Mountain Views
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” —United States Constitution, Amendment One
■ The Mountain Press ■ Page A7 ■ Thursday, November 26, 2009
commentary
Misdirection key to selling health reform When you knowingly pay someone to lie to you, we call the deceiver an illusionist or a magician. When you unwittingly pay someone to do the same thing, I call him a politician. President Obama insists that health care “reform” not “add a dime” to the budget deficit, which daily grows to ever more frightening levels (http://tinyurl.com/yglr8sj). So the House-passed bill and the one the Senate now deliberates both claim to cost less than $900 billion. Somehow “$900 billion over 10 years” has been decreed to be a magical figure that will not increase the deficit. It’s amazing how precise government gets when estimating the cost of 10 years of subsidized medical care. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bill was scored not at $850 billion, but $849 billion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her bill would cost $871 billion. How do they do that? The key to magic is misdirection, fooling the audience into looking in the wrong direction. I happily suspend disbelief when a magician says he’ll saw a woman in half. That’s entertainment. But when Harry Reid says he’ll give 30 million additional people health coverage while cutting the deficit, improving health care and reducing its cost, it’s not entertaining. It’s incredible. The politicians have a hat full of tricks to make their schemes look cheaper than they are. The new revenues will pour in during Year One, but health care spending won’t begin until Year Three or Four. To this the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner asks, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could count a whole month’s income, but only two weeks’ expenditures in your household budget?” (http://tinyurl.com/y86yos8) To be deficit-reducers, the health care bills depend on a $200 billion cut in Medicare. Current law requires cuts in payments to doctors, but let’s get real: Those cuts will never happen. The idea that Congress will “save $200 billion” by reducing payments for groups as influential as doctors and retirees is laughable. Since 2003, Congress has suspended those “required” cuts each year. Our pandering congressmen rarely cut. They just spend. Even as the deficit grows, they vomit up our money onto new pet “green” projects, bailouts for irresponsible industries, gifts for special interests and guarantees to everyone. Originally, this year’s suspension, “the doc fix,” was included in the health care bills, but when it clearly pushed the cost of “reform” over Obama’s limit and threatened to hike the deficit, the politicians moved the “doc fix” to a separate bill and pretended it was unrelated to their health care work. Megan McArdle of The Atlantic reports that Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin asked the Congressional Budget Office what the total price would be if the “doc fix” and House health care overhaul were passed together. “The answer, according to the CBO, is that together they’d increase the deficit by $89 billion over 10 years.” McArdle explains why the “doc fix” should be included: “They’re passing a bill that increases the deficit by $200 billion in order to pass another bill that hopefully reduces it, but by substantially less than $200 billion. That means that passage of this bill is going to increase the deficit.” From the start, Obama has promised to pay for half the “reform” cost by cutting Medicare by half a trillion over 10 years. But, Tanner asks, “how likely is it that those cuts will take place? After all, this is an administration that will pay seniors $250 to make up for the fact that they didn’t get a Social Security cost-of-living increase this year (because the cost of living didn’t increase). And Congress is in the process of repealing a scheduled increase in Medicare premiums.” Older people vote in great numbers. AARP is the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. Like the cut in doctor’s pay, the other cuts will never happen. I will chew on razor blades when Congress cuts Medicare to keep the deficit from growing. Medicare is already $37 trillion in the hole. Yet the Democrats proudly cite Medicare when they demand support for the health care overhaul. If a business pulled the accounting tricks the politicians get away with, the owners would be in prison. — John Stossel hosts a show on the Fox Business Channel and is the author of “Myth, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel — Why Everything You Know is Wrong.” (C)2009 JFS Productions Inc.
Editorial
Be truly thankful Amid our problems, a national day of thanksgiving appreciated It may be harder to feel thankful this year. There is so much to worry about. We have a struggling economy, wars overseas, our own soldiers from Sevier County about to be deployed to Iraq, a nation divided over its leaders, 10 percent unemployment, and merchants worried about the Christmas shopping season. Yet somehow we manage, at Thanksgiving, to remember our blessings, to realize we live in a great country with opportunities and fulfillment available to all. The Thanksgiving story has been embellished over the centuries, but at its core is a belief in others and a genuine human desire to be grateful for what we have, even as we struggle. What we recognize as the first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated in 1621 by the pilgrims of the Plymouth colony along with about 90
Wampanoag Indians. The Pilgrims had suffered through a winter in which nearly half of them died. Without the help of the Indians, all would have died. After the first harvest, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer to God. The food, which was eaten outdoors, included corn, geese, turkeys, ducks, eel, clams, leeks, plums, cod, bass, barley, venison and corn bread. The feast lasted three days in late autumn. In 1623, a period of drought was answered with a proclamation of prayer and fasting. This was changed to another thanksgiving celebration when rains came during the prayers. Later that year, Gov. Bradford proclaimed Nov. 29 as a time for pilgrims to gather and “listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.” In 1789, George Washington pro-
claimed a National Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday in November, in honor of the new Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, later discontinued it, calling it “a kingly practice.” In 1863, Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” is said to have convinced Abraham Lincoln to proclaim Thanksgiving a national holiday. For the date she chose the last Thursday in November because of Washington’s proclamation. In 1941, it was officially changed to the fourth Thursday in November. Let us be truly thankful today for what we can celebrate and cherish — family, health, togetherness, love, peace, understanding, compassion. A national day of thanksgiving is a wonderful gift — more than a holiday, more than a day off. Rejoice in what it means. Happy Thanksgiving.
