Amazingly, the USPS is running out of money.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090325/ap_on_go_ot/postal_woes

Professor John

BossTweed



We may not always agree on every single thing but I have respect for your opinions. I believe that we can agree on principles that this country was founded on and build upon that. Our founding fathers didnt always agree and spent countless hours debating how to frame this nation. They were intelligent, God fearing, honorable men with differnt ideas and backgrounds. I believe that as long as we have an open and honest debate together we can solve problems and make a better country and community. May God bless you and your family and those that you employ.

T-Bone

T-Bone -

Thanks for your thoughtful and courteous reply.

Some additional things you should know about me:

I deeply believe that I am indeed my brother's keeper, and I am willing to make sacrifices for even those I don't know and have not met. So I am not afraid of higher taxes. Money is not the answer. I know plenty of miserable rich people. And I do know some people who were on welfare and food stamps at one time in their life (my wife) and went on to attain 2 Ivy League degrees! Not all of them are shiftless and lazy.

We will all meet our maker one day - and he will judge us on the actions we took while we were here on Earth. I plan to die penniless and don't intend to leave money for my kids. Why? I want them to make their own way and help others with what they've earned. Hard work teaches lessons and makes you value your possessions.

So that's where I'm coming from, and I don't think you would agree with all of those points. that's okay - if we were all the same it would be a boring life.

I wish you well... your passion and fire for your beliefs are admirable.

Best regards

Boss

Thank you for employing people in today's tough economic environment. Im glad your revenues are as high as they are. I pray they get even bigger. Im happy that you own several homes and that you HAVE taken personal responsibility to ensure that your parents are taken care of and thank you for you charitable donations as well.

What extremist messages are you talking about sir? Most conservatives believe in God and the right to carry a gun. Free market principles do need to come back to the center of this country and not just in healthcare but also by major tax reform. You are correct sir..raises dont keep up with health care costs, but at the same time most people do not go to the doctor until they need to go so my argument is that we need to be personally responsible for our preventive medical care by getting regular checkups and so forth. Would you disagree sir?

The GOP sold its soul down the river along time ago and they are not the Republican party that they used to be. I sir am not a Republican as I stated in a previous post. I am a conservative. I dont hate black people. I dont want children to starve nor do I wish to bomb asprin or baby food factories in Africa just for fun.

I do not have any issues with gays and I support their rights to live however they wish. I wouldnt want my rights infringed upon and I sure as hell dont want their rights limited either. Also whoever said that the president and VP have to be Pro-Life? I dont care where they stand personally. I want them to get the damn job done that they were elected to do.

"It cannot be healthy to pump tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But we have many GOPers screaming about having any restrictions on global warming"



Prove to me sir that Man-Made Global warming is real. There is science on the other side of the argument that state the opposite is true. If you listened to AlGore and took what he said as the solid truth then you sir are an idiot. Do you not know propaganda when you see it? Explain to me how it is that Mount Pinatubo spewed over 20 million metric tons of gases into the atmosphere and the earth cooled 0.5 degrees sir?

I am all for a healthy invironment sir, but dont use the argument that unless we stop pumping Co2 into the atmosphere we are all going to die. How about you stop breathing Boss? Dont you exhale Co2? You might want to restrict your breathing a bit. Kinda hard to do isnt it? Hard to breathe maybe? Thats what legislation like Cap and Trade will feel like to any business trying to produce anything. Global climate chage is just another way for the government to control your business and guess what Boss??? All the studies that are dont on this are done by scientist that get funding from where? You friendly helpful government. The science is written to fit the policy not the other way around.

Ethics??? what ethics are you referring to sir? there are no ethics in government. Both parties have corruption and greed. Why dont you point out what you dont like about Gov. Palin? Who cares how many people live in Alaska? Whats your point? She is still more qualified than Obama! What ethics problems has she had? Be specific.

Im glad your son knows more about governmental policies thats GREAT!!! Teach him well sir and teach him right from wrong and that what this government is doing to us is against every founding principle that we have.

"What happened to the party of George Will and William F Buckley?"

