The Florida Frontier - April, 2008 ------------------------------- Article Index I. Pastor Disastor, by Jaclyn Janero II. Picking the Right Vice President, by Frank Colosi, Jeff Ivey III. The Characteristics of a Divider, by John Daly IV. Change Campaigns, by Nicolas Fitzpatrick V. Divided We Fall, by Jessica Chasmar VI. The Good Recession, by Ryan Pahota VII. The New Robber Barons, by Matt Mitchell VIII. Hillary? Help Us, by Bryan Griffin IX. Does the World Hate America?, by Ryan Pahota X. An Ostrich Farmer's Nightmare, by Patrick Flanagan XI. Oceans Don't Lie, by Thomas Sowell XII. A Soldier's Perspective, by J.M.M. XIII. Critical Funding Cuts Hurt Colleges, Majors, by Nicholas Fitzpatrick ------------------------------- I. Pastor Disastor Jaclyn Janero Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a former pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. In his sermons he had a knack for making offensive statements, which were widely publicized by the media when a connection to Barack Obama and Reverend Wright was made. The following are actual statements from Reverend Wright’s sermons. * "When [Obama’s] enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli to visit Muammar al-Gaddafi with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." * "We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye... and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost." * “When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed. She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton field, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness." * "The government gives them drugs, built bigger prisons, passes a three strike law, and then wants us to sing God bless America. No, no, no, not God bless America, God damn America, that's in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating her citizens as less than human. God damn America, as long as she pretends to act like she is God, and she is supreme. The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent." * “The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. Governments lie. The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Governments lie.” ------------------------------- II. Picking the Right Vice President Frank Colosi, Jeff Ivey While the Democrats continue to bicker amongst themselves between a liar and a racist, the Republicans are showing the nation which party has their priorities in order. As John McCain continues to win Americans over he will soon be faced with a difficult decision, who to select as his running mate. The choice of Vice President is a difficult one for any candidate; the person McCain chooses will help shape and direct his campaign to be the 44th President. Some will say that the Vice Presidential candidate play little role in the process because Americans are more focused on the main candidate, others believe that it is the Vice President’s job to tie up loose ends and bring in votes from issues the main candidate does not have a strong record. We at the Frontier agree with the latter description and have made our own short list of possible candidates for McCain to pick from. During our search we looked for candidates who had strong, proven records on the issues conservative voters disagree with McCain on. Issues such as the economy, social issues and immigration policy top the list. So without further ado here is the short list of Vice Presidential candidates; choose wisely John- the fate of America depends on it. Tim Pawlenty Age 47, Governor (R-MN) Governor Pawlenty’s political career began as an Eagan City Councilmember, but his political career began to really ascend while serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives for ten years, where he was the Majority Leader for four years and in 2002, he successfully ran for the governorship in Minnesota and was subsequently reelected in 2006. As Governor, Tim Pawlenty inherited a 4.5 billion dollar deficit and as he promised in his campaign, that deficit was turned into a surplus by not raising taxes. Governor Pawlenty has also engaged strongly in education reform with better teacher pay and student standards, increased ethanol production to decrease foreign dependency on oil, welfare reform, health care reform by allowing a zero percent premium increase in the state insurance program and allowing the purchase of cheap prescription drugs from Canada and the U.K., and various initiatives to make government work more efficiently. Governor Pawlenty is also the Chair of the National Governors Association and Co-Chair of the McCain for President Campaign. As a VP candidate, Pawlenty offers McCain strength in particular on the economic front due to his experience in balancing the budget- and doing so by not raising taxes, an argument McCain must make along with cutting pork barrel legislation. He is a proven leader- his executive experience as Governor and experience as the head of the National Governors Association will be handy to combine with McCain’s many years of legislative experience to combat either Hillary’s claim of ‘experience’ or Obama’s lack thereof. And a few other points to mention: Pawlenty cracked down on illegal immigrants, helping McCain make a case to his opponents of the McCain-Kennedy flop and also attends a conservative megachurch- a sign of getting values voters on board. Mark Sanford Age 47, Governor (R-SC) When elected in the whirlwind of the Republican Revolution in 1994, Mark Sanford vowed to represent the people in the 1st District- and indeed he did. He voted time and time again to lower taxes and even kept his word to oppose pork barrel projects by voting against pork barrel projects in his own district. To highlight his honors, he was voted #1 in the Congress by the Citizens Against Government Waste for his noble efforts by eliminating wasteful spending as well as garnering a 92% life-long conservative ranking by the American Conservative Union. After pledging to run for three terms, Governor Sanford honored his pledge and in 2000, ran successfully for Governor of South Carolina and during his time in the Governorship, Gov. Sanford has closed the gap of a 1 billion dollar deficit to a surplus and at the same time, cut taxes drastically, engaged in tort reform, making government more transparent- especially by opening meetings to the public, and gave parents more options in educating their own children. Governor Sanford can appeal directly to the small but vocal (and financially generous, as evidenced by the monetary success of the Ron Paul campaign) libertarian wing of the Republican Party. With small-government conservatives threatening to side with Bob Barr’s Libertarian camapaign or even the Constitution Party, Sanford could potentially coax some of those fickle voters into McCain’s column. He also has economic credibility- seen by both balancing a budget and denying pork barrel spending to his own district. Both accomplishments will complement Senator McCain’s economic vision in the fall and give his message and gives Senator McCain’s argument more credibility. And his truthful nature also fits in with the theme of the “Straight Talk Express.” Kay Bailey Hutchison, 64, Senator (R-TX) Having been named to such lists as “The 30 most powerful women in America” by Ladies Home Journal, and “8 in ‘08” by TheWhiteHouseProject.org Kay Bailey Hutchison is a high ranking Republican Senator with a proven record. After winning her seat in the Senate in 1993 she has served the people of Texas well. Her voting record is one that will speak for itself, the National Journal agrees ranking her highly on the Economy, Social Issues, and Foreign Policy. While serving she has voted to enact all abortion restrictions presented and provide for mandatory parental notification when a minor is involved. She currently serves