Columnists

The TSA Controversy

So, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is instituting new screening procedures for the flying public. One method involves a sort of X-ray that is apparently pretty revealing. The other is an “enhanced pat-down.” Plenty of people are terribly upset about this claiming that the procedures violate privacy and are a violation of the 4th Amendment prohibitions against unlawful search and seizure. I am not among those people. Read More»

Fiddling while America burns

Count me as a conservative pleased at the results of the recent election, but fully expecting to be disappointed by my own Republican Party.

How many struggles between Republicans and Democrats will be over foundation issues that really matter? Who will take up the cause of regaining control over a bloated and arrogant federal government that uses the fig leaf of the Commerce Clause to justify reaching into every crevice of our lives? Who will champion returning the federal government to the constraints of its enumerated powers in the constitution? Probably nobody. Read More»

Deflation vs. Dead man walking

[Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.]

To Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, deflation is regarded as Public Enemy Number One.

In the words of New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, the “real [economic] threat is deflation.” Krugman advocates additional and even more aggressive government deficit spending. Read More»

With incoming governor, it’s time for ‘New Deal’ in criminal justice

Georgia’s Governor-elect Nathan Deal has earned his stripes as a tough-as-nails prosecutor who rightly noted on the campaign trail that he put many rapists in prison where they belong. At the same time, prosecutors in Georgia and around the nation also see up close the many low-level, nonviolent offenders who cycle through the system. Read More»

Is the American Dream ended? And who's to blame?

For generations, parents have told their children about “The American dream.” Basically it has meant building a life based on the foundational principles that created and have sustained America for more than 200 years. By doing so, one might reasonably expect a new generation to achieve a better life than their parents and grandparents experienced.

But what defines “better”? In modern times it has been defined as achieving greater prosperity and consuming more material goods. Read More»

Bill O’Reilly takes a stab at answering query, ‘Who is Barack Obama?’

Is Barack Obama a socialist? A Muslim? Anti-American? Pro-Palestinian? Or just a man who is right sometimes and wrong most of the time? Bill O’Reilly opts for the second option in his new book, “Pinheads and Patriots.”

Bill rigorously focuses on what President Obama does, not on who he is. He refuses to speculate about motivation, preferring instead the more solid ground of observing and frequently condemning his policies. The whole is never larger than the sum of its parts in O’Reilly’s book. In fact, they’re not really added up at all. Read More»

Despite bad idea of extending Ga. 400 toll, more toll roads in Ga. should be considered

Who said Georgia’s policy-makers aren’t into railroads? Not those who watched in September as two transportation agencies railroaded passage of a 10-year extension of the 50 cents toll on Georgia 400. The surprise move seriously diminished the lure of toll roads for metro Atlanta. Commuters, taxpayers and policy-makers must hope, however, that the bad taste will recede: The concept has to survive.

Tolls are not just a source of funding as the impact of the gas tax shrinks. They are also a tool for congestion mitigation. Read More»

What’s next for USA? Better fasten seatbelt

The Republican Party, with the help of the Tea Party, swept the House of Representatives with a massive pickup of at least 60 seats. The Federal Reserve made another historic announcement with its $600-billion “Quantitative Easing” program (QE2). The October non-farm payroll number came in at a positive 151,000, and the unemployment number remained elevated at 9.6 percent for the month.

All of this transpired in the course of one week. So, what’s next? Hold on to your seats. Consider the following: Read More»

Blessed by the hard times . . .

Daddy always believed that the good Lord should be thanked for the hard times as much as He was praised for the good times.

Every Thanksgiving meal, as well as our regular Sunday dinners, was blessed by the patriarch of our family with a prayer that included Daddy’s humble voice saying, “Lord, thank you for the trials and tribulations of this old life, knowing that those trying times draw us nearer to thy almighty hand.” Read More»

Here, Gene Autry is singing ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’

WEST POINT — The dateline is misleading. West Point is about seven or eight miles from The Crossroads Store, an antiques enclave that pretty much straddles the Harris and Troup County lines.

A flyer notes that “The old rock store at Jones Crossroads has been at the center of rural commerce in this area since 1903.” It is located at the intersection of Ga. highways 18 and 219. I came this way taking a shortcut from I-185, near Pine Mountain, to LaGrange. When I spied two oldtimers sitting in the afternoon sun on the front porch of the old store, I knew I had to take a closer look. Read More»

Loran Smith's blog
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