Good question. I sure would like to find out though.

"It seems we are now a party of Rush Limbaugh and Boortz - driven by emotion and hyperbole"

So its not ok to be passionate about anything anymore? Just because it pisses you off because like minded people want their voices heard by an opressive government that wont listen to them. What hype sir? Again you make a blanket generalized statement with no specific example.

Lastly my comment to you on education. This county spends billions of dollars on education. More than any other country in the world and yet we have the lowest test scores? Why is that sir? We have lowered our standards that there are people that are graduating high school that cant even write or read or do simple math. We have teacher's unions that wont allow bad teachers to be fired and yet complain that they arent paid enough for a job badly done. Why? Because your government is beholden to those unions for votes that turn into dollars that in turn fund these schools. They want our children dumbed down to the point that they cant read or write so they can control our children. When does education sir become indoctrination? I eagearly await your reply.

T-Bone

Oh T-bone,

you have read me all wrong. I am not a liberal. I've voted Perot, Bush, Bush, Bush, Bush, and Obama. My company employs 23 people. We had revenues of over $5M last year. I live very comfortably, yet I paid only 20% of my total income in taxes last year. I give to my church and to charity often. One of the homes I own is on West Point Lake. And I do have policies and annuities set aside for my parents thank you.

But I'm done with the GOP and the Rush disciples who spout their extremist views on god, guns, race, economics and religion. The GOP needs to change. We need to put free-market health-care reform, at the center of our economic message, not simply tax cuts. Health-care costs are hammering the middle-class. I have given raises to my team for years, but the raises don't keep up with the increases in health care - believe me - I've researched this!

The GOP needs to be more accepting of others and to adopt a live and let live approach to social rule. Sorry to tell you, but the next generation of voters is largely pro gay rights and mostly color-blind on race. The GOP appears to be way out of touch with younger voters, gay voters, and minority groups (who are the majority in our larger cities). The rule that both our presidential and vp candidates must always be pro-life has become antiquated and counter-productive. The extreme right wing has hijacked the party in my view.

It cannot be healthy to pump tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But we have many GOPers screaming about having any restrictions on global warming.

And we have an ethics problem. Our party is rife with corruption, greed, and then - Sarah Palin... wow I won't even go there. A third rate governor from a state with only 600,000 citizens? She's never been out of the country! She is heavy handed and has been saddled with ethics problems. And my teenage son knows more about our governmental policies than she does. What happened to the party of George Will and William F Buckley? It seems we are now a party of Rush Limbaugh and Boortz - driven by emotion and hyperbole.

so I am for competition among schools in this area - Columbus State vs. Lagrange - my tax money is subsidizing both. May they both "win" and become as efficient at educating our young people as possible.

Professor we may have more in common than I first thought then. I know there are going to be things that we both disagree on and have strong opinions on. I am certain that there are principles that we can find as a building block and go from there. Thats the great thing about our country. I wish you the best and look forward to more opinion columns.

God Bless

Hello T-Bone!

I did take some of your comments to be in jest, especially the Big Shot one.

As for the college, I'll say this. I've made liberal statements and conservative statements, and haven't received any real flak for either.

More importantly, it's the first place I've taught where I don't feel funny talking about faith and God, even when the class isn't a religion class. Some state schools have a lot of rules and restrictions on that sort of thing. And you should see the Sunday night chapel services...they are an experience.

A Professor

Boss Tweed

Please tell me when I ever suggested that we abolish the USPS? I never said that at all. So stop putting words into my mouth. I never said the USPS was government owned either. Did I?

Nor did I say that local governments should not contract with private business for construction jobs such as paving roads.

I never said that everyone should go to a private school either. IF you can afford to then fine. I would rather have the choice. I just dont want my government ie. Washington DC telling these schools what and how to teach.

With Social Security going bankrupt in the next few years why would you not want to take care of your parents? Boss Tweed would just rather government send them a check once a month (that you and I have to pay for btw) and let that be that. It should not be my responsibility to take care of your parents Boss its your responsibility. You cant keep writing a check on money that you dont have. Or the alternative is to raise the retirement age now that older Americans are living longer.

