Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 8-23-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, August 23, 2018 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION With the recent kerfuffle over the First
Amendment of the Constitution, perhaps it’s time we put both sides of the argument into context. Former government officials com- plain loudly about the cancellation of their security clearance as somehow violating their First Amendment right after they’ve literally lost touch with common sense. Anti-Trump me- dia now claim that somehow he is infringing on their right to freedom of speech as well. Here is the First Amendment, pure and simple:
“Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
It’s exactly that simple. Nowhere, within that very concise paragraph does it indicate that the issuance of a security clear- ance is a God-given birthright. Millions of Americans do not have clearances and manage quite nicely. Their right to free speech is unimpeded. Nowhere therein does it indicate that when an in- dividual, private or public, is under attack verbally or otherwise from members of the free press, he is estopped from retaliation.
Government officials should, in our humble opinion, be rou- tinely stripped of security clearances once they vacate the position which required such a clearance. In the case of John Brennan, the furor being created reaches such levels as to make one seriously question his ulterior motives. It would seem, more than anything, it is a resume enhancer for Mr. Brennan as he sits in a pundits chair at MSNBC, a virulent anti-Trump television channel.
Among the others who appear slated for removal of security clearance is James Clapper who has a similar job as Brennan over at CNN. Following these two men, there’s a long line of individu- als from the FBI and Justice departments who have been fired or demoted. As far as most of the media who complain, I can only scratch my head because while trying to hide behind this very second amendment, they have lost all touch with objectivity. Front pages are often difficult to discern from opinion pages. Whatever happened to ascertaining and reporting who, what, when, where and why without the fingerprints of the writer all over the piece.
I once heard an old-time editor tell a young reporter, “ I don’t want to know what the hell you think were the underlying social issues, I just want to know what happened.” That’s still sage advice for today’s young reporters. Real news people are not, nor should they be, bloggers, Facebook or You-Tube posters. We fear the ethical line has been blurred for journalists since social media has provided unvetted access to the masses who are consumers of information. Today, it’s the number of “clicks” that is used to measure a writer’s work. Culturally and intellectually, that is society’s loss.
There is not, nor do we expect there will ever be, any sort of repeal or modification of the First Amendment as penned by our forefathers. The article is so succinctly written as to ward off politicization by those who seek victory at any cost. Be warned, though, they will try.
Moving right along while looking for a segue from the previous subject to this one; it appears that there probably isn’t one but we have to wonder anyway, why is that when we elect our representa- tives they feel it’s imperative to write some new law or regulation. There already have to be the better part of 500 gun control laws on the books and yet, the opposition will not be happy without repeal of the Second Amendment. Name a subject and one will probably find the same case exists. When a new law or regulation passes an old one should be repealed!
“Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice.” -- Arcesilaus, Greek philosopher
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” -- Plato, Greek philosopher
“The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.” -- Lao-Tzu, Chinese philosopher These observations, throughout the years, by renown philoso- phers who are obviously a helluva lot wiser than I, seem to epito- mize the modern era dilemma with which our society is faced. We tend to elect lawyers to represent us in government and, as one would expect, they pass laws or create commissions who appoint bureaucrats who, in turn, then produce rules and regulations, telling us how to live our lives. Law-abiding people do everything possible
to live by those rules, while scofflaws do not. It’s just that simple. The next time some says to you, “There ought to be a law...” think about it for a while. It’s possible that is the very last thing
we need is one more law!
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Appointment a money saver for city
Jon Earnest — Editor
Chris Aguirre — Sports Editor Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.”
E. B. White (1899-1985)
Fred Hall
As usual, the conference will have interesting panel discussions featuring top local law enforcement and legal minds as well as political representatives. That includes a law enforcement panel on Sept. 20 that includes Reedley Police Chief Joe Garza, sheriffs from Tulare and Kings counties and a California Highway Pa- trol lieutenant.
If you want more information on the conference, email to event host Bryan Tellalian at bryan.tellalian@ reedleycollege.edu.
Some quick and thrifty action this week by city officials and the Reedley City Council will save the community an unknown — but considerable — amount of money.
After the Fresno County elections deadline on Aug. 10 showed that Mary Fast would be unopposed in the Dis- trict 2 council race — city officials did the necessary legal paperwork and preparation to appoint Fast to the council for another term starting this fall. At a special meeting scheduled for Aug. 22, the council was expected to adopt a resolution appointing Fast to the council position.
If the city proceeds with the ap- pointment, there won’t be the oppor- tunity for a write-in candidate to be filled in. But according to Brandi Orth, Fresno County clerk, there is a “con- siderable” saving to the city in election cost if both nominees are now includ- ed on the ballot. The County Elections Department did not provide an actual
dollar amount, but it was large enough to make the city’s actions worthwhile. There is one contested council race with incumbent Ray Soleno chal- lenged by Lee Ky in District 4. There also is a governor’s race, local Con- gressional and Assembly races and a certain gas tax repeal effort that are worth voter’s efforts to get out to the
polls or vote by mail. •••
With all the talk of Constitutional rights at risk making the rounds in politics, it’s good that Reedley and Fresno County residents next month will get the opportunity each year — and in our own backyard — to learn more about and stay in tune with the government’s core of operations.
Reedley College hosts its fifth annual Constitution Week confer- ence during three days – Wednesday through Friday, Sept. 19-21 — at the college’s student center. The confer- ence will be capped off by a keynote
address from Al- berto R. Gonzales, who served as U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush. Gonzales currently is the dean of the Belmont Univer- sity School of Law in Nashville, Tenn.