on the Committee of Appropriations helping to structure the budget. As a strong, solid conservative Hutchison could help draw the far right back to McCain’s corner. If Clinton does win the nomination the argument to vote for a woman would be negated. Although she is more than qualified for the position on ABC’s This Week when asked about the position she said “I think that Sen. McCain has a lot of options, I think he has to look at a lot of different factors. I don’t want to be vice president.” Mike Pence Age 48, Representative of the 6th District (R-IN) During his time in the House, Mike Pence has fought tirelessly for tax relief, especially or voting for both of Bush’s tax cuts, supporting the War in Iraq, opposing Senator McCain’s immigration plan and instead, supported closing the borders first and in a particular, having a guest worker program. Representative Pence has also served extensively in foreign affairs, touring many of the areas of American strategic interest, including Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey. Congressman Pence is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A strength that Representative Pence brings to the table is immigration- he was critical of John McCain’s original plan and if he is chosen, it proves that Senator McCain truly has changed his mind on the issue to secure the border first and gives his argument more strength to angry conservatives. He is also particularly enticing to values voters because of his personal priorities, listed by this quote: "(I am) a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." His charisma, honed by years on the radio, will have the unique ability to energize the many lethargic GOP voters that are going to be needed to win in the fall. And one cannot ignore his 100% rating for lifelong support for conservative values by the American Conservative Union. Piyush ‘Bobby’ Jindal, 36, Governor (R-LA) While he has just recently won his office as Governor of Louisiana this young star of the Republican Party makes a strong case to be the candidate. Before taking office as Governor he served Louisiana’s 1st district in Congress laying down a strong conservative record after being elected n 2005. In Congress he served as only the second Indian-American Representative and now serves as the first non-white Governor in Louisiana since Reconstruction after the Civil War. Prior to that 2005 election he was narrowly defeated for the governorship in 2003 by a mere 4% of the vote to Kathleen Blanco. Jindal will bring with him a strong conservative, and well-documented, record. He has been quoted as being “100% against abortions, no exceptions”. In Congress he helped push for a ban on flag burning, and voted for the Real ID Act of 2005. He receives high rankings from almost all conservative groups including an “A” ranking from the Gun Owners of America. In 1996 he was appointed to Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, a department that represented about 40% of the budget. Jindal had inherited a bankrupt Medicaid program and a $400 million deficit, when he left there was a $220 surplus. A long shot due to his age, Jindal was quoted as saying “He’s not going to ask me” when asked about the Vice President position. On top of these candidates we have previously mentioned, here is a short list of other candidates speculated to take the VP spot: Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), former OMB Director Rob Portman (R-OH), Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (R-CA), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Fmr. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), and Fmr. Gov. and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge (R-PA). ------------------------------- III. The Characteristics of a Divider John Daly A look at Obama's voting record and associations, and how they only serve to discredit his campaign of "unity" Over the last few decades, the political partisanship in Washington has exploded into a fierce two party battle for power. With many Americans falling into the moderate category, the idea of a candidate who would “unite” the Country is very appealing. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama has taken the bold stance to be that candidate who will stand for change and “unite” the Country. However, does Obama really hold the background and credentials to unite? No. In the last month, the Country has come to know Obama’s beloved pastor Jeremiah Wright. In recent sound clips of Wright’s speeches, he referred to America as the “U.S. KKK of A” and commented about how America was deserving of the 9/11 attacks. Despite his attendance for 20 years in Wright’s church and Wright’s participation in Obama’s wedding and his children’s baptisms, Obama claims he was never aware of these hateful remarks. However, Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope,” shares the same name as one of Wright’s hateful speeches. To make the outrageous claims of never hearing any of Wright’s remarks is insulting to the intelligence of the average American and will only further divide this nation. Apart from his controversial relationship with Wright, Obama’s voting record is based on extreme partisanship. According to National Journal's 27th annual vote ratings, Barack Obama was listed as the most liberal senator in 2007. In some of his more liberal votes, Senator Obama opposed any restrictions on late term abortion, opposed the USAPATRIOT Act, and voting against drilling in ANWR. Therefore, we can conclude that the “Uniter” supports murder, doesn’t believe in taking the necessary precautions to protect our country, and halts our country’s growth by opposing efforts to acquire oil. These are stances more often taken by liberals, not a possible moderate who can actually unite our country. The idea of a “Uniter” in our country is a very enticing idea. To many Americans, Obama sounds like a great idea. People believe that everything would be alright if Obama goes and chats with our enemies. People believe that Obama will hold hands with Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, and help him denounce his comments about wiping Israel off the face of the earth. Along with that, maybe Obama will send another Michael Jordan signed basketball to Kim Jong Il in North Korea like the Clinton administration did. By electing Barack Obama, world peace will be obtainable. Despite the sarcasm, those sentences were hard for me to write. The problem with the American people and media is that they are viewing Barack Obama as a piece of clay. Basically, they are able to mold him into whatever they want him to be. Despite his young age, Barack Obama has a very scary voting record and his relationship with Jeremiah Wright is alarming. When he is faced up against McCain, his true policy will have to surface and the Country will realize his agenda. Barack Obama will undoubtedly be the biggest divider in this Nation’s history. With the help of many moderates, the Republicans can overcome this scary threat and defeat the divider, Barack Obama. ------------------------------- IV. Change Campaigns Nicolas Fitzpatrick Obama's campaign, and its historical counterparts Barack Obama has fashioned himself as the newcomer in the 2008 presidential election. Gone, he says, are the days of partisan bickering and racial politics. To himself and his followers, Mr. Obama is a veritable political Messiah. The Messiah will bring about a new era in American politics and change the way America works. His platform is loosely held together by his inspirational planks of hope and change. Yet, for all the media attention that his hope and change message has brought about, very little light has been shown on what change we can expect, or what it really means. The appearance of the “change agent” in