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Show .Vernal Express. DDH'Dfi) Public Forum Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Vernal Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions on contents, if not libelous, vindictive vin-dictive and in good taste. The letters need to be a reasonable length, two typewritten double spaced pages. Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the writer's writ-er's full name, signature, phone number and address. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing express-ing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in the forum. Letters may be mailed to P.O. Box 1000, Vernal, Utah 84078, faxed at 789-8690 or through email at editorvernaLcom. The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. All letters let-ters are subject to condensation. Letters express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily necessar-ily the opinion of the Vernal Express Editor. A8 Wednesday, August 23, 2006 Liberty lottery Dear Editor, I read with great interest the letter written by Dr. Bruce Daniels in the August 2 Vernal Express concerning the financing financ-ing of federal elections. The malignancy that continues contin-ues to eat away at our democracy democra-cy is M-O-N-E-Y, and the power it has to influence judgment and, by turns, our domestic and foreign policy. Quite simply, sim-ply, those who are possessed of money have power, and those with money and power have more influence than you or I. We have our measly one-man, one-vote every two years. They get face-to-face meetings (and not just with staff), golf games, first-name acquaintance and special consideration when some piece of legislation comes before Congress. If you're really real-ly connected, like Big Pharma and the HMOs, you can sit in the office of your representative representa-tive (or maybe someone else's representative) and WRITE a new Medicare law, as was done in 2003. We get "face-to-face" time in town meetings, where Senator Blow is trying to impress his respectful and adoring constituency. Folks with money and power get the and the congressman's cell phone number. Folks in the fast lane get to attend several meetings meet-ings of the Vice President's Energy Task Force and help write the legislation that directly direct-ly benefits their industry. The' rest of us get, well ... less fuel economy in our vehicles and subsidies for the downtrodden downtrod-den oil and gas industry. If you want more balance, vision, fairness fair-ness and innovation in your nation's Energy Policy, you and your fifty fellow supplicants get a half hour in a big room with the Veep's staff. Once. Notes The Moose Up Dry Fork We got a call from a friend who said she had seen a moose up the Dry Fork Flume Trail, and then we promptly forgot about it. Moose are not that uncommon behind Vernal, and various people have reported them behind Steinaker, up Spring Creek, or (most often) up Dry Fork. Last winter, many people encountered a young bull who was apparently wintering in the Dry Fork creek bottom, not more than a quarter quar-ter mile past the last houses. So we know moose are there...how careful should it make trail users? People walking walk-ing in a group, talking as they go, probably miss the moose, since it will most likely move off. People with dogs should especially be careful, since an uppity dog can wind up howling howl-ing back to its owner - with half a ton of angry moose right after it. Mountain bikers may be the people most at risk, since they often move fast and fairly quietly down the trail. It's not hard to imagine them coming around a bend and practically cycling into an unwary moose. Of course, bikers are an adventurous adven-turous lot, and maybe that's part of the thrill for them. So, to get back to this particular partic-ular moose, one of us decided to walk the trail, down from the BLM bathroom and parking park-ing lot above Alma Taylor Hollow. Only one person, walking walk-ing along, making no noise, not looking for a moose. There were obscure hoofprints in the dust, which looked a little moosey, but could they just be a stray cow? Not 30 seconds after this thought, there was the moose, standing in the trail, looking straight at the human. Believe me, there is a world of difference in access. You gotta "pay to play," and what this amounts to is paying for access, in sums that most of us on the receiving end of our nation's domestic and foreign for-eign policy cannot afford. The system is, to be blunt, one of legalized bribery, and if one should be disposed to think that any of this quid pro quo behavior is enshrined in the First Amendment, or that Congressman Blather and the captains of industry and then-lobbyists then-lobbyists to whom he gives court are looking out for your interests, he, poor citizen, would indeed be naive and primed for the next itinerant snake oil salesman. To be sure, there has been bribery and influence peddling and looking out for special interests throughout our short national history. There have been other times and political politi-cal parties that have wallowed in a culture of corruption, but it would be hard to beat the Republican Party in the first five years of the twenty-first century for sheer audacity and single-minded self-interest. Washington might as well hang out a sign, "OPEN FOR BUSINESS," with a toll booth. And the Democrats are scarcely better. I have come to see them as different pigs, too