Views

Opinion: What a difference four years can make

Details

Tuesday, 04 February 2025

Written by Mary Zahran

As I watched Donald Trump take the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States, something many Americans thought would never happen, I felt an overwhelming sense of amazement and gratitude.
I was amazed because Trump's return to the White House was American history's most astonishing political comeback. I was grateful because Trump promised to reverse the dangerous, costly policies and gross abuses of power we have endured for the last four years.
Four years ago, many Americans felt relief when Joe Biden became the president because they believed he offered them a calmer and more secure country in contrast to what they saw as the political and social chaos that dominated much of Trump's first administration.
Some of us, however, believed that Biden's presidency would be detrimental to our country because of the Democratic party's shift to the left. This movement was on full display during much of Trump's first term and especially during the summer of 2020 when there were riots throughout our country because of George Floyd's death.
Although Biden campaigned as a moderate and a unifier, many of us had seen enough of his party and its deep hatred of Trump and his supporters to know they had no intention of being either moderate or unifying.
They had a radical agenda and found a man so desperate to be the president that he would support any policy, no matter how extreme, in exchange for the White House. Biden was far more interested in obtaining power than doing what was best for the American people.
And so began four years of the very same political and social chaos many Americans hoped to escape by voting Trump out and replacing him with Biden. Unfortunately, they would soon learn what Biden and the Democratic party had in store for them.
On his first day as president, Biden signed several executive orders that immediately set the tone for the next four years for Americans. He froze student loan payments and revoked the Keystone pipeline permit, costing thousands of Americans high-paying jobs.
He issued stricter emissions and fuel economy standards for vehicles. He stopped the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. He issued an order that stopped discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in violation of Title IX; a law passed in 1972 that led to the creation of women's sports.
In a single day, Biden released students from repaying money they owed to taxpayers, dealt the fossil fuel industry a serious blow, opened our border and invited the whole world in without any vetting or likelihood of deportation, and enabled biological males to compete against biological females in sporting events.
By contrast, on the first day of his second term, Trump issued entirely different executive orders. He issued an order ending federal censorship and established the Department of Government Efficiency to track fiscal abuse and reduce government size.
He ended a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy, commonly known as DEI, and returned the merit system to the hiring process in government. He ordered all federal employees to return to work in their offices instead of working remotely.
Trump declared a national energy emergency to permit the fossil fuel industry to refine more oil and gas. He secured the borders by telling border agents to deport migrants without granting asylum claims, and he designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
And last but not least, he signed an order stating that the federal government recognizes only two genders—male and female.
The differences between these presidents cannot be more obvious. For the last four years, we endured an administration determined to impose its radical agenda on us, no matter what the consequences. Biden did not care a bout our safety or our financial hardships. He only cared about his power as president.
Unlike Biden, Trump's only concern is for the welfare of the American people. He ran for the second time, hoping to reverse the course our country has been on for the past four years, and he will work tirelessly to achieve that. Trump refers to his second term as the beginning of a "Golden Age," in which we will accomplish extraordinary things.
With Trump at the helm, I would say that such an age is possible.

Editor's Note: The views expressed in this article are those of Mary Zahran and do not reflect the views of all of the staff at Up & Coming Weekly.
Up & Coming Weekly encourages editorials from the community, and will print letters to the editor as long as they are not submitted anonymously.

