Saturday, April 26, 2014

Letter to the editor

Contact your Congressional Representatives In Saturday’s Star under world issues was a short article about a woman in Saudi Arabia who received 150 lashes for driving a car and resisting arrest. Those of you who saw the movie “12 Years a Slave” witnessed the brutal whipping of a young black girl for a minor offense. If you did, you were horrified and appalled that such inhumanity existed back then. This news article reaffirms that atrocities are still occurring in the Muslim world today. Our leaders choose to ignore these happenings as our thirst for their oil resources continues unabated. We spend billions annually maintaining our fleets in the area to assure the free flow of oil without compensation. Only an aroused citizenry can bring this to the table to be ended. There are many options that can be used to get their attention. I particularly ask American women to speak out and demand these ancient barbaric practices be stopped.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Federal Highway Trust Fund Update

There is an excellent article in the April 2014 edition of the Economist Magazine. The title is “Highways to Hell”. I couldn’t express it better. The part that interested me the most was the following statement; “The HTF spends $45 billion a year and is funded by a tax of 18. 4 cents on each gallon of petrol. But revenues are declining; the young drive a bit less and cars burn fuel more efficiently. Since American voters hate energy taxes, the petrol tax has not increased since 1993 and its purchasing power has declined. Adjusted for inflation, it is now worth only 11.5 cents. Had it been indexed to inflation 20 years ago (says the Centre for American Progress, a leftist think tank), it would now be 29 cents a gallon.” I am sharing the above as it affirms the position I have espoused for over a decade now. Had the Congress had the foresight to index it at the beginning there would be no shortage of funds today. Americans were so thrilled at the thought of the Interstate Highway program, that there would have been no objection. Think of the good paying jobs there could be, think of how much safer our highways and bridges could be and think of the extra incentive higher gas taxes would have on the average American as he or she contemplates purchasing a new vehicle. Even today should the Congress just index the tax to inflation the healing process could begin? I am not sharing this with my Congressman or my Senators as should any one of them sponsor a bill he would be destroyed by negative advertising. Oh for the day when Americans cared enough to sacrifice a little for the general good. I doubt if I will live long enough to see that attitude re-appear.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Letter to the editor Arizona Daily Star

On Tuesday, after protests by students, faculty and outside groups, Brandeis University revoked its invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali to receive an honorary degree at its commencement ceremonies in May. The protesters accused Ms. Hirsi Ali, an advocate for the rights of women and girls, of being "Islamophobic." She wrote an excellent book entitled ‘Infidel”. It tells the story of her life growing up in the Muslim culture in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It describes in great detail the low esteem they hold women in. She now lives in America. Her mission in life is to improve the lives of women all over the world but in particular Islamic countries. Her life has been threatened many times but she continues regardless. She should be honored. Brandeis University should be vilified. Jack Walters April 12, 2014
Ukraine Suggestions In a previous memo I stated America’s weakened position in opposing Mr. Putin. But there are thoughts I would like to share that might persuade him to cease and desist. In two months the breather with Iran will end. Should that be successful allow them to immediately release their oil into the market. That should have the effect of reducing the price. Anything like that would hurt Russia seriously since 70% of their income is from selling oil and gas. Cancel the $750,000 contract to purchase helicopters from Russia. I felt it was a disgrace when I first heard of it. The Pentagon made this decision as a lower cost for Afghanistan forces. Pass legislation to allow the export of natural gas from America. I realize that local gas prices would increase but the benefit to Europeans would be dramatic and would enable them to stand tall in the negotiations with Russia. Jack B. Walters April 16, 2014

Letter to the editor

Ukraine Suggestions In a previous memo I stated America’s weakened position in opposing Mr. Putin. But there are thoughts I would like to share that might persuade him to cease and desist. In two months the breather with Iran will end. Should that be successful allow them to immediately release their oil into the market. That should have the effect of reducing the price. Anything like that would hurt Russia seriously since 70% of their income is from selling oil and gas. Cancel the $750,000 contract to purchase helicopters from Russia. I felt it was a disgrace when I first heard of it. The Pentagon made this decision as a lower cost for Afghanistan forces. Pass legislation to allow the export of natural gas from America. I realize that local gas prices would increase but the benefit to Europeans would be dramatic and would enable them to stand tall in the negotiations with Russia. Jack B. Walters April 16, 2014

