OPINION Tuesday, January 26, 2010 www.lakecityreporter.com OUR I OUR OPINION MOAA wants you America's fighting men and women is both arduous and thankless. So why would former military officers want to continue the job after parting ways with Uncle Sam? For the same reason they joined in the first place - service. The Military Officers Association of America is in the midst of a large recruitment drive - the organization hopes to add 4,000 new members in 2010. We hope the group meets its goal. The service provided by members of this organization to members of America's military is vast and necessary. On a national scale, the group is the military's largest proponent of numerous interests: the GI Bill, health care, retirement, family support and pay increases for those on active duty. In Columbia County, a MOAA volunteer is often one of the first faces a patient or family member will see at the VA Medical Center; and, the organization routinely promotes activities and opportunities for youths. Some people don't know when service to country is supposed to end - and we're thankful for this. But this orga- nization can't solider on forever without additional support MOAA could use a few good recruits. HI G H LIGHTS SIN HISTORY Today is Tuesday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2010. There are 339 days left in the year. - On Jan. 26, 1950, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president. -: In 1788, the first European settlers in Australia, led by Capt. Arthur Phillip, landed in present-day Sydney. * In 1837, Michigan became the 26th state. - In 1841, Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. * In 1861, Louisiana seced- ed from the Union. Lake City Reporter Serving Columbia County Since 1874 The Lake City Reporter is pub- lished with pride for residents of Columbia and surrounding counties by Community Newspapers Inc. We believe strong newspapers build strong communities -"Newspapers get things done!" Our primary goal is to publish distinguished and profitable community-oriented newspapers. This mission will be accomplished through the teamwork of professionals dedicated to truth, integrity and hard work. Todd Wilson, publisher Tom Mayer, editor Troy Roberts, assistant editor Sue Brannon, controller Dink NeSmith, president Tom Wood, chairman LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor should be typed or neatly written and double spaced. Letters should not exceed 400 words and will be edited for length and libel. Letters must be signed and include the writer's name, address and telephone number for verification. Writers can have two letters per month published. Letters - and guest columns are the opinion of the writers and not necessarily that of the Lake City Reporter. BY MAIL: Letters, P.O. Box 1709, Lake City, FL 32056; or drop off at 180 E. Duval St. downtown. BY FAX: (386) 752-9400. BY E-MAIL: news@lakecityreporter.com THE TIMES.-PICAYUNE rz n @ 2 0 1 0 Post-Brown, GOP needs positive agenda Congressional Republicans are right to savor Senator-elect Scott Brown's stunning victory Jan. 19. Democrat Martha Coakley's self-destruc- tive gaffes notwithstanding, conservative Republican Brown's formidable 52 percent to 47 percent triumph is akin to Democratic Rep. Barney Frank surfacing in Salt Lake City and, three weeks later, zooming past a pro-market entrepreneur right into the Senate. Massachusetts voters embraced limited government, fiscal discipline, lighter taxes, and tougher treatment of terror- ists. Republicans should enjoy this moment and thank Brown for reminding the GOP of how to run a winning campaign. Once the high fives and hoisting of beer glasses have abated, however, Congressional Republicans should develop a coherent. legislative agenda and promote it throughout this elec- tion year. If President Obama and other stunned Democrats help Republicans implement these objectives, splendid. But if they cling to big-govern- ment "solutions," Republicans should use this policy-shopping list like a latter-day Contract with America, which helped Congressional Republicans cap-, ture the House in 1994. Let's call this 21st Century document Agenda 21. It should include these items: * Health care: Brown's win seems to kill ObamaCare as we know it. Instead, Republicans should coalesce around patient- centered reforms, including voluntary, universal, tax-pre- ferred Health Savings Accounts. Americans should be free to buy health insurance across state lines, which will boost competi- tion and cut costs. Uninsured citizens ineligible for private or public assistance should receive Health Stamps. Like 'Food Stamps, such an affluence- tested subsidy would help them Deroy Murdock deroy.murdock@gmaoi.com choose and purchase basic, pri- vate coverage, with government furnishing money, not micro- management. Medical-malprac- tice reform also would reduce needless and expensive diag- noses and treatments designed to combat lawyers rather than diseases. * No more Mr. Nice Guy on terrorism: America's Islamofascist enemies should be barred from civilian courts. Cancel the planned Manhattan trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his fellow al-Qaeda mass murderers. Guantanamo should remain open until al-Qaeda is crushed like a quail egg beneath a steamroller. Enhanced interro- gation - including water board- ing - must remain in America's anti-terrorism arsenal. The Nigerian crotch bomber, who nearly exploded a passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day, should experience this policy firsthand. * Fiscal discipline. Massachusetts voters gagged at Team Obama's relentless outlays and this fiscal year's $1.4 trillion federal deficit. Republicans should fight for a two-year freeze in overall federal expenditures. Republican legis- lators should cut federal civilian salaries, including their own, by 10 percent. The GOP also should declare a policy,of zero tolerance on earmarks. * Tax relief: According to Americans for Tax Reform, Washington Democrats have enacted or proposed some $2.1 trillion in tax hikes since President Obama's inaugura- tion. During a severe economic slump, these include $858.45 bil- lion in taxes that would hit fami- lies earning less than $250,000, breaking Obama's solemn promise. The GOP should offer a dra- matic alternative: An