| OCR Text |
Show The Emery County Review, Tuesday, November 4, 2008 VIEWPOINT A7 Opinion and Letters to the Editor My View Leaving Everyone with Less Jerry Stotler I want to point out that Barack Obama’s brand of socialism leaves everyone with less. We must first recall Karl Marx’ statement the he wanted to “eliminate the middle class and make everyone more equal.” That statement requires a closer look. In eliminating the middle class, he proposed two major methods. First was to literally eliminate them from the living (kill them) and second was to move them to another class. Can you think of any other way to eliminate the middle class? Let’s first deal with the movement of the one class to another class. If we move the middle segment of the population to another class, to which economic class will they, of necessity, be transferred? Certainly they will not become part of the wealthy so they can only be transferred to the poor class. And if we take the wealth from the wealthy and give it to the poor, what will they do with it? Obviously, they will spend it just like they have done with every rebate, tax refund, tax credit, or money payment of any kind. Therefore, within a short time of receiving the great financial redistribution from the government, the “less fortunate” will be just as broke as they ever were. Thus the richer people will have less and less and the poor will still have very little. His second method has been practiced in all violent communist takeovers; Russia, North Korea, South Vietnam, East Germany, Eastern Europe, Central Africa, Cuba, Central and South America where the tender hearted communists tried to eradicate the opposition. The free man has the ability to say “No.” The slave does not. The wealthy freeman has the ability to give freely of his wealth to whomever he chooses. The slave has nothing to give. The freeman chooses; the slave has no choice. The slave is not necessarily “owned,” but simply has few economic choices. He works, and those in power take part of his production (paycheck) and leave him enough to survive. The freeman keeps the product of his labor and distributes it according to his conscience and priorities. How far onto the slavery side have we slid since Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s. Each Democratic Congress has moved us a little closer toward socialism. In my opinion, the Democratic Party is the Socialist Party of the United States, and their track points directly to that. If Obama and his ilk are elected and gain control of both houses of congress, what will be the inevitable outcome of their stated goals of redistribution of wealth? You may think you are having a tough time now, but just wait. After the redistribution scam has been underway for a while, you will have the opportunity to see some really tough times. And if you are one of those with your hand out looking for some great blessing from Big Brother, you need to look around the world and see what the rest of those under Socialism/Communism have actually received and what price they have paid or are paying for that meager handout. Consider this: all men are lazy. The difference between one lazy person and another is how they handle their tendency to laziness. Some men give in to their laziness while others fight it and become workaholics, and of course there are all those somewhere inbetween. The appeal of socialism is to entice the indolent to follow and recruit the bully to subdue the independent thinkers of society. The liberal establishment has consistently followed those principles for many decades. In the 1960s, our college campuses had a culture of shouting down conservative speakers while supposedly promoting free speech (sometimes referred to as the “filthy speech movement”). The hypocrisy of liberal leaders never ceases to amaze me. It goes hand in hand with the politically correct toleration of all ideas and lifestyles, except Christianity. By definition - that’s hypocrisy! (Stotler resides in Ferron.) Readers’ Forum Double Standards In response to the article in The Emery County Review on Oct. 28 regarding the old flour mill in Huntington, with all the issues that are going on in the county, no wonder the people are so confused by the people in charge. It wasn’t long ago that Huntington City was fighting very hard to pull all the businesses onto Main Street. They even went so far as writing letters and threatening to close businesses down that weren’t on Main Street. And now they’re going to try and buy the old mill and make a restaurant or a bed and breakfast out of it? If they’re going to enforce the rules, then we all better go by them. And they wonder why we don’t trust the people we elect? They need to be counted to live by the decisions as well, not live by a double standard. I would encourage everyone to express their opinion and remind everyone in charge. They are working for the people, not against the people. So let’s do the right thing. - Ben Johnson Huntington Much Right with the Country Several days ago I was listening to the radio. The speaker mentioned a recent poll. The poll asked whether or not people think our country is on the right track. She reported that a record number, 60 percent, think it isn’t. About 30 percent don’t know. She seemed dismayed that ten percent still think the country is on the right track. I think the ten percent are people who prefer to cherish what we have. That 10 percent knows we can take the availability of electricity, natural gas, running water, and sewer for granted. We can