New month, new open forum for Times readers. Once again, we are providing an open forum for area residents who want to say something, report something, or ask a question -- on any issue. Any topic is fair game, although the Times' comments policy still applies.Earlier this year, Times readers voted overwhelmingly (75% to 25%) in opposition to our decision to limit remarks following stories.
The Dorchester Times' Web site averages more than 235 hits a day, according to an independent Web tracking service. That means the Times is the perfect forum to air your thoughts, news tips, announcements, complaints and concerns -- on any issue. So go ahead and sound off. We are listening. And so are hundreds of others.
I'm sick and tired of the president and Nancy Pelosi trying to ram big government and socialized medicine down our throats. We already have a "public option" health insurance program. It's call Medicaid and it's breaking the states as well as the federal goverment.
ReplyDeleteCongress: Stop playing Robin Hood with other people's money. Offer incentives for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and allow small businesses to pool together to lower premiums.
Liberals: Quit whining and defend the free-market system if you love the country you call home.
Now that baseball/softball is over can someone please remove the gravel from the dorchester baseball diamond? Its dangerous.
ReplyDeleteOld no. 64: you're watching too much FOX news. Try to think outside the fox.
ReplyDeleteSincerely, Old no. 61/
Annoy a liberal; use facts and logic.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say what a great town !!! After this last storm seeing everyone working together to haul trees away... Makes me glad to live in small town NE. :-)Also thanks to the city boys getting all the wires and electricity going so quickly !!!
ReplyDeleteI would like someone, especially in the current administration in power in Washington DC, to tell me what clause of the Constitution of the United States allows most of these Federal programs.
ReplyDeleteFolks, big government is socialism, and socialism is slavery. Things are unfolding just like Marx and Engel prescribed in their writings.
Frankly, I want my grandkids to have freedom, you know, that GOD given endowment, of life , liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness.
Liberty or death!!!!
JR Wolfe
I agree with the comments above. Great testament in Dorchester that neighbor still helps out neighbor. Keep yer big city, Mister.
ReplyDeleteAbout two months ago, a Dorchester alum who has been living away for 60 years, commented that the 1950’s were a more serene time. I countered that the culture was already starting to rumble with a number of changes underway. Some of those changes were just below the radar and were not always apparent. Here is one example:
ReplyDeletePresident Dwight D. Eisenhower grappled with topics like relations with Iran and stability in Iraq during an era that was far more complex than thought, newly declassified documents show. The papers illustrate that the 1950s, long viewed as an idyllic time of "I Love Lucy" and cars with tail fins, were fraught with delicate policy challenges. "What's ironic is that the issues that Eisenhower was dealing with 50 or so years ago are the issues that the Obama administration is dealing with today," said Eisenhower Presidential Library director Karl Weissenbach.(Source: Associated Press)
I am always puzzled when Nebraskans scream about "socialism" when there is so much federal money pouring into the state. The Lincoln Journal Star recently carried an article stating that Nebraska Cattlemen (not exactly a liberal group)want the federal government to loosen the rules as to who qualifies for the Livestock Indemnity Program. Bt the way, that program was created in July after NE feedlots lost about 4,000 cattle due to excessive heat.
ReplyDeletePuzzled,
ReplyDelete"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Love you.
why does the village have to get involved in who we use for a garbage service? The guys that pick up our trash are awesome! and I don't want to see them go!
ReplyDeleteI understand the meaning of socialism. What I’m asking is this: Why do the majority of Nebraskans scream about the government spending money on programs such as healthcare while not a word is said about money used to subsidize agriculture? Is that not “socialism’? Also, isn’t it coincidental that the indemnity program was created after the heat wave killed 4,000 cattle in feedlots? Do you suppose agribusiness put pressure on our politicians??
ReplyDeletePuzzled,
ReplyDeleteI left a response but the good editors of this blog decided to remove it, so I will try once again.
The difference, my dear, is that the farmer and livestock producer are producing a commodity needed by the nation's citizens and they are working hard to do so. They are not failing to save or work at all, as is the case with many Medicaid recipients.
Are ag subsidies purist free-market theory in practice? No, but they aren't the type of government handout that Marx advocated and that Mr. Obama is pushing for in his healthcare plan.
Now be on your merry way, dear. I am sure there is a labour party rally that is missing you.