presidential elections has, well, not changed. In nearly every election since 1952, one candidate has billed himself as the man that will bring about change. Presidential candidates from both parties have donned the change slogan. Dwight D. Eisenhower did. So did Walter Mondale. Jimmy Carter told America to elect “A Leader, for a change.” Contemporary politicians have been no different. In 1992 Bill Clinton used the slogan “It’s time to change America.” However, the most compelling comparison is Obama’s change oratory with that of Robert Kennedy. It is also the most frightening. The comparison of Obama to Robert Kennedy is done for many reasons. Both are young and appeal to voters. Both give inspirational speeches, but the most troubling comparison is their big government entitlement policies. During a campaign speech, Kennedy was asked “And who's going to pay for all this, senator?" He replied, “You are.” Barack Obama hasn’t gone that far, but it’s not a secret that he means it. His campaign website is chock full of great programs. Are those high mortgage payments getting to you? Obama wants to give a $500 credit to 10 million families. That’s $500,000,000 for mortgages alone! Talk about buying votes. We won’t even get into his healthcare program, or his desire to cap our of control pork barrel spending at the astronomical 2001 level. Someone more cynical than I might interject that his plans are not new, but recycled failed policies of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society. Mr. Obama, however, does not have any grandiose plans for Social Security. By the year 2017, which is the year the next president will leave office if elected to two terms, Social Security payouts will have exceeded income! Under Social Security, his website lists good ideas like eliminating taxes for seniors making under $50,000 to more failed policies of the past like creating automatic workplace pension funds. The Florida Frontier has endorsed John McCain for President. While he may not be perfect, he is not fooling the American people with unattainable entitlements. It is clear that Barack Obama lives in the past. He has taken a previously successful campaign strategy and made it his own. He has also made failed policies his own and billed them as change. I am able to say with confidence that Mr. Obama is not lying to us. He will bring about change, just not with a good approach. He will ignore the proof that a free market works best, and an American works best when left alone. I am not afraid of change; in fact I advocate change. Let’s change the notion that the public sector works better than the private. Let’s change the way we protect our unborn. And let’s change the way we view ourselves, and strive for unabridged prosperity. To that, I say: Yes We Can! ------------------------------- V. Divided We Fall Jessica Chasmar A look at the liberal press and its loyal followers. A couple weeks ago, Florida Frontier co-writers and I decided to hold a counter-protest against the usual Iraq War protestors at the Turlington Plaza on the University of Florida campus. Our sign said we supported our troops and we were winning the war. To my dismay, we were outnumbered about 10-1 and were faced with a strong liberal opposition. With spit and obscenities flying, I couldn't help but wonder: Why aren't more Americans supporting America? To many a disappointed liberal, the military surge has improved security, American casualties are down 71 percent since May and Al Qaeda in Iraq has become severely damaged. Attacks in Baghdad have fallen 80 percent in the past twelve months and deaths among Iraqi military forces and civilians have dropped by more than two-thirds. Yet the media repeatedly show us images of exploding buildings and carnage without context. They have no interest in showing the upside of the Iraq War and what the U.S. has accomplished since its occupation. Analysts at the Media Research Center have studied TV news coverage of the Iraq War from when the first bombs fell on Baghdad in March 2003. The record shows the networks have trumpeted bad news — setbacks for the U.S. coalition and allegations of misdeeds by American troops — while minimizing good news such as the success of the 2007 troop surge and acts of heroism by U.S. soldiers. Our liberal attackers on Turlington Plaza argued we're not winning the war in Iraq and we haven't made any progress. This assumption is clearly delusional. Operation Iraqi Freedom Coalition Forces have successfully liberated 25 million Iraqis from the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. In three years, Iraq has gone from enduring a tyrannical regime to electing a provisional government to ratifying a new constitution written by Iraqis to electing a permanent government. In each of these elections, the number of voters participating has increased significantly — from 8.5 million in the January 2005 election to nearly 12 million in the December election — in defiance of terrorists' threats and attacks. If we retreat now, there is every reason to believe terrorists will fill the vacuum. Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. According to Congressman Jack Kingston, extremists in the Democratic Party have embraced a new strategy for the war on terrorism: Lose, leave and wait. They want us to dishonor the sacrifices of our soldiers. They want us to cut and run, and signal to the world that the United States no longer stands for freedom, democracy and the defense of human rights in the face of terrorism. When did Anti-Americanism become the new Americanism? In Bernard Goldberg's Bias, he reports that a 1996 Freedom Forum and Roper Center survey of Washington media found that 61 percent of journalists characterized themselves as "liberal," compared to 9 percent that said they were "conservative." In the 2003 American Freshman Survey conducted annually by UCLA, 28 percent of college freshmen nationwide identified themselves as liberal or far left while 21 percent identified themselves as conservative or far right. The year before, 30 percent had identified themselves as liberal or far left, the most since 1975. But the public is NOT overwhelmingly liberal like the media or college students. A 2006 Gallup poll showed that 54 percent of Americans surveyed identified themselves as "conservative" and only 34 percent said they were "liberal." I used to believe college students were more liberal because the large majority of them don't work. They don't pay taxes. They don't have families to care for. The majority of them have not yet voted. In other words, they have not been through the life experiences required to wipe away the idealistic view that everything should be equal. But upon my research I've realized it's a more inexcusable reason for their ignorance: laziness and indifference. The correlation between a liberal press and a liberal campus is more than just a coincidence. College students tend to jump on the liberal bandwagon because they don't take the time to explore different media outlets and simply just don't care enough to think independently. They're not being informed. They're being manipulated. Instead of relying on a partisan press to balance its news, it's time for college students to take responsibility in seeking alternative news sources. The 18-25 demographic needs to choose C-SPAN over "The Daily Show" every once in a while. Bad news in Iraq is promoted by most mainstream media. It is causing a division in the American people and is helping the enemy win. It's time to take social responsibility back. Honesty in reporting is vital to an interlocking and free society. A partisan press combined with an uninterested public will cause us to lose a global fight. ------------------------------- VI. The Good Recession Ryan Pahota In macroeconomics, a recession