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Opinion

  • Judging Obama’s first year

    With 2009 nearly behind us it’s appropriate to critically assess the first year of Barack Obama’s historic presidency.

        It didn’t take long for the promise of his inauguration to give way to the reality of the crushing problems we all knew he’d face. The financial bailouts - controversial and expensive - had actually begun under the previous administration because, once again, it became necessary to save capitalism from itself.

  • Obama made the right decision

        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.

  • Open and shut

    Government should always strive for openness, even when the law might allow discussion on an issue to be held behind closed doors. The presumption should always be, "let’s talk about this in the open if we can."

        But government often doesn’t work that way.

  • Letters

    Islam & Rick Howell

        Rick Howell writes in the 11/25th Bedford Bulletin that he knows more about Islam than Pat Robertson.

  • Task force will recommend economic...

    My top priority is jobs for Main Street and rebuilding America’s competitive edge in the world. Recently, I was selected for two congressional roles to advance the ball on economic development for Central and Southern Virginia. I was appointed to a Congressional Task Force on Job Creation and was also made Vice-Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee.

  • Common-sense solutions needed to...

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released November unemployment numbers.  For the second month in a row, the unemployment rate is at 10% -- the highest rate in 26 years.  Equally sobering is the fact that last month the national debt surpassed $12 trillion.

    Earlier this year, the Congress passed a one trillion dollar “stimulus” bill on the promise that it would create jobs immediately.  Instead, three million jobs have been lost since the so-called stimulus bill was signed into law. 

  • Wishing Obama’s plan was...

        Barack Obama’s principled opposition to the war in Iraq in 2008 gained him a lot of attention and a lot of support. For some people, it was the deciding factor in supporting him over other Democrats. He wasn’t tainted with having voted for the war.

        What some may not have noticed then, or perhaps don’t remember now, is that Obama always separated Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq, he said, was “a dumb war,” and “a war of choice,” the wrong choice. He never said those things about Afghanistan.

  • Sometimes you need a lawyer

        Liberals seem determined to take captive every thought that runs counter to their ideology, and suppress it. This can often lead to conflicts such as the one the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is having with the Washington D. C. City Council.

        Not all conflicts, however, are that bad and some may simply be a case of a misunderstanding on the part of government officials. One such situation happened here in Bedford County a few years ago.

  • Climate change scientists cook the...

    Last week’s revelation that leading scientists with the global warming movement have been cooking the books to support their “scientific consensus” that planet earth is heading towards an apocalyptic end if changes aren’t made should make this nation take pause — including Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello.

  • Letters

    Prejudice and paranoia

        It is not an easy thing I ask.  First of all, hear me out.

        The Confederate battle flag [rebel flag] was used in the 19th century as the banner of a people who fought primarily for their freedom from the oppression[financial, social, and otherwise] of a northern neighbor.  Many Virginians were a part of this cause.  This cause was lost. Every April 15 we are reminded of this.

  • Health care reform will pass

        It was indeed a historic moment when the health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives, simply because corporate opposition and right-wing hysteria have always kept it from getting that far.

        It was President Harry Truman who first tried to institute universal health care. His plans were defeated by the American Medical Association, which trotted out some alleged quote from Lenin about the glories of “socialized medicine.”

  • Liberal intolerance

        The situation the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington D. C. may face shows the extent that liberal politicians will go to shove the homosexual agenda down our throats.

        Members of the Washington D. C. City Council are considering an ordinance that would legalize same-sex marriage in our nation’s capital. The ordinance goes beyond putting a government stamp of approval on these sort of couplings and this creates a problem for the Archdiocese of Washington.

  • With thanksgiving

    In any given year, the reality of life is that one enjoys both blessing and hardship, triumph and defeats.         Many times it is easier to recount the struggles, than to focus on the blessings. Let this week once again provide the impetus to focus on the blessings.    

  • Letters

    Getting the

    leftovers

        I am going to try to clear up this little matter about Bedford Primary School’s cafeteria floor. I’m one of the custodians at this school.

        Yes, we do need a gym. But we need to get it in a truthful way. But you do not have to bring the custodial staff down in the process. If Mrs. Owens worked a day in the custodian staff shoes, she would find that the comment she made about the cleanliness of the cafeteria floor was and is wrong!

  • McDonnell’s own Jeremiah...

        It didn’t take Pat Robertson long, did it?

        He couldn’t even wait until his younger protégé, Bob McDonnell, was sworn in as the next governor of Virginia before he put the spotlight on himself.

        In the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, Robertson took a new opportunity to make an ignorant and hateful remark about Muslims, something he’s done before. This time, though, he set a new standard in expressing his loathing for Islam.

  • Gone over the edge

        I’m still not sure what to make of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who allegedly killed 12 soldiers and one civilian employee of the Army at Fort Hood three weeks ago. I use the phrase “allegedly killed” because, under our legal system, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty in court.

  • The General Assembly should take a...

    ccidents happen.

        Sometimes those accidents can’t be avoided, but far too often they could have been. Reducing the speed on secondary roads in Virginia might help.

        The Bedford County Board of Supervisors plans to ask legislators to lower the speed limits on all secondary roads from 55 miles per hour to 45 mph, unless a different speed is posted. That change could potentially help save lives in Bedford County and across the commonwealth.

        It’s a request worthy of consideration.

  • Letters

    Festival of Trees

        When we moved here several years ago it was a pleasant surprise to see the signs, “Bedford, The Christmas Capital of Virginia.”

        We have enjoyed the display at the Elks Home and really appreciate the work involved for the wonderful display at Liberty Lake Park. What a treat for the children to see the Christmas Parade and enjoy the Buggy Rides in Centertown on Fridays.

  • Bill will extend Virginians&...

    I want to update Virginians on some of the efforts I am undertaking in Congress to get our economy back on track.

  • Health care reform: there is a...