Guest column: ‘For The Common Good’

April 9, 2013 By 15 Comments

The progressive and socialist vision for the direction of this country is an ordered society where poverty is eliminated, and healthcare and pensions for life are provided by a central authority or government. The foundation for this structure is rooted in utopian theories that are based on the premise that in a free market society, people fear for basic necessities and lack the opportunities to obtain equality. Regrettably however, ordered societies have never proven viable…which we know is accurate because had they succeeded and flourish; we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

There are two significant reasons why ordered societies fail. The first is the central authority’s inability to accurately allocate and distribute scarce resources for the production of goods and services, which over time diminishes the methods of production that result in a reduced standard of living—the opposite of what was promised. Using the current administration policies regarding energy as an example, the central government declared solar and wind a priority over gas and oil production. Billions were redirected to solar and wind and nothing was produced, except a resulting consequence of increased gas and oil prices. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Letter: Americans have right, responsibility to protect selves, property

January 1, 2013 By 1 Comment

By Mark DeVol

Who is responsible for our safety?

The Militia Act of 1903 was initiated by U.S. Secretary of War Elihu Root following the Spanish American War. H.R. 11654 established the “regular army”; the “organized militia,” henceforth known as the National Guard; and the “unorganized militia.”

H.R. 11654 defined the unorganized militia as “every able-bodied male between the ages of 18 and 45.” It further established that all members of the “unorganized militia” have the absolute personal right and Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms of any measure and type.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Letters Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Letter: Weighting the polling sample

October 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

To the Editor:

Polls are based on responses and statistical data using smaller, random samples to draw conclusions about the opinions of much larger populations. This explains how polling companies can use a sampling of 900 people to justify their assertions as to how 130 million people will vote on Nov. 6.

To make the poll statistically representative, a process called “weighting” is applied, which factors a large range of variables, such as party identification, age, race, gender, etc. The various subgroups are assigned a number or value (based on current data), and the polling result for each subgroup is multiplied by its value and then combined to produce the final result that is reported by the media.

  • In 2008, Democrats had a 3 percent voter turnout advantage over the Republicans, where 40.3 percent voted as Democrats and 33.3 percent as Republicans.
  • In 2012, as reported by Rasmussen Reports, 33.3 percent of the country aligns itself with the Democrat Party and 37.6 percent with the Republican Party.

In this year’s election cycle, however, the integrity of the national media’s polling has become suspect.

According to their own data, the latest New York Times, Quinnipiac, and CBS News polls are oversampling Democrats and using statistical data from 2008, ignoring the 2010 elections and recent polling data.

Consider the following…

In this year’s election, who is more likely to re-consider their vote—people who supported the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2010, or people who support the Republican Party? This year’s election is NOT about any one person or party, it’s about the direction in which the country is being led!

Mark DeVol

Anderson County

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Letters Tagged With: , ,

Letter: New ‘taxes’ imposed by Affordable Care Act

August 30, 2012 By 2 Comments

Now that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the sanctioned law of the land, let’s take a closer look at how it will affect us as a nation.

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared ACA to be tax. As the federal Congress has the authority to lay and collect taxes, they are, however, restricted to four types: excise, tariff, income, and direct.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Letters Tagged With: , ,