Beware the fury of enraged citizens

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. It is hard for our local, state and national leaders to understand the fury of enraged citizens. A local politician was startled when I said, “Go against the wishes of the people at your own political risk.” We were discussing the introduction of “red-light cameras” to our city. I predicted that if they were adopted in this faltering economy, no one voting for these cameras would ever be re-elected. The cameras were adopted and are now in use. I hope each councilor and the mayor enjoy their remaining days in office, since they will all be defeated because they ignored what their citizens feel is proper. Continue Reading

The real purpose of today’s tax code

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.” – Ronald Reagan As President Reagan pointed out 20 years ago, there is no amount of collected tax that will remove our national debt because, as more tax is collected, more is spent. If the amount collected were to triple, politicians would spend all of it. So why increase taxes? Taxes increase for public-policy reasons. The idea is not that the government needs the money so much as it is that the leaders are using the tax code to reshape our society. Continue Reading

Citizens ready, able and willing to shoot back

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. In recent weeks and often in the last few decades we have seen the “shooting fish in a barrel” syndrome. Someone walks into a school or church intent upon killing people. The killer picks the situation knowing the victims in these places are unarmed. Later, the police put the victims in body bags while the media speculates on the motive of the shooter. Surprisingly, no one ever asks, “Why were the victims unable to protect themselves — why was the killer the only person armed?” The police have guns but they are not at the scene in time. Continue Reading

Resolving the question of sovereignty

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place… We are poor, but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps.” – Purportedly said by a famous Hunkpapa Lakota Native American For a nation so full of the promise of human rights at its founding, I despair at the misery still endemic to our nation. It is not the misery of those of African-American heritage that still festers within our souls as much as it is the native populations. In no way do I diminish the shame of our slave history. Continue Reading

Our need for dignity in life and death

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Columnists often write about abstract topics such as the legitimate role of government in a free society. But there is a practical component in our lives that is much more important. That core is human dignity. Day by day, we lose more of our dignity and, at death’s door, many are entirely stripped of it. Yet, rarely do we talk about this all-important part of living and dying. Continue Reading

A way to make New Mexico disappear nationally

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. There was an interesting debate and vote in the New Mexico House of Representatives this week. Lawmakers approved House Bill 383, a proposal that would effectively eliminate the Electoral College without actually doing so constitutionally. We are close to being a nation without a constitution and some people think that is fine. I can see both sides of the argument on the Electoral College, and my tendency is to leave things the way they have been and suffer the consequences. The “one person equals all others” argument is valid; the only sticking point is that small states like New Mexico disappear if there is no Electoral College. Continue Reading

Like sheep to the slaughter

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington The talk in our nation’s capital is about the need to silence conservative talk radio using the misnamed Fairness Doctrine. With the majority of the media in the political fold of the Democrats, it is the one slice of mass media they cannot intimidate. When radio first started and few channels existed, perhaps there could have been a concern. Today we have thousands of channels with no problem finding points of view from Rush Limbaugh and my favorite, Glenn Beck, to Air America and another of my favorites, National Public Radio. Differing views from progressive to conservative have their own constituencies. Continue Reading

What about repaying those trillions of dollars?

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done.” – Oscar Wilde Sen. Everett Dirksen’s quip, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money,” has been changed in Washington from billion to trillion. Years earlier the quip used the word million. A trillion is as easy to say as a million, but is a million times harder to repay. Our country’s fiscal policies allow debt of unfathomable magnitude without any repayment plan. In the last 50 years, politicians from both political parties have dramatically increased the national debt with no dialog or plan on what is most problematic for our nation — how the debt is to be retired. Continue Reading

Who gets to pull the plug on me?

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “The trouble with socialism is you eventually run out of other people’s money.” – attributed to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher The trouble is not running out of other people’s money; rather, it is the behavior governments embrace because they do not have unlimited resources. All they have is what they can take from one citizen to give to another. That is limited, while promises are unlimited. Our socialist learning government promises to be all things to all people at all times and in all ways, forever and ever, amen. No matter the government program there is financial rationing. Continue Reading

Shuckins, the Nanny State will make you be healthy

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. From the “Let’s be stupid department” comes word that the New Mexico Legislature is considering adding another dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes to raise money for their budget crisis and also get people to stop smoking. Hello — if they stop smoking, there is no tax. One of three things will happen: People may say, “Shuckins, this costs too much so I quit,” which worsens the budget crunch. Second, they may change their “maladaptive coping mechanism habit” to something else, such as smokeless tobacco or even drugs. Finally, if the tax is sufficiently motivating but the allure of smoking continues, they may purchase from out of state or the black market, causing the Legislature to get no tax money. Continue Reading

Roll up the sleeves and get to work

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.” – Colleen Barrett It was a worldwide event, the celebration of a new president and the passing of power from one leader to another. Many Americans stopped what they were doing and attended either in person or from some media. It was our human spirit of hope on display. Then the lights went down, the street sweepers bagged the confetti while the inauguration tents were folded. It then became time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Continue Reading

MLK’s dream that we get beyond racism

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.What is racism? I believe it is using race in any way. There are no good ways to use race. Monday is the federal holiday to celebrate the 80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. His was a life spent bringing an end to racism in our world. He gave us the thoughts we, as a society, needed then and now to do the right things. Continue Reading

The poor citizens giving to the rich Robin Hoods

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© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.“My little plum, I am like Robin Hood; I take from the rich and give to the poor.”“What poor?” asks the skeptical Poppy.“Us poor,” replies W. C. Fields as Professor Eustace McGargle in the 1936 movie “Poppy” Somehow W.C. Fields being an engaging dastardly character in a 1936 movie is ever so much more palatable than the just released transcripts of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich enhancing our notion that Illinois politicians are like Robin Hood — they are on the take. He is the fourth Illinois governor in a row to be ensnared by scandal. The last three governors are serving time, as it appears he will. The issue is not corruption; rather, it’s the prevailing sense of illegal personal entitlement that is constant with those leaders. However, the governor of Illinois is innocent until found guilty by a jury of his peers. Continue Reading

NMSU football: A case of intentional stupidity

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© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.For the last 40 years, every time New Mexico State University hires a new football coach, that poor soul rides triumphantly into Las Cruces on a splendid prancing stallion amid the fanfare of trumpets and cheering. Shortly, this same poor soul is forced out of town riding a broken-down burro amid the jeers of the Aggie faithful, another victim of NMSU football. The NMSU leadership has spent the last 40 years perfecting an intelligence minimalism when it comes to Division 1 football. This ignorance is not by accident; rather, the manner they have directed Aggie football shows a determined intentional stupidity. If NMSU was just going through a small “dry spell,” the leaders could be forgiven their mistaken judgments. Continue Reading