is defined as a decline in a nation’s Gross Domestic Product, or negative real economic growth, for two or more successive quarters of the year. Because the United States compiles more than 1/5 of the global economy, the overshadowing recession cloud would bring down the global economy because if American Stock Market prices go down, the rest of the world follows suit. Also, if the American consumers are not “confident” in their currency, they will not demand imports from foreign countries, another strain on the global economy. Those statements give recession a negative connotation, notwithstanding the fact that there is a silver lining in the cloud of recession. Recession is part of a business cycle as indicated here: As we have already surmounted the “peak” of the wavelength that is our business cycle, we head toward the trough, as any wave occurs in nature. This also means that there will be a recovery, an expansion of economy, after the trough that will bolster the American economy. Much like a runner takes a break to catch his breath before running up the side of a hill, a recession a slowdown (not a complete destruction) of economy in preparation for another expansion. According to Melissa Change, a writer for the Industry Standard blog, there are five major reasons why recession is a good thing: 1. A recession forces founders to be frugal. 2. Recessions force entrepreneurs to take another close look at their ideas. 3. Recessions lead to committed startup teams. 4. Startups get a head start. 5. Recessions toughen up companies. The first two reasons can be grouped together, that is, that recession weeds out the weak business that are not beneficial to society. It also makes business and the entrepreneurs to think about investing in a business or how a business should be run, making them more fiscally conservative with their capital. The third and fourth reasons also are grouped together. Business that want to survive through the recession must create start-up teams that are experienced enough and fiscally responsible to get a company enacting on issues now so that the corporation will be able to have a market position when the market starts back into a recovery. With the culmination of the first four reasons, the fifth reason is magnified, a trial-by-fire for a corporation responds to the adage “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” The businesses that survive the recession will be well ahead of the newcomers or the business that did not start up or plan early. If not financially, a recession will benefit you physically. According to the USA Today and Christopher Ruhm, a recession might actually be “healthy” for you. Ruhm’s article on NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) entitled “Healthy Living in Hard Times” concludes that “When jobs are scarce, both unemployed workers and those who keep their jobs (but perhaps with less work to do) behave in a healthier manner” (USA Today). This means that when people are scrounging around for money, they won’t eat out as much, or eat unhealthy food, and also they cannot afford to be sick and miss work (and therefore their job) thus they will traverse to the doctor’s office more. Ruhm’s data shows minute changes of people’s behaviors during a recession, conveying that an increase of 1% unemployment rate reduces smoking by .6%, obesity by .3% and physical inactivity rates by 1.8% linked to the fiscal responsibility and individuality that people must endure during a recession. Thus, a recession is not necessarily a bad thing. It makes us more money-wise and also enhances our individualism by forcing us to relying on ourselves (not the government) to help. A recession also eliminates weak businesses, and also promises for a healthier America. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the American economy and populace will soar again toward the peak of expansion. ------------------------------- VII. The New Robber Barons Matt Mitchell The hypocrisy and destructive power of deficit spending and central economic planning Debt is the slavery of the free.--Publilius Syrus Nothing could illustrate the bizarre and inexcusably cruel nature of our current economic state, and the system that created it, than Congress and the Federal Reserve’s response to the mortgage lending crisis. This month, tens of thousands more Americans will find themselves without a home due to their failure to keep up with their interest payments. Meanwhile, the banks and credit lenders, who irresponsibly sold these people loans they could never pay back, will be first in line to receive bailouts from the Federal Reserve. Bear Stearns, whose stocks dropped from over $170 per share to less than $2 per share, earned a $30 billion recovery loan from the Fed, while working Americans struggle to find apartments, fight repossession and search for reasons to live in spite of their newfound homelessness. The populists will point to these bailouts as proof of the free market harming working Americans and a demonstration that more government regulation of business is necessary to prevent another economic crisis from devastating the working and middle class. However, such hysterics always tend to neglect the root cause of “bubbles” in economic markets in favor of scapegoating various businesses that are not held in high esteem among American voters, such as the petroleum industry, banks and health insurance providers. This comfort in attacking symptoms rather than root causes merely accelerates our departure from sensible economic policy and sends us further down the road of destructive central planning. The first step to breaking this cycle of economic mismanagement and ethically challenged business practices is to put an end to the quasi-fascist dependency American corporations and banks place in our government and in the Fed. Washington has allowed businesses to manipulate our money supply, prohibit free entry into new markets and maximize profit potential while eliminating risk for themselves. No one will dispute the fact that centralized planning is not without benefits for whom such planning is designed; our economy has grown a good deal since the birth of the Fed, the end of hard money and the free trade agreement craze. But the consequences for that planning have an equally indisputable impact on working Americans as income inequality soars, real wages stagnate below the real rate of inflation and potential for upward social mobility diminishes. And thus, today we find ourselves subjects of a national government enslaved to its own debts; today our government owes over $9 trillion dollars in debt to various lenders, or just over $30,000 for every man, woman and child in America. Combine this with over $45 trillion in unpaid commitments to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Within forty years, 100 percent of all government revenues will be dedicated to payment of those benefits along with interest payments on the national debt. For the good of our future and the welfare of ourselves and our children, we must start now to change the way Washington spends and manages our money. Eliminating debt and stopping deficit spending must become a top priority for Congress before it runs out of money to pay for anything other than entitlements. This means aggressive reforming of not only how Social Security is funded but how funding is given out. It also means allowing opt-out programs for Social Security and Medicare recipients, such as health savings accounts. It also requires the Congress to force better oversight of the Treasury Department and the Fed when they work to manipulate the money supply and put an end to selective bailouts for incompetent businesses. For far too long our federal government has made it its business to serve as a charity ward for down on