You have a great double standard, but a lousy Margaret Thatcher imitation! Bottom line: Everyone loves free money.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot said about health care, but wouldnt it be nice that everyone will have it, or is that to much to ask for health care for all, and not for the rich that can afford it. Some were not, aa fortunate with, silver spoons in their mouths, like some.
ReplyDeleteU.S. Census Bureau, August 2009: 87% of Nebraskans under 65 have health insurance.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the rest need to get off their duff and work or sign up for Medicaid.
dweller, how 'bout a poll that asks what town is your LEAST favorite to visit? i would vote for crete after 10:00 at night. i wouldnt let anyone i care for walk on crete streets after dark, especially my goat!
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I see "Puzzled"s point. We Nebraskans talk so conservative, but when the Feds are shoveling money into the trough, someone always bellies up. And even in Lincoln, we do not have a "conservative legislature", and our governor bellied up to the trough as well, as did many of our communites. There is no free money, it all has to be paid back, and there are velvet chains attached as well. And I fear they will soon turn to tin, then copper, then iron!
ReplyDeleteFarm subsidies destroyed farming. If it had not been for the Federal government intervention in agriculture, there would still be quarter section farms, and an ivestor class buying farm ground and renting to young budding famers. I would much rather be farming like we did in the 50's and sixties, where we were pretty much self sufficient, and deversified.
As a conservative, I do not see the modern version of the British Merchantile system we call "capitalism" as the free market system the Founding Fathers invisioned. They saw an agrarian society where every one lived under "his own olive tree" as Washington often quoted from the scriptures.
I think the economy as it was prior to the Federal Reserve, and prior to Mr. Lincoln's war was just fine. Natural curves of boom and bust which naturally moderated the economy, with no help, or hinderance from any government.
I see myself as a 19th century Democrat. Just like many of my immigrant ancestors from Bohemia, but that party was taken over by the "progressives". Even the Republican party is not what it started to be under Reagan, a resurgent old Democrat party, that preached low taxes, and balanced budgets, and state sovereignty.
Oh well, it is good and well that the First Amendment is still alive and well so that we can all commiserate on these blogs. I just hope the rest of the bill of rights is held to the same esteem!
And to answer my own question quieried in my first post, most of these bills coming from the Federal Congress are passed under the "commerce clause" of our United States Constitution, but that is not what the Founders invisioned by any means.
I leave you with these quotes from the Founders!
"Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness." --James Wilson, Of the Study of the Law in the United States, 1790
"The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy." --Benjamin Franklin, Emblematical Representations, 1774....note the year here!
"If it be asked what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer, the genius of the whole system, the nature of just and constitutional laws, and above all the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America, a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it." --Federalist No. 57, February 19, 1788
"The house of representatives ... can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interest, and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny." --Federalist No. 57, February 19, 1788
"[T]he government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." --James Madison
Now that last one says it all folks!
Liberty or death!
JR Wolfe
Downright bloody amazing story:
ReplyDeleteThe White House strategy of turning supporters into snitches when they see "fishy" information about the health care debate may run afoul of the law, legal experts say. Judge Andrew Napolitano, a FOX News analyst, referred to the Privacy Act of 1974, which was passed after the Nixon administration used federal agencies to illegally investigate individuals for political purposes. Enacted after Richard Nixon's resignation in the Watergate scandal, the statute generally prohibits any federal agency from maintaining records on individuals exercising their right to free speech.
The White House has been under fire since it posted a blog on Tuesday that asked supporters to e-mail any "fishy" information seen on the Web or received electronically to flag@whitehouse.gov.
The ACLU said in a statement to FOXNews.com that the White House blog is a "bad idea that could send a troublesome message."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/white-house-collect-fishy-info-health-reform-illegal-critics-say/
Off with their heads I say. But first it's tea time.
JR, thank you for your post. I agree that the farm program changed radically in the 1970's when the Ever-Normal Granary was abolished. The 1973 farm bill began replacing the New Deal system of supporting prices through loans, government grain purchases, and land idling with a new system of direct payments to farmers. Here is a quote from Iowa farmer George Naylor that is bound to provoke debate: "The free market in agriculture has never worked and it never will. The economics of a family farm are very different from a company: When prices drop, the firm can lay people off, idle factories, and make fewer widgets. Eventually the market finds new balance between supply and demand. But the demand for food isn't elastic; people don't eat more just because the food is cheap. And laying off farmers doesn't help to reduce the supply. You can fire me, but you can't fire my land, because some other farmer who needs more cash flow, or thinks he's more efficient than I am, will come in and farm it. Even if I go out of business this land will keep producing corn."
