Congress

By the time you read this, Congress may have overcome its impasse regarding the debt ceiling (he said, laughing uncontrollably). Realistically, since the drop-dead date for raising the debt ceiling is apparently Aug. 2, it is extremely unlikely that Congress will do much of anything until the very last minute, preferring instead to wallow in partisanship and rancor. As President Obama stated, his two daughters don’t wait until the last minute to finish their homework assignments.

As members of Congress are hurrying up and waiting to figure out how to deal with the upcoming “fiscal cliff,” I find it interesting that the body that complains about too many people being on the dole or lazy Americans doing nothing to lift themselves up by the bootstraps has no problem with some benefits of office that members of Congress cannot live without. Why does Congress need two chaplains - one for the House and one for the Senate? The latest figures I could find show the House and Senate together pay $289,000 a year for chaplains and assistants.

After listening to the blame games following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding the overhaul of the health care law, the Republicans have been sounding as if the law was proposed, drafted and made into law by President Barack Obama. When did they forget about the U.S. Constitution? I admit I had bone up on how Congress works to make sure I remember what I had been taught in civics class. (I opted for a site directed at young people, so I could be sure explanations didn't get too complicated for me.)

Dear Editor I am a veteran of the Korean conflict. For years I have tried to get the Veterans Administration to justify turning down my claim for benefits because of injuries I suffered in Korea. They have ignored medical records that were presented to them testifying to these injuries. I knew that my claim was justified but that the Veterans Administration was covering its incompetence and mishandling of my case by deliberately lying about it. In desperation, I turned to my congressional representative, the Honorable Ben Chandler.

Well, Congress has done its work - some might say “dirty” work, and the Senate has recessed for a month, no doubt to rest and recreate after the harrowing ordeal to which it has subjected itself. If ever there were an example of self-flagellation, the attempts to get the debt ceiling raised is it. This exercise in futility was not something that just suddenly sprang up and caught everyone with their pants down.  Congress and the administration knew for months ahead of time that the debt ceiling would have to be raised, yet everyone sat on their hands and did nothing until the very last minute.

Elexene Cox's script, “The Paul Sawyier Story,” is now on record at the United States Library of Congress. The outdoor drama produced for six years at High Bridge Park's pavilion attracted hundreds of spectators from all over and provided college scholarships for 15 Jessamine County graduates. It also helped fund a hand-painted 8-foot mural for a portion of sidewalk along South Main Street to cover an unsafe space when a historical building was demolished. A publishing company saw Cox's Library of Congress record and offered to help with future publications.

With their promise of new energy on Capitol Hill, congressional elections are always a time for hope. This year's contests will be especially significant, for Congress is listing and the nation desperately needs it to right itself. No single issue is the problem; it's Congress itself. The people we elect in November to fill the House and Senate chambers next January will need to set about not just doing the people's business, but fixing the institution so that they can do the people's business.

To the casual observer, Congress must seem unusually pushy these days. Its Democratic majority is tussling with the White House over the budget. Senators are investigating the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes. The House Oversight Committee has accused the White House of systematically impeding scientific inquiry into global warming. And hearings into past administration behavior - from wiretaps to doings at the Justice Department - continue. Aren't those politicians on Capitol Hill going a little overboard, you might wonder?

Dear Editor, In a recent letter, Mr. Roger Bowman says, "The Congress, the media and the public have all been guilty of treating Bush much too gentle. " Well, excuse me Mr. Bowman, but I don't know where you have been since George W. Bush has been president of these United States. Only one other president in history has been assaulted by so much hatred from the Congress, news media and the public. That was Abraham Lincoln. The liberals are so incensed that they lost the last two presidential elections that they have lost any semblance of of common sense.

A paradox comes into sharp relief each election year around this time: Americans in general look down on Congress, but tend to like their own representatives. Most years, in fact, some 98 percent of incumbents running again get re-elected. So why is it that we like the people who inhabit the institution when they're back home in the district, but have little patience for them when they're doing what we elected them to do? I don't have a complete answer to this conundrum, but I do have a suggestion.

