MedinaGazette (PDF)

lan’s a go, or goodbye).
Medinalittle
Gazette
w that precious
of 06/12/2013
more, the news of a mase National Security
ns’ communications is
a major pubic debate

was clear on the need for
r oversight in anti-terrorsident George W. Bush
snooping. Now President
ally inflated the probes,
ight, and failed to offer
ll open debate on how far
the government should

d, we know that the spehe Foreign Intelligence
d wide data collection
unications via email,
and more. The idea is
estigators to monitor
with individuals in the

one calls, like the imaginely overheard. Rather,
on data to seek unusual
nks between foreign terigators need court

es to this latest revelamphasis on foreign)
court get to order data
w does this jibe with
ons? How can Americans
l never be misused for
t minority groups or

ditions of this nation do
of information from
d guys. Normally, we
t suspects, ask for court
rmation, and proceed to
ollection is a radical
ctive in finding terror
how much privacy we
tempt to stay safe.
ngress and on Main
on, and Obama should

LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR

People must understand
that education is expensive

$14,000 (to say nothing of the associated
legal fees for which your district is doubtless now liable), which could have gone
I am writing in regard to the mean-spirtoward purchasing new desks, new comited witchhunt under way in the case of
puters or perhaps towards maintaining
Medina Superintendent Randy Stepp.
the aging infrastructure in our district —
For example, I find it quite difficult to
$14,000 wasted on an eminently pointless
believe that the proprietor of that despicable “Medina City Schools outrage” page witchhunt.
Does everyone see now? It requires
on Facebook truly has the best interests
money,
substantial amounts of money, to
of the students or taxpayers of Medina at
educate
your children in today’s world.
heart.
THOMAS PREBIS
At least not when, as was reported by
Medina
Kiera Manion-Fischer in The Gazette on
April 18, the mere audit of the county
Those who benefit from unions
education fund in question could cost
should pay dues like members
$14,000.
Though I retired from a union-repreKeep in mind, Medina: The overriding
sented
job more than 25 years ago, I find
point behind all of this faux outrage was
conservatives
ever determined to estabthe objection by one resident — not a
lish
even
more
starvation wage “opporteacher or school administrator himself,
tunities.” They did their best to prevent
just one ordinary Joe Schmo who hapthe strong union resurgence in the late
pens to reside within our city limits — to
1930s
near the end of the Great Depreswhat he perceived to be frivolous, nonsion. As a shop steward (Service
education-related expenditures on the
Employer International Union) during
part of the school board and Stepp, correct? And on what basis, I ask again, does the 1980s, we had achieved respectable
this rabble-rouser have any way of know- strength; but as I approached retirement
ing what passes for “normal” in the world I could see the beginning of the decline
through the strenuous efforts of the
of education?
rightest juggernaut.
This Facebook page alleges that Stepp
Now the “right-to-work” faction is bitwas “wasting” taxpayer funds left and
ing at our heels again in Ohio and it
right. Well, how does the owner of this
unsuccessfully does its best to make it
page feel now that the “investigation,”
sound logical and fair. They tout the
which his Facebook-inspired inquisition
produced, will likely now run the Medina maxion that as a free American you
should not have to join any organization
school district upward of $14,000? But
you reject — granted, but neither can
remind me, just what was the overriding
you expect benefits.
point of this contrived “outrage” again?
However, under what we of the 1980s
Indeed, it was saving the taxpayers of
had called an “agency shop,” no one was
Medina money, was it not?
required to join the union, but we
Don’t anyone forget now, that is

required they pay for the repre
they received. By law, these no
had to receive at contract time
raises, pension or health benef
paying members received. So w
should they not pay for their re
tion?
Nothing is more appealing t
corporations who gain overwh
control of wages and benefits w
have a divided workforce, som
for their benefits and some fre
And there are some employers
only happy when they can pre
union representation whatsoe
know who they are; no need to
here.
BUZ C
Yor

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Government can’t be truste
W

ithout the slightest hint of
irony, President Barack Obama
said last week, “If people can’t
trust not only the executive branch but
also don’t trust Congress, and don’t trust
federal judges, to make sure that we’re
any of the overreaching
abiding by the Constitution with due
warning judicial overprocess and rule of law, then we’re going
nal act, as were adequate
to have some problems here.”
data requests in the later
Yes we are, because more and more of
blic worried about govus don’t trust government. In fact,
according to the Pew Research Center
rary transactions. Today,
for the People and the Press, “trust in
Copyright © 2013 Medinathe
Gazette
06/12/2013
federal
government remains mired
revents “unreasonable
near a historic low, while frustration
c requirements for warwith government remains high.” Fur-

We have an “on the one han
the other hand” attitude abou
On the one hand we want to b
the other hand we don’t like go
intruding on our rights becaus
we’ve
lost them, they will be d
CAL THOMAS
regain. The notion that we sho
ment wants to insert itself into our
government is foolish and dan
health care. Government does few
Government officials, like all h
things well, but it does them at great
beings, have the capacity to do
expense.
as well as right. That’s why the
A loss of some privacy was supposed
gave us a Constitution, to con
to be the price we had to pay for secuernment that “the blessings of
June 12,
2013 2:03
rity following 9/11. Obama
declared
thepm / Powered by TECNAVIA
might be secured.
war against terrorism over, but the surHere’s some history for thos
veillance expanded. Now, it seems there
missed it in history class: “The