Political view
Public forum Tourist money would also pay for road into Dumplin Creek project
Editor: Some local residents have expressed opposition to the City of Sevierville using “our” tax money to help construct the main road for the Dumplin Creek development. People don’t seem to understand that the money the City would spend to build the road wouldn’t just come from the local residents. The Central Business Improvement District funds consist of borrowed money that is repaid with sales tax revenue. The majority of those tax revenues will come not from local residents, but from visitors frequenting the stores, hotels, etc. in Sevierville. Therefore, it’s not really “our” money. Also, the road that is being proposed is part of a long-term traffic fix for the disastrous 407 exit, which is the lifeline for the entire
county. So the next time you talk to a visitor in Sevierville, ask them how they would feel about the City spending some of “their” money to improve the traffic at the 407 exit, plus help bring some convenient shopping to the whole area. You most likely will hear a different tune. Charles Atchley Kodak
Lawyers governed by rules on use of client’s money
Editor: In a letter published in your Friday, Nov. 20 paper, the writer was concerned about what happened to interest on funds deposited in a lawyer’s trust account and whether such interest might go “to Russia for nuke (sic) bombs or Hare Krishna.”
Rule 1.15 of the Tennessee Supreme Court provides that lawyers deposit all funds belonging to clients or third persons in a separate account known as an “Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Account” (“IOLTA”) in an FDIC Member Depository Institution. Rule 43 provides that interest earned from such accounts shall be paid to the Tennessee Bar Foundation to be distributed to provide legal assistance to the poor, to provide student loans, grants and/or scholarships to deserving law students, to improve the administration of justice and for such other programs for the benefit of the public as are specifically approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court. All lawyers must certify yearly that they are in compliance with these rules, and failure to comply may result in the suspension of a lawyer’s license to practice. I hope this information has been helpful. Lanning Wynn Sevierville
Letters to the editor policy and how to contact us: ◆ We encourage our readers to send letters to the editor. Letters must contain no more than 500 words. No more than one letter per person will be published in a 30-day period. Letters must be neatly printed or typed and contain no libel, plagiarism or personal attacks. All letters are subject to editing for style, length and content. Statements of fact must be attributed to a source for verification. All letters must be signed and contain a phone number and address for verification purposes. No anonymous or unverified letters will be printed. No letters endorsing candidates will be considered. The Mountain Press reserves the right to refuse publication of any letter. E-MAIL LETTERS TO: editor@themountainpress.com or MAIL LETTERS TO: Editor, The Mountain Press, P.O. Box 4810, Sevierville, TN 37864. For questions, call (865) 428-0748, ext. 214. The Mountain Press and its publishers do not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in letters and columns on this page.
Editorial Board:
State Legislators:
Federal Legislators:
◆ Jana Thomasson, Publisher ◆ Stan Voit, Editor ◆ Bob Mayes, Managing Editor ◆ Gail Crutchfield, Community News Editor
◆ Rep. Richard Montgomery
◆ U.S. Sen. Bob Corker
1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5981; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 rep.richard.montgomery@capitol.tn.gov
◆ Rep. Joe McCord
(202) 224-3344; Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., B40A, Washington, D.C. 20510
◆ U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
(202) 224-4944; S/H 302, Washington, D.C. 20510
1-800-449-8366 Ext. 1-5481; 207 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 rep.joe.mccord@capitol.tn.gov
◆ U.S. Rep. Phil Roe
1-800-449-8366 Ext. 10981; 320 War Memorial Bldg., Nashville TN 37243 sen.doug.overbey@capitol.tn.gov
◆ U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.
◆ Sen. Doug Overbey
(202) 225-6356; 419 Cannon House Office, Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-5435; 2267 Rayburn Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515