Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 284, Ed. 1 Friday, December 14, 2012 Page: 4 of 12
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Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Friday, December 14, 2012
Sweetwater Reporter
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EDITORIAL POLICY
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expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled “Editorials” reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
GOEST COLOMN
Sesame Street will teach
kids about divorce
HOLLYWOOD—God bless America, and how's
everybody?
McDonald's announced a huge increase in sales in
November after its first-ever drop in October. There
are three reasons for the rebound
in world sales. McDonald's offi-
cials chalked it up to increased TV
advertising, new dessert items and
Colorado legalizing weed.
PBS announced Sesame Street will
teach kids about divorce and how it's
never their fault. PBS is such a waste
of money. Sesame Street turns chil-
dren into socialists in the morning
and then Masterpiece Theater turns
them back into British aristocrats
that night.
The European Union was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on
Tuesday. The EU has its mission. It
took Germany a hundred years to figure out if you
conquer Europe with bankers instead of tanks you
get all the domination and none of the war crimes
trials.
President Obama recognized the Syrian opposi-
tion as the legitimate representaive of the Syrian
people. We're all in. The president added that he
has no plan to send U.S. troops to Syria, as if having
no plan ever stopped a U.S. military invasion in the
Middle East.
Al-Qaeda's number-two leader was killed by a
drone strike Tuesday in Pakistan. He was the sixth
number-two leader of Al-Qaeda we have assas-
sinated by drone. It may not have done that much
damage when you consider that our number-two
leader is Joe Biden.
London nutritionists released a study Tuesday
saying the low-carb Atkins Diet is the healthiest
way for you to lose weight. It really works. The diet
is so wildly popular that the Vatican just approved
a low-carb communion wafer called I Can't Believe
It's Not Jesus.
North Korea launched an ICBM sixteen hundred
miles Tuesday that left a satellite in orbit before it
landed in the ocean. They Photoshop their missiles
to make them look longer-range than they really
are. Sounds like Anthony Weiner found work as a
consultant.
President Obama dismissed Iran's threats to sup-
port Syria's government Sunday. He said he's crip-
pled Iran's economy with sanctions. Thanks to
the president's work over the last four years, Iran
doesn't have the money to support Syria any more
than we do.
WalMart announced it will open its stores at mid-
night Monday on the day the Mayan apocalpyse is
foretold. This certainly didn't help WalMart open
new stores in Mexico. The Mayans have written a
letter protesting the crass commercialization of the
apocalypse.
Exxon said Wednesday the U.S. could soon be a
net exporter of oil and gas and the U.S. could over-
take Saudi Arabia as the world's leading producer of
crude. You have to get lucky. When the U.S. struck
porn in the West San Fernando Valley, our output of
crude quintupled.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed the right-
to-work law Wednesday, prompting Teamster chief
Jimmy Hoffa to predict a civil war. That's ridicu-
lous. The South is already trying to secede and if the
North secedes at the same time, there is nothing to
fight about.
Harvard officials approved a club house for a
student bondage group Tuesday. They are a kinky
group who like to spank and be spanked, tie each
other up and torture each other for sexual gratifica-
tion. It sounds like one fraternity figured out a way
to get around the ban on freshman hazing by seek-
ing refuge under the prostitution laws.
Congress held hearings on performance-enhancing
drugs Wednesday when the NFL players and NFL
owners couldn't agree on an HGH test. The linemen
are all over three hundred pounds and super-fast.
The difference between an NFL quarterback and
Al-Qaeda's number-two leader is that Al-Qaeda's
number-two leader can get life insurance.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The
Comedy Store in Hollywood and entertains groups
and organizations around the country. E-mail him
at Argus@ArgusHamilton.com.
GOEST COLOMN
eds subsidize risk on
farms as well as beaches
As global warming
causes more serious and
frequent shoreline flood-
ing, indignation rises over
federal programs _
helping owners of
beach properties
rebuild in places
the ocean wants
to take back.
Superstorm Sandy
was a lollapalooza
in terms of water-
front damage and
demands on the
Federal Emergency
Management
Agency's resourc-
Froma
Harrop
But while ask-
ing why taxpayers must
subsidize waterfront
development in areas
under increasing threat
from climate change, we
should ask why weather-
related questions stop at
the shoreline. The federal
government spends a for-
tune protecting farmers'
incomes in drought-prone
regions that are going to
get hotter and dryer. That
encourages people to grow
thirsty crops where they
shouldn't.
"The federal crop insur-
ance program is far worse
in many ways than the
flood insurance in the
incentives it gives farm-
ers to do things that are
risky," Craig Cox, who
covers farm policy at the
Environmental Working
Group, told me.
Consider the case of
Seth Baute, a farmer in
Bartholomew County,
Ind. Thanks largely to
the taxpayers, he actually
made more money after
losing 6o percent of his
corn crop to drought than
he would have had rainfall
been adequate (for grow-
ing corn, that is).
How did this happen?
The story begins in 2000,
when Congress replaced
a more modest farm sup-
port program (paying out
if drought, hail or flood
substantially reduced the
average yield) with an
immodest program actu-
ally guaranteeing a farm-
er's income. Taxpayers on
average pick up two-thirds
of the premiums.
When the federal insur-
ance policy is written in
the spring, the crop is cov-
_ ered at the project-
ed price. But if the
price of corn goes
up in the growing
season, so magical-
ly does the insured
price. Drought
conditions across
the heartland
raised the price of
corn last summer.
Thanks to the reve-
nue protection pro-
gram, even farm-
ers whose crops
withered into dust
were paid according to the
inflated price of corn.
