4 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
PRESIDENTIAL PARADIGMS
Is This the End of American Exceptionalism?
Never before have the basic Christian principles our country was founded upon been under attack as they are today. Our liberties and freedom are firmly grounded in the Bible. True liberty cannot exist outside of basic biblical principles. We have been the one nation in the history of the world that dared to also ground its government on biblical principles. That foundation is what has made the U. S. an exceptional country. The opening words in the Declaration of Independence say,“ We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia i i Farm Bureau
The Holidays are Here and the Duck is Lame
It’ s official, the holidays are upon us. We narrowly escaped the rapid fire of election ads and weren’ t even finished with the Thanksgiving meal before being fa-la-la-la-la’ d with luxury cars wrapped in bows and soft drink-swigging polar bears. As the commercials indicate, December is a time for celebration and giving( and receiving).
In the political arena, on the other hand, December is typically a down equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This acknowledges that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are granted by God, not government.
The Declaration also limits the role of government to securing or preserving the rights that have been granted to us by God. If only our government had strictly adhered to this, we wouldn’ t be in the mess we are today. Instead, our president wants to make more and more people totally dependent upon the government. And many of us are willing participants – we have a welfare system which gives people more money than they can make by working, taking away all incentive
Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
time. This especially holds true when new congressional members have just been elected and the previous Congress is in lame duck mode. But, if Congress doesn’ t act soon on several significant outstanding items, all of our gooses will be cooked.
Deck Congress’ Halls
Before we even think about throwing on the Yule Log, we need to get our legislative house in order. If Congress doesn’ t make some important decisions before Jan. 1, the U. S. economy will drop off what is being termed the“ fiscal cliff.” A plan needs to be hatched to cut $ 1.2 trillion over the next 10 years to lead productive lives. At the same time, many of our leaders are vilifying people who have worked hard and been successful, as if they are the enemy. They are being forced to give more and more of what they earn to the government, to support all of those on welfare. We should be rewarding the successful for their hard work and for the risks they take, not penalizing them.
And don’ t you find it ironic that drug testing is required for most jobs, but is not required to receive welfare benefits?
Our continued success as a nation depends upon what course our nation takes from here. During
see Wilfong, page 16
from the deficit, something of which Congress has known about for awhile.
If Congress doesn’ t act by the end of the year, automatic, across-theboard government cuts will kick in, affecting more than 1,000 federal programs, many of which will impact agriculture. For example, all commodity and many conservation programs will be cut by 7.6 percent next year. And agriculture research, Extension activities, food safety and rural economic development programs are just a few others that will be cut by 8.2 percent in 2013.
see Stallman, page 14