Jon Earnest
Trump on trade: the latest on the tariff strategy
By Mark Hendrickson
Guest columnist
When I commented in March about President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on import- ed steel, I was hoping that he would back off from imposing tariffs on our al- lies. That is because the danger to our national se- curity isn’t steel or autos made in Mexico, Canada, or Europe; rather, it is Chi- na’s rapacious assault on intellectual property and its “Made in China 2025” master plan for achieving world dominance in 10 cru- cial technologies.
For a few months, I got my wish. The president granted temporary ex- emptions to our allies. On June 1, however, President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum against our closest neighbors and oldest allies to match those he had already imposed on China and other non-West- ern countries.
Those new tariffs didn’t make much eco- nomic sense. The steel tariffs against Canada and Mexico were particularly puzzling. In the two most recent years, Mexico in- curred a $3.6 billion steel trade deficit with the Unit- ed States. Canada also has been running a steel deficit with the U.S. — a reported $2.06 billion last year.
Worse, as I and ma- ny other economists had
A big left turn
Are socialists becoming the new Democratic party mainstream? Candidates like Alexandra Ocasio- Cortez. They are endorsed by the Socialist party to run in state, and national elections.
Democrats — in particular the younger and middle generation — believe that socialism is superior to capitalism, despite decades of proof of socialism failures in denying peo- ple rights to life and liberty. How could average Americans of a sup- posedly mainstream political party throw their lot in with a creed that’s responsible for more human misery and poverty in the world than any
ed the U.S. economy with strong tailwinds to coun- teract tariff-caused head- winds. Like when Presi- dent Reagan outfoxed the Soviets in the 1980s, Trump knows that the American economy is stronger and healthier than that of our “adversaries,” giving us an advantage in the contest.
It is encouraging that Jean-Claude Juncker, Presi- dent of the European Com- mission, met with Presi- dent Trump last month and they apparently agreed to lower tariffs, both recent and longstanding. Also, ru- mors are that Mexico and Canada may soon amend some of the asymmetries in NAFTA. And — music to an economist’s ear — the president himself stated that his goal was to have “zero tariffs.” None of this is close to a done deal, but if the president eventu- ally manages to negotiate overall lower tariff barri- ers that result in a resto- ration of jobs recently lost and thousands of addition- al American jobs to serve newly open foreign mar- kets, it would be a historic achievement, both econom- ically and politically. Good luck, Mr. President.
Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty mem- ber, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City (Pa.) College.
warned, Trump’s tariffs have hurt many Ameri- can businesses and work- ers. Hardly a day goes by without another report of an American company be- ing negatively impacted by tariffs. Some, from specialty nail manufac- turers to electronics as- semblers, to textile work- ers, are no longer price- competitive in their sales markets because tariffs have increased the cost of imported inputs. Some ag- ricultural producers have goods piling up in storage because retaliatory tariffs abroad have priced them out of formerly profitable export markets. Recogniz- ing the losses his trade pol- icies are causing farmers, Trump has promised $12 billion in emergency relief to those affected, further aggravating federal debt.
In the steel industry itself, the Competitive En- terprise Institute calcu- lated that Trump’s tariffs on steel could ultimately result in a tradeoff of ap- proximately 33,000 Ameri- can steel jobs saved and a loss of 146,000 other Amer- ican jobs. On an economy- wide basis, the U.S. Cham- ber of Commerce project- ed that a full-blown trade war could wipe out over 2.5 million U.S. jobs.
In March, President Trump tweeted that “trade wars are good and easy to win.” If victory in a trade
war is defined as the U.S. suffering fewer economic casualties than the other side, yes, the U.S. might “win,” but that would be a hollow victory to Ameri- cans who would lose their jobs in a trade war.
On the other hand, President Trump and mil- lions of Americans support his aggressive trade tac- tics because they are fed up with the unfairness of foreign governments treat- ing American businesses having higher trade bar- riers than Uncle Sam. So, here is the problem: How do you convince your clos- est trading partners to re- linquish advantages they have enjoyed for decades?
This is where Trump’s crazy, economically irra- tional, bite-off-your-nose- to-spite-your-face trade war comes into play. Our trading partners never thought an American pres- ident would be willing to risk the pain to Americans of a trade war. Well, Trump is willing. He is playing a high-stakes game of “chicken,” calculating that the United States can with- stand the economic pain of higher tariffs longer than our allies can, and that they will capitulate. In- deed, it may turn out that Trump is crazy like a fox.
Consider: Trump cagily cut business taxes and reg- ulations before initiating his trade war. That boost-
Letters from readers
other? It boggles the mind. Socialism, and its evil twin, com-
munism, murdered well more than 100 million people during the last cen- tury, a scale of slaughter unmatched in human history. No, there isn’t a nice version of socialism. It’s about denying individual rights in favor of the collective, and diminishing per- sonal responsibility, in favor of gov- ernment control.
Learn the bitter truth from the cry of Venezuela’s lesson. A country in decline with corruption, meager ra- tions, killings in the streets, soaring crime, the dissolution of civil society, and the collapse of national institu- tions. It’s a self-evident truth that so-
cialism doesn’t stack up against free- market capitalism, when it comes to guaranteeing the universal and in- born rights of life, and the pursuit of happiness.
Socialism regimes always start off with high ideal promises. There has never been a successful social- ist government in history. None! Ev- erywhere that socialist precepts are put in place poverty, loss of freedom rights and societal decline inevitably follow. They have already silenced the mentioning of God in public, gov- ernment and the workplace.
What work of the devil...is next?
Manuel Madrid Reedley