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting article. Even as rural unemployment increases, U.S. workers regard farm work as beneath them. It focuses mainly on New York state, however, a University of Nebraska professor is quoted in the story.
ReplyDeletehttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/
Job-security-but-no-apf-
1488362659.html?x=0
Has anyone read the health care plan??? It has some REALLY bad stuff in it (and is over 1000 pages). It is not just a plan to make sure every American gets insured !!! It will SO limit the health care you and your family will or will NOT get !!! If you are over a certain age you will simply be denied most care because you are to old and not worth the expence (look at Europe and Canada). Same for the very young, society has not spent much on them as of yet so they won't be missed much !!! Is this really the care we want??? I don't want to have to do a favor or wait for my number to come up (lottery style) if I am in need of care, I also don't want to see my parents or grandparents be refused care because of their age... People open your eyes, this is headed down a road NONE of us should want to go down. Let's let our congress and senators know on this break that they have that the government is getting to big and to bossy !!! Isn't is nice to know that they are trying to push a crummy bill on us that they and their families would be exempt from. If it is so WONDERFUL then they should all want to be on it as well !!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFrom Don Walton of the Lincoln Journal Star:
ReplyDeleteGovernment is not always the answer, but it is not the enemy.
In Nebraska, we have chosen public ownership of all our electric utilities.
Our state is the only one in the nation to follow that course.
And just try to imagine what Nebraska's economy would look like without Social Security, Medicare and federal farm payments.
If we have "public" ownership of the electric companies, where is my dividend avery year?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter lives in Ft. Collins, and she pays 60% of what we pay for electricity, and the coal fired plant sits right outside of Ft Collins. And for the record, Ft Collins owns its plant too. Makes me wonder how much less it would cost them if it was owned privately?
Farming began a slow death when FDR started subsidizing it. From that time on, the march was "off" the farm, and into the cities. The small towns began to slowly die. (For the record, the dust bowl in the southern plain states had an impact as well, but much of that ground should never have been plowed). It used to be that the majority of us used to live on self subsisting farms who sold our surplus. American farmers have almost always, since about 1800, and in some years before, sold our surplus grain to Europe. Our surplus dollars went into the local economy first, then county, then state, then into the economy of the Federal Union, and of course it also had an impact on the world economy as well. (Most farmers bought foregn goods.) Every time I hear someone extoll the virtue of most of us living off the farm today, I want to puke. The reason we are in the pickle we are today is because we stopped being an agrarian society, and tied our fortunes to the hourly wage, and the city retailers. Instead of trusting in God, and the sinew of our own hands, we now trust in the mighty :-) dollar, and the Federal government, or the Federal Reserve.
I challenge you to read the platform of the 1896 Democrat party. Now that is a platform I could live with today. Unfortunately, William Jennings Bryan left the principles of the Democracy, and embraced a form of democratic socialism.
Gee, I have to stop preaching.........guess I didn't fall to far from the tree.....ehhh!
JR
Don Walton is a leftist and his tired old rhetoric reminds me of Nazi Germany.
ReplyDeleteTime to retire, Don.
I LOVE Don Walton....he's almost 70 and still cranking out those columns. Also, people who have been through the Holocaust find it very offensive to compare a newspaper columnist in Lincoln, NE with the Nazis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment above that don walton at the LJS is so biased that he should at least give up his "reporting" role if he insists on writing a left-wing, hate-filled column.
ReplyDeleteDorchester girls should be rated in the top 10 of class d-1 volleyball. They'll be good!
ReplyDeleteBryanLGH and the Community Health Endowment of Lincoln recently sponsored a presentation by Dan Buettner, author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for living longer from the people who've lived the longest." He was talking about living well, with examples from people in the "Blue Zones," where the proportion of healthy 90- to 100-year-old people is unusually high: Okinawa, Sardinia, the Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica and, perhaps surprisingly, Loma Linda, Calif.
ReplyDeleteBuettner boils it down to those things the people in the Blue Zones tend to have in common:
Being physically active without thinking too much about it, like walking or biking routinely, every day.
