Many Christians have just celebrated a renewal in our faith and our lives. We believe this is a time where we can secure forgiveness from our poor choices in life and make positive changes.
It is also the time when nature renews itself by correcting things that didn’t work in some plants and animals. Seeds and newborn grow, doing away with certain weaknesses of previous generations, and nature occasionally replaces some with entirely new living things to replace generations that did not survive.
During this season I check my past for less-desirable traits and sort out the ones I don’t like. My life partner helps me identify weaknesses and poorer traits that need fixing as well.
Though I try, I can’t quite become perfect, but frequently I can correct things a little at a time. With time and as my life has evolved, I have become a bit better at paying attention to those things that work against me.
Life has given me more than a few career directions and opportunities to change. Unfortunately, I have also become older and less able to make those bad choices anyway.
This year we have the opportunity for national renewal when we go to the polls and choose new leaders and directions. I hope we can correct some of our less-successful leadership choices.
My political choices are libertarian, which the thesaurus defines as broadminded and liberal. That is true in that I believe each person should make as many personal choices as possible as long as they don’t interfere with the choices of others.
Unfortunately, the government is taking away many of my choices with every dollar it takes through taxation. The government, by passing out those resources, is providing them, and the choices they can pay for, to others who make no effort to earn them.
Our Constitution was designed to provide balance. Unfortunately it is being misused to severely limit our freedoms and opportunities so that some people can accumulate more power. The last four years have increased the authority of government enormously, to the detriment of most private citizens.
I didn’t vote for the current administration, but I had hoped it would bring a new perspective for the future and a new leadership style.
Unfortunately, we got to see what the beginnings of a socialist revolution looks like, as well as the near-bankruptcy of our nation.
However, I believe there could be a bright side for us.
I believe the concept of a car-passenger ferry that I pioneered in the late 1990s is ripe now.
Yes, the Central American ferry concept could live again.
The original ferry, the Regal Voyager, first set sail in 1997 between Port Isabel and Puerto Cortes, Honduras. As The Brownsville Herald reported then, it was “part cargo vessel, part Love Boat.”
“It boasts luxury cabins, a discotheque, a gift shop, and two hot tubs. It can carry up to 450 passengers and up to 360 cars or 60 tractor trailers,” the newspaper report continued.
That was the realization of a dream for me. All my education and career experience pointed toward pioneering such a venture.
Things went well for a year, until the ship broke down. No replacement that met the requirements could be found. The company ceased operations and the backers lost their substantial investments, but most of all a dream was lost for awhile.
The story started again when the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C., the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean with a strong commitment to achieve measurable results, increased integrity, transparency and accountability, released a study on April 30, 2010 about the Pan-American Maritime Highway, that specifically deals with car-passenger ferry service. The report lists the project’s goals as “(i) increased passenger, tourists and commercial traffic between countries; (ii) additional facilities for transportation of import-export activities; (iii) reduce vehicular traffic congestion at border crossings; (iv) improve the quality of travel and the safety of passengers and cargo by parking transit-bound vehicles aboard the Main and Feeder RoPax Vessels; and (v) decrease air pollution from roads traffic.”
Development Bank representatives were in Brownsville in February 2006 to interview a number of folks involved in shipping. A number of people told me the report indicates that demand still lived! I believe it still does because of the difficulty to travel to Central and South America.
While better facilities exist elsewhere the market is here in the Valley; the folks traveling are familiar with the trip and comfortable with the conversational language they find here.
Certainly, since I participated in the development of the first ferry operation, I am certainly interested in the revival.
I suspect that the Walmart in Port Isabel, whose shelves were left empty on Sundays the ship departed, would like to see the ferry return. I also think transmigrates would love to see an alternative to driving though the increasingly violent Mexico.
What would it take to make it work again? People with the drive to make it work and resources. I pray they are still out there! I would certainly be willing to help in any way I can!

