It’s not that I can’t think of stuff to write, because I can! But some letters are so absolutely GREAT, that I feel they are often a column by themselves. So here we go, from the Waco Texas Herald Tribune on 11/18/10, written by Alfred Evans, in Gatesville, TX. (Don’t mess with Texas)
“Put me in charge of food stamps. I’d get rid of Lone Star Cards (?), no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for 50 pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese, and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
“Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke, or get tats and piercings, then get a job.
“Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state or repair. Your “Home” will be subject to inspections anytime, and possessions will be inventoried. If you want plasma TV or X box 360, then get a job and your own place.
“In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week, or you will report to a “government ” job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, or whatever we can find for you to do. We will sell your 22 inch rims, low profile tires, your blasting stereo and speakers, and put that money toward the “common good.”
“Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be “demeaning” and ruin your “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago, that taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing, was demeaning, and lowered self esteem. If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes, we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make mistakes and bad choices.
“And, while you are on Government subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from the voting rolls while you are receiving a Government welfare check. If you want to vote, get a job.” Very good Alfred Evans!
The above would decrease the crime rate, deficit, police work, illegitimacy, auto accidents and injuries, and the list could be several pages I suppose. Why shouldn’t public housing be inspected? Why should recipients of the dole be allowed to vote? If you vote for the one who hands you the money, that is indeed a conflict of interest, because recipients will ALWAYS vote for the Democrat who passes out the checks. Why shouldn’t check recipients be made to work? Not Social Security recipients, because they have already worked for decades only to have their so-called ’savings’ raided. When you work for a living, you obey your boss or get fired. Why shouldn’t recipients of handouts for doing nothing, have to obey the providers of the largess?
Will it happen? Only if the Tea Party is successful in controlling the Senate and White House.
Evidence of Dollar Decline
I have gotten a copy of a menu from the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray Colorado, for Sunday, August 30, 1903. There are seven courses, with multiple choices for each course. I am not going to give you all the choices, but only the ones I would have picked. First Course: Iced Cantaloupe. Second Course: Broiled Trout. Third Course: Prime Ribs of Beef. Fourth Course: Salad De Beaumont. Fifth Course: Asparagus Hollandaise, and New Peas in Cream. Sixth Course: Orange Cream Pie. Seventh Course: American and Camembert Cheese. The price? Fifty Cents, gratuity not included. Gold was $20.67 then, and now, such a meal in a fancy hotel, would surely set you back $40. Funny, but if you multiply that fifty cents times two to make a dollar, times 40, times $20.67,, it comes close to the price of gold today. In other words, if you had saved in gold rather than dollars, even in 1903, you would have hedged yourself against inflation. A basic rule I have always used, is that an ounce of gold will buy a good men’s suit, and it still works. Of course there was no inflation then, so it would have been just fine to save in dollars. Not not now. Today, you should save in gold and silver.