their luck corporations. In the process, it has mortgaged our future almost to its breaking point, not unlike the same lenders whose irresponsible business practices are now being rewarded with government checks. It’s time for Washington to perform a charitable act for the American people for once and get its own house in order before it makes this recession any worse than it already has. In the time taken to write this article, the federal government spent $145,889,983. ------------------------------- VIII. Hillary? Help Us Bryan Griffin A look at the true character of Hillary Clinton How much do you need to know about a person to judge their character? What if I told you a person was indicted for underhanded deals involving a crooked law firm in Arkansas? What if I told you a person was involved in the unexplained suicide of a close friend and coworker? What if I told you a person makes up stories to get what they want, and unrightly, to gain sympathy? What if I told you a person was so rude, so unbecoming, so abhordily distasteful, that their closest friends came out with book after book, published works and journals, about that person’s evils? What if I told you this person wanted to be president of the United States – represent you and me on the international stage and in the eyes of the world? Of course, this is Mrs. Clinton. Politics. If you want to look at Hillary from a political perspective, it is obvious why she would lead the Democratic Party right into the ground. In her political career, she has flipped and flopped more than John Kerry, called for change without result more than Barack Obama and has more lobbyists working for her and raising money for her than any other presidential candidate in the 2008 race. She supports the “Dream Act” to grant illegal immigrants school subsidies, tuition and immunity from prosecution. She is in favor of the “Strategic Energy Plan”, a $60 billion government initiative to have big-bureaucracy try and force the U.S. prematurely into a green energy state. She supports the “Employee Free Choice Act,” which would allow the leaders of workers' union parties to get personal information about people who didn’t wish to join unions in their jobs so they can be bullied into changing their minds. She’s in favor of the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act,” which gives charged criminals an easier path to citizenship and freedom in America than legal immigrants. She tried her “Hillary Care” plan in a trial run in a city in Oregon, it failed, and then she pitched it to the country as her way of saving us from the “Medicare crisis.” Speech. What a person says tells a lot about that person. Hillary says she “dodged sniper fire” in Bosnia with her daughter Chelsea, and then later had to retract the statement as false, saying she says so many things in a day, she can often “slip up.” Hillary once told a story in a scare-tactic attempt to get people in favor of her health care plan, where a woman in Ohio recently died, along with her unborn baby, because they were unable to pay a $100 hospital fee. The O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens later corrected the story, saying that it did admit the woman, who was fully insured and treated, and died during a stillborn birth. Past. Hillary lost her investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation, her former business in Arkansas, where Bill was governor. They had two partners in the company, Jim and Susan McDougal, who operated Madison Guaranty, a savings and loan institution that used the legal services of her Rose Law Firm. They were indicted for improperly subsidizing Whitewater losses. Madison Guaranty later went bankrupt, and Hillary was investigated for a possible conflict of interest in representing Madison Guaranty before state regulators that Bill had appointed. Independent counsels Robert Fiske and Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton's legal billing records, but she claimed to be unable to produce these records. The records were later found in Hillary’s White House book room after a two-year search and delivered to investigators in 1996. Vincent Foster was a close friend of the Clintons and worked with them at the Rose Law firm in Arkansas. He was appointed to the position of White House Deputy Counsel in 199, and worked with the Clintons until he became involved in their famous travel controversy in 1993. He, having insider knowledge of the controversy and possibly what really happened, committed “suicide” on July 20, 1993, in a park in Virginia. His death was at the age of 48 and came under three investigations, one by the FBI. Person. How a person conducts themselves around others can tell a lot about their character and morals. In the book “Unlimited Access,” by Gary Aldrich, a 30-year veteran of the FBI and one who worked closely with the Clinton administration, Mr. Aldrich, provides crucial insight into Mrs. Clinton as a person. His most shocking encounter relates Hillary as she leaves church one Sunday afternoon, climbing into her Limo to be driven back to the White House. She was in such a bad mood that she picked up a Bible, chucked it at the back of her driver’s head and said, “Get the (expletive) home!” When three health insurance company executives visited the Oval office one day to have the first lady give her thoughts on their plan to curb the healthcare crisis, she entered the room saying, “Gentleman, I have looked at your proposal and it’s pure (expletive)! Now, you’ve had your meeting! Get out! (Aldrich, 88)” He relays that the White House staff was told, when she walks down the corridors, “…you’re not supposed to look at her. You’re actually supposed to go into an office if there is one nearby, she doesn’t want staff ‘seeing’ her (Aldrich, 89).” When asked to attend the annual Christmas ornament decorating ceremony at the White House one year, Mr. Aldrich recounts the following while rummaging through a box of Hillary’s ornaments: “What’s so funny? What are you laughing at?” I asked. “Don’t you know what you’re holding?’ No, I didn’t, but he (a White House florist) was happy to explain it to me: the golden rings I was holding were sex toys known as “cock rings.” The Hillary on TV, bright, cheerful and hugging babies, is a great cover. Voters beware. Reference: Aldrich, Gary. Unlimited Access. (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing). 1998. ------------------------------- IX. Does the World Hate America? Ryan Pahota There is belief in the United States (usually stemming from the left) that the world hates America, and America is the bully of the world. These ideas are strong in the Democratic platform of Sen. Barack Obama, who wishes to go abroad to the Middle East to have “talks” (we have seen how successful that has worked by Democratic leaders) with Iran in order to gain some respect in the world. These calls for “change” thus begs the question: Does the world hate the U.S.? Using voter poll-results on the election of their respective country’s leaders, a consensus shows that more pro-American (and center-right) leaders are being placed into power. For example, in infamous France, Nicolas Sarkozy has replaced the anti-American Jacques Chirac, saying he denounces “French arrogance,” and, “It is bad manners to embarrass one’s allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles.” “Sarko,” as he is apt to be called, is willing to compromise with the U.S., a direct causation from Sarko being the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement, a right-wing party in France. In the land down under, John Howard is in his reign as the longest Australian prime minister in office. He, too, is the member of a center-right party, the Liberal Party of Australia. Howard is a friend to the U.S., as seen by the sending of