I grew up on the Canadian Border in northern New York just south of Montreal, Canada.
It is primarily bi-cultural just as this area is. The area in Canada was predominantly French in custom and language with a large English speaking Irish population and a sprinkling of folks with a British background that moved from Massachusetts.
I fell in love with Brownsville, twenty-eight years ago, the minute I arrived. It just felt like home. Except for the Spanish language instead of French that predominated my community and Southern Quebec just minutes from my home.
I am still as much in love with this city and our home where we raised two really great children that we can easily be proud of.
Now, my wife and I are retired and hoping to be able to live in the comfort that we saved for.
The problem arises when the government grabs more and more control over our daily lives which results in the costs of good and things we need, like gas for the car that we depend on to get medical care, groceries and other needs keeps going up.
The cost of gas has risen astronomically to nearly $4 per gallon.
When I drove away from home in 1963 gas cost me $0.29 per gallon and rose to $0.38 per gallon in 1973 when I returned home from the military and commuted home.
In 1980 gas went over $1.00 per gallon. In 2005 gas went over $2.00 per gallon and now gas is approaching $4.00 per gallon.of gas.
In the 2004 Future of Transport White Paper, the Department of Transportation gave May projections of the price of crude oil standing at $23 a barrel in 2010, and rising to almost $28 a barrel by 2020.
Since those White Papers were published, the price of oil has risen substantially; as of 11 July 2006 a barrel of crude stood at $74.16.
Our Secretary of Energy Steven Chu that is supposed to be working for us, says that the goal is to encourage prices to get as high as in Europe. The government has restricted drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and in the north of Alaska.
The current administration has reduced the drilling permits by 36% this time for the first time. The Clinton and Bush Administrations both increased them.
Further, the government had denied permission to build the pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf refineries. Just recently the southern portion was approved as a “taste” to force a choice later that will change things again. It provides work to lessen the numbers of those out of work without providing for more oil to refine that would bring more jobs for Texans.
The government is claiming that the US has approximately 50 billion barrels of producible oil in place but other industry experts claim that are potentially 1.2 trillion barrels of oil in the ground available. These estimates play a big influence on the costs at the pump and we pay the price.
Will we see $6.00 or $7.00 gas before the end of this Administration? That is what excessive government control brings.
I can assure you that my retirement as well as that many of you depend on, cannot sustain increases like that.
Further, the government recently passed a health care law, where the government controls who gets what kind of care and when.
The “Speaker of the House” said that the law must be passed to see what is in it!
That indicates a total lack of respect for the residents of the United States!
This is just more government control! This is not what was intended by our fore fathers but was considered as one of the greatest risks.
The government is playing games with our livelihood and works daily to effect more direct control over our lives.
I personally support a policy of much more in the way of personal choice. I deeply dislike and consider it dangerous. I worked in an agency that exercises more control than most any other. Just think, how often has Homeland Security affected you personally?
I have seen evidences where government guidance rather than requiring direct control by law seems to work better. In Mexico and the Philippines the government exerts a policy of encouraging the individual to seek medical guidance but permits the individual personal choice as to what medicines to purchase and use in many cases. It seems that there is no more and probably less misuse.
I wonder how much risk were the government allow personal choice in other cases like marijuana which is now seen to have value reducing pain in for eye problems. It was originally taxed at the rate of $1.00 per ounce. (Marijuana Tax Law). Cocaine seems to be used in South America without as much a problem as it does in the U.S. where it is prohibited by law.
It also seems that if you consider the percentage of individuals that use alcohol now in comparison with those that were using it while illegal during “Prohibition”.
I suggest the cost to society would be less were controlled, restricted substances or medicinals be left to the informed choice of the adult user. I also suggest that more than one-half or more of those people now incarcerated are there for illegal possession rather than public problems arising from misuse.
I wonder what the experience in California has been.
Lastly, we can see this legislation to control our lives is often for the benefit of the political leaders; Just consider controls placed on us by the county and especially the city when they adopt communities while they are still unable to provide services even though they charge taxes for them. At the closest political level, consider your local “Home Owners Association” do they make requirements that negatively affect you?
Each of us must take an active part at every level of those that affect us.
As we continue into the election season, I urge you work to elect representatives that will vote against more government and work towards increasing the control we can exercise over our own lives. Join a political action organization, or party. If you can run for office at any level and there are many levels of offices where you can make an improvement with as little activity as speaking out. This newspaper aggressively looks for your thoughts to improve our community at every level.
You can also write me at info@todayscommonsense.com.