be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. If we are sick or injured we have access to the best medical care in the world. No matter what the emergency, we simply pick up a phone and dial 911 and the best of help is on the way. Our stores have shelves loaded with many varieties of food and other goods. If calamity strikes we know our government and neighbors will be there to help, and will not use our misfortune to further their own position or power. We are still free to write or say just about anything, as long as we are not genuinely threatening someone. Using the internet we have instant communication and can seek information from anywhere in the world. Our children have schools to attend. Our country is connected with roads and airways. We are allowed to travel and live anywhere we desire. Unlike most countries, law abiding citizens can own and keep firearms in their homes. We no longer kill each other over differences in religion or doctrine. The list goes on and on. If we could travel only one hundred years backwards on our track and bring an average citizen to where we are now; they would spend weeks trying to absorb all of our blessings. After that they would spend years trying to figure out just what it is we have so much to complain about. We are on the right track and have been so for over two hundred and twenty years. It is a track that has its ups and downs, but it has always taken us to a better future. And it will continue to do so, so long as Editorial Submission Guidelines The Emery County Review welcomes and invites letters to the editor and guest opinion articles on public policy or current events. We welcome letters of thanks to individuals who have helped make our community a better place to live, work and play. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all submissions for space constraints, clarity and errors in fact. Submissions must include author’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be published. Letter’s and opinion articles can be sent to jldavis@theemerycountyreview.com, mailed to The Emery County Review, P.O. Box 487, Orangeville, UT. 84537 or faxed to 435-748-2543. we do not allow ourselves to become stuck in whatever mud hole the latest media inflicted gloom informs us we are tormented with. - Ned Scarlet Cleveland Clearing the Confusion There is still confusion regarding the Drew Sitterud situation. I believe the confusion results from his plea of guilty to reduced criminal charges followed by his Letter to the Taxpayers of Emery County in which he said he “did nothing criminal.” That letter was followed by a court-ordered apology in which Mr. Sitterud admitted that his first letter was misleading and that he is “guilty of misappropriating public funds.” His apology does nothing to dispel the other misleading statements in his first letter. I was directly involved in this case from the initial report of wrongdoing to its conclusion. As Emery County Attorney, I feel a responsibility to clear the confusion as best I can. This first came to my attention when a county employee, who was bound by our ethics policy, reported that Mr. Sitterud might be getting reimbursed for driving the county car. I asked for documentation. Some time later I was given a copy of a CIB mileage reimbursement check which showed that he was paid when he had driven the county car to a CIB meeting in Salt Lake. An initial investigation produced documents from the CIB and the County which showed that Mr. Sitterud had routinely kept mileage reimbursements when he had driven the county car. During this investigation, on July 5, 2006, Mr. Sitterud asked me about mileage reimbursements from CIB. I indicated to him that if a county car was used, the reimbursement should probably go to the county, not to him. He also told me that he “always marked” that he was using a government vehicle on his reimbursement forms. This is the first time he asked me about this issue. This conversation was witnessed by a county employee. On August 15, 2006, Mr. Sitterud was confronted about the mileage reimbursements and told that he was being investigated. On Aug. 30, Commissioner Sitterud came to my office and admitted that he had probably kept money that he shouldn’t have. He indicated that he was going to pay it back and he thought the amount was $900 to $1,000. The next day, I again met with Mr. Sitterud and informed him that the matter would need to be fully investigated and referred to another agency for possible prosecution. At no time did I tell him he was going to jail. It was at this time that Mr. Sitterud told me that “others” were doing the same thing. He did not say who. Records from the State indicated that no other elected official from Emery County had been reimbursed. At this point in time, the entire investigation was turned over to the Attorney General. The investigation found that Mr. Sitterud was issued two separate checks from the CIB for each meeting he attended. One check was a stipend for meeting attendance from which taxes were withheld. A second check was issued for mileage and lodging. Lodging was paid with a county credit card. The CIB reimbursement forms were marked to indicate that he had driven his personal vehicle. The charges filed against Mr. Sitterud were based on the following reimbursements: 1. On Nov. 3, 2005, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a CIB meeting in Salt Lake City. He is paid $189.50 for lodging and mileage. He pays Emery County $68 for the lodging expense and keeps mileage reimbursement of $121.50. 