Speak Out 5/26/10

More government

It really is amusing to watch the "Drill, baby, drill" anti-government tea party advocates. Now they cannot jump over themselves fast enough to blame the government for not having enough regulations to control the BP oil spill and not moving fast enough to control the spill once it happened. But these are the folks who claim always to want less government so the private sector can solve all our problems. Now, they claim, they want more government. Maybe they can't connect the dots. If you want government subsidies, government regulations and government controls on polluters, you have to have government -- and you have to pay for it.

Track and field

Hats off to the new head track and field coach at Central High School this year. You have done a great job helping these students reach their potential. I'm looking forward to state results and looking forward to many more years of a great and successful team. Keep up the good work, Coach.

Role models

I just wanted to thank Brian Rivenburgh and Matt Rubel for the wonderful job they did coaching the Jackson Kindergarten Co-ed All Star Team last fall and this spring. You two should be proud of what you did with those boys and girls. All of the parents where so proud to have our children play for you. Thank you again for being such great coaches and, more important, for being a great role model.

Blame government

The financial mess was caused by liberal lending policies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. You can blame Wall Street all you want, but if these liberal lending policies had not existed, the market for these bad loans would not have existed. During the Bush administration, the Republicans tried to pass Senate Bill S-190 (109th) which would have regulated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the Democrats killed the bill.

Blame Wall Street

Columnist Michael Jensen is correct in saying that people bought things they could not afford. Someone responded to his column by putting the blame entirely on Wall Street. That is a typical liberal response that disregards personal responsibility and puts all blame on the evil business. Everyone makes choices, and when their choices turn out wrong they seek to absolve themselves of any blame. I am sure the writer will say I am regurgitating Republican talking points, but that would be a typical liberal response also.