troops into Iraq and by punitive measures against terrorists. Back in Britian, Gordon Brown, though part of the Labour Party (a centre-left) is willing to continue to tradition of Tony Blair by remembering the “relationship between Britain and America,” conveying to us that even a more left political society is willing to compromise and befriend the United States. The other major island player, this one in the Pacific, Japan has a center-right philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party, electing Yasuo Fukuda as Prime Minister of Japan, a man seen taking pictures with President Bush and Robert Gates. Meanwhile in a promising change of spirit in Germany, Angela Merkel replaced the anti-American Gerhard Schröder (who, like Jacques Chirac, openly criticized the Iraq War.) Merkel is part of the Christian Democratic Union, a rival to the popular Social Democratic Party of Germany, which has its roots in conservatism. Merkel has been compared to Margaret Thatcher, who was pro-American and friends with then-President Ronald Reagan. Thus, while the media love to keep people in fear, saying that the world hates America, the reality is the more left regimes are being replaced by pro-American right-leaning ones. The reality is that, while the media love to show the evils of America, they fail to show the work of missionaries and humanitarians that go out in the world and intervene — by apostatizing or by delivering of services like the American Red Cross. The reality is that, while the media trumpet the mistakes of the Iraq War, a Kurdish girl is sitting in a classroom learning, and Iraqis are casting ballots into politics that are fairer than when under Sadaam Hussein. The reality is that, while the media paint the target on the United States’ back, the United States gathers support from its friends all around the globe. It shows the world does not hate America, but the media want you to believe it does to promote their own agenda. ------------------------------- X. An Ostrich Farmer's Nightmare Patrick Flanagan Surely you've noticed that when you go to the grocery store, your bread is tax-free, but your beer is not. That's because in Florida, essentials like food, medicine, and rent, among other things, are exempt from the sales tax. But would you have guessed that ostrich feed is sales tax-exempt? If you tax livestock feed, the argument goes, you tax ostriches twice: once during their growth, and once again when they are finally sold. This, as any member of the Florida Farm Bureau will tell you, is unfair to farmers and bad for the economy. But seriously, ostrich feed? Super Bowl sky box tickets are also tax-exempt. Figure that one out. If you think our sales tax laws are crazy, then you should take a look at the property tax laws. In Florida, we have no state personal income tax; we're one of seven such states in America that has no such tax. Instead, the majority of our state government's tax revenue comes from other taxes, including sales tax and property tax. If you've been paying any attention to the politics lately, you know that Floridians are not happy about the status of their property taxes. New houses come with ludicrously high taxes, and old houses lose their grandfather exemptions as soon as the property deeds change hands. Coupled with the subprime loan crisis and the soft real estate market, buying property is risky business. To help relieve some of the pressure, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission has been hard at work, debating a solution. The TBRC is a commission consisting mostly of businessmen and former politicians that meets once every 20 years to review Florida's tax laws, and unlike most commissions, it has the power to put proposed constitutional amendments right on the voter ballot. The TBRC recently proposed an amendment which will dramatically alter Florida's property tax. Currently, about 25% of the average property tax goes to schools, and this amendment proposes dropping that 25% from the property tax and funding schools from another source, like increasing the sales tax by a penny and broadening the tax base by removing some sales tax exemptions. The biggest argument against increasing the sales tax is that usually taxes on consumption are regressive. That is, consumption taxes tend to punish lower-income families because they spend a higher percentage of their earnings on consumption, whereas wealthier families can afford to invest in property, stocks, and savings. That's where Florida's tax-exemptions come in; those exemptions keep the sales tax progressive while still letting Disney World tourists pay for our infrastructure. The current TBRC proposal suggests removing some of these exemptions as a possible means of replacing the property tax revenue. It's important to realize that the proposal isn't a reduction in taxes, but really a tax swap, from property tax to consumption tax. But it's not just a swap, because the economy is not a zero-sum game. Consumption taxes are great. They provide incentives to save, not to spend. They require minimal bureaucracy to maintain, and are simple to adjust. They make taxes transparent like no other tax; every time you spend a dollar, you know exactly how much is going to the government. And consumption taxes can easily be made progressive. Florida has sales tax exemptions; the proposed federal FairTax has preemptive tax rebates for low-income families. The property tax, on the other hand, is often convoluted beyond comprehension, and sometimes sneaky. You may not want to pay an extra penny on everything you buy, and you may say, "But I enjoy getting my ostrich feed tax-free!" But what you might not realize is that property taxes indirectly raise retail prices. Just like the invisible "inflation tax" and corporate income taxes, all costs for producing and selling a product get transferred to the consumer. Be it the price of raw materials or a government levied tax, the cost is always passed on to the consumer. It's unconstitutional in Florida to tax rent; rent has been deemed a "necessity". But property taxes force landlords to raise their rent, and the end result is... a tax on rent! So really, you're already paying that extra penny sales tax, maybe even more. You just don't see it directly, because the merchant raised his prices to pay his obscene property taxes. If the same amount of revenue is raised with a consumption tax instead of a property tax, everybody benefits, because consumption tax is simply a clearer, more efficient method of taxation. So when you see the amendment to swap the property tax on the ballot in November, think about the gloating ostrich farmers, subsidized by your tax dollars. Think about the invisible tax your government is levying on you, without your notice. And then vote yes to the simple, transparent consumption tax. It's not a complete overhaul, but it's certainly a step on the road to prosperity. ------------------------------- XI. Oceans Don't Lie Thomas Sowell Let’s begin with a simple fact. The World Meteorological Organization, on April 4th, just last week, announced that global temperatures will be lower in 2008 then in 2007. You read that right, lower. So where does all of Al Gore’s talk about climate change and “global warming” alarmism fit in? It doesn’t. There are two main contentions that have been absent throughout the discourse on global warming. The first is that it is actually occurring, but the second, and a more poignant one, is that global warming would be disastrous. In fact, many experts believe that global warming could not only be positive, but necessary. A 2007 worldnetdaily.com article provides a fascinating, yet often (purposely) overlooked point-during the past century, in its attempt to fabricate a catastrophe to control Americans, the left-wing media has predicting climate catastrophe four times. Out of those four, they hold a flattering zero percent accuracy rate. In 1895 they panicked about in incoming ice age, in 1920 a warming of less than a half a degree led to worry about the current “problem”. Then as if that wasn’t enough, in 1975 the usually inaccurate New York Times made another of its usual mistake, declaring “A Major Cooling Widely Considered to be Inevitable”. In a display of their usual inadequacy, they followed that up with thirty years of global warming alarmism. So while there isn’t a solid base for supporting the ever wrong hypothesis of global climate change, it is generally conceded, by even those on the right that it is a bad thing. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as much as Al Gore and his eco-destructive mansion depend on it being true. The Spectator, in a 2003 article, points out that global warming may be just what we need to prevent an incoming ice age. Geologically, ice ages come about every 10,000 years, and ironically, the last one occurred almost exactly 10,000 years ago. In fact, Professor Fred Hoyle of Cardiff University contends that global warming is the only thing in the way of another ice age-and potential extinction. Professor Hoyle argues that we should in fact increase our emissions, because of this positive effect. Even if the left refuses to reach across the table and tone down their rhetoric, there can be a solution to this dilemma. Let Al Gore keep running his mansion on full power, and John Edwards spend 400 dollars on that ridiculous mass of hair he has. In the end, it may be the liberals who continue to power our economy and keep emissions pumping to save us from the “inevitable ice age” their only information source proclaimed just a few years ago. ------------------------------- XII. A Soldier's Perspective J.M.M. Five years ago I was on my way to be apart of history. I was part of the initial invasion of Iraq. I did not know it at the time, but my life was going to be forever changed. My unit, the 2nd Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was at the front of the 21-day drive to Baghdad. Just to give you a little history of this unit, it has been in all U.S. wars and battles since 1798. The 7th Infantry Regiment has served in more campaigns than any other Infantry Regiment in the U.S. Army. Several U.S. presidents, such as Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, have served as commanders of the regiment. It was my honor to serve in such a prestigious unit and add to the growing of its history. My journey in Iraq with the 7th Infantry Regiment began on March 18, 2003, when my squad moved into Iraq over the top of the giant sand berm, or wall, that separated Iraq from Kuwait. I had been in Kuwait since the beginning of January. Now, after all the rumors that had been in circulation, we were finally moving out to do the job that we thought that most Americans were in favor of. I was actually sitting in Iraqi soil one day in advance of the start of the war waiting for the word to move out. Finally, the word came to commence combat operations and my unit moved out. I could see several cruise missiles flying overhead to their objectives and several U.S. jets flying toward targets farther north as we moved deeper into Iraq. It took my unit 21 days to reach the Saddam International Airport. It would have been a few days faster if it had not been for the worst dust storm in recent history. We were stuck in what look like another planet with red dust in and on everything. I was in several battles in our drive north but, nothing like what waited in Baghdad. My friend, Cpl. Saenz, the other team leader in my squad, and I even painted our faces with our desert camouflage in the hopes of motivating our men and scaring any enemy we saw. My first day in Baghdad was greeted with a 4-hour battle in which my unit suffered one wounded and a Bradley Fighting Vehicle destroyed. It was during this battle that I was shown on TV directing my men and other soldiers in my unit where to shoot our antitank missiles, called the Javelin, at several Iraqi tanks, one of which shot the Bradley that was destroyed. While all this was happening, we were receiving enemy fire from both our front and our rear as we were on top of a highway overpass. Meanwhile the engineer company that was attached to our unit was in a firefight to our rear. During that firefight a Sergeant First Class, named Paul R. Smith, was shot and killed defending his men from being over run by the Iraqi Army. Two years later, Paul R. Smith was the first person to receive the Medal of Honor since Sgts. Gordon and Shughart during a battle in Somalia in 1993. I spent several more months in Iraq, mainly Baghdad and its many districts, patrolling the streets and restoring order. I met many people and learned many things. These people were oppressed by a tyrant and now they were happy to see that there is such a thing as freedom. Under Saddam, many Shiites and Kurds were killed and the wealth of the country belonged to Saddam, which he hoarded for his vanity and his legacy. Even before his own death he still believed he was in the right in killing innocent people. I was back in the United States for all of 2004 and returned to Iraq in January of 2005 due to being placed on stop-loss status. This time I served with the 3rd Battalion 69th Armor Regiment in Samarra Iraq, where the golden dome of a mosque there was blown up by Sunni insurgents to cause a civil war between Sunni and Shiite. I was part of two different Personal Security Detachments, or PSD teams. One was for the battalion S-5, who paid normal citizens for damage done by U.S. forces and also paid contractors money for civil projects like sewage treatment and a drinking water treatment facility. In this job I got to be more involved with the people of Samarra and surrounding villages. My second team was to be the personal bodyguard as well as a gunner for the battalion S-3. I went where ever the operations officer, who is third in command of the whole battalion, went. When he walked into a building, guess who walked in there first? That's right, I did. Also, during this tour I was introduced to something new called the "roadside bomb" or IED (Improvised Explosive Device). We did not have too many during the invasion. I went by a few that never exploded until a vehicle or two later. There is actually a student here at the University of Florida that served in the same battalion as me in 2005, who was injured by a roadside bomb. So if you ever see him, do treat him like a statue. Go and offer a kind thank you for fighting and for suffering so that you could walk around this campus and attend class with your own free will. I will leave his name out to save him any embarrassment. The problem in Iraq is that people we help are actually trying to hurt us. They hide within the normal community and most people are too afraid for their lives to tell us who the bad guys are. I returned to the United States on the Dec. 30, just in time to attend my grandfather's funeral. He became ill and I never had a chance to see him again. It was after this that I decided my time in the Army after seven years and six months was over. I have been working and taking classes trying to adjust to civilian life, but many times I find it very difficult. There is still not a day that I wake up and regret leaving the Army. There is not a day that goes by when I do not still wish to be a soldier. I guess I live up to the words of a friend of mine when he said, "You can take the soldier out of the Army, but you can never take the Army out of the soldier." I still wish to be in Iraq. I do not understand why I feel this way. Maybe because I left bits and pieces of myself there that I just cannot get back. Maybe I left bits