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Columns

  • Digging out of debt

    One look at the national debt clock ticking towards $17 trillion dollars and it is hard for anyone to deny that the federal government has a serious spending and debt problem. As the national debt continues to climb, the need for a real solution to these fiscal problems is clear. However, before we can tackle this debt, Congress must first address one of the greatest drivers of it – entitlement spending.

     

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  • Not your parents SOL tests

    By David M. Foster

        Here’s a pop quiz: Since their inception in the 1990s, the Standards of Learning tests have (a) relied exclusively on multiple-choice questions, (b) rewarded rote memorization, (c) resulted in ever-higher passing rates, or (d) none of the above. Go to the head of the class if you correctly answered “none of the above.”

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  • Veterans' pensions

    By Bob Kibler

        VA helps Veterans and their families cope with financial challenges by providing supplemental income through the Veterans Pension benefit. Veterans Pension is a tax-free monetary benefit payable to low-income wartime Veterans.

    Eligibility

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  • What’s wrong with Obama Care (not much)?

    By Gregory L. Yowell
    Huddleston

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  • The GOP’s crazed obsession with ‘Obamacare’

    When it comes to the very important issue of health care, it’s necessary to wonder exactly what position do conservative Republicans have?
        Precisely, what is it? Does anyone know? Has anyone heard?
    One thing is clear: they’re fanatically against “Obamacare.” All they seem to live for is to repeal it, defund it, criticize it, and liken it to evil.

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  • A long drink of water

        The Bedford Regional Water Authority (BRWA) is currently moving forward with a plan to supply water to Forest by treating water from Smith Mountain Lake and building a pipeline that runs all the way across the county. It sounds like a good project, from a technology point of view.

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  • We must address the true causes of the economic crisis

    By Congressma Robert Hurt

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  • Obamacare’s two week notice

    As we approach the looming implementation of the President’s health care law, efforts to stop this law in its tracks continue in the House of Representatives. My concerns surrounding the real impacts of this law on hardworking American families have only grown since it was forced through Congress three years ago. And the American people have questions about the law, too.

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  • Montvale Rescue Squad: Serving since 1970

    By Marci L. Stone, MBA, EFO
    Deputy Chief
    Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue

        The Montvale Rescue Squad first due response area covers approximately 150 square miles immediately surrounding the Montvale area, stretching to the Botetourt County line. 

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  • Pope Francis: ‘Not a right-winger’

    When Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen as the new Pope of the Catholic Church in March, many Catholics had great hopes that he would usher in some much-needed fresh air in church practices and attitudes.
        Now, barely six months into his papacy, it’s absolutely clear that this new Pope is doing exactly that, to the cheers of millions around the world.

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