This summer I will have lived in Brownsville 27 years, which is longer than I have lived anywhere else; that includes northern New York, Florida, several military postings in support of the war in Vietnam, Guam, New York City and northern New Jersey.
When asked I proudly claim Brownsville as my hometown. There are good and not so good things about my hometown, but the most notable of the good things are the really great folks who live in this “small town” city.
Of the many considerate folks that work for the city bus, I have traveled with drivers Jesus Castillio and Raul Solis most frequently. They impressed me as remarkably thoughtful. Their consideration and thoughtfulness caused me to forget about the “bumps in the road” in the service, even when the bus has been delayed for one reason or another. While they deserve kudos, I am sure that most of the others I have ridden with deserve them as well.
Many thanks to all the nice folks who work with the Brownsville bus for the handicapped! They allow me to get out of the house and shake the cobwebs away.
Back to the VA; During the past week I received a final statement from the provider of my retired federal employee plan. I am being required to pay the part that Medicare would normally pay for in a public hospital.
People who have received hospital care know that we are all required by law to purchase Medicare but have the option of not purchasing part “B.” I understood that my retired federal employee health plan, which is a full secondary policy. I understood, would pay health costs whenever Medicare did not.
I am now informed that if I want to primarily depend on the Department of Veterans Affairs, I do not need to purchase Medicare Part B, unless I misunderstand the billing officer at the DeBakey Veterans Hospital in Houston. “Late News – Just informed that they have scheduled a forensic audit. We pointed out numerous payments made by my insurer that were not posted.”
Alternately, for the most inexpensive choice, I can keep the paid policies and try to depend solely on civilian hospitals.
Unfortunately, the VA hospitals are most knowledgeable about my personal circumstances.
If you think all Vietnam veterans are receiving service-connected VA health care for exposure to Agent Orange, you are wrong.
I have lived with diabetes and some autoimmune health problems my adult life since I left military service. When I applied for health care with Veterans Affairs, I was told my afflictions did not qualify as service-connected????
Yes, I did serve in the Vietnam War from 1965 through 1967, but I did not set foot on land in the right location during the dates specified to qualify for health coverage for Agent Orange exposure.
We are told Agent Orange was dumped over Vietnam by C-130 cargo aircraft, which surprises me as I understand that the plane does not lend itself to the efficient spraying of a defoliant. I wonder if perhaps it was also dropped during bombing runs from aircraft flying from aircraft carriers or airfields in Thailand —or elsewhere!
Approximately 21 million gallons of deadly herbicides were sprayed on Vietnam between 1962 and 1970.
Where do you suppose it all went?
As they say, “If it’s in the air, it’s everywhere!”
I served with a reconnaissance and bombing squadron aboard a carrier. A few of our RA5C aircraft made emergency landings into the Hue airbase in Vietnam where they were fixed up enough to get them back to the ship.
I guess all the Agent Orange they were contaminated with was removed from the aircraft before being brought back to our ship, where we tore them apart in order to make them ready for service.
I suppose my shipmates and I are imagining the sicknesses and diseases we are suffering.
And I wonder: If we can send all kinds of money all around the world, why can we not take care of our war veterans properly?
Just think: Nearly a 100,000 members of the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marines who fought in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975 currently suffer disabilities from the effects of the dioxin found in Agent Orange.
I would be interested in hearing from any veterans that have had both good and bad experiences in getting medical care with the Veterans Administration.

Smokey Robinson
The Miracles will be inducted April 14th at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony at Cleveland’s Public Hall. “These Inductees are pioneers in the development of the music we call rock and roll,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s president and CEO Joel Peresman said in a statement. “As part of our mission to recognize the most impactful, innovative and influential artists in rock, the committee brought forth these six groups that belong in the Hall of Fame.”