alike to tell the difference, slopping from opposite sides of the corporate trough. Oh, the pleasures of a two-party system! The fact is that it's a sick symbiosis. It's like two toads mating. One can't tell where -one leaves off and the other begins. In our current sick system, sys-tem, politicians and big money need each other. I am familiar with Dr. Daniels political beliefs, and we frequently find ourselves in lively debates. Bruce hates taxes and thinks the income tax is a great evil. He has a point. He would not under any from the Uintah Mountain Club war w Moose are spotted all over the Basin. The human's reaction was, and I quote, "Whoops! Sorry!" Who was this human talking talk-ing to? Well, obviously, he was talking to the moose. Why start off with an apology? For invasion of privacy, perhaps. It is sort of like walking into the wrong room. At any rate, the human turned around promptly, prompt-ly, and walked back up the trail to the car, glancing occasionally over the shoulder. On the drive back down canyon, the moose was encountered almost immediately imme-diately on the road. Perhaps the moose had been moving that way anyway, or perhaps he was just curious and had followed fol-lowed the human. The human watched the non-human walk up into the mountain brush above, the road, moving west further into the mountains. A true Ice-age relic, shaggy and brown as a mammoth. Questions arose: "Where's this moose get- circumstances advocate funding fund-ing federal elections from our tax dollars. And, to be sure, the record for public funding of our presidential elections is mixed, but mostly negative if one considers con-siders the caliber of candidates and presidents we have wound up with since this program began in 1976. If the White House residents of the past quarter century are the best we can do from a nation of 270 million citizens, then we are indeed in big trouble. Clearly, not only are we not getting our money's worth, we are dumbing dumb-ing down the whole process with the passage of time. Dumb and dumber. As a libertarian, Dr. Daniels sees public funding of federal elections from taxes as "evil," although it is difficult to see how it could be more evil than the system of legalized bribery brib-ery we have today. Citizens should be able (and willing) to tax themselves for anything worthwhile. I wouldn't object to using tax dollars as a small, involuntary "donation" to fair and clean elections if that's what it takes to level the playing play-ing field. However we do it, it would be nice to get folks into office that on day one don't owe anything to a network of special interests. A trust fund could be established from these tax dollars. It would probably be a relatively small tax, say five dollars a year per family as a withholding or assessment at tax time. That way every citizen citi-zen has a "say" in clean government, govern-ment, as much as Enron (R.LP.) or ExxonMobil or Morgan Stanley. More, in fact. Bruce thinks that public funding for candidates from the general fund would lead them to vote themselves "incredible campaign sums for reelection." See above. It's already getting pretty incredible. But he has a point here. Congress keeps voting vot-ing itself big raises while they grudgingly passed a minimum ft ting his water, when the creek is bone dry? (Guzzling every other day from a higher spring, then descending to forage?) "Will he be shot this fall?" (Probably not, since he looked pretty young, and not impressive). impres-sive). And of course, the usual "Where's he think he's going?" Encounters with a moose are a big draw in Yellowstone. People from Florida rightfully ooh and aah over a distant moose on the other side of a valley. For a westerner, it's a basic part of the quality of life, our inalienable right to see big, impressive animals. We share the landscape with potentially dangerouse moose, bear, and mountain lion, and wouldn't want it any other way. Just the same, we should be respect their power, and not tempt fate. y " JtJ?- tfil THIS CARTOON 15 jtOT .HP -r DEDICATED TO (S V2v 4W C5lrmlTtt ALL THE THIRD wage increase last week of $2.10 (over two years) that won't even bring earners to parity with the last increase, ten years ago, adjusted for inflation. Could they be trusted with our tax dollars for this more than for any other purpose. You have to ask? Dr. Daniels proposes a novel approach: a lottery. To him, it's okay when people voluntarily give up their money. It's not like the income tax checkoff, voluntary though that may be. As a libertarian, he likes concrete con-crete incentives. And when the purpose is good, even noble, so much the better. We are all familiar with the concept. We have all bought raffle tickets, never expecting to win anything, any-thing, for a good cause. Helping to' turn over the compost heap in Wftshingtift'with new faces, new voices and new ideas just might be what we need to keep our nation free and united, Oil prices Dear Editor: Today, people are blaming blam-ing the oil companies for high gas prices. Unfortunately, the people should be blaming the creator of this situation: the federal government. In 1850, wood was our most commonly used fuel. Today, we still have plenty of wood because our free market system sys-tem replaced it with a better fuel: coal. And we still have an abundance of coal because oil has replaced it. Our marvelous free market system was working work-ing very well without govern- Phil Vassar