Published Idaho State Journal - 05/30/10

Memorial Day, that “holy day” when we commemorate the ultimate sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform for our liberty, is so much more than a picnic, or a weekend getaway. It is a day of reflection for those sacrifices made by so many, that hundreds of millions may enjoy even a modicum of freedom and liberty today.

It is a day to pause from the daily grind and celebrate the lives, and even the deaths, of those who have perpetuated this Republic, this One Nation Under God. It is a day to reassess our own convictions to the principles that those who have worn the uniform of our young nation were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to preserve the legacy of liberty from one generation to another. The torch of Madam Liberty has been successfully passed from the earliest generations of Americans to those who yet wear the uniform. And to them we owe our all.

There is nothing we can do which can repay those who have so sacrificed that we might be free, but everything we do does count in some small way. Abraham Lincoln put into proper perspective what we do to celebrate the lives of those who have been willing to pay the uttermost farthing for our freedom. “In a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The Civil War has long since ended, yet the veracity of Lincoln’s statement rings equally true today as it did 150 years ago. We cannot hallow the ground where our brave have fallen. They consecrated it with their blood and their lives. And not only the ground fought over during our Civil War, but around the globe where we have fought to prevent expansion of Godless, liberty destroying communism, the fiendish tyranny of dictators and freedom-trampling totalitarians around the world.

Regardless of the circumstances and the politics involved in their deployment, our service men and women have answered the call for the preservation and expansion of liberty. Regardless of the illogical orders of engagement often negotiated by civilian leaders, the uniformed have answered the call and done so with courage, honor, and humanity.

The few historical examples of impropriety by a few within those noble ranks do not tarnish the sacrifice and service of the many, but rather provide testament to the noble character of those who serve. That over so many years, there would be so few exceptions, validates the service and sacrifice of those millions who have worn the uniform with dignity, respect, and honor.

Unlike great nations in the past who have expanded their borders and their domain by unrighteous wielding of their military might, this nation seeks only enough ground to bury those who have fallen in battle for the liberty of those nations. We are not an imperial power, but a power which seeks to neutralize the nefarious forces which seek conquest and subjugation for aggrandizing purposes.

Ronald Reagan declared, “Let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.” As a reminder of liberty’s fragility, he also said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

May we as Americans collectively rise up in valor equal to the conviction of those who have hallowed many lands with their blood, and stand against foes, foreign and domestic, who seek to curtail and abridge our freedom. May we adopt as our personal motto that of the Marines, “Semper Fidelis,” and be likewise ever faithful to those Constitutional principles that so many have given the ultimate sacrifice to preserve. 

By Richard Larsen

Published - Idaho State Journal, 05/23/10

Two of the most fundamental responsibilities of any American converge this week with the election primary on Tuesday. It is incumbent (no pun intended) on all of us to be informed about what government is doing (in many cases to us rather than for us) and to exercise our franchise as voters based upon that information.

We have several statewide and local contested primary races and a few that deserve some special attention. In some races ideology creates the clear demarcation between candidates, and in others, competency is the distinguishing factor.

The Idaho voting system is somewhat different than most other states. At the time you register to vote in Idaho, you don’t have to claim a party affiliation, you just register to vote. The only time you actually indicate a party affiliation or preference through the voting process is when you vote in a Primary Election. At that time, you request either a Republican or a Democrat ballot. The reason is simple: it’s the parties that bring the candidates to the table in an election for the most part, and so the Primary provides the means of sifting through a party’s candidates to rally behind for the General Election held in November.

Independents and other parties, like the Constitutional or Green Party, may have their own candidates on the General Election Ballot in November, but typically don’t have contested primary races to determine the November finalists.

For the US Congress, 2^nd District incumbent Mike Simpson is being challenged by several candidates, including most prominently, Chick Heileson from Iona. The Congressman gives great speeches, and articulates values that resonate with most Idahoans, but his voting record doesn’t necessarily reflect that. The Freedom Index, a congressional scorecard which tracks congressional votes vis-à-vis the Constitution, most recently ranked Simpson at 40, barely 4 points over the average for all congressmen. A perfect score of 100 indicates a voting record most true to constitutional governance. It would appear that the Congressman has been smitten by “Beltwayitis,” the affliction which smites most federal lawmakers after they’ve been in D.C. for too long, and is evidenced by votes for spending and government encroachment that they wouldn’t have supported as freshmen legislators. I’ve got to go with Heileson on this one. I think he’ll vote the way he talks and hopefully prove immune to the affliction Simpson suffers from.

