Gastonia, NC Correspondent-Efficiency experts, business mavens, delivery brain trusts and thousands of others have for years been kicking around the idea of privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS). Proponents point to things like charter schools, which in some instances have far outstripped the performance of their traditional public school counterparts. Continue reading
Politics
A number of protests across the country in the wake of recent elections have impacted communities and interstate commerce. At what point do your rights to peaceful protest end and enforcement of anti-rioting laws come in effect? Should peaceful protest be allowed to disrupt use of public roads and thereby impede commerce?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Peace is the absence of conflict. Not necessarily the absence of violent conflict, just conflict in general. If someone attempting to operate their business by selling goods from a storefront or transporting those goods to consumers via public roads is prevented from doing so by protestors blocking sidewalks or roads, then a conflict exists. Public safety issues also come into play if roadways are blocked or if too many people attempt to occupy a too small space.
Do police body cameras help or hurt law enforcement efforts?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent– Proponents of transparency in government rightly cheer the widening use of police body cameras to document police interactions with citizens. Anything that encourages open and honest government is a positive development. Unfortunately, it seems that law enforcement officials are uncomfortable with complete honesty. Many resist this new tool for community policing by throwing up roadblocks and restrictions such as withholding controversial video from the public if they feel the video might incite protests or worse by disgruntled citizens. Continue reading
Election Day Comments From Our Gastonia, NC Correspondent
Election Day has come and gone, and I would like to take a moment to give a message to a few of my friends:
To my Republican friends: You won a BIG one. Almost nobody saw this coming, and you’ve got control of both houses and the White House. Use it well. Remember that you are entrusted with governing the entire country, not just playing to your base, and that if you overplay your hand you’ll lose the House first, then the Senate, and we’ll be right back in the soup. This is a tremendous opportunity to show Americans that Republican rule will not be the sort of dystopian hellscape Rachel Maddow would have us believe. Don’t blow it. Continue reading
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: Donald Trump has recently been under attack for open mic comments made in 2005. Hillary Clinton has been attacked for defending a rapist early in her law career and comments made in speeches to Wall Street firms. Does this really matter? Should the debates focus solely on policy issues rather than character issues? Would third party participation in the debates help to better manage the dialogue?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Character issues always matter when electing leaders, especially those in the federal government, but they are not as important as policy issues. The government is made up of humans who are fallible and have a wide variety of shortcomings. Character plays a role with voters because most voters at least subconsciously need to “like” a candidate enough to vote for that candidate. But voters should focus more on what policies the candidate will advocate for because those policies will more directly affect voters than will the fact that the person for whom they voted is a womanizer, or an alcoholic, or said some nasty things about someone years ago.
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: What are your thoughts on early voting and voting procedures in the US? Is it time for reform?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-This country’s voting procedures are adequate but rapidly falling behind the times. An upgrade is needed in when to schedule elections, how and when to allow voting, how to tabulate votes, and whether the time has come for ranked-choice voting. Continue reading
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: Donald Trump stated in a late September Council Bluffs, Iowa campaign rally that if elected president he would “take on the special interests, the lobbyists, and the corrupt corporate media that have rigged the system against every single American.” How would he go about tackling these monumental tasks?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-The first and best way to rein in the special interests that have turned congressional votes into a commodity to be bought and sold is to run the lobbyists out of the process. No matter how you slice it, using money and influence to get close to legislators is bad business. We have to get the foxes out of the henhouse. There are, of course, First Amendment issues to be dealt with here, but if Trump is elected and allowed to appoint a couple of right-thinking justices to the Supreme Court, perhaps sanity will prevail.
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: In the second presidential debate, Donald Trump indicated that, if elected, he would have a special prosecutor investigate Hillary Clinton and her private e-mail server. If Trump wins, should Barack Obama step in and pardon her and others involved in the scandal or should he remain neutral?
Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent-In the interest of the country, Barack Obama probably should remain neutral concerning Hillary Clinton’s scandal ridden career, particularly in reference to her actions as Secretary of State, and he is fully aware of her e-mail transmissions, her access to a private e-mail server and her Clinton Foundation solicitation of foreign donations. Continue reading
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: Donald Trump has advocated an energy policy that will rebuild energy production in America as well as deliver jobs to blue collar workers in a number of critically important states. His policy stands in sharp contrast to Hillary Clinton’s. What are the stark differences in Trump’s policy as opposed to Clinton’s, and what will the possible ramifications be of both?
Owatonna, MN Correspondent-Trump’s main thrust seems to be the goal of energy independence from the rest of the world, particularly independence from OPEC. He advocates more exploration and utilization of reserves on land and offshore. Clinton’s focus is on mitigating climate change as the sole reason to have an energy policy, so her proposals center on cutting pollution, promoting clean energy sources, and advocating conservation and stewardship. Continue reading
Election 2016 Round Table Discussion: Chaos and disruptions throughout America have reached fever pitch and continue to raise concerns as to what can be done to maintain the law and appropriately deal with law breakers at all levels. What kind of policies should be implemented under a Clinton or Trump administration to solve the challenges in law enforcement?
Gastonia, NC Correspondent-We have got to make a bold and decisive statement of faith in law enforcement at the national level. Our president must support the police rather than calling their integrity into question at every turn. Obama’s conduct in this matter sickens me. There is always massive media coverage when a police shooting occurs, but the presses fall silent when the shooting turns out to have been completely justified. The public picture that the police are to be hated, feared and spat upon is abhorrent and a complete work of fiction. Continue reading
Thinking Outside The Boxe 