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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG>K-</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman">If you are taking votes, I vote that you
sign up with the Daily News as a Town Crier columnist (see below). Your
words need wider circulation. BL</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG>ps. same to you, Paul, Ted, and even G.
Crabtree</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG>TOWN CRIER V:</STRONG> We don't need no
stinkin' syndicated columnists on our Opinion page. That's our belief, and we're
stickin' to it. We want our own community to provide our columnists. A big part
of that has been our Town Criers.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Our fourth crew of 13 Town Criers has reached
the end of its two-year commitment to the Daily News and the
community.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">We would like to say thanks to John Carlson, Don
Cox, Dan David, Jerry Finch, Nick Gier, Penelope Gonzales, Larry Kirkland, Eric
McGilp, Donald C. Orlich, Michael Riley, Matthew Wappett, W. A. Warren and Nina
Woodford. They have given us much to think about and argue
over.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">So, it's time to put out a call for the Town
Crier V squad.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">What would be expected of you? Each member will
need to write a column of 650 words four times a year for two years. It can be
on any topic, national or local, the same topic every time or a wide range of
topics, inflammatory or informative, serious or funny, personal or political.
We'll edit for style, spelling, grammar, syntax and libel, but the topics and
point of view are yours alone.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Who should apply? Anyone who has eight things to
say, can write 650 interesting words and can hit a deadline every 13 weeks. We
would like to see more women and more working people apply this time. The last
group was dominated by retired men, not that there's anything wrong with being
either retired or a man.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV class=encrypted-content>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Apply by sending an email to Murf Raquet, the
editor the Opinion page, at </FONT><A href="mailto:murf@dnews.com"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">murf@dnews.com</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman">.
Give him your background and an example of your writing.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </P></DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=kjajmix1@msn.com
href="mailto:kjajmix1@msn.com">keely emerinemix</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 09, 2012 2:51 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=ngier006@gmail.com
href="mailto:ngier006@gmail.com">ngier006@gmail.com</A> ; <A
title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Socialism: Neither Cause nor Solution to
Euro Crisis</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
<DIV dir=ltr>Nick, this couldn't be better written or more timely, especially in
light of Rick Perry's sober contention that Barack Obama is a socialist.
<BR><BR>That he's not, of course, matters little to Perry and his ilk, even if
they could grasp why it is that he's not. Also, in the same vein as the
"Government Out Of My Medicare" posters at Tea Party events, I'm fairly certain
that Perry, et al, are really pretty glad to have what we could call socialized
police forces and fire fighters. It's worked well for us, generally; the
abuse and racism present among the police is an argument for continued State
control, not for private control. I'll keep my socialized police
protection, thanks. Same for LBJ's vaunted Texas and national socialist
highway beautification programs -- the outgrowth of that nasty socialist Dwight
Eisenhower's interstate highway program advances. <BR><BR>No, Obama must
be a "socialist" to these folks because he's not one of them, in ways both true
and significant as well as untrue and insignificant. He is, unlike the
power players in today's GOP, a reasonable, intelligent man who believes that
government has done and can and should continue to do good for people; unlike
them, and I suspect this is the Right's primary concern, he's "not one of
them" because he's not a conservative, not a Republican, not a Bible-banger, not
from a rural background, not possessing a suitably "American" name, and not a
white guy. Anything he supports or proposes, and especially if it's even
remotely close to where the GOP center was forty or fifty years ago, is going to
sound downright dangerous to Perry and his "underinformed" followers.
"Socialism" in politics is lamentably like "faggot" on the playground: An
ugly, disgusting, hateful weapon of ignorance that doesn't even have to be true
-- it's so awful in the eyes of the one who wields it that what it means and if
it even applies doesn't matter. I agree that unlike "faggot," there's a
legitimate use of the word "socialist," but I contend that Perry and his pals
only know that they think being one or the other is really bad, and so they let
the name-calling fly, hoping to attract others who like calling Obama anything
nasty, even if they can't remember why it is that it's bad.
<BR><BR>Disgusting. Thanks, Nick, for a little truth-telling.