of myself with the friends and peers that died and came home in boxes. Sometimes I feel this war just made more sense than sitting in the air conditioning, drinking soda, watching flat-screen TVs, and listening to all the negative people that live in America saying how much they hate America, the government, and the military, and are only now proud (thank you Michele Obama), but are not willing to fight for freedom and only want to give in to terrorism because they are cowards. These are the people that believe that freedom should just be given to them without earning it, but they also support the most radical forms of racism, religious persecution and gender inequality, which they are totally against in the U.S. Or just maybe I have a hard time letting go of a moment in time that defined my life — a time that will be in history forever. Maybe I do not want to forget about all the heroes that I served with whowho died or went their separate ways after our time together. I was diagnosed with PTSD after my first tour but could not use it as an excuse to get out of my obligation to my country and unit, but mostly to my men. I could not train them, then let them go to battle without me. To most people this might sound corny, but I feel it was me living up to the two words that I live by: Honor and Courage. Without those two words, I do not feel like I could have made it through all the impossible times and still lift my head to face another day. Those words will always be etched into the fabric of the life that I live. You cannot have honor without courage and you cannot have courage without honor. My time in Iraq is done, but I will be forever changed from my experiences. I will never forget my time there and the men I served and bled with. I wear four bracelets with four names of fallen comrades as a testament to my word to never forget them and honor their sacrifice. America has the upper hand right now, but the troops need the support of the whole country. That includes Code Pink and two certain columnists that write for a certain campus newspaper. We are Americans just like you, and if you do not support us, you can leave and go support your Islamic fascist buddies over in their country. We will see how long you will last. We can win the war on terrorism, but America as a whole needs to stand together or we will only unite terrorists with our disunity. Most Americans will never go to Iraq, but be rest-assured that this former grunt has been there twice and would go back as fast as lightening. ------------------------------- XIII. Critical Funding Cuts Hurt Colleges, Majors Nicholas Fitzpatrick Florida’s higher education financial fiasco Fridays bring groups of high school students to the University of Florida campus. The prospective students walk the campus listening to the overenthusiastic but lovable Cicerones. The Cicerones explain the noteworthy buildings and answer questions. I never took one of these tours so I decided to listen to one for a few stops. The guide was great and I learned quite a few things that I didn’t previously know. There’s something that these bright eyed kids and their parents didn’t stroll past on their tour, the university accountants. The University of Florida is in a financial crisis and our future classmates are in for a big surprise. Anyone who has attempted to register for classes sees the problem, there are none. General Education courses are being cut, upper level class sizes are increasing, and the dreaded Teaching Assistants are taking an ever growing role in the classes that are still around. I came to the University of Florida with the expectation of a world class education, and that reality is fading quickly. The university says that it is out of money. There are hiring freezes nearly campus wide, some professors haven’t been given a raise in years, and there is a push to expedite graduations. This, to vastly understate the obvious, is a problem. UF is facing financial problems for several reasons. One that is commonly cited is that the state of Florida, in November 2007, told the university to cut funds by $22.1 million in recurring funds. Another factor is an apparent mismanagement of funds by the university and individual colleges. In February 2008, a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Financial Report stated that “As this committee reported last year, we believe that CLAS has been under funded relative to other colleges at UF for several years now.” The report is available on the University of Florida website, www.ufl.edu. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is facing the brunt of problem. Not only is it losing $3 million in recurring funds, but it also has a multi-million dollar debt. While all this is happening, there is another fight in Tallahassee. The Board of Governors, the committee that oversees Florida’s eleven public universities, is fighting the Legislature over the power to set tuition. To the everyday student, we have reached a point where it doesn’t matter who sets the tuition, as long as someone fixes the problem. Initially I was opposed to the increase in tuition. I, like most students, enjoy the low cost of enrollment. I even thought that the university must have a surplus of funds if it can make a multi-million dollar addition to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Then I saw the light. The athletic department is paying for the stadium addition, and there isn’t a surplus of funds. Instead, the university is facing draconian cuts. I’m not sure where our beloved university went astray, but it has. If there is any sense of academic or scholarly pursuit left in the school, I’d like administration to show the way. If the university is concerned with teaching students, why are classes being cut? If the priority of UF is to prepare students to be tomorrow’s leaders, why is it pushing us out the door before we are done learning? While I am quick to blame the university, huge fault rests at the state level. The Board of Governors and Legislature must stop bickering about who can raise tuition and raise it! This is not a popular stance to take, but it must be done. Yes, it might prevent a few students from being able to afford to get a UF education, but if we continue at our current pace the entire school will be deprived of an adequate education. This situation is another example of the public sector’s inability to outperform the private sector. If a private college is not earning enough money to educate the students like it promised, it charges more money. The state of Florida should do the same. The students that walk our campus today will be leading our state tomorrow. The University of Florida’s reputation attracts future doctors, businessmen, teachers, scientists, and politicians. How is our state to survive and compete if its most prominent leaders are undereducated? When thinking of the issue in that light, why would we not do what is necessary to make them the most educated? President Bernie Machen has made no secret his desire for alumni to donate large sums of money. Yet here is the problem, without the necessary refocus of the quality of education at the university that money won’t come in as easy as expected. We can not have successful alumni without giving students the skills to succeed. This issue affects everyone. Students, faculty, and parents should be outraged. We all share a common vested interest in the prosperity of the university. We can not continue to sacrifice the academic and scholarly pursuits that are the trademarks of every educational institute in favor of a drive-thruesque generic education. The University of Florida must be the flagship college in a state of great schools. Next time President Machen goes to Tallahassee, he should not take no for answer. -------------------------------