Bitcoins: The story of the origin of the species

Details

Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Written by Pitt Dickey

Have you ever wondered what Bitcoin is? Where it came from? Where it is going? Is it too late to buy some before it collapses? You have come to the right place. The Brothers Grimm explained it all in their story “The Donkey Cabbage.” No need to pay a broker to obtain Bitcoins. All you need is a Magic Wishing Cloak and willingness to swallow the heart of a bird. Intrigued on how to get rich quickly? Keep reading.
Once upon a time a young man went out into the forest to go hunting. He came across an old woman who was weak and hungry. She asked for spare change which he gave her. In return, she told him to look for a tree with nine birds fussing over a cloak. She said: “Shoot into the middle of the birds. They will drop the cloak and one will fall dead. Cut the bird open and eat its heart. Make a wish and the cloak will take you anywhere. The bird’s heart will create a gold coin under your pillow each night.” The Hunter did so, getting the cloak and a growing pile of gold. (Author’s note: This is where Bitcoin comes from- magic money from a dead bird’s heart.)
When the Hunter had a big pile of coins he decided to see the world. He came on a castle where he met a witch and her beautiful daughter. The witch knew about the heart of gold and wanted it. Naturally, the Hunter became besotted, falling in love with her daughter. The witch made a potion and forced her daughter to get the Hunter to drink it. After drinking it, he became sick, vomited out the bird’s heart, and passed out. The girl washed off the heart and ate it.
Getting daily gold Bitcoins wasn’t enough for the witch. She wanted the Wishing Cloak too. She made her daughter pretend sadness. The Hunter asked her what was wrong. She told him she wished for the jewels on Mount Garnet but it was too far away to get them. The Hunter wrapped both of them in the Wishing Cloak and away they went to Mount Garnet. Unfortunately, the witch put a spell on the Hunter causing him to fall asleep on the mountain. Daughter gathered up a passel of jewels, wrapped herself in the cloak, and wished herself back to the castle. The Hunter woke up alone. He realized he had been betrayed by a woman. This was the only known time a man has ever been fooled by a female.
The Hunter climbed to the top of the mountain. He rode a cloud back to a garden near the castle. There were two kinds of cabbage in the garden, pointy and round. He ate the pointy cabbage and turned into a donkey. He then ate the round cabbage and turned back into himself. He took both cabbages with him and went to the castle. He told the witch the pointy cabbage was delicious. The witch and daughter ate it. Both turned into donkeys. Happy with his revenge, the Hunter gave the donkeys to a miller, conditioned on the miller beating the old donkey 3 times a day and never beating the younger donkey.
The Miller did as he was told. The Hunter went to live in the castle. Eventually, the miller came to the castle with the younger donkey. The old donkey had died and the young donkey wouldn’t work. The Hunter took back the younger donkey and gave her the round cabbage. She turned back into the beautiful girl. She apologized for tricking the Hunter, explaining her Mom made her do it. The Hunter, being still in love with her, forgave her. Men are dolts. She offered to take a magic potion to vomit up the bird heart so the Hunter could eat it to get the Bitcoins for himself. He refused because he wanted to marry her. Once wed, all the coins would be marital property anyway. They got married shortly afterward and lived very happily until they died.
Now you know where Bitcoins come from. A witch’s daughter near the Chinese Garnet Mountain swallowed a bird’s heart to produce the first Bitcoins. Bitcoin alleged “experts” tell a science fairy tale about Bitcoins coming from mining blockchains, whatever that is. Their explanation is hooey. The truth is, Bitcoins are magic. They are created in the Cloud due to herds of witches’ daughters ingesting bird hearts. Bitcoins will only crash if we run out of witches’ daughters. Feel free to invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Federal pause: States should reclaim responsibilities

Details

Tuesday, 04 February 2025

Written by John Hood

Reacting a few days ago to President Donald Trump’s brief attempt to suspend payment on a broad swath of federal grants, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer warned that “virtually any organization, school, state, police office, county, town or community depends on federal grant money to run its day-to-day operations, and they’re all now in danger.”
North Carolina’s new attorney general, Jeff Jackson joined others in challenging the Trump policy, issued by a U.S. Office of Management & Budget memo on January 27 and withdrawn (sort of) two days later. Jackson called the administration’s “sudden freeze in federal funding” so “sweeping that it could cause widespread and immediate harm across our state — delaying disaster recovery in our western counties, undercutting law enforcement, and affecting children and veterans.”
While it is OMB’s responsibility to ensure that federal grants are authorized by law and properly expended, I won’t defend the administration’s shambolic performance. The memo should have been more clearly worded and its import clearly understood by Trump’s own officials.
Nevertheless, the episode could have a salutary effect — because Schumer and Jackson are largely correct. Federal funds do play a huge role in the day-to-day operations of many state, local, and private agencies. That’s a big problem.
For starters, Washington is careening wildly toward fiscal crisis. We can’t just keep running massive deficits. The ratio of federal debt to gross domestic product is already higher than it’s ever been outside of wartime or the Great Depression. For North Carolina policymakers to expect an uninterrupted flow of (borrowed) federal funds is foolish. At some point, preferably sooner rather than later, Congress and the White House will have to act.
Even if you think they should hike taxes, the proceeds won’t come anywhere close to closing deficits denominated in trillions of dollars. Nor will Washington politicians slash Social Security and Medicare benefits for most seniors — wealthy retirees, don’t be so sure — or defense spending. Indeed, international events will likely compel America to spend vastly more on our military, not less.
That means virtually all other categories of federal expenditure, from housing and infrastructure to education and social services, must shrink. This isn’t ideology. It’s math. Federal funds comprise about a third of North Carolina’s state budget and smaller but significant shares of local budgets. These practices are fiscally unsustainable.
Although the arithmetic case for federal retrenchment is strong, I find another argument more compelling. Washington should never have been funding transportation, housing, education, and social services in the first place. These are state and local responsibilities, not federal ones. The United States Constitution only authorizes Congress to levy taxes and spend money on a specific list of truly national functions.
Past politicians pretended otherwise. They cited passages from Article 1, Section 8 conferring on Congress the power to levy taxes to “provide for the general welfare” and to “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution” the powers otherwise specified. But these clauses were intended as limitations, not expansions — as secure fetters, not elastic bands. The “specification of particulars” in Section 8, wrote Alexander Hamilton, “evidently excludes all pretension to a general legislative authority, because an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd as well as useless if a general authority was intended.”
One of the document’s framers, James Madison, explained that the general-welfare language was lifted from the previous Articles of Confederation and intended to limit the new government’s role to purely national functions. “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare,” he wrote, “the government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions.”
Under no circumstances should the ordinary operation of state and local government be contingent on federal funding (or borrowing, in this case). North Carolinians should take back these responsibilities, as should our peers elsewhere.
No, it can’t be done overnight. But it must be done.