Boss Tweed if you are a liberal democrat then have the balls to say so. I am a conservative and I'm willing to admit it to myself and everyone else. I want freedom and economic prosperity for this country. You dont level the playing field by bringing down the rich who more often than they get credit for CREATE JOBS by starting factories and businesses.

I want my tax dollars well spent and not wasted and given to some lazy bastard that wont get off his ass and find a job and has 900 kids at home. Dont ask me to support you if you arent willing to try first. Dont ask me for a bailout because you cant pay your big bonuses this quarter or because you might lose your house. Maybe its time for some personal responsibility to come back to America. It starts with the person you see in the mirror everyday.

To: The Good Dr.

For the most part I did agree with your column and I believe I pointed out clearly where I agreed with you. Other areas I simply voiced my opinion as clearly as i possibly could.

I dont want to disagree with you on LaGrange College sir. I would love to be proven wrong. I want to know that the college that sits in our back yard is teaching values and responsibility and providing a great education to our students that choose to be educated here.

I was bing sarcastic with the Big Shot thing.

Hello T-Bone,

You wrote:

"Dr. Tures be my guest sir. Please pay more taxes and feel free to pay my share too. I dont want my money stolen from me to provide some lazy bastard down the road with food stamps. You probably make more than I do sir being a big shot doctor of Political Science is it? at one of the most liberal private colleges in the country. So please PAY MORE!"

I guess my sarcasm was a little too subtle. I'm surprised you didn't agree with the rest of the pro-business tone of the column. And I did promote an idea that President Reagan had concerning tax deductions for private school tuition.

My wife and I (both teachers at private schools) make enough for a comfortable middle-class family existence in LaGrange. I made a lot more money in the defense contract business in Washington, DC. Government usually pays better, for obvious reasons.

I've taught in several colleges, and have attended several others. I've also seen other professors at conferences. This is definitely not one of the most liberal schools in the country. I actually feel it is one of the more balanced colleges around. But you are perfectly welcome to disagree with me.

Big shot? You flatter me too much!

John

Enough about the postal service. It's one of the most efficient and effective operations in the world! The USPS is not government-owned folks. Stamps and postage fund 100% of their revenue. 100%! NO TAX REVENUES.

However, the USPS is FORCED by law to service ALL parts of the country - every address - on a daily basis. And all for the SAME price, no matter what address.

So you people who live 15 miles from downtown Lagrange - although you are getting only one piece of mail a day, and although it costs $1 per visit to your mailbox, you can still get your documents, bills, and letters for only 43 cents. EVERY day.

UPS and FedEx have the option to charge more to visit a residence, have the option to tell you when the visit will arrive and can refuse to deliver your package. So, who has the "advantage" to being profitable and efficient?

But using T-bone's logic, we should abolish the USPS and let everyone use FedEx for $9-$18 per package, and then everyone can drive to the post office to pick up their own mail as well. Great idea. That would be wonderful.

We should get everyone into private schools as well, those are notoriously inexpensive, right. Let everyone pave their own streets and hang their own power lines. And let everyone take care of their own parents - get rid of all social security and medicare. I'm sure T-bone's parents and relatives would love that.

Government should stay out of business and education.

How do you figure its ever "fair" for government to so called "Level the playing field" when the government CHEATS anytime it wants by changing the rules or by making them up as they go along?

"No private institution, no matter how long they have been in the community, is entitled to protection from competition".

I agree with that

"Everyone knows that the Post Office goes head-to-head with FedEx".



FedEx gets the job done better than the post office more often than not. Thats why FedEx and UPS are in business. The best part is they arent government owned!

Amtrak? when has Amtrak ever made a profit and if you look really hard enough its government subsidized.

"So long as people don’t mind paying tax increases for public services which the business community might otherwise provide, there’s no problem".

Dr. Tures be my guest sir. Please pay more taxes and feel free to pay my share too. I dont want my money stolen from me to provide some lazy bastard down the road with food stamps. You probably make more than I do sir being a big shot doctor of Political Science is it? at one of the most liberal private colleges in the country. So please PAY MORE!