Date Location
Mar 03 Kennedy Center Washington, DC
Mar 24 THE ARENA Golden Moon Casino Choctaw, MS
Mar 26 Dock Street Theater Charleston, SC
Apr 20 NYCB Theatre Westbury, NY
Apr 21 Caesars Atlantic City Atlantic City, NJ
Apr 28 Lehman Performing Arts Center Bronx, NY
May 22 Neal S Blaisdell Concert Hall Honolulu, HI
May 24 Gallo Center For The Arts Modesto, CA
May 27 Talking Stick Resort Scottsdale, AZ
Jul 06 Snoqualmie Casino Snoqualmie, WA
Jul 20 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
Jul 21 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA

Neil Sedaka & Leslie Gore
Sensational Spring Concert
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 07:00 PM
Wildwood Convention Center
Wildwood, NJ

Patti Page Lesley Gore and Connie Stevens
29 Mar Lakeland Center Youkey Theatre Lakeland, FL, US

2012 Mar 2 (Fri) Mashantucket, CT
MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Mar 16 (Fri) Lancaster, P
American Music Theater
Mar 22 (Thu) Naples, FL
Philharmonic Center for the Arts
Mar 24 (Sat) Sarasota, FL
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Mar 25 (Sun) Clearwater, FL
Ruth Eckerd Hall
Mar 27 (Tue) Daytona Beach, FL
Peabody Auditorium
Mar 28 (Wed) Fort Pierce, FL
Sunrise Theater
Mar 30 (Fri) West Palm Beach, FL
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 28 (Sat) Wildwood, NJ Ocean Front Arena
Jun 15 (Fri) – Orchestra Hall at Max M. Fisher Music Center
Jun 17(Sun) Detroit, MI
Jul 21 (Sat) Las Vegas, NV
The Eastside Cannery Casino & Hotel
Jul 28 (Sat) Westbury, NY
Theater at Westbury
Aug 10 (Fri) – Aug 11 (Sat) San Diego, CA
Embarcadero Marina Park South
Aug 18 (Sat) Ocean Grove, NJ
The Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove

The Temptations and the Four Tops
May 10th (Thu) Keswick Theatre
291 Keswick Ave., Glenside, PA
Paul Anka
Apr 26 Snoqualmie, WA Snoqualmie Casino-Ballroom
Apr 28 Temecula, CA Pechanga Resort & Casino –
May 23 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Ctr
May 25 Mashantucket, CT MGM Grand Theater Foxwoods
May 26 Atlantic City, NJ Harrah’s – Atlantic City
May 27 Bethlehem, PA Sands Bethlehem Event Ctr
Sep 16 Onamia, MN Grand Casino Mille Lacs Ctr
Sep 17 Onamia, MN Grand Casino
July 14 Grand Island, NB HEARTLAND EVENTS CENTER
HALL COUNTY FAIR

Smokey Robinson

The Miracles will be inducted April 14th at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony at Cleveland’s Public Hall. “These Inductees are pioneers in the development of the music we call rock and roll,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s president and CEO Joel Peresman said in a statement. “As part of our mission to recognize the most impactful, innovative and influential artists in rock, the committee brought forth these six groups that belong in the Hall of Fame.”

Local Dates
Date Location
Mar 03 Kennedy Center Washington, DC
Mar 24 THE ARENA Golden Moon Casino Choctaw, MS
Mar 26 Dock Street Theater Charleston, SC
Apr 20 NYCB Theatre Westbury, NY
Apr 21 Caesars Atlantic City Atlantic City, NJ
Apr 28 Lehman Performing Arts Center Bronx, NY
May 22 Neal S Blaisdell Concert Hall Honolulu, HI
May 24 Gallo Center For The Arts Modesto, CA
May 27 Talking Stick Resort Scottsdale, AZ
Jul 06 Snoqualmie Casino Snoqualmie, WA
Jul 20 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
Jul 21 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA

Neil Sedaka & Leslie Gore
Sensational Spring Concert
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 07:00 PM
Wildwood Convention Center Wildwood, NJ

Patti Page Lesley Gore and Connie Stevens
29 Mar Lakeland Center Youkey Theatre Lakeland, FL, US

The Temptations and the Four Tops
May 10th (Thu) Keswick Theatre
291 Keswick Ave., Glenside, PA
Paul Anka
Apr 26 Snoqualmie, WA Snoqualmie Casino-Ballroom
Apr 28 Temecula, CA Pechanga Resort & Casino – Showroom
May 23 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Center
May 25 Mashantucket,CT MGM Grand Theater At Foxwoods
May 26 Atlantic City, NJ Harrah’s – Atlantic City
May 27 Bethlehem, PA Sands Bethlehem Event Ctr
Sep 16 Onamia, MN Grand Casino Mille Lacs Ctr
Sep 17 Onamia, MN Grand Casino Mille Lacs Ctr

