disclosed.
The grief I receive from friends back in Charlotte who've bought property, are building homes, and intend to retire in this area is unbelievable. One of these used to be my secretary years ago, my secretary who had been an English teacher. Any woman who will take one of my letters, grade it, then hand it back for corrections before she'll type it is perfectly capable of handing out a significant rash.
This past week we had another councilperson busted, but this time as part of a drug ring and money laundering scheme, and he was released with no bond other than saying "I'll be back." He wasn't alone. There was also one of the big guys at a local youth center busted in the same operation. What do our kids see when people like these involved in such illegal operations?
Then yesterday, to add insult to injury, I received a message basically asking,"(p)ardon me Roy, how 'bout that Chattanooga 4-2."
It isn't bad enough that Richard is trying to tell me he knows better what's good for me than I do, or that Bo and his other accomplice are trying to play favorites with their business constituents, or that Republicans in general are doing their level best to spend my money, money, I might add, that they have done nothing but put obstacles in the way of me earning in the first place, or that Tennessee Republicans are trying to spend our money while the Democrat governor is trying to make budget cuts, with the exception of that el spiffo underground dance hall for his wife, or that our local "conservative" elected officials have never seen a dollar they didn't want to grab, or that Chip Baker's team wants the school board to have taxing authority. No sir. I have to catch a rash from old friends about our local government.
At least the major problem of the interim sheriff over in Charlotte is only that he can't get an insurance bond required to serve in office.
One might expect those we put into elected positions would have enough respect for their constituents to stay out of trouble, at least while they're in office. At the same time there are those who attempt to tell us that by paying people more we won't have so many problems. How much do we need to pay them? The old "what's in your checking account, send it in" deal?
Perhaps we truly have devolved to an elected aristocracy in this nation. However, our elected officials might also want to remember a little phrase old Thomas Jefferson slipped into one of our documents, that one that begins with "(w)hen in the course of human events" and continues in the next paragraph with "(w)e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
From the consent of the governed, well I'll be. This is an election year.
Perhaps some should lose our consent, especially those who are trying to be like the rhinoceros on those new McCain campaign T-shirts.
Royce E. Burrage Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
* * *
I notice you infer that you are a Democrat in your opinion. So let me get this straight, the solution to the gas price problem is to tax/seize the profits of the U.S. oil companies and return those to the public in the form of subsidies? Hmm, this sounds vaguely familiar. Why not just nationalize all of the oil companies like Venezuela? Then we could distribute all of the profits to anyone who chose not to work or do anything to better their position. While we are at it why not just go along with the plan to raise taxes for anyone making over $150,000 per year.
As long as we are going down the Hillary Clinton socialism path which you so eloquently made the first step down the slippery slope, why don't we just seize all the wealth in the U.S. and allow our government to distribute it equally to every citizen?
If this sounds like your idea of a good plan how bout we make a bet? If you did this within 10 years the same people would have the wealth and assets and the same people would be looking for a handout.
My proposal would be something like this, encourage business investment with lower tax rates and incentives (create jobs), limit to one year all government handouts (welfare, unemployment, food stamps, public housing, etc), provide zero social services for illegal immigrants (other than a free ride back home), and finally invest some of our hard earned tax dollars on some major infrastructure projects in the U.S. to put the working person back to work (how about a couple of new refineries and nuclear plants).
I know that last statement sounded a great deal like one of the better Democrats (FDR), however, these are not your daddy's Democrats. We do not have simple problems in this country and there are no simple solutions, however, we do need to get back to the way it was when the "greatest generation" was younger, put people back to work, set a few national goals, and to play on another famous quote by a Democrat, quit asking what your country can do for you and ask what you can do for your country.
I wish you great luck in the future United Socialist Republic of America, me personally would choose to move first.
Mark Maynor
mark.maynor@gmail.com
* * *
Mark Maynor’s response to Roy Burrage was bizarre. It was as if he read someone else’s letter. I think Mr. Burrage’s point was that he was complaining about the Democrats and people in the Republican Party (Rinos or Republican’s in name only) and the corruption they both seem to have in common.
If you have ever read any other letters from Mr. Burrage you would know that he is probably a little more right politically than Atilla the Hun. At least right of Barry Goldwater.
He was correctly pointing out that it is kind of strange that a Democrat governor is taking the lead in cutting the state budget and people like our Republican state delegation haven’t said a word one way or the other. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has been especially silent on this issue.
Maybe Mr. Maynor has some misguided Republican team rationale that states that anyone on his team can do no wrong. If these guys who call themselves Republicans vote for bigger government and higher taxes they are not on the “team.”
That is exactly what happened when both Republicans and Democrats took that so-called state budget surplus and spent it on the BEP to basically bring home the bacon to buy votes for their reelection. By the way, what happened to that “surplus” since last year? The fact is that there is no difference between a big spending, big government Democrat and someone who says he is a Republican and then votes like a Democrat.
Tim Price
jat-55@msn.com
* * *
That is an absolute hoot of a statement by Mr. Maynor. Mr. Burrage a Democrat? I bet there are some Republicans who wish he would go back to the Democrats unless he's mellowed in his old age. The last we heard he was still doing penance after voting for Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Burrage did make a good point about sending home some of the "leadership", and it took me 3 tries to get a "p" on the end of that, in our government. That includes local, state, and federal officials from both parties who refuse to do what's right. If it is not allowed in the Constitution, it is not right. Piling on debt that my grand children and great grand children will have to pay is outrageous. All for a few votes?
Who are the "leaders" in the Republican party? They most certainly are not adhering to the principles published by the Republican Party and it seems that every time someone stands up and does something we're told "now be nice, you don't need to do that". First we were chided about our campaign ads at home in North Carolina and I see they are now doing the same thing in Tennessee. Not only that, Sen. Obama is trying to jump in the wagon too.
I wish I had never read or been told about what some of the Chattanooga area politicians have been prosecuted for in recent years. To have some area citizens try to defend the behavior of people who have done terrible things like distributing and selling drugs to children? Citizens should be outraged with officials involved in such activities instead of apologizing for them.
Some days I really miss being able to grade business letters and equipment manuals. I've often wondered if Mr. Burrage still blushes like he used to.
Barbara Fields
Stallings, N.C.
Barb1217@bellsouth.net
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