Opinion - Facing reality again

Facing reality again

That’s My Opinion

By Bob Robinson

“Glad you’re back, Bob.”

“Great reading you in the paper again.”

A recent conversation at the Republican tent, overheard by a friend… “You read Robinson’s column yet? It’s really good… you have to read it.”

He was referring to Wednesday’s “Paying the Price” in the Daily Advocate.

Then in the livestock area, “You need to run (for commissioner) as an Independent.”

“Can’t. Deadline was the day before the primary.”

“Then run as a write-in. I’ll campaign for you… I’ll go door-to-door.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it, but I’m a Republican… my job is to support our Republican candidates.”

He wasn’t happy, but he accepted it.

“There’s always next time,” he said.

“We’ll see.”

I have to admit that it felt good to hear from friends and supporters while roaming the fair. So far I haven’t managed to visit all the places that I would like, but there’s still time. I’ll give it my best shot. Thanks to all who took the time to express their appreciation and support.

There is a political campaign going on in Darke County. Republican candidate for commissioner Mike Stegall has been at the Republican tent, while David Niley, Democratic candidate for commissioner, has been at theirs. Keith Smith, Independent candidate, may also have been roaming the fairgrounds, but I haven’t seen him.

The other Independent, Mike Nissonger, withdrew from the campaign late last week.

However, the politicking was like dropping a pin in a room full of people… few noticed.

Different story in Columbus and Washington. Too many agendas, too many things to spend money on, and too little money.

A recent Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial discussed the state budget. The paper reminded anyone who would listen that 20 percent of the current budget is one-time dollars, and in 2011 the governor and legislature will have to figure out how to fill an $8.4 billion hole.

Almost half of the one-time cash came from the Feds (their printing presses are running overtime), 10 percent came from “taking back” our tax cuts (also known as tax increases) and the rest… well… the editorial didn’t say. It forgot to mention slashes that came out of local dollars, money stolen from supposedly locked-in funds and a few other things like that. Local governments took big hits, and will likely take bigger hits down the road.

The Plain Dealer then said these were good things and that filling the hole next year (in the abstract) wouldn’t be “a backbreaking tab. Politically, erasing it will be a tough sell,” adding that heftier federal Medicaid payments seem likely and the Washington money well isn’t bottomless.

At least it got the bottomless part right. But it forgot to mention that the taxpayer money well isn’t bottomless either. And somehow someone has to pay for all this spending.

Fixing (filling) the hole might be politically tough but fix it we must! That means cutting back the benevolence of Big Brother. It’s time we start standing on our own two feet.

I’ve been watching the campaign ads of Dem. Gov. Ted Strickland and his Rep. opponent John Kasich. They are pretty typical for a campaign season. Kasich: Strickland lost 400,000 jobs. Strickland: Haven’t we had enough of Wall Street?

They don’t really tell us much. If you dig a little deeper you’ll begin to realize that Strickland’s campaign is mostly defensive, while Kasich is talking about “fixes” that will likely be painful.

Better some “hurt” now than the devastation California faces. 

Meanwhile, there was an interesting story posted in the Ogden, Utah Standard-Examiner. It seems that one of the budget fixes being looked at by Pres. Obama’s finance team is a bank transfer tax.

According to the report, the intention is to “sneak” it through after the November elections.

Get this… every time you write a check, make a deposit, or transfer funds from one account to another, you pay a 1 percent transfer tax.

Unbelievable? Yeah, I thought so, too. So I did some searching. This is not a new concept. The European Union has been discussing it for years… not only within the Union but as a way to fund “world banking.”

There was only one mention of something like that being discussed in Washington and it was dated a month ago by a blogger. The idea is to have a “stash” to be used in case another bank bailout is needed.

True or false? Who knows? I’ll leave it to your imagination.

I love the Great Darke County Fair for many reasons. One of them is that it takes me back to a simpler time, one that honors the efforts of hard work and American ingenuity.

It seems like the world stops and we transport ourselves to a different, better time.

Unfortunately, the world doesn’t stop. All too soon the fair’s over and we have to face reality again. It sucks.

That’s my opinion. What’s yours?

Bob Robinson is the retired editor of The Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio. If you wish to receive a daily notification of his comments, opinions and reports, send your email address to: opinionsbybob@gmail.com. Feel free to express your views.