A local race that is inscrutable from my perspective, is the challenge to Steve Hadley as County Commissioner by Dennis Spencer. There is no reason whatsoever to make a change here. Steve has done a superb job in keeping the county budget down at a time of great financial challenges all around us. His fiscal acumen is further evidenced by completing the fairgrounds improvements with no adverse impact on the budget, and saving taxpayers a million dollars by using county employees at the landfill. Steve is a proven leader and has a knack for fiscal management which has and should continue to serve the county well for years.

The Bannock County Assessor’s race is probably the hottest local ticket for this Primary. Incumbent Jo Lynn Anderson is being challenged by Geoff Ranere, a former county appraiser. Ranere left the Assessor’s office in 2008 along with three other appraisers due to internal politics and unscrupulous appraisal guidelines adopted by the office.

The Assessors office is required to abide by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) developed by the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB). These standards mandate equitable and ethical appraisal of property values. Yet I have heard many examples of excessive valuations next to properties virtually unaffected by reassessment, in spite of more improvements made to the neighboring properties. Also contrary to USPAP standards, if the Assessor’s office can’t gain access to a residential property, the Assessor has instructed department appraisers to value the property with a half-finished basement. When the reluctant appraisers were told to engage in these questionable practices, the issue was forced by telling them it was not optional.

Geoff is not only a licensed appraiser well versed in USPAP standards, but he has the ethics which will return the office to equitable and fair treatment of taxpayers. Perhaps even of greater value to us, Geoff has the demeanor and professionalism to make the office hospitable to taxpayers. After all, we are the collective bosses to our public servants. They need to be reminded that they are there to serve us. Geoff has that perspective.

If you’ve been critical of how our government is working, or failing to work for you, now is the time to do something. Collectively, we hire our public officials. Let’s choose wisely, starting this Tuesday. 

By Richard Larsen

Published Idaho State Journal - 05/16/10

It is nothing short of astounding that Federal government officials including the president and the Speaker of the House would call Arizona’s efforts at border control “misguided” and “irresponsible.” After all, Arizona’s new law, which allows state and local law enforcement to request documentation of possible illegal aliens, is very similar to federal law already on the books. Control of a nation’s borders is an essential attribute of national sovereignty.

It’s clear that Border States have to do something since much of the expense burden in health-care and education is borne by the states. The federal government is AWOL on border security, and has been for years, which has facilitated illegal breaching of our border. The feds have acted with willful indifference in regard to border security, but now they’ve gone further. For them to now object to Arizona’s attempt to curtail the problem amounts to obstruction of justice (since Federal law also declares being in the country illegally is a crime) and outright aiding and abetting since the nation’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Eric Holder, has said they may sue Arizona for attempting to do what they themselves refuse to do.

I’m constantly amazed at those who side with law-breakers, whether it’s being in the country illegally or any other crime. “They’re just trying to improve their lives,” they might argue in defense of illegal aliens. Well, so are burglars, drug dealers, and most other criminals. Should burglars not be prevented from entering your home illegally since they’re trying to improve their station in life? To all such, the same counsel could be proffered, “Do it legally!”

Since we are a nation comprised of immigrants, we can hardly be accused of being “anti-immigrant.” What we are, however, is “anti-illegal-immigrant.” After all, we are a nation at least ostensibly based on the rule of law and we’re all engaged in our own pursuit of happiness. That’s not in exclusion to the laws that may stand in our way, but rather it’s based on those legalities.

The mainstream media takes great pleasure in isolating and commentating on some of the signs wielded at the Tea Party rallies. For some reason, they don’t seem to take note of those wielded at pro-illegal immigration rallies, such as the one held in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. One protestor’s sign read, “Give us free health care, jobs, no taxes, house, food. YOU OWE US AMERICA! We will shoot more Arizona police until we get free!” Since when do we “owe” it to the world to become a free-lunch provider?

Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen explained the need for Arizona to take matters into their own hands. “The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with checkpoints that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the border.  Federal prisons have over 35% illegal's and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegal's. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.  The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

“The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the border states. We have been over run and once they are here we have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education cost have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.”

