Make Do

Here in Nevada, as in other states, our annual operating expenses have exceeded our projected tax revenue. I am told we have an $880 million shortfall to overcome.

Realistically there are only three ways to solve this problem: 1) raise taxes, 2) cut expenses, or 3) a combination of the two.

Already some individuals have voiced strong opposition to making cuts. They contend that doing so will undermine and compromise vital services. Perhaps it is only my imagination or a coincidence, but it seems me that some of the loudest cries of protest are coming from the administrators of agencies slated for cuts.

Certainly no one wants to see the level of any truly necessary public service diminished or curtailed. However, we all know that some fat exists in every public agency, fat that accumulated here and there when times were good. No department of government, at any level, is administered so efficiently and economically that waste cannot be found and cut.

With that in mind, I offer the following thoughts to those who oversee and administer departments within our state and local governments.

Stop grumbling and show us why someone once believed you were qualified for the job you now hold. Look to the future, not backwards. Acquire a new perspective. Become an innovator and a motivator. Be the kind of person who can get a lot accomplished with a little. Anyone can manage an organization when there is no shortage of funds or personnel, but only a few, a very talented and select few, can achieve great things when resources are scarce. By complaining, you are merely showing us that you are not one of those special people.

No one is happy with the predicament we currently are in, and there are plenty of theories regarding whose fault it is. But your job, for the time being, at least, is to make do with what you’re given until we can work through these difficult financial times.

If you can do that, you’re worthy of your salary. If you can’t, please stop trying to occupy a space that you obviously don’t have the professional stature to fill.

Photo: Heath E. Morrison, Washoe County School Superintendent

An Overbearing Majority

Suddenly the Presi-dent says he’s will-ing to be-gin work-ing with Republi-cans. At least that’s what he says. We’ll see.

Maybe the public outrage finally became clear enough and loud enough that he decided to begin accepting input from all Americans, as well as all their elected representatives.

Though I may not be as well educated as our President, I thought that listening to all sides was the way it was supposed to be. I find it surprising that a man could rise to the highest elected office in the land and not be privy to that cherished and time-honored principle of fair play.

In America our system of government permits those in the minority to be heard. We are willing to listen to and consider what they have to say. Even the beliefs and views of Republicans must be taken into account when shaping public policy.

But our President was unwilling to do that until the public demanded it. What does that say about the man who currently resides in the White House?

Anytime an effort is made to limit the number of voices that may be heard in a society despotism is being advanced and democracy is being thwarted.

Do we really want a chief executive who has displayed a willingness to stifle open debate, a bedrock principle of democracy? Do we want men and women like that serving in the U.S. Congress?

I don’t think so. We’re Americans, not Russians or Chinese. Here in America, we the people like to be consulted when major changes are being contemplated. And we want our representatives in Congress to be permitted to represent us--fully and openly. Should not the voice of any and every duly elected representative be heard, including Republicans? Do they not, after all, represent American citizens?

Barack Obama and his cohorts in Congress were trying to rush health care reform into law before any significant objections could be made. That was wrong. It is not the way we Americans conduct our political business.

Hopefully the recent and despicable activities of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have once again reminded Americans that what James Madison called an “overbearing majority” can be every bit as dangerous as an overbearing king.

And I hope too that we have been shaken back into the firm knowledge that we are the ultimate watchdogs of our government, and that we must remain ever on the job.

A Precious Resource

A baby is born some-where in America. In this case, we will say it is a girl.

When she arrives, there is no warm or enthusi-astic welcome. She hears no comforting words. Her needs are largely ignored.

As she grows, she receives no positive attention. She receives no sincere help or encouragement. She is made to feel as though she is nothing but trouble, a tiresome burden.

In due time this baby girl reaches maturity and has a child of her own. In attempting to rear this child, the new mother has only her own hollow and discouraging experiences to draw upon, leaving her with little to offer her helpless and needy child.

Another valuable and promising human being is about to be wasted. Another small but indispensable element of society is about to be lost.

Do we not see that this must stop?

Every child in America is precious, a resource we can ill afford to toss aside. Each one must be lovingly nurtured and properly cared for. Each one must be developed to his or her fullest and highest potential. If we fail to do this, one day we will have only dysfunctional people in this country. And dysfunctional people can’t run a great nation. We already as seeing ample evidence of that.

Clearly the job of cultivating and developing a child falls primarily and naturally to its parents and its extended family. No one is in a better position to help a child, nor is anyone better suited for the task.

If you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, or even a neighbor, start looking for ways you can help make a child’s life brighter and more hopeful.

We must see to it that every child in this country is placed upon a path aimed at making him or her a confident and capable human being, a human being that will be an asset to society rather than a liability.