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a'*!' ^lortlanb (©bseruer_______________
March 20.2013
New Prices
S
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG
$45.00
A sm all d istance/travel charge
m ay be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: I small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly.
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services)’. $5.00
^9
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• Area & Oriental Rug
Cleaning
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
SEE CURRENT FLYER
FOR ADDITIONAL
PRICES & SERVICES
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
Big Government can be Beautiful
Smart policies
are the solution
D onald K aul
I have a q u e s
tion: If this is the
g re a te s t c o u n try
in the w orld, w hy
do w e k eep acting
so d um b?
by
I suppose the sequestration o f
the federal budget isn ’t as dum b as
d elib erately go in g over the fiscal
cliff, but it’s plenty dum b. Just as the
eco n o m y w as sh o w in g signs o f
clim b in g out o f the hole it’s been in
fo r fo u r years, along co m e the R e
p ublicans to stom p on its fingers.
T he best you can say is that it
w o n ’t be as quick a dem ise as a trip
o v e r th e c liff — it’s m o re like
w aterboarding. Som e people will
hardly notice it at first — the ex cep
tions being the poor, the young, the
sick, and furloughed governm ent
w orkers — but it w ill eventually
send unem p lo y m en t back up and
tax rev en u e dow n.
A nd, cu rio u sly enough, it w ill do
v irtu ally n o th in g to ad d ress o u r
long-term b u dget deficit. A nd th a t’s
w hat all o f this b ro uhaha is su p
po sed to be about.
T he good new s is that M itt R o m
ney will now be able to afford M uzak
fo r his car elevator. W hich ap p ar
ently pleases R epublicans ju s t fine.
So long as taxes d o n ’t go up, e v ery
thing is good.
C o n serv ativ es in gen eral, and
R epublicans in p articular, w orship
at the altar o f sm all g overnm ent. A
governm ent that governs least g o v
erns best, they say. O h, and g o v ern
m ent isn’t the solution, it’s part o f
the problem . T hey're w rong.
W e are a large, w ealthy country,
hom e to scores o f giant m u ltin a
tional corporations. W e live in a
global econom y. W hat m akes you
think w e can get by w ith a sm all
g o v ern m en t?
Big governm ent, far from being a
terrible thing, is a necessity if w e're
to com pete in the global m ark et
place and take care o f o u r resp o n si
bilities at hom e.
W ithout big governm ent, w ho
w ill protect the public from the rapa
cious instincts o f capitalistic forces?
W ho will w ork to m ake o u r air clean,
o u r w ater pure, and o u r d ru g s safe?
W ho w ill try to see that the average
w o rk in g stiff gets a fair shake? I'll
save y ou the tro u b le o f trying to
th in k o f an an sw er — it's nobody.
It's not as th o u g h w e h av en 't
tried sm all governm ent laissez-faire
cap italism before. T he industrial
rev o lu tio n o f the 19th cen tu ry w as
the very m odel fo r it. C om panies did
pretty m u ch as they pleased.
T he result: co m p an y tow ns that
en fo rced a form o f serfdom on their
w orkers, child labor, open and som e
tim es brutal discrim in atio n against
w o m en , A frican -A m erican s, and
o th e r ethnic m inorities. W e had
frau d u len tly prom oted unsafe drug
supplies, unchecked pollution, and
hellish w orking conditions in m ines
and factories — all in the nam e o f
m aking a buck for the privileged
few. T hat's y o u r sm all governm ent.
W e slow ly craw led out from u n
d er that o ppressive system through
gov ern m en t action fueled by the
progressive m ovem ent o f the early
20th century, the N ew D eal o f the
1930s, and many vibrant social m ove
all-against-all society? C ount m e out.
Y ou'll n otice that I'm blam ing
R ep u b lican s e x clu siv e ly fo r this
m ess w e ’re in. T h at's b ecau se it's all
their fault. T here are those w ho claim
that R ep u b lican s and D em ocrats
share equal blam e, o r th at President
B arack O b am a has refu sed to co m
prom ise. D on't believe it.
O b am a w ore ou t tw o sets o f tro u
sers during his first term going on
his knees to C ongress an d p leading
fo r cooperation. H e go t none.
R ep u b lican s are still p laying that
gam e. T hey think they can solve our
d eficit problem s by cu tting g o v ern
m ent alone. T hey can't. T hat's the
path E urope has taken. H ow 's that
w orking out for them an yw ay?
I d o n 't w an t to so u n d as th o u g h
big g o v e rn m e n t is th e a n sw e r to
e v e ry p ro b le m o r th a t it's an u n
a d u lte ra te d g o o d . It's n o t. It too
c an be o p p re s siv e , w a ste fu l, and
stu p id . Y ou h a v e to w a tch it lik e a
haw k.
But the solution to bad g o v ern
m ent isn't sm all g overnm ent. It’s
sm art governm ent.
m ents. A nd now R epublicans w ant
to take us back to that H obbesian,
OtherWords columnist Donald
Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.