Eating wisely. You know when you're not.
Having purpose in one's life.
Relieving stress.
Belonging, especially to a family, a spiritual community and a "tribe" that shares your Blue Zone values.
Drinking red wine. This is evidence that God loves you and wants you to be happy.
I WONDER WHEN THE VILLAGE IS GOING TO FIGURE OUT WHEN/IF OUR GARBAGE BILL WILL BE INCLUDED IN OUR ELECTRICITY/WATER BILL????
ReplyDeleteOR IF THEY WOULD EVEN ASK THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE VILLAGE IF THAT IS WHAT WE WANT?? OR DO WE GET A SAY??
does anyone care about that?
I just picked up the Wilber paper and read where the County Clerk will no longer issue titles for vehicles and motorboats. That job will now be done by the County Treasuer's office. I hope our county officals hold the line on spending and don't hire new staff immediately.
ReplyDeleteAlso in the paper is an announcement about a new website that should make "fans" of the Crete News happy. The Friend, Wilber, and DeWitt newspapers will be collaborating on a website that will cover part of southeast Nebraska.
to garbage man....
ReplyDeletemust be the new blood.
Lots of progress on the new streets
They have had almost a year, nothing new.
Anonymous above was probably an obama voter
ReplyDeleteTOWN CRYER:
ReplyDeleteCRETE NEWS WEBSITE IS TERRIBLE> THEY SHOULD STICK TO PAPER AND INK>
Interesting note on your guys' poll that a small town like Wilber is enjoyed more than Crete by the locals.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous on August 11, 2009 9:12 PM:
ReplyDeleteYour snippy comment was pathetic. At least the "new blood" wants to move the town forward--but they can't do it overnight, especially when they're out-numbered on issues like new streets, etc.
Camille Paglia of SALON.com (liberal online rag) writes, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom I used to admire for her smooth aplomb under pressure, has clearly gone off the deep end with her bizarre rants about legitimate town-hall protests by American citizens. She is doing grievous damage to the party and should immediately step down. ... I was stunned at the failure of liberals to see the blatant totalitarianism in this incident, which the president should have immediately denounced. His failure to do so implicates him in it."
ReplyDeleteKeep working "new blood" ... you have 100 times more support than you know. Dorchester is a great town now but was a beautiful "city on a hill" at one time. We will be again with leaders.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Mom! (Class of "56", DOB: 8/16/38)
ReplyDelete“Three Steps to Cheaper Health Care”
ReplyDelete1.) Quit feeding your pie hole with junk food and alcohol.
2.) Git off yer lazy duff and get some exercise.
3.) Quit expecting everyone else to pay for your doctor’s visit.
Folks,
ReplyDeleteI think we often forget the lessons of history. I watched this speach when it was covered on TV when I was a kid, in 1964, and have never forgotten the message, or the giver. Why do we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over? What of out freedom folks?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1fYSAChxs
JR Wolfe
Here's something to remember:
ReplyDeleteIf, like most people, your health coverage is through your employer or your spouse's employer,you do not have health insurance. (Unless you are over 65, in which case you do have health insurance.) At some point in the future, you will get sick and need expensive health care. What are some of the things that could happen between now and then?
Your company could drop its health plan. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (see Table HIA-1), the percentage of the population covered by employer-based health insurance has fallen every year since 2000, from 64.2% to 59.3%.
You could lose your job. I don't think I need to tell anyone what the unemployment rate is these days.
You could voluntarily leave your job, for example because you have to move to take care of an elderly relative.
You could get divorced from the spouse you depend on for health coverage.
For all of these reasons, you can't count on your health insurer being there when you need it.
That's not insurance; that's employer-subsidized health care for the duration of your employment.
Once you lose your employer-based coverage, for whatever reason, you're in the individual market, where, you may be surprised to find, you have no right to affordable health insurance.
An insurer can refuse to insure you or can charge you a premium you can't afford because of your medical history.
That's the way a free market works: an insurer would be crazy to charge you less than the expected cost of your medical care (unless they can make it up on their healthy customers, which they can't in the individual market).
This is for everyone who misses the 1950's:
ReplyDeleteHow's This For Nostalgia?
All the girls had ugly gym uniforms.
It took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
Nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school.
Nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance.
You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels.
You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn’t pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot.
Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. And they did it!
When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady.
No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked.
Lying on your back in the grass with your friends? And saying things like, 'That cloud looks like a...'
Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game.
Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.
And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home.
Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.
As well as summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, Hula Hoops, bowling and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that'?
I’m glad to see that the Crete News has finally recognized one of our more distinguished alum. The following is from the “Days Gone by Column”:
ReplyDelete10 Years Ago-1999
Marcia Boden of Roseville, California, formerly of Dorchester, was the recipient of the Sandra Goff Memorial Award given at the annual meeting of the California Association of School Psychologists. The award recognizes long-term contributions to school psychology in a variety of settings. Marcia is a graduate of Dorchester High School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has served in the Grant Distrct for 39 years, five years as a teacher and ten years as Dean of Girls-Vice Principal.
what is the deal with electricity going up so much in this town, mine went up $100, how is that fricken possible?
ReplyDeleteImagine if Barak the dictator gets his global warming bill passed. $300 increases will be the norm.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Marcia Boden!!I knew Marcia way back in the 50's when I was in High School and she was a few grades behind me. We also grew up a few miles apart on farms south of Dorchester. Many memories come to mind, mainly of our dear parents who certainly knew how to raise productive citizens.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful to hear the success of a former Dorchester High graduates. I'm sure there are many more out there that we haven't heard about, congrats to them also. We need more positive comments like this.
I believe I just made history. One of my posts has actually generated a positive comment! And that's the way it is......
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Ms. Boden on her accomplishments in the field of education. My mother also grew up south of Dorchester in the 1950’s. And thank you “Walter Cronkite” for still keeping us informed. You set the gold standard, and you will be missed.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the readers who selected Wilber as the nearby community that they most enjoy visiting. This came as a suprise because we beat out two larger towns. I hope the vote was a pro-Wilber vote rather than an anti-Crete vote due to the immigration issue.
ReplyDeleteThank You
Here’s something for all you political junkies:
ReplyDeleteSource: www.slate.com
Obama’s vacation reading list with a Nebraska twist:
• The Way Home by George Pelecanos, a crime thriller based in Washington, D.C.;
• Lush Life by Richard Price, a story of race and class set in New York's Lower East Side;
• Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded, on the benefits to America of an environmental revolution;
• John Adams by David McCullough;
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf, a drama about the life of eight different characters living in a Colorado prairie community.
What does this list of American authors tell us about the president? Well, it's not as fun as the year Bush decided to read Camus' The Stranger. George Bush reading a French Existentialist is like Obama reading a Cabela's (located in Sidney, NE) catalog.
I was a technical writer for Cabela’s until they eliminated my job. Thank heaven I wasn’t a copywriter for the catalog!
Congratulations to Marcia Boden on her achievements in the field of education. I would also like to extend my condolences to Marcia on the loss of her mother (Dorothy Boden), her uncle (Kipe Busboom), and her cousin (John Busboom).
ReplyDeleteI think that a majority of this country's problems are a direct result of greed. Congress, drug companies, government, they all pass money around like they will never run out and do you think they give one thought as to how their dicision might affect you personally? I'm not saying I'm for a government run health care system, because lets face it, at this point it would never work anyway. There are people out there that won't allow it and enough money to stop it. It's sad when government reps and aids leave their jobs to find careers in the health care industry. Why? Because they want to line their pockets. They know thats where the money is. The fact remains, that for what ever reason, it works in France, it works in Canada, it even works in Cuba. EVERY prescription costs the same and someone please tell me why you can buy asthma inhailers in Cuba for pocket change, yet that same exact med is over 100.00 here. Because they know we will pay it and not do a thing about it. The drug companies are ruining this country and our government is letting them because they get their pockets full as well. Those countries take care of their workers with time off when injured while their bills are put on hold. Government people to do housework after you have a child, even laundry and prepare meals. Sure they pay a high tax, but it's one of a few taxes they do pay, unlike our growing many. They can choose their own doctors and clinics Seems to me that wanting the best of everything comes with a high price to pay. And I'm not talking about the price of health care when I say that. People say government run health care is socialism, but I think this country is already there.
ReplyDeleteI think we all need to look at the motives of our leaders. Ask why would they want this, and who started this. Who gains from it really? I didn't say would you gain, I said, WHO gains.
ReplyDelete