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