She also refuted those who claim Arizona’s new law is “Nazi-like.” She explained, “Federal law is very clear if you are here on a visa you must have your papers on you at all times. That is the law. In Arizona all you need to show you are a legal citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card, Native American Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a hunting license, etc. So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is going to be stopped walking down the street.”

Our Statue of Liberty proclaims to the world that we hold the doors open for those who seek liberty and freedom and wish to immigrate to America. “Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” states the inscription. But let them come legally!

Tens of thousands of protestors looting, pillaging, wantonly destroying property, chanting anti-government slogans, and cursing the president. The images are not pretty, as even the mainstream media are finally covering the monumental story. With obvious regret that it isn’t the Tea Partiers being covered, international media are reporting the meltdown of a socialistic economic system.

The president of Greece has warned that his country stands on the “brink of the abyss” as anti-government mobs protest government efforts to reduce government spending, entitlements, and wealth redistribution. The mob is comprised of employees of the government they’re protesting. Civil servants and public employee unions have mobilized in opposition to governmental efforts at curtailing spending.

Even though Greece is relatively small on the global economic scale, it figures prominently as the portent of eventual European Union dissolution. The nation has only 11.3 million people, and its GDP is estimated at roughly $333 billion. Thanks to EU and U.S. taxpayers, Greece is in the process of being bailed out. First indicated at $60 billion, then $100 billion, then $120 billion, and finally $150 billion is now being promised by the U.S. funded International Monetary Fund and EU member nations to bail out the nation.

It’s impossible to know where this will all end. Portugal, Spain, and Italy are in nearly as bad of shape, as their appetite for spending has also far exceeded their ability to generate the revenue to finance it all.

Some states in the U.S. are in just about as serious of financial disorder. California, New Jersey, and New York are not in much better shape than Greece, and will undoubtedly be beating a path to Capital Hill to panhandle Congress on behalf of their debt-laden state coffers. Taxpayers will be hit up yet again to bail out those who have no logical grasp of reality or comprehension of simple laws of economics who have sought to create dependency on the government at the expense of those who really produce.

One of the most pathetic aspects of this mess is the fact that even the United State of America is rapidly approaching that same break-point. The Social Democrats in the European countries most in trouble have not only spent their nations to the brink of bankruptcy, but their promises for entitlements and continued wealth redistribution ensure financial instability and sovereign insolvency at some point in the future.

Our Social Democrats in Washington have proven as adept at illogical financial excess and fuzzy math as their European counterparts. Not surprisingly, since they took control of Congress in 2006, the nation has lurched into a left wing nose-dive. If not corrected by a more reasoned and logical congress in November, the U.S. will be facing the same prospects as Greece, yet with much more catastrophic consequences. A report issued in March by the Congressional Budget Office indicates that Obama’s 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected!

Over a third of Greeks work for their government, a figure not that far out of the realm of possibility for the U.S. The “stimulus” from last year has proven to be stimulative only to government growth. And like their Greek counterparts, American civil servants are the most represented segment of the workforce organized into unions. And as economic historian John Steele Gordon points out, “Federal workers now earn, in wages and benefits, about twice what their private-sector equivalents get paid. Government workers often have Cadillac health plans and retirement benefits far above the private sector average: 80 percent of public-sector workers have pension benefits, only 50 percent in the private sector. Many can retire at age 50.” While private employers were shedding jobs during the recession, state and local governments hired 110,000 new workers.

Mona Charen, in a Wall Street Journal column noted last week, “And in a corrupt feedback loop that may not be so very different after all from the Greek practice, public employee unions give generously to Democratic candidates, both in cash contributions and by manning phone banks, getting out the vote, and so on. It's no coincidence that the states with the most powerful public sector unions -- New Jersey, California, and New York -- are facing the most severe budget crises.”

The nations’ politicians have got to get a grasp of reality, shake off the imprudent and fallacious Keynesian notion of a nation spending itself out of a recession.  And unlike the anti-government demonstrators in Greece, who are employees of the state and are fighting for continued excess, American Tea Party demonstrators are speaking out in opposition to the kind of spending that is giving new meaning to “Greek ruins,” in hopes of staving off the same fate in our country. The Social Democrats in our Congress, of both parties, must be removed from office and replaced with people who know how to balance a checkbook.