optional flat income tax, ideally at 15 percent, would let Americans file their tax returns on a simple postcard. Taxpayers who like loopholes and deductions could keep them under today's U.S. Tax Code. The Death Tax, reduced to 0 percent this year, should stay dead forever. To boost competitiveness and growth, America's 39.1 percent combined federal and state corporate tax should be below 26.3 percent, the OECD aver- age. Also, let companies write off their capital investments immediately. * Innovation: The Tax-free Patent Act would let any new U.S. Patent recipient produce and market as many such pat- ented items as possible, free of federal tax for 10 years. This would unleash a stampede of innovation, unforeseen goods and services, and jobs, jobs, jobs. * School choice: Obama and Congressional Democrats last year threw Washington's low-income black kids under the school bus with the teach- ers' unions at the wheel. Republicans should restore D.C.'s school voucher program with all deliberate speed. Republicans should introduce these measures in Congress throughout the year and invite nervous Democrats to join them. If they do, America will prosper. If not, Republicans will meet Democrats at the polls on Nov. 2 and let voters choose between these two competing visions. * New York commentator Deroy Murdock is a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. Go on and hire military's immigrant recruits n need of special skills, the military last February began a pilot program to enlist foreigners here on temporary visas who were in possession of those skills. Previously, non-citizens had to be permanent residents, holders of a green card. The goal was to enlist medical specialists and native speakers of 35 languages, such as the tribal languages of Afghanistan, vital to the military's mission in Asia and Africa. The reward - an expedited path to citizenship. The military commits to working closely with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to speed the process. One doctor enlisted in April, applied for citizenship in June and was naturalized in July. The program has the custom- ary clunky military acronym, MAVNI, for Military Accessions Vital to National Interest. Not surprisingly, MAVNI worked. More than 1,000 have enlisted so far, the great major- ity in the Army, and 14,000 others have passed the initial screening. And the military says they are quality recruits, scoring an average of 20 points higher on the entry tests than other recruits, having three to five more years of education. One third of them have at least a master's degree. The pilot program was to last one year, but the Pentagon is taking its time about deciding to extend it, leaving, according to The New York Times, "thou- sands of potential recruits in limbo." Some think it's a fear of allowing another Maj. Nidal Hasan, the accused Fort Hood killer, into the service. But Hasan, it should be noted, was a native-born American and had exhibited clear signs of Islamic fanaticism and mental unbal- ance that were ignored before the killings. One of the goals of terrorism is to cow a society into acting against its own interests. We need these people. They value becoming Americans enough to want to serve. Sign them up. Phil Hudgins phudgins@cninewspapers.com Pets that won't fly the coop Lucy Katz has 11 pets in the back yard of her home in Decatur, Ga. Skinny is the most affectionate. She follows Katz around until she squats down on the ground. And then she tucks her head under her keeper's arm and stands there, cooing like a baby. Petunia is the ornery one. ' She's just like Petunia in the Harry Potter books. Lily is the same way. And then we have Dottie and Lolly and Primrose and Buttercup. Booger died. These are not dogs. They are not cats. They are not rab- bits. They are chickens. And Lucy Katz is not that unusual. A whole backyard- chicken movement has taken wing in several cities, includ- ing Decatur. Enthusiasts hold meetups and classes and par- ties. On Feb. 6, they'll gather in downtown Decatur for a half-day-long "Chicks in the City Symposium." One of the speakers will be Andy Schneider, who calls himself "the chicken whisper- er." He has a regular speaking tour and his own Internet radio show called "Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer." As a "chicken whisperer," Schneider doesn't claim he can communicate with grouchy chickens like Petunia and convert them into docile, lov- ing hens. He communicates with people who want to keep chickens. The benefits, he says, are tremendous. You get fresh eggs, fresh fertil- izer, fresh material for your composting, insect control and instant pets that don't require much petting. "You wouldn't believe the tomatoes I get from using chicken poop as fertilizer," he says. "The plants are just bend- ing over with tomatoes." Some city folks keep chick- ens for meat, too, but not Lucy Katz. "That would be like eat- ing your dog," she says. Allison Adams, another speaker for the symposium, says keeping chickens is about knowing your neighbors as much as it is about eating. "It's a delightful thing to watch the community (of chicken keepers) grow, even week by week," she says. They keep up with each other through Yahoo groups and Facebook, and when the Walcotts get their first egg, everybody knows it. In the Decatur area, chicken keepers are invited to Adams' annual Cluckapalooza, where neighbors gather to sing chicken songs ("Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door?"), play chicken-related games and compete in a Funky Chicken Dance Off. Sixty peo- ple showed up last time. Do other neighbors com- plain about the chickens? Well, city chicks are not a nuisance if kept right, Chicken Whisperer Schneider says. We're talking about maybe a dozen hens - seldom any roosters - kept in a pen and locked in a coop at night. Everything's neat. Lucy Katz actually gets up before the chickens - at 5 a.m. - and sometimes lets them out to peck in the grass and practice chicken politics. But she watches them. Emma, the daughter who came up with the idea of getting chick- ens, is still fast asleep. It's fun, Katz says. And if she needs to be reassured that she's needed, all she has to do is squat down. Skinny will be there. * Phil Hudgins is senior editor of Community Newspapers Inc. 4A