Our insurance company refused to pay a recent medical charge, saying the document said Medicare was to pay the amount.
As it happens, the Department of Veterans Affairs never collected it from Medicare and refused to present any other bill against my insurer. The company said that the document indicates that Medicare paid it. If it was documented that Medicare did not pay, the company would.
The VA then determined that because I did not have a serviceconnected disability and was not financially wanting, it billed me for the unbilled Medicare amount.
The VA refuses to send any kind of document to my insurer saying Medicare didn’t pay the amount.
I chose the DeBakey Hospital in Houston because it was the best for my particular problems; it treats a large variety of serious dermatological and rheumatic diseases and performs the kind of amputation I needed.
Now it seems that even though I am a veteran of combat participation during the Vietnam War, they go to lengths to avoid even proper payment of charges by my insurers.
President Obama claims to support veterans but seems to advocate a medical policy that further disenfranchises them.
We are certainly aware that there are co-payments for nonservice-connected conditions, but they should be covered by the additional insurance we buy to cover those costs. Instead I am expected to pay the part that Medicare normally would pay for in a public hospital.
I don’t know what caused the strange lesions that caused the removal of my legs or whether they could have been connected to my combat service, but I believe I should be able to go to a veterans’ hospital and at least get the care it specializes in and allow the insurance that I pay so much for to pay its portion.
If any of you have received hospital care you know we all are required by law to contribute to Medicare, and it is normally required to be the first payer for hospital services. This is the current government health plan!
I served in the military and in a law-enforcement capacity in the federal government where I worked in airports, seaports and along the borders as well as training foreign officials in Asia. I suspect that I might have contracted the conditions that caused my malady anywhere along the way.
A related issue that really concerns me is that the GOVERNMENT, in big letters, seems to have forgotten those vets who served in combat but somehow were not present on certain ships or in certain areas of Vietnam at certain times when it is believed Agent Orange was sprayed.
I wonder how the chemical or any others we might not be aware of got onto the aircraft; who loaded the canisters on the planes and on which aircraft carriers; who was also working on the flight deck at that time as well as the armorers.
Unfortunately combat risk takes place in many other locations and many unpredictable times. One cannot always identify the risks that could have resulted in serviceconnected disabilities, and certainly cannot identify situations that precipitated them, which is what our government tries to do. It seems to me that if you are playing in the game you must pay the entire price and not quibble about some that might indicate less-than-honest playing of the game.
Vietnam vets are excluded from most benefits that other combat vets get. Do I have or have I had post traumatic stress disorder? Perhaps! My wife and I have dealt with my bad dreams, awaking suddenly in the night, or jumping suddenly when touched; it rarely happens anymore. Some vets I served with have had far worse problems, such as serious impairment in thought or communication, persistent delusions or hallucinations, inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting themselves or others, intermittent inability to perform daily activities, memory loss for names of close relatives, their own occupation or even own name.
I have been very lucky. I survived and I’m still here.
I would like to call your attention to the Vietnam Veterans of America.
Founded in 1978, it is the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. It aggressively advocates on issues important to veterans of the Vietnam “conflict,” seeks full access to quality health care for vets and seeks to identify the full range of disabling injuries and illnesses incurred during military service, hold government agencies accountable for following laws mandating veterans’ health care and work to create a positive public perception of Vietnam veterans. Lastly, it seeks the fullest possible accounting of America’s POW/MIAs, and supports the next generation of America’s war veterans as well as serving our communities.
I urge you to support them when you can.

When the document was presented to Our Federal Blue Cross insurance, they refused to pay the amount because the document says that it is what Medicare pays.

As it happens, the VA never collects it from Medicare and refuses to present any other bill against my Blue Cross. Blue Cross says that the document indicates that Medicare paid it. If it was documented that Medicare did not pay our Blue Cross Policies would pay.

The VA then determined that because I did not have a service connected disability and was not financially wanting, it billd me for the unbilled Medicare amount.

The VA continues to refuse to send any kind of document to my insurer that Medicare didn’t pay.