"Of course, folks could get tired of paying all of those federal and state taxes, and elect some fiscal conservatives who might help the taxpayers with budget cuts"



Oh dear God can we please have some fiscal conservatives that know how to fix and economy and that can defeat our enemies without firing a shot. I want my Ronald Reagan back! Ranauldus Magnus is the man. Not this liberal retard Obama.

Yes I want Obama to FAIL. Fail at taking over my country and destroying it with his liberal policies and agenda.

"Then the government-run institution would have to either cut back on its own services, or raise fees to a level compatible with a private sector price".

Cry me a river if Uncle Sam has to tighten the belt a little bit or maybe it shouldnt be in these types of businesses that it has no business being in to begin with.

"It’s not really a free market".

Nope we let the republicans and the democrats take us to the cleaners on that one with them sticking their noses where it doesnt belong.

Our government's only function is establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.

"Does a Fed-Ex truck driver get a much higher salary than a post-office employee"?

Depends on how long the FedEx driver has been on the job. I know some of those guys and they make good money while the post office keeps raising the damn rates and yet they still cant deliver my mail on time. I have yet to have a problem with FedEx or UPS though! I wonder why? Hmmmm Oh I know because they actually give a rats ass if I get my package or not because its private money. My local mail carrier cant even get the right mail into the right box. I guess its good enough for government work huh?

" Does an Amtrak engineer work for a fraction of the cost of a Delta pilot?"

I can almost guarantee you than the pilot is making way more than the Amtrak engineer

"Perhaps the real solution for a fair “competition” is to revive President Ronald Reagan’s idea to allow parents to deduct the cost of private education tuition from their taxes".

Great Idea lets do that. No wait the democrats dont want you to have any money....guess not. Uncle Barry is going to keep taking from the rich and giving to the poor until the rich are poor and we are spreading the poverty around thereby leveling the playing field. Its trickle down economics only in reverse.

Here is the thing. It doesnt matter which type of school you decide to go to. The courses are all mandated by the government and they are all government funded some way some how. They hire these liberal professors that indoctrinate our children instead of educating them. They tell them what to think instead of how to think.

Thanks for noticing my comments Dr. Tures... I am glad that they have furthered the conversation if only for a few days.

I'd like to add some clarification to your argument, both of which muddy the waters...

Lagrange College students are already the beneficiary of state tax and lottery revenues. Georgia taxpayers are subsidizing student tuition at Lagrange, and have been for years!

<< From the Lagrange College website:

The state of Georgia provides additional funding for Georgia residents. All Georgia residents who enroll as full-time students receive the Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant in the amount of $1200 per year. The HOPE Scholarship, which totals $3000 per year, is awarded to all Georgia residents who have graduated from high school with a B average and who enter as freshmen. Georgia residents who do not qualify for the HOPE Scholarship as freshmen may be able to obtain the HOPE Scholarship by earning a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. >>

I also noticed a hole in your USPS argument:

The United States Postal Service receives zero US taxpayer support, and has not since the early 80's:

From Slate Magazine:

<< The US Postal Service has been a self-supporting, government-owned agency since the passage of 1970's Postal Reorganization Act. Direct public subsidies of USPS were phased out by 1982, and today's USPS covers all its costs from postage and fees. >>

There is a regulatory panel that considers and approves all rate changes - but also enforces the notion that all addresses in the US, no matter how remotely situated, will be serviced. FedEx and private companies can pick and choose where they want to operate, which is obviously a much more profitable business model.

Ron Martin

Dr. Tures is correct in pointing out that Georgia taxpayers pay a chunk of the costs of educating students at public colleges and universities. Under some circumstances this is probably right and correct since we are all better off with an educated populace. What he failed to note is that CSU has also received permission to offer in-state tuition to some residents of Alabama. Therefore, Georgia taxpayers are paying most of the cost to educate people who do not pay taxes to our state government. Does that bother anyone?