Opinion

    The recession ended in the United States in the third quarter of this year. Locally, the city of Bedford noted that its sales tax revenue began to turn around in the fourth quarter, in November.

    That doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. Unemployment has continued to rise and, not being an economist, I wouldn’t hazard a guess when that will stop, although the rate at which jobless figures have been rising began decelerating before the middle of the year.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

    (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

    And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

As this year winds to a close, I continue to focus on economic recovery and the fiscal discipline to bring our deficit under control.

First, I have once again signed on as co-sponsor of a measure to block members of Congress from receiving automatic pay increases, this time for the 2011 fiscal year. On January 7, 2009 — the day after being sworn into office — I co-sponsored H.R. 156, which blocked the automatic pay increase for FY2010. The measure was successfully adopted by congressional leaders over the summer.

Like all of my colleagues in the Democratic Party, I voted in favor of proceeding to debate the proposed health- care reform legislation. I have yet to decide whether I will support final passage of the bill.

    There are only days now before we all find out what’s under the Christmas tree for us. I thought it might be fun to speculate about what gifts certain politicians - if this were a just world - should receive for Christmas.

    For U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, there is one gift that would certainly warm his heart: Large, gold-framed photos of all the CEOs of the major insurance companies that run his state of Connecticut, and run him.

    Robert “Bob” Latane Forgie, Jr., 42, of Montvale, died Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009.  Bob was born in Montvale on Oct. 16, 1967.  He was the son of the late Robert Latane Forgie, Sr. and Hattie S. Forgie. 

    He was a member of Walnut Grove Baptist Church. Bob was a graduate of Liberty High School and VMI class of 1990. 

Sustainability

    There is an organization once called, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, now called Local Governments for Sustainability, ICLEI. They are paid dues with public money in several places in Virginia. In fact, Roanoke is on their listing. As a Bedford resident I would like to know if ICLEI has offered to help Bedford to have sustainability over unsustainability items?

Currently, government officials from around the globe, including President Obama and top U.S. officials, are gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.  These officials are hoping to create a new treaty containing stringent and enforceable requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  While specifics of the treaty are still being worked out, there is reason to believe that the treaty will call for dramatic emission reductions that will cause serious economic harm to our already fragile economy. 

    President Barack Obama made the right decision when he opted to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

    It wasn’t perfect. I’m concerned that he’s sending in fewer troops than General Stanley McChrystal, the commander on the ground, asked for. General McChrystal is the general that the Obama administration chose to implement a new military strategy. Second guessing your commander on the scene is risky.