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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Opinion

Tuesday, May 29, 2001

Smokey Briggs

Sage
Views

By Smokey Briggs

I can fix our

budget problems

President Bush's various spending and budget proposals have come under a lot of fire during the first few months of his presidency, from the right and the left.

Taxes to faith-based charities are one point of contention. I admit that I have a lot of heartburn over this idea.

No, I do not think it violates the separation of church and state clause of the First Amendment.

But I do have a better idea.

No tax money to anybody, faith-based or not. Just give the money back to me and the rest of the working stiffs that earned it and I will put it where I think it belongs because it is my money.

I made it, and I want it.

I do not need some self-righteous, do-gooding, conservative or liberal with a cause, to help me decide what to do with it.

I bet I could fix the entire United State's budget in an hour and cut taxes by 50 percent at the same time.

Let's see:

No more foreign aid, period. The only thing we will do is send a platoon of Marines to your country to run it for you if you cannot handle this on your own. The Marines can hand out the candy bars in their rations if they feel like it.

Or they can burn your huts down if you tick them off. We ran South America like this for the first half of the 20th Century with no problems.

No more welfare, or any other type of government hand out. It is called a job.

Sometimes you have to get two of them to make ends meet. If you have two hands, two legs, and one eye then you need to work.

If there is no work where you live, then you need to move. If you do not work, you do not eat.

Charity in the hands of politicians is not charity, it is vote buying, and in the long run it stifles the productivity of a nation and kills the opportunity that should be every Americans' birthright.

No more federal dollars for schools. States can tax for schools if they want to. So can school districts. Kids were getting a better education in the 1930s than they do today and we did not spend a tenth as much money in the process.

No more federal dollars for any state program. State's can tax their own residents to build roads and anything else that is needed.

Federal dollars have become the biggest blackmail device ever invented to force state compliance with the worldview held by the elite few in Washington, D.C., and that is one messed up view of the world.

The only federal money that should be spent within a state should be for interstate highways and military installations.

In short, take the federal government out of the business of redistributing the wealth of the nation as it, and the special interest groups it serves, sees fit.

Well, that was pretty easy. Anybody else got a problem they cannot figure out?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at: smokey@pecos.net

Our View

Border Patrol doing its job

It is a shame that people are dying as they attempt to cross the border into the United States.

The U. S. Border Patrol is taking some heat over these deaths. According to the Border Patrol, 106 people died while trying to cross southern Arizona's deserts from September 1999 until September 2000. Fourteen died last week after they were abandoned in the desert by the smugglers who promised to get them into the United States.

The reason the Border Patrol is taking the blame is because it has cracked down on popular crossing points in Texas and California. So, people are trying to cross in more remote and dangerous areas.

Blaming the Border Patrol, however, puts the cart before the horse.

The Border Patrol is doing its job. Immigrating into the United States without going through the proper channels is illegal. Until the United States changes its laws to allow unlimited immigration, the Border Patrol needs to continue to do its job to the best of its ability.

Allowing unlimited immigration is not the answer either. The ensuing flood of people would overwhelm the existing infrastructure in the U. S. In a short time the prosperity that draws people from Mexico, South America would be replaced with the same kind of poverty that rules south of the border and no one would be better off.

Less corrupt governments and sensible economic policies are the only cure for that poverty.

Unlimited immigration, or immigration policies that only pay lip service to border enforcement, are not the answer.

Your View

Unhappy with the chamber

Dear Editor:
With your permission, I would like to direct this  letter first to the Board of Directors of the Pecos Area  Chamber of Commerce, and second, to the community. 

First, to the Board of Directors, how do you justify paying a person whose top priority is not the Chamber? If Tom Rivera is such a vital asset to the Chamber, then why hasn't he motivated you and the rest of the Chamber members to double your membership as he has done for the Downtown Lions Club?

If he is doing such a good job for the Chamber, then why is the Lions Club business more than he does for the Chamber from his office? Also, why isn't he making himself more available to the community since he is an "employee" of the Chamber?

At the last meeting, President Barbara Creager stated that the Chamber had paid for his education and had made an investment in his ability. If this is so, then why is he not using this education to improve the relations of the Chamber with the community? If he does have such a good education, then why have all the Chamber functions decreased in community participation?

Think about it!

Have you, as Directors, not noticed that many businesses prefer not to be a Chamber member? Have you asked why? Many businesses and individuals have not joined because of the present executive director. President Creager knows this.

Second, to the community, many of you have had dealings with the present executive director with no good results. Please let the Board of Directors and the President of the Chamber know about this. The present executive director is always blaming the community for lack of appreciation in any Chamber activity, but if only the community were better informed and treated better by the executive director, maybe the community would support the Chamber activities.

STELLA ORNELAS,
Former employee of the Chamber


Family's vets receive Memorial Day tribute

Dear Editor:
On Friday, May 25, 2001 I was privileged to attend the  graduation of my oldest grandson, Justin Awbrey, in Andrews.  His  marine recruiter was also there in full dress uniform.  Justin chose to start  his adult life in the marines and has plans for college following his time in  the service.  I was so proud to witness the ceremony and felt such pride  in his many achievements during his school years.  I thought of the  many young men and women in our great country that have the same  dreams and plans for a wonderful future. I, also, thought of the many young  men and women from years past that chose the military service, or  were chosen to keep our country free from powers meant for destruction of  the government in our country, and gave their lives for this freedom.  The  men and women who served our country, and came back with physical  and emotional problems for this freedom that we take for granted.

I can't imagine the fears my grandmother, Sadie Draper, felt when her only son, Sam Draper, joined the marines during World War 11, when America was forced into a war, or the fears of his wife and baby. Sam came home a changed man. He had fought during the battles on Guadalcanal. Physically, he experienced re-occurring bouts of malaria. Emotionally, Sam was never the same man again. He became old and cynical and spent the rest of his life looking for the peace he never found.

My parents, Jack and Cora Moody, saw two of their son's go into war zones. The Korean War was over when John Roger was sent into that country to help keep peace. In 1958, it was a dangerous assignment. He came home to us uninjured, but much more mature and grateful to be a citizen of the United States. Claude McKinley was nineteen when he was sent to Vietnam. He was one of the lucky ones to come home. His family will never know what happened to him while he was there. He chooses not to talk about it.

I wanted to pay tribute to these three great men. Because of them and others, I live in a country free of war. I also wanted to pay tribute to the other great men and women that fought for our peace. I feel humble in their presence.

REITA PREWIT

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York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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