Something To Think About - 8/16/17
“Do not surrender to fate after a single failure,” advised Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy. “Failure, at most, precedes success.”
Something To Think About - 8/15/17
Economist Thomas Sowell notes that “The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”
Something To Think About - 8/14/17
Dwight Eisenhower once observed that “By leadership, we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.”
Something To Think About - 8/12/17
According to British explorer Freya Stark, “There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.”
Something To Think About - 8/11/17
It’s been said that the secret of polite conversation is never to open your mouth unless you have nothing to say.”
Something To Think About - 8/10/17
Playwright George Bernard Shaw said: “In this world, there is always danger for those who are afraid of it.”
Something To Think About - 8/8/17
The labor force participation rate for men 25-54 is lower now than is it was at the end of the Great Depression. Within 10 years of the 1996 welfare reform, signed into law by Bill Clinton, the number of Americans in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program fell by a whopping 60%. All that has been undone since, as federal poverty programs ballooned making more people reliant on the government as a way of life, but NOT reducing actual poverty levels by putting people to back to work.
Something To Think About - 8/7/17
Columnist Sydney Harris once noted, as many politicians know, “Nothing is as easy to make as a promise this winter to do something next summer.”
Something To Think About - 8/3/17
English author Samuel Butler claimed that “Life is playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.”
Something To Think About - 8/2/17
Amist all the angst over proposed cuts to medicaid and medicare and other gov programs remember this: it is not the ammount of dollars being poured into these programs that is being cut- despite what some would have you believe about people dying in the streets as programs are reighned in- rather, it is the ammount of annual budget increases that is being reduced. These programs are still slated to grow, year after year, just not as fast as before these so called cuts.
Something To Think About - 8/1/17
British playwright Somerset Maugham once noted that “The unfortunate thing in this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.”
Something To Think About - 7/31/17
Writer William Faulkner advised us to “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
Something To Think About - 7/29/17
Scottish philosopher and satirist Thomas Carlyle noted that “… the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.”
Something To Think About - 7/27/17
Helen Keller believed that “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.”
Something To Think About - 7/26/17
Literary critic and poet George Edward Woodberry once observed that "Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure."
Something To Think About - 7/25/17
Colin Powell says “The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above-average effort.”
Something To Think About - 7/22/17
Writer Suzy Kassem says that “To be successful, one has to be one of three bees: the queen bee, the hardest-working bee or, the bee that does not fit in.”
Something To Think About - 7/21/17
Author and journalist Joseph P. Ritz once observed that a “Critic” is “One who finds a little bad in the best of things.”
Something To Think About - 7/20/17
According to prison warden and reformer Lewis Lawes, we should “Never give up on a man until he fails at something he likes.”
Something To Think About - 7/19/17
Donald Trump’s constant, bombastic tweets attacking individuals and the media do not serve the people but only pone purpose: keeping the media he hates focused on his rants, taking attention away from the real progress that has been made on several fronts. Such as, the appointment of Justice Gorsuch; the approval of the Dakota and Keystone pipelines; and, the rolling back of countless harmful regulations created by decree by his predecessor. The lack of focus on these accomplishments and fixing Obamacare and the broken tax code is the real shame.
Something To Think About - 7/13/17
Columnist Holman Jenkins points out that “Governments would be wise to invest in basic energy research rather than throwing money at energy technologies.” Or, we would add, companies like Solyndra that went bankrupt shortly after receiving a $535 million loan from the taxpayers.
Something To Think About - 7/12/17
As the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors wrestles with its upcoming budget and the cuts necessary to operate another year, we continue to see a small faction fight economic vitality with obstructionism and lawsuits. It’s time for the community, including groups like Citizens for Responsible Growth, to understand the detrimental effect of their actions. Having to cut recreation, libraries, and other social services is harmful to our quality of life in Tuolumne County and could be partially offset by the fees and ongoing taxes that accompany healthy economic development.
Something To Think About - 7/11/17
Despite paying record amounts in taxes, U.S. taxpayers also coughed up another $1.9 trillion just to comply with federal regulations; an increase of $600 billion dollars during the eight years of the Obama Administration.
Something To Think About - 7/7/17
Humorist Olin Miller says that “You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!”
Something To Think About - 7/6/17
Writer Jack London once observed that “A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.”
Something To Think About - 7/5/17
Writer Criss Jami notes that “There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: One is when you're wrong and you can't face it; the other is when you're right and nobody else can face it.”
Something To Think About - 7/4/17
Ronald Reagan said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Something To Think About - 7/3/17
Journalist Sidney Harris believed that “A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.”
Something To Think About - 6/29/17
Congressman Ben Sasse believes that “In theory, America depends on all of us being “fit to rule”... that is, having the capacity to manage our own lives and the integrity to think of the greater good.”
Something To Think About - 6/28/17
“John Marshall, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, had it right when he famously wrote that the ‘power to tax is the power to destroy.’
Something To Think About - 6/27/17
President Trump’s plan to privatize the air transportation system will put control of modernization and improved efficiency of the national airspace essentially in the hands of the airlines. Really? These are the same airlines whose computer systems crash causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations; who overbook and drag passengers screaming off a plane; who, as an industry, have never made money and have nearly all declared bankruptcy at least once?