As explained by Marcia
Zarley Taylor on The
Progressive Farmer web-
site, the Baute family com-
bined their federally sub-
sidized 85 percent reve-
nue protection policy with
some private insurance.
The result was that the
family made 110 percent
of what it expected before
the drought, though it lost
over half the crop.
Craig Cox notes that
under the old subsidy pro-
gram, taxpayers would
have subsidized corn
crops in Bartholomew
County at a cost of about
$24 an acre, while helping
farmers with their losses.
Under the new program,
the government is paying
up to $39 an acre.
Interesting that in
the intense budget talks
in Washington so little
is being said about this
bizarre transfer of wealth
to farmers, which will
cost $90 billion over the
next 10 years, according
to Congressional Budget
Office projections. But
wait, there's more.
The agriculture com-
mittee leaders are propos-
ing to add another layer
of federal spending — a
whole new generation of
farm subsidies that pick
up a larger share of the
deductible on federally
subsidized crop insur-
ance. Both the House and
Senate versions include
three such deals, tailored
to specific crops. These
new revenue subsidies
would add between $25
billion and $35 billion to
the $90 billion.
Last spring, the ranking
Republican on the Senate
Agriculture Committee,
Pat Roberts of Kansas,
expressed his determi-
nation to keep the new
layer: "Anyone that wishes
to offer an amendment to
harm this agreed-upon
product will be taken to
Dodge City, Kan., and
hung by the neck until
they are dead."
So then, why not build
your beach mansion on
the shifting sands? Why
not plant corn on parched
land? After all, Uncle
Sugar is guaranteeing you,
flood or drought — unless
the taxpayers get fed up
enough to stop the game.
To find out more about
Froma Harrop, and
read features by other
Creators Syndicate writ-
ers and cartoonists, visit
the Creators Syndicate
web page at www.cre-
ators.com.
GOEST COLOMN
be miracle of the rule of law
It's easy, as a law pro-
fessor and practicing law-
yer, to take the rule of law
for granted and even to
question its existence. In
my classes, I teach
students cases in
which courts, on
similar facts, reach
conflicting results,
notwithstanding the
fundamental prin-
ciple that the rule
of law means like
cases must be treat-
ed alike. What's the
difference, I ask my
students, knowing
that sometimes, the
answer is no more
than who is sitting
in the room.
While judges secure con-
firmation by claiming to do
no more than "call balls and
strikes," no sophisticated
student of the law really
believes them. It's no coin-
cidence (albeit an unfortu-
nate reality) that the cur-
rent Supreme Court splits
so often along the lines of
party appointment — with
four Democratic appoin-
tees on one side and five
Republican appointees on
the other. It's no coinci-
dence that judges appoint-
ed by Democrats tend to
be more liberal than those
appointed by Republicans,
or that Democratic appoin-
tees are so much more
likely to be pro-choice and
Republicans more likely
to uphold restrictions on
abortion. Politics, we say.
Nor is it just law pro-
fessors who find fault with
courts on a regular basis. In
my experience, most of the
judges I appear before are
careful and principled, even
if they disagree with my
clients. But there are days
when I just shake my head
— at a judge who ignores
the facts or fails to follow
controlling authority or
asks the same uninformed
questions repeatedly. No
names, of course. I might
be before them again. Most
of the time, I can
see where a case
is going, but there
are occasions when,
frankly, the best
(or worst) I can
say is that some-
day the decision
may be reversed.
Explaining this to a
client, particularly
one who assumes
justice will be done
and truth always
triumphs, is never
easy.
Quality of representation
matters — a lot. The bet-
ter lawyer doesn't always
win, but it certainly helps,
and better lawyers tend to
be more expensive (admis-
sion: I am very expensive)
than less experienced or
skilled ones. Middle-class
folks — not poor enough to
qualify for free assistance,
not rich enough to afford
my rates — often find the
doors to the courthouse
effectively closed without
regard to the merits of their
claim. Representing your-
self is rarely a very good
option.
So yes, our system of law
is flawed. The rule of law
doesn't always mean we
are a nation of laws and
not of men. There is so
much room for reform, for
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improvement. Justice is not
always blind. I write books
about it.
And then I see what is
happening in Egypt, and I
remember just how lucky
we are, just how difficult
it is to create a society
in which the rule of law
stands at least as an ideal.
I remember how much of a
struggle it can be to estab-
lish a Constitution that is as
enduring and as brilliantly
conceived as our own.
The headlines are both
shocking and reassuring.
The "democratically" elect-
ed president makes a grab
for power, putting himself
above the law. Judges and
lawyers have every reason
to be afraid — not for their
jobs, but for their lives — if
they stand up to the man
who claims to be above
them.
But they do, protesting
the president's power grab
and a Constitution that
would not protect the rights
of minorities: the essence
of a Constitution. After all,
powerful majorities don't
need the protections of
courts; they have power.
It is, as our own Supreme
Court recognized a century
ago, "discrete and insular
minorities" who depend on
the courts to protect them
from the tyranny of the
majority.
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It is not easy to establish
the rule of law in a country
that has never known it.
Some of those protesting
were doubtless very happy
to be part of a government
of men and not of laws as
long as they were the men
in charge. But the broad-
based protests in Egypt
make clear that the hun-
ger for justice is a powerful
force.
And even more, they
should remind us that for
all the flaws in our own
system, we remain, when
it comes to the rule of law
as with so many things, the
luckiest people on the face
of the globe.
To find out more about
Susan Estrich and read
features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and car-
toonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate website at www.
creators.com._
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Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper’s editor at
236-6677.
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DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
-❖-
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Reporter
Susan
Estrich
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 284, Ed. 1 Friday, December 14, 2012, newspaper, December 14, 2012; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth851164/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.