2. On Dec. 1, 2005, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a CIB meeting in Salt Lake City. He is paid $189.50 for lodging and mileage. He pays Emery County $68 for the lodging expense and keeps the mileage reimbursement of $121.50. 3. On Jan. 5, 20060, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a CIB meeting in Salt Lake City. He is paid $189.50 for lodging and mileage. He pays Emery County $68 for the lodging expense and keeps the mileage reimbursement of $121.50. 4. On Feb. 2, 2006, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a CIB meeting in St. George. He is paid $281.37 for lodging and mileage. He keeps both the mileage and lodging reimbursement. 5. On March 2, 2006, Mr. Sitterud is a passenger in the vehicle of a SEUALG member driving a government vehicle to a meeting in Moab. Mr. Sitterud claims to have driven his personal car to the meeting and keeps the mileage reimbursement of $110.97. Six months later, on 09/05/06 he reimburses SEUALG for the mileage. 6. On March 6, 2006, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a CIB meeting in Salt Lake City. He is paid $189.50 for lodging and mileage. He pays Emery County $68 for the lodging expense and keeps the mileage reimbursement of $121.50. 7. On May 17, 2006, Mr. Sitterud drives the county car to a DWR/RAC meeting in Green River. Sitterud bills both Emery County and Natural Resources for mileage and meals; Emery County pays Sitterud $52.25 in mileage and two meals at $20.50. Sitterud also received reimbursement from Natural Resources for $42.94 in mileage and $15 for meal expense. At the recent Republican Central Committee meeting, Mr. Sitterud claimed the trip to Green River on May 17, 2006 was actually two trips but that he mistakenly put the wrong date on one reimbursement form. However, the credit card receipts, and all state and county documents, show a single trip made on the May 17 date. This was the basis for Count 3 of the original criminal charges filed by the State. Contrary to Mr. Sitterud’s statement in his letter, he repaid the funds only after he was confronted and told he was being investigated. The reimbursement checks did not stack up on him. The checks were cashed or deposited in his account almost immediately. It is true that the County has no policy regarding reimbursements for driving a county car using gas purchased with a County gas card. No other elected officials were “unwittingly doing the same thing” as Mr. Sitterud claims. Mr. Sitterud knew how to repay the funds if he had chosen to. He had previously repaid the County for his lodging in Salt Lake on several occasions. It is true that independent auditors had reviewed County records and found nothing amiss. But as Mr. Sitterud should know, those auditors have no access to State records which revealed the problem. Finally, Mr. Sitterud struck a plea bargain just prior to a hearing in which 12 people were to testify, under oath, about the reimbursements listed in this letter. I do not believe he pled guilty to save taxpayer money. By his letter, Mr. Sitterud tried to mislead the taxpayers and the Court. The Court was not fooled or amused by his letter and sentenced him to six days in jail, even though the State did not request jail time. My intent is to clear questions that may remain. You can contact me at 3812543 or 749-9888. - David A. Blackwell Emery County Attorney What’s happening in Orangeville? On Oct. 10, Cottonwood Elementary was broken into. Someone broke a window on the north side of the building by the lunch room. It appears that nothing was taken, but teachers’ desk drawers were opened. It almost seemed that they were just looking around and wanted everyone to know that someone had been in the building. On Oct. 15, when the Orangeville library janitor was finishing up her cleaning, between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m., someone stuck their bare behind on the back door of the library. She thought they looked to be between 8th and 10th grade. It was UEA weekend and with Halloween coming, she thought it was just kids pulling pranks. On Oct. 16, the next night, the Orangeville library was broken into. Someone broke a small window on the north side of the building, opened the small window and crawled in, leaving a few fingerprints and a shoe print behind. They were able to get off with around $28. But even more disturbing was that they accessed a computer and visited several pornographic sites, leaving printed pictures and an accurate history of the time they were in the library. The janitor left at 10:15 p.m. and they were on the first website by 10:46 p.m. It seems that they were just waiting for her to leave. On Oct. 22, another robbery happened. Best Tech Auto, which is across the street from the library, was robbed. They broke a window on the west side of the building. Several fingerprints were taken from this site. This was the first time the business had been broken into, but several times they have been vandalized with graffiti and have had problems with some of the cars that were being worked on. The next night, around 9 p.m., they were again broken into. This time it didn’t appear they got any money. Jason Mills, owner of Best Tech Auto, is offering a $200 reward for information leading to the conviction of those who stole from his business. What is happening in our beautiful community? If you have any information about any of these robberies, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 381-2404. - Carole Larsen Orangeville Librarian |
