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Winners and Losers, Drugs, and Education –

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

Winners and Losers -  Our local newspaper likes to analyze proposed budgets and tax plans in terms of who wins and who loses.  Unfortunately, it fails to look at the big picture.  If we continue to have high taxes that punish hard work and productivity, then we will continue to discourage businesses and workers from coming to Kentucky and from developing in Kentucky.  The result is that we all end up losing.  The web-master for Jefferson Review recently took a job in Nashville and has been very pleased to find that he has a lot more take-home pay than he had in Kentucky, because Tennessee does not have an income tax.  Until the Kentucky legislature gets its act together and cuts taxes, people will continue to vote with their feet and leave the state, especially young “knowledge workers” like our web-master.

Another Innocent Life Lost in the War On Drugs – A ten-year-old girl in Indiana is the latest innocent victim in the war on drugs.  Apparently, she discovered some people involved in the manufacture of illegal drugs, and they killed her to prevent her from turning them in.  These people were willing to murder an innocent child to protect their drug trade.  Does anyone seriously think that they would let the illegality of drugs slow them down?  If these drugs were legalized and the druggies could buy them in a drugstore, then the illegal manufacture would end, the gang warfare associated with illegal drugs would end, thefts to raise money for drugs would be curtailed, our prisons would have far fewer inmates, we would have far fewer corrupt cops, our streets would be much safer for innocent people, and those who have a drug problem would be more likely to ask for treatment or help.  Of course, the police would lose the ability to confiscate property without due process of law, simply by claiming it was involved in the drug trade, and they would lose their ability to conduct no-knock raids based on anonymous tips about drugs.  In other words, legalizing drugs would take a lot of fun out of the lives of power-hungry folks.  Maybe that’s why it is not being promoted by those who know best how destructive our current laws are.

Education Reform – Instead of constantly talking about how much more money the taxpayers are going to be forced to pour down the bottomless pit of education spending, maybe we could talk about doing some things that actually would improve the outcome.  For example, could we give government schools the power to remove a student from the classroom if that student repeatedly disrupts the class or otherwise detracts from the ability of the teacher to teach the students who want to learn?  Could we require that teachers, students, and administrators treat each other with respect?  Could we consider policies that would benefit the students rather than the bureaucracies?  Kids who are growing up without the tools they need for success can’t wait while legislators play games and cater to entrenched interests. 

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