Editor’s Note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His books Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk combine epic fantasy with American history (FolkloreCycle.com).

Publisher's Pen: Note to City & County: Binary thinking is stinkin thinkin!

Details

Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Written by Bill Bowman

Everyone seems to be very excited about what the New Year will bring. I sure am, especially if our elected officials follow their promises of cooperation and work together for a better, more secure, and prosperous America.
Over the last two decades, America's two-party political system has deteriorated practically beyond recognition. Gradually, our government's responsibilities and loyalties to the American people have shifted to the political parties at all levels, national and local.
We must get our government back on the right track of being responsive to the people at all government levels, not to themselves. This writer believes binary thinking has plagued and infected all levels of the political process.
For those unfamiliar with binary thinking, it's "black or white" thinking that involves categorizing ideas, people, and situations into two distinct opposite groups where compromise is absent. This thinking only acknowledges two non-compromising possibilities and seldom produces positive results, with no results in many cases.
It also dramatically increases the chances of misjudging a person's true character.
As an example of binary thinking, sometimes, we use a single issue or trait of a person to write that person off. Perfect examples are "all Republicans are evil right-wing fanatics," or "all Democrats are progressive left-wing extremists."
This is not the case. People and issues are sometimes highly complex, and we need to take the time to listen, understand, and respect their perspectives. This is the opposite of binary thinking. People are different, and they have different views and insights.
As Americans, we should be more tolerant and respectful and never end up hating someone just because they don't think like we do. Just because we may feel someone's views on a particular issue or subject are terrible doesn't mean that person is terrible. All of us have different ideologies.
Just because your ideology doesn't mirror someone else's doesn't mean that person is not worthy of your friendship and respect. We must get away from this "all or nothing" mindset to benefit from all citizens' ideas, innovations, and knowledge.
Historically, this kind of "binary thinking" has plagued the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County over the past five decades, hindering growth and prosperity, fostering poor (and sometimes corrupt) leadership, and keeping the entire Fayetteville/Cumberland County community from reaching its full potential.
Fayetteville and Cumberland County need more "critical thinking." Both have significant challenges that can be dealt with swiftly and effectively if the two governing bodies collaborate harmoniously, sharing ideas, solutions, and resources that serve and benefit all citizens.
An added benefit from this positive and cooperative relationship would be it would radiate out to all citizens. Fayetteville is a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
However, I have heard people say, "Fayetteville is its own worst enemy" way too many times. I believe that is caused primarily by two things: One: Binary thinking. We must be more tolerant and respectful of other people's views and opinions and not judge their worth on one issue or viewpoint.
Two: Fayetteville and Cumberland County do an abysmal job telling their story. We do not promote our community, local amenities, achievements, or accomplishments, nor do we celebrate our quality of life. As a result, we let others set our narrative with only negative news reaching the ears of residents and visitors. Up & Coming Weekly has been working to combat this, but we cannot do it alone.
Let this be the year our City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County elected officials and staff exert effort to stifle binary thinking and work together to face this growing community's challenges.
We are off to a great start.
Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly, Fayetteville and Cumberland County's community newspaper.