What has happened to our Fiscal Court and prayer is real simple: One atheist wanted to take prayer out of it and elected officials went along with him. This will get worse as time goes on. Remember this the next time you vote. There is one place they can't touch God: If you are a Christian and born again and he lives in your heart. Also, Congress still has prayer.  It is sad so many Christians have remained silent while this goes on in our country. Our greatest danger is silent Christians.

As members of Congress are hurrying up and waiting to figure out how to deal with the upcoming “fiscal cliff,” I find it interesting that the body that complains about too many people being on the dole or lazy Americans doing nothing to lift themselves up by the bootstraps has no problem with some benefits of office that members of Congress cannot live without. Why does Congress need two chaplains - one for the House and one for the Senate? The latest figures I could find show the House and Senate together pay $289,000 a year for chaplains and assistants.

Whitney Turner was 5 years old when she rode in her first horse show. Twenty years later, she is still competing and may add a national title to her collection. After being named the 2012 Mideast Kentucky Quarter Horse Queen in June, Turner will travel to Columbus, Ohio, in October to compete in the All-American Quarter Horse Congress. “It's been a childhood dream since I was little. Everything that the queen wins is on display in a booth (at the Kentucky Horse Park), and I would walk by it and see that,” Turner said.

After listening to the blame games following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding the overhaul of the health care law, the Republicans have been sounding as if the law was proposed, drafted and made into law by President Barack Obama. When did they forget about the U.S. Constitution? I admit I had bone up on how Congress works to make sure I remember what I had been taught in civics class. (I opted for a site directed at young people, so I could be sure explanations didn't get too complicated for me.)

Our nation, the United States of America, is known around the world as “the land of the free and the home of the brave” whose citizens love liberty, cherish freedom, and are willing to pay the price for these precious possessions. So, people from all over the world desire to come here. The freedom we cherish is not a mere dream; it is a constitutional guarantee. In the Bill of Rights, adopted as the first 10 amendments to the constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, freedom is defined in clear and concise language.

Usury! Sounds as somber as its meaning. Biblically, lending and borrowing though acceptable practices demand accountability. That said, why is our nation nearly $5 trillion more in debt than just a few years ago? Americans who survived the Depression view usury as ANY debt beyond basic needs. Tragically, many today simply ignore that fundamental economic tenet; Congress tops the list of guilty parties. On one hand, Washington would seem to agree with prudence - at least when it's imposed on the lending side.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta dumped the issue of budget cuts back where it belonged, in Congress' lap, after receiving harsh criticism to his plans to steeply cut military manpower this week. Panetta told lawmakers critical of his plans to reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps that he was playing within the bounds of the rules they set when Congress abrogated their responsibility to budget the DoD in keeping with the requirements of the National Security Strategy. Last year, when Congress failed create a budget they created a super-committee to resolve the issue instead.

This argument over a 2 percent payroll tax cut is stupid. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a tax cut. I believe the economy works best when we regular folks get to keep more of our hard-earned money. But that doesn't change how dysfunctional Washington has been during this whole process.  First, let me point out that we have spent the last two years listening to the Democrats whine that Republicans want to kill Grandma by making changes (or as they call them “cuts”) to Social Security.

This argument over a 2 percent payroll tax cut is stupid. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a tax cut. I believe the economy works best, when we regular folks get to keep more of our hard earned money. But that doesn't change how dysfunctional Washington has been during this whole process. First, let me point out that we have spent the last two years listening to the Democrats whine that Republicans want to kill Grandma by making changes (or as they call them “cuts”) to Social Security.

Elexene Cox's script, “The Paul Sawyier Story,” is now on record at the United States Library of Congress. The outdoor drama produced for six years at High Bridge Park's pavilion attracted hundreds of spectators from all over and provided college scholarships for 15 Jessamine County graduates. It also helped fund a hand-painted 8-foot mural for a portion of sidewalk along South Main Street to cover an unsafe space when a historical building was demolished. A publishing company saw Cox's Library of Congress record and offered to help with future publications.