I chose the DeBakey Hospital because it was the best for my particular problems in that they treat a large variety of serious dermatological and rheumatic diseases as well as the kind of amputation, I needed.

Now it seems that even though I am a veteran of combat participation during the Vietnam War they go to lengths to avoid even proper payment of charges by my insurers.

This would appear that President Obama claims to support Veterans but seems to advocate a medical policy that really further disenfranchises Vets.

We are certainly aware that there are co-payments required for nonservice-connected conditions but they should be covered by the additional insurance we pay for to cover that event. Instead I am being required to pay the part that Medicare would normally pay for in a public hospital.

Though I don’t know the origin or cause of the strange lesions that caused the removal of my legs or whether they could have been connected to my combat service, I believe I should be able to go to a Veteran Hospital and at the lest get the care that they specialize in and allow the insurance that I pay so much for to pay their portion.

If any of you have received hospital care you know that we are all required by law to contribute to Medicare, and it is normally required to be the first payer for hospital services. This is the current government health plan!

In my case I served in the military and in a law enforcement capacity in the federal government where I worked in airports, seaports and along the borders as well as training foreign officials in Asia and suspect that I may even have had the opportunity to have contracted the conditions that precipitated my malady anywhere along the way.

As a related issue that really concerns me is that the GOVERNMENT in big letters, seems to have forgotten those Vets that served in combat but somehow were not present on certain ships or in certain areas of Vietnam and at certain times, where it is believed Agent Orange was sprayed at certain specific times.

I wonder how the chemical or any others we my not be aware of got onto the aircraft; who loaded the canisters on the planes and on which aircraft carriers, who was also working on the flight deck at that time as well as the armorers, Unfortunately combat risk takes place in many other locations and many unpredictable times. One can not always identify the risks that could have resulted in service connected disabilities and certainly cannot identify situations that precipitated them which is what our government tries to do. It seems to me that if you are playing in the game you must pay the entire price not quibble about some that might indicate less than honest playing of the game.

Viet Vets are excluded from most benefits that other Combat Vets get. Do I have or have I had PTSD? Perhaps! My wife and I have dealt with my bad dreams, awaking suddenly in the night, or jumping suddenly when touched and it rarely happens anymore. Other Vets I served with have had far worse problems such as serious impairment in thought or communication, persistent delusions or hallucinations, inappropriate behavior, persistent danger of hurting self or others, intermittent inability to perform activities of daily, memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or even own name.

I have been very lucky. I survived and am still here.

I would like to call your attention to the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Founded in 1978, it is the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. It aggressively advocates on issues important to veterans of the Vietnam ‘Conflict’, seeks full access to quality health care for the Vets and seeks to identify the full range of disabling injuries and illnesses incurred during military service, hold government agencies accountable for following laws mandating veterans health care and work to create a positive public perception of Vietnam veterans. Lastly they seek the fullest possible accounting of America’s POW/MIAs and support the next generation of America’s war veterans as well as serve our communities.

I urge you to support them when you can.