It's Even Worse Than It Looks- a book report

(How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism) By; Thomas F. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein This book was used as a text book for a class I attended at the University of Arizona. The class title was “Our Broken Democracy-Can It Be Fixed”. It was an excellent course attended by a restricted number with a maximum of 20. The reason was to assure adequate discussion by the attendees. I thoroughly enjoyed the interchange of ideas from each of them. This book provided a great deal of information relative to the hardening of positions by both political parties over the past 30 years or so. Its premise was that the war began when Newt Gingrich in the1984 election promoted “The Contract with America” which included a balanced budget amendment, a tough crime package and term limits for members of Congress. He believed that President Clinton was soft and would cave to pressure. He was wrong and had to face reality and did try to work with Clinton on issues such as reforming welfare work rules. None the less the seeds of confrontation were sown and have continued to this day. The election of Barack Obama infuriated the Republican Party and the re-election even further. They have made their goal to fight him at every turn. I do not dispute this premise. I do have a problem with the authors as the preponderance of the book places the blame almost entirely on Republicans. I consider myself to be a moderate with fiscal conservatism as a fundamental base. I agree that the party is no longer the party I can support totally. I am registered as an Independent joining with millions of others who are trying to tell the major parties that they have run amuck and no longer represent our values. We have reached the point to where the far right and the far left are dictating policy where most of us only want them to address the major issues of concern and solve the myriad of problems our country is facing today. Squandering their time fighting each other accomplishes nothing but increasing bitterness. I too long for the days when opposing sides would come together and forge compromises which while never perfect, at least made some improvement. With the advent of unlimited fund raising the system is completely out of focus. Only those willing to grovel for funds stand a chance of getting elected. The Supreme Court was totally wrong in granted personhood to Corporations and Unions. The average citizen’s contributions are meaningless compared to the funds available to these huge mega groups. This is the premise of the authors and also me. Congress should be passing legislation to overturn that decision. There has to be some wording that could stand up to the Court’s review. On page 198 of a book with 201 pages the authors finally show their total bias by stating “Punish a party for ideological extremism by voting against it. (Today that means the GOP). It can’t be any clearer than that. The sum total of this book was anti-Republican. Where the writers erred, in my opinion, is that they did not say enough about why the Republican Party became so abusive. It is the spiraling down of every principle they hold dear. Referring to Obama specifically, I voted for him the first time. He said he would make us energy self-sufficient. In my opinion he has done everything to prevent that. He would lower the deficit in half by the end of his first term. Instead he doubled it. He was going to end the wars. Instead he tried his best to keep troops in Iraq, he ordered the surge in Afghanistan, he is trying to keep troops there after the end of this year and he has pledged billions for the next ten years to support that government. He had both houses of Congress Democrat in his first two years. He could have created a health care system for all Americans that was reasonable and affordable. Instead he created an albatross which will cost us untold billions and is so complicated no one seems to understand. His love for Islam has prevented those in government positions from confronting the terrorist organizations who are predominately persons adhering to the Muslim faith. In other words he has proved to be untrustworthy in my opinion. In conclusion, while I strongly disapprove of the antics of the Republican Party today, they will probably get my vote as I abhor everything Obama stands for. Jack B. Walters March 28, 2014

The Longest War by; Peter L. Bergen

The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda This is another outstanding, well researched behind the scene’s report on the underlining circumstances regarding this disastrous conflict that has endured for 13 years with no end in sight. Thousands of Americans killed or wounded and hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis killed or wounded plus the expenditure of over one Trillion Dollars. It starts with the fact that there were all kinds of warnings that Al-Qaeda was planning an attack on America. President Bush’s support staff was clueless with the exception of counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke, CIA Director George Tenet and his Deputy John McLaughlin. I am referring to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. I cannot, nor will I ever forgive the irresponsibility of these “leaders” who allowed the destruction of the twin towers and then showed how tough they were by turning our Armed Forces loose to attack, not only Afghanistan but also Iraq. The latter country had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11. It was pure and simple an excuse to overthrow Saddam Hussein for his attempt years before to assassinate his father and also because President Bush wanted to control the oil resources possessed by Iraq. This last sentence reflects my personal thoughts not the author’s. Most of the book revolves around the growth of Al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. Thousands rallied to his cause including many willing to sacrifice their lives as suicide bombers for the goal of extending the reach of the Taliban and changing all nations to Sharia Law as they interpreted the will of the Prophet Mohammad. It follows the transfer of our soldiers to Iraq which allowed the Taliban to rebuild in Afghanistan to the extent that when Obama became President he had to send a surge of 30,000 troops to regain control of Afghanistan. As Senator, Obama had been critical of Bush’s surge in Iraq. Doing this was a bitter pill for him to swallow. It examines the frustrating situation of Pakistan becoming a safe haven for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It ends with the death of bin Laden, except as you should know, there is no end in sight. This conflict can never be won with troops. The only sensible recourse, in my opinion is to withdraw completely from this part of the world and let them sort it out. It is their problem, not ours. This book is worth reading by Congress and our people. Jack B. Walters March 10, 2014