Opinions From The Morrison Post

Our President gave his State of the Union address last week. I couldn’t watch it all. If you look past all of the self back patting and telling people what they want to hear, there just isn’t much substance left. It seems like all politics, and not much leadership. I’m not being critical of just our President. This is just the nature of politics in this country at this time. What about a State of the Union with some hometown flavor? Here it goes: The economy stinks, and has for some time now. Much of the good paying labor jobs are long gone, and we borrow trillions from China in order to pay the bills of our government. Taxes are about as high as at any time in history. There is as large of a disparity between the earnings of the wealthy and the middle class as there ever has been. We are spending more than we earn as a country and as individuals, and the accumulated debt is starting to turn on us.

The Iraq war seems to have no end, and no limit as to how much it will cost us fiscally and in terms of lives lost. Americans are unwilling to work for what illegal immigrants are willing to work, so we have a large group of undocumented immigrants in this country that cost us money and pose a constant security threat.

We are still not up to speed as a country in investing in alternative energy sources. As long as we are content with the current suppliers of energy, we will be at the mercy of the Middle East. We have to consider the possibility that we as humans are contributing to global warming. As a country, we need to take the lead on that initiative.

On a local level, things are a bit rosier. While state and federal spending on infrastructure and education is no longer meeting demand, our county and city governments are finding was to grow, replace and improve. Our local school district has students that consistently perform better than state averages and requirements. Our young people our excelling in many areas such as athletics and community service also. Despite some of the challenges that are going on in our country right now, we continue to do better than most locally. We have taken our hits, and we keep on slugging. We should find ways to show our appreciation to those who serve on public boards and keep things headed in decent directions. Those are thankless jobs.

On a very bright note; how are you going to spend your government gift that should be on its way in a few months? Will you save it, pay bills, improve your home, buy things for the kids, or donate it? Enjoy it. It is a gift that will not come often I would bet.

Thanks to all of you who contribute to our paper and let us know about things going on in our community. Thanks also to all of our advertisers and readers. You make The Morrison Post possible.

(by Ben Wolf, Guest Columnist)