We’re very pleased to say that 2013 marks the beginning of our 38th year of publishing. The magazine remains eager to continue to fulfill its mission of serving the best interests of the North Bay business community as we go forward into a new year.
It’s usually at this point in my column where I invite readers to enjoy all the stories, features and columns in this month’s magazine as presented by the area’s only “locally owned” publication. It seems it’s now no longer possible to deliver that invitation in exactly the same way.
Recently, The Press Democrat , the Petaluma Argus-Courier and the North Bay Business Journal were acquired by a local partnership that includes, among several others, Sonoma-based developer Darius Anderson and Doug Bosco, a Santa Rosa attorney and former congressman. This local acquisition is great news for Sonoma County. Having spent more than 25 years in the newspaper business, I have intimate knowledge of how important local ownership is when it comes to your local newspaper. Gone is the Florida-based Halifax Media Group and in its place Sonoma Media Investments, LLC. Having run Midwest newspapers with both out-of-town and local ownership, I can report first-hand that the difference is substantial, and the communities the paper(s) serve are the ultimate winners.
As residents themselves, the new owners have a vested interest in the community which augers well for the publications. So let me add my congratulations to the entire Sonoma Media Investments Group on their acquisition. I wish you success in fulfilling your mission of serving the best interests of all the residents of Sonoma County.
Finally, before moving to the meat of this month’s column, I encourage you to read Bob Andrew’s Open Trench column this month. It’s the first in a series that explores and questions what’s being done to solve the financial problems plaguing the public employee union’s pension plans.
Well, the election is over and the results are clear. The majority of Americans voted for more of the same—more of what we’ve had for the past four years. That means a green light on the efforts to continue the mission of fundamentally transforming America. This transformation manifests itself as expanding the welfare state, major tax hikes, more strangling regulations and, if you can believe it, even more increased spending. Abandoned are any efforts to reform already insolvent entitlement programs or any reductions in the staggering and debilitating mountains of debt.
At the risk of becoming redundant, we don’t have a revenue problem in America. We have a spending problem. Total tax revenues collected from all levels of government in 2013 are projected to be $5.5 trillion.
I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but to use a favorite North Bay word, I can’t fathom how this course is sustainable . Trillion dollar deficits for four years running, a $16 trillion national debt, and the President suggests $100 million in spending cuts on a $3.5 trillion budget? Those are numbers so big it’s hard to wrap my mind around them. To bring them into perspective how about this comparison: If a family of four with $4,000 of monthly living expenses needed to reduce its debt and followed the President’s formula proportionately, it would reduce its monthly spending by $0.12 to $3, 999.88. As John Adams said in 1826, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”
Another in the what’s wrong with this country category, how about this: In the government’s never ending quest to redistribute wealth, it’s becoming more difficult to distinguish between the middle class and the lower, welfare-dependent, class. It’s now possible for a minimum wage earner who avails themselves of all the various assistance programs to have more disposable income than a person earning $60,000 per year. I guess this kind of approach could actually drive unemployment levels to zero—for the first time in any nation’s history. Who needs to work when the government pays you to stay home? When you stop looking for a job, you’re dropped from the unemployment rolls—viola , zero unemployment. An extremely creative solution.
This trickle down poverty scheme is endemic. A struggling economy causes people to suffer. Government rides to the rescue not by helping create conditions that cause the economy to rebound and create jobs, but rather by perpetuating the problems. And instead, offering handouts to make more and more people dependent upon the government for their subsistence. Buying votes with entitlements—encouraging lifestyles that rob the recipients of their drive to accomplish and provide for themselves and their families. It’s not their fault, after all, they’re simply victims of an unfair capitalistic system that was built on their backs.
Big government funds dependence and a maze of bureaucracy. This “bread and circuses” approach to governance is nothing new. Its roots go back to Roman times. It does speak directly to our current plight, however. The trends and attitudes that are making dependence on government welfare acceptable are results of a long-term culture war. Moral relativism is eroding our families and culture. Thirty years ago, 18 percent of babies were born to unwed mothers—a staggering number. Today, that number is 42 percent. Families become irrelevant, I guess, when the state assumes the role of provider. Who needs a father?
That’s it for now. Enjoy this month’s magazine.