rocks the Uintah By Janine Shannon Express Writer In a green T-shirt and worn jeans and with a big smile on his tanned face, country star Phil Vassar took the stage at Western Park on Thursday. Screams and cheers erupted the moment he appeared, and through the noise he asked the audience, "How y'all doin' tonight?" Vassar opened with a few lively songs, vigorously playing the piano accompanied by his band of five. Vassar's strong, clear voice shook the stadium, and fans sang along to popular popu-lar songs like "Just Another Day in Paradise," "My Next Thirty Years," "Bye Bye," and "I'm Alright" He energetically roamed the stage, at one point standing on top of the piano and later sliding across it in style. With red and white striped parachutes covering the stage overhead, Vassar jokingly commented com-mented that somebody had said it looked they were playing in Ronald McDonald's pants. Clearly a talented performer, Vassar appeared to be having fun and so did the crowd, especially espe-cially when he gave hugs and shook hands with those standing stand-ing closest to the stage. At about sunset, Vassar performed per-formed "Last Day of My Life," the No. 1 bit single off of his newest album. By the time dark had settled, the flashing purple, yellow, and green stage lights illuminated a crowd no doubt i instead of divided and contentious conten-tious and in the hands of special spe-cial interests. Pulling the linchpin from the connection between money and politics certainly seems to be a worthy cause. If we can buy over-priced cookies or take a chance on a rifle at the local RMEF Banquet, both to support sup-port a good cause, what could be wrong with supporting fair and clean elections to our highest high-est offices with a "donation" that may or may not lead to a prize for the donor? It could certainly cer-tainly bear fruit for our democracy. democ-racy. Gambling? See above. Dr. Daniels' proposal has the added advantage of raising money from foreign nationals to fund our federal elections. Anyone could buy "democracy futures," a stake in better government, free from undue influence by those who can now "pay to play." It's fairly obvious to many of ment interference. Now oil would normally take a secondary role to nuclear energy in our fuel cycle evolution. evolu-tion. However, massive government govern-ment interference in our free market system has stifled production pro-duction of nuclear energy and oil. Visit www.thenewameri-can.comartmanpublish www.thenewameri-can.comartmanpublish article3970.shtml for details of these government regulations. We are awash in oil, but Congress refuses to allow drilling drill-ing in the huge tracts offshore and in Alaska. We also need more oil refineries. None have been built in the last 35 years because of government regu Phil Vassar appeared in concert at night. pleased with Vassar's performance. perfor-mance. Most kids, teens, and adults alike were standing and either clapping along or swaying sway-ing in-sync to the music. Each band member was introduced with a featured solo. The electric guitarist, a Utah native, burst out with ACDC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." The keyboard player performed a rendition of "Wild Thing," and the acoustic acous-tic guitarist stepped forward with a fiddle, moving his arm skillfully at an incredible pace playing "Devil Went Down to Georgia." A fresh string of applause followed each of these talented musicians, and the crowd clearly loved the change of pace. While generally upbeat, the concert took a patriotic turn nv 0 ft J3M LSI us that things in Washington have to change if we are stay connected with our governance. The stakes are too high to tolerate toler-ate the status quo any longer. More and more Americans are feeling disenfranchised and disconnected from what goes on in Washington, a feeling encouraged and perpetuated by the inbred and money-saturated culture in Washington, D.C. Dr. Daniels' proposal should be taken seriously as one way a novel and very workable one to help clean out the clubby, lobbyist-infested and politically incestuous atmosphere in our n&fton's capital. WillDurant Vernal, Utah lations. New nuclear power plants also have been stopped by regulations. Congress is prohibited from regulating our energy sources by our Constitution. But, Congress does it anyway any-way because our voters are not paying attention to the unconstitutional uncon-stitutional laws being passed. This is an election year so Congress is more willing to listen lis-ten if voters demand that these regulations be removed. Also, voters should know that if the oil industry gave up all profits, the price of gas would only drop about a dime per gallon. Christopher H. Fogleman County Fair the Uintah County Fair on Thursday with "American Child" and then a sentimental one with the song "The Woman in My Life." Vassar explained that sometimes it is easier for him to express his thoughts through song. At the conclusion of the last song, the roar of the crowd intensified and lingered until Vassar reappeared for an encore. The band played other favorites like Smash Mouth's "I'm a Believer" and Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music." Vassar and the other band members were available for autographs after the show. An estimated 4,000 people attended the free concert, making mak-ing it a definite highlight of this year's Uintah County Fair. Even those not crazy about country music enjoyed it |