Like many I watched the president’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday night and as I expected (we are in an election season), it was mostly a political campaign speech that no one believes will ever become fact. However, there was a portion that if the ideal was one that I could believe President Obama could possibly accept, he would have my vote.
He said:
“I’m a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
Unfortunately, it is doubtful that any of the current candidates would be able to let the folks make their own decisions and mistakes.
At this time when public adversaries are telling us why we should entrust them with the stewardship of our future, politicians are stirring up the muck in hopes of showing themselves as being not that bad. Even the best have vastly different motivations than we “huddled masses” do, and even if their motivations were more altruistic they would still be influenced by the ideas of what is good for one is good for all. That just ain’t true!
Many brilliant thinkers have expounded on politicians to every end, and suggested why we have the messes we do. Mark Twain said, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
Comedian P.J. O’Rourke also accurately focused on the issue when he said: “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.”
Still we will continue to elect the person who is not as bad as the others!
There are many, many more witnesses who will ask to be heard in the court of public opinion before the election.
What I would like, however, is for government officials to at the least do what they admit they are doing.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is remarkably good at the medical part of its job of helping our creator maintain the body that we screw up with wars and poor maintenance. The surgeons, doctors, pharmacologists and other medical professionals are superb. The mere fact that I am still alive is proof enough.
Locally, the Harlingen VA clinic is quite good and getting better with the addition of its new facility next door and the inclusion of a home for a number of outpatient professions such as dermatology and rheumatology which, as it happens, fit my needs.
My only bugaboo is the time it takes to pick up medications at the facility. From the time the script is issued it can take two hours or more, and that is when you get there when the facility opens its doors at 8 a.m.
In their defense, though, on more than one occasion a manager has approached me to tell me the steps they are taking to resolve the problems.
The other problem is more insidious. They seem unable to accurately maintain any kind of billing and accounting system; perhaps they should contract out to Blue Cross to help them.
As those who follow my column know, I was hospitalized recently at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston for some very serious surgery that may or may not have resulted from my military service.
I recently became aware that when the VA got around to billing me, it does not first bill Medicare as is required of other hospitals, though it attributes an amount of the bill to Medicare. The bill is then forwarded to a second insurance company that in my case is a secondary, high-option Blue Cross plan (not a supplementary carrier). Blue Cross correctly identifies that it is not liable for the Medicare amount and pays the rest. It properly sends me notice that I am not liable for any further payment.
The VA then determines that because I do not have a serviceconnected disability and am not financially wanting, it bills me for the Medicare amount.
If any of you have received hospital care you know that we are all required by law to contribute to Medicare, and it is normally required to be the first payer for hospital services. This is the current government health plan!
Since the VA does not or cannot bill another part of the government, it expects me to pay the very large sum that Medicare (that I am required by law to subscribe to) normally would pay.
In my case the medical conditions are such that the VA team are uniquely qualified and experienced in caring for. I can only hope that the VA can determine that when a veteran of wartime service, in the theater of operations, cannot be shown to have been directly fired upon or sprayed with the dangerous chemicals that officials have agreed were used, can still be treated by them at a cost no more than would be charged by a civilian hospital.
Now that our local clinic also provides the follow-up services I require, I might be spared a trip to Houston for follow-up treatment.

We now have a peek at what our political leaders and potential political leaders are like, and to be candid I am certainly less than happy with any of them, from the highest in the land to our local community.
The best choice available will be the best of the poor choices.
One reason that sticks out is that the best candidates have jobs (not necessarily political) that they are successful at. They cannot take a two-, four- or six-year vacation and stay competent during that vacation.
One of the things Gov. Rick Perry has advanced is to limit the activity of Congress to part time. It seems to work here in Texas as well as full-time legislatures work anywhere else. I think the idea has considerable merit.
It is advanced that the legislators of this branch would be nearly crippled in their ability to understand complex issues and act on them. It appears that only the sponsor and some of the leaders in any legislature have more than a nodding understanding. In the last terms Congress did not even have the bills to read; many bills were cumbersome and compiled especially to make them difficult to understand. It makes more opportunity to focus benefits on friends.
Why not require each bill to be clear, concise and understandable so that it can be published for the public to read and give their representative their thoughts on the issue? Then the representative would spend the voting part of the term and the end of the term. The public would have a better view of the legislator’s response to the wishes of the constituency.
It is also asserted that when legislators are absent from Washington most of the year, government employees and lobbyists, neither of whom are elected, would lobby the elected administrator every day to carry out the “people’s” work. I really don’t see a change.
If the legislator is present with his or her constituency, the votes would be better understood and reflect the folks’ desires.
The big issue is, whom do we recruit?
We need individuals who have the sense of duty and understand bureaucracy. My first choice would be someone has served successfully in the military, a senior enlisted or former officer. Those individuals would certainly understand how the bureaucratic system works and how to secure support for the needs of the unit he or she belongs to.
What better experience could you have? As an alternative perhaps we could find a mom who has successfully raised some children.
The training gained there is current and incomparable. Experience in making and keeping to a budget as well as the costs you must pay when one stretches those credit reserves is very much on point.
Perhaps we need to put up signs like those of just a few years ago: “We need you.”
I have been following the sad issue of the shooting death of Jaime Gonzalez Jr. and my heart goes out to his family in their time of sadness and perplexity. I can also easily understand the shock and overpowering drive to reach out and seek redress for the loss that can never truly be satisfied.
I can also easily understand that horrible sick feeling in the pit of the stomach that the officers might have felt when a life is taken, no matter what the circumstance. In both cases those feelings might never go away and could require lengthy counseling.
I have a little insight, as I spent a career in the military and law enforcement. I am also a dad and worry continuously about both my children who live far away.
In this case it appears that the officers were confronted with a young man brandishing what appeared to be a Glock semiautomatic, 9mm handgun, but turned out to be a pellet pistol. Those also could be very dangerous.
The officers appeared to take extraordinary risks in giving the young man several opportunities to drop the weapon and diminish the risk to the children and teachers on campus and themselves.
A whirlwind of thoughts and alternatives were probably swirling in the minds of the officers. The worst case, just as we have seen on TV, always comes to the forefront. Were the young man to have taken the officers’ delayed action as weakness, and he were to start firing all of the potentially fourteen shots, the officers could lose their lives as could as numerous children and staff.
My heart also goes out to those officers who delayed taking action until hope of a resolution was lost to them. Surely, they had younger brothers or children that weighed heavily.
I hope that for all concerned this horrible experience can be put to rest so that all those involved can have the time to deal with their grief.