<BR><BR><FONT color=#8064a2><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt" size=3><FONT
face=Verdana>Keely<BR>www.keely-prevailingwinds.com<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR><BR>
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<DIV id=SkyDrivePlaceholder></DIV>
<HR id=stopSpelling>
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2012 12:21:06 -0800<BR>From: ngier006@gmail.com<BR>To:
vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Socialism: Neither Cause nor
Solution to Euro Crisis<BR><BR>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Good
Morning Visionaries:</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
is the second part of my column on the Euro Crisis. Both parts were
published together in the Sunday edition of the Idaho State Journal, which does
even a better job of saving money by having no syndicated
columnists.</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">If
the Daily News wants to spend money, they should choose much better
conservatives and liberals.</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
full version is attached.</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Yours
for increased revenues to balance deficits,</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Nick</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class=ecxMsoNormal
align=center><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">SOCIALISM:
NEITHER CAUSE NOR SO</SPAN></B><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 24px; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 12pt">LUTION
FOR EURO CRISIS</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class=ecxMsoNormal
align=center><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 24px; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=ecxMsoNormal align=center><FONT
color=#333333 size=3 face="Georgia, serif"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 24px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">GOP leaders are quick to claim that
Europe’s problems are due to its “socialist” governments and that, as a fellow
traveler, Obama’s policies will take the U.S. into an economic abyss. As
Republican Congressman Paul Ryan predicts: “What we are seeing is the failure of
European socialism and the social welfare states.” The facts prove Ryan
wrong.</SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The dictionary definition of “socialism”
requires that the state own the means of production, and only Cuba and North
Korea qualify as socialist states in this sense. In Europe the means of
production are in the hands of world-class private companies operating in market
economies. </SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The World Economic Forum’s list of
competitive economies for 2011 includes seven European welfare states :
Switzerland (1<SUP>st</SUP>), Sweden (3<SUP>rd</SUP>) , Finland
(4<SUP>th</SUP>), Germany (6<SUP>th</SUP>), the Netherlands (7<SUP>th</SUP>),
Denmark (8<SUP>th</SUP>), and the UK (10<SUP>th</SUP>). The U.S. is in fifth
place. The free market <I>Economist</I> has chosen Denmark as the most business
friendly and it hailed Finland was the most innovative. </SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">One way to measure the strength of any
nation to manage debt is to look at its credit rating. Good credit means
that governments are able to issue bonds at low interest rates. Greece,
Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain (GIIPS) are now paying so much interest on
their bonds that they will never be able pay off their debts.</SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Even before it lost its AAA rating, the
U.S. did not make the top ten credit worthy nations, but 8 European welfare
states did. The latest ratings from Standard and Poors indicate that there
are 15 countries with AAA ratings before the U.S. at AA+. Except for Hong
Kong all of these countries have higher tax rates than the U.S.</SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0.25in; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">The number of European nations led by
Labor, Social Democratic, or Socialist parties has been declining over 20 years
and now stands at an all time low. Iceland, Ireland, Italy, and Greece ran
up their bills (all over 100 percent of Gross National Product) under
center-right governments. </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In
Ireland, where the Labor Party always ran third, the budget deficit reached 32
percent last year and unemployment is running at 14 percent. By 2007
</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Ireland’s
Anglo-Irish bank has loaned out $91 billion. As a proportion of population this
would be the equivalent of an American bank loaning out $3.4 trillion.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Those
European countries with the highest taxes have some of the lowest national debt.
This is not the result of socialism, but a common sense financial philosophy
that one should balance expenses with sufficient revenue. Congressman
Ryan’s budget proposal which dramatically cuts taxes and spending—but wipes out
America’s social safety net—will reduce deficits by a paltry $155 billion over
ten years. </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Current
national debt per GDP in the Nordic countries was 36.7 percent for Sweden, 43.7
percent for Denmark, 48.2 percent for Finland, and 48.9 percent for
Norway. Sweden is the fastest growing economy in Europe (4.2%) and
Denmark—thanks to Social Democratic programs in the early 1990s—has had an
unemployment rate of 3-4 percent for 20 years. A Social Democratic jobs
plan allowed Germany to increase employment during the Great
Recession.</SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Norway
is currently running high budget surpluses (13.1%) and Sweden’s financial books
are balanced. Denmark and Finland have been running very low budget deficits
(3.9% and 2.5% respectively). From 2000-2010 Finland has had budget
surpluses in 8 of those years. </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
current budget deficit for the 17-member Eurozone is 4.1 percent, and that
includes debt-ridden Greece, Portugal, and Ireland. Only Finland, Estonia,
and Luxembourg have abided by the 3 percent deficit agreed on in 1999. Even
Germany was one of seven that busted the 3 percent barrier in 2001. From
2000-2010 twelve other euro economies, including France, stayed below the limit
more consistently than Germany.</SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Comparable
figures for low tax U.S. are 100 percent of GDP for total national debt and a
budget deficit of 8.6 percent. The U.S. has run up more than twice as much
national debt as Europe. Each person in the EU owes $19,522, but each American
is $48,860 in debt. </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A recent
cartoon depicted the Statue of Liberty warning off a boat loaded with
euros. She cries out: “We don’t want your economic policies!”
Actually both American and European governments have very similar austerity
plans: dramatic spending cuts (especially in Britain, Portugal, Ireland, Spain,
Italy, and Greece), which make it impossible for these economies to grow enough
to hire new workers and pay off their huge debts. </SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There is
strong correlation between economic growth under Obama’s stimulus plan the slide
towards recession after the money was spent. The right-wing’s call for
austerity driven economic expansion is a dangerous illusion. It’s not
working in Europe and it won’t work here either.</SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Nick Gier
taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
years.</SPAN></P><BR>=======================================================
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