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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2012)
Page 2 The The INDEPENDENT, September 19, 2012 INDEPENDENT Published on the first and third Wednesdays of each month by The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064. Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410. Deadline is noon the Friday before each issue. Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes Opinion Changes at your paper Starting in October, The Independent will print once a month. We are not currently generating enough in- come to print twice a month due to the rising costs of just about everything and our desire to keep advertis- ing affordable for local businesses. The Independent will print once a month through the rest of this year, with the exception of our traditional Christmas Greetings issue on the third Wednesday in December. The monthly issue will be on the first Wednesday of the month. The deadline will be at noon the Friday before the print date. Our goal is to improve The Independent and return to twice a month. We will continue to print the columns you read: Out of My Mind by Noni Andersen, Ike Says by Dale Webb, Can You Dig It? by Schann Nelson, Food for Thought, Senior News, To Your Health by Judy Hargis, P.A., Bits & Bites by Jacqueline Ramsay, Between the Bookends by Nancy Burch (Vernonia) and Susan Cackler (Banks), Chalk Talk by Dr. Ken Cox, and Power of the People by Marc Farmer. We will continue to list the churches and their services, and the Community Calendar with meetings ranging from Alcoholics Anonymous to WOEC directors and more. We will always keep government accountable to you. Continue to tell us what you want us to write about, what we do that you like, and what we do that you don’t like. Keep those press releases coming about the events in the community that you are involved with so others can join in those activities. Send in your Letters to the Editor and tell the community your opinion on matters of importance to you and others. Since 1986 we have been, and will continue to be “The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” and will provide the independent news and information you need. For those who remember the TV series Dragnet – the stories here are true, unlike Dragnet the names and places have not been changed to protect anybody. As Sgt. Joe Friday said, “Just the facts.” Don’t accept copycat imitations that disguise fluff and propaganda as news If you think The Independent is important to the community, tell our advertisers “thank you” for helping The Independent be your newspaper and encourage others to advertise in The Independent. We’re still here, over 27 years strong and we aren’t planning to leave you. Out of My Mind… by Noni Andersen I’m cynical about can- didates’ belief in their own public statements. It is what they say in private gatherings, with no media around, that reveals who they really are. And now we know that Mitt Rom- ney thinks that 47%-49% of us have a victim men- tality and feel like we are entitled to government handouts. Veterans, if you use Veterans Administration medical services you have a “victim” personality because you feel “entitled” to that service. I know that because Romney explained it to some of his friends at a $50,000/plate dinner in Boca Raton, Florida, last May. Military wives are probably much worse be- cause, in addition to their husbands being paid to protect Romney’s way of life, the wives often use food stamps and government health care! Retirees, you don’t get a pass just because you paid into Social Security most of your life, you think you’re “entitled” to a government hand- out! And Medicare recipients – just forget the years you paid into that, also forget that a Medicare premium is deducted from your Social Security every month. Parents, it’s downright shameful that you’re teaching your children to be victims by sending them to public school or, heaven forbid, by en- couraging them to use public libraries! Remember, too, if you lost your job – or your pension or your home – when the banksters gambled away your money, you didn’t become a victim until you accepted unemployment insur- ance! At the same time, we “victims” who feel we’re “entitled” to have our government meet the obli- gations we pay for with taxes (that Mitt Romney says we don’t pay), are supposed to develop to- tal amnesia about the public roads, air traffic control, NOAA weather, railroad land grant sub- sidies, Corps of Engineers navigation projects, universal telephone service, national postal service, water systems, sewage systems, power grids and countless other things that subsidize commerce. Forget that agribusiness gets price supports and often subsidized water. Mining and energy extraction get subsidized access to resources on public lands. Timber and paper products get subsidies with every tree they cut on public land as the fees they pay are far below the costs. Big business benefits from many types of en- titlements that small business owners never see, especially a highly favorable tax code and nu- merous types of manufacturing subsidies. Everyone in this great country of ours re- ceives entitlements in one way or another. Some are direct and some are indirect, but they are en- titlements all the same. Romney derides all of the hard-working peo- ple who have contributed to the success of those who can pay $50,000/plate for dinner. But they did not do it without our government’s help. His attitude is despicable.