I would like to wish you all a very healthy and prosperous New Year. Let us all take the coming election choices seriously in hopes our chosen candidates do not contribute in making the situation worse.
Many of our neighbors seem to be deeply concerned with their perceptions of the candidates. More than 2 million voters have left both the Democratic and Republican parties since the last presidential election, and the number of independent voters continues to grow. A USA Today analysis of state voter registration statistics shows registered Democrats have declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party. Republicans dipped in 21 states, and independents increased in 18 states. In eight of the “swing” states, Democrats’ registration is down by 800,000 and Republicans’ by 350,000. Independents have gained 325,000.
It is quite apparent that a large portion of the voters are very concerned with their traditional voting choices and have had their confidence in our leadership severely shaken. My confidences in the political leadership at all levels in all three main parties, Libertarian, Republican and Democrat, are in serious doubt.
Worse yet, I see very few leaders in training with much promise.
Most of the leaders in those labeled as Republicans or Democrats are mostly “Demopublican” or Repubocrat” big-government types who are pushing us toward an economic meltdown that continues to chip away at our freedoms. They portend to get us into never-ending undeclared wars just so they look like they are strong and are needed to preserve the freedoms we are losing daily.
This consumption of our resources pushes ever closer to that of a welfare state. We can look down the road in our past to the “lost Jamestown Colony” of historic colonial times. That is what awaits us.
Our citizens do not need to be controlled and legislated into automatons that just support the politicos.
Consider the recent controls that the administration wants to establish by controlling medicine. They seem to have a vision of a world ruled by the government with a law to determine how every one must live and uses taxation to control this.
When someone is successful they limit how profitable that individual can be by raising the tax outrageously rather than allowing the profits to be reinvested and provide for newer and more efficient products that would require better jobs for others to make them.
Our new leaders need to evolve a movement into a small-government party.
Americans are seeing a lot in common by comparing the Republicans and Democrats of today with the evolving lack of popularity of Sears and Kmart; the same old products and displays just doesn’t attract the more sophisticated customer anymore.
We have evolved and need to motivate a new segment of citizen leader similar to the Eisenhowers and Kennedys just following the world wars.
There are young heroes who have the passion and motivation to be the nation’s saviors. They are just returning from the battlefield.
All they need is to have those passions and leadership skills that have been honed on the field of battle translated into the language of politics, and then to be motivated to develop a concept of a leaner, more efficient government that would be similar to that of the parttime government that our founders envisioned.
What we do not need are more politicos creating more and more government to support them.
In the coming election I will be looking for candidates who will do the least harm and allow us to keep more of our hard-earned wages or profits that can be reinvested in newer and better products.
We need to encourage more Michael Dells, who build and market better and more affordable products by starting from a garage and marketing directly. Those products then motivate others to build and market supporting products, but only if they can use profits to expand and evolve.
A greedy government that goes into debt in order to create more needs for government services is counterproductive and only creates more folks who are merely slaves to the government charity. We need a new way of envisioning government and our recently liberated military folks are just the kind we need to build a new kind of more efficient government