Neither Nursery nor Earth

Here’s a riddle: Where can one buy trees? Why, from government, of course.

Something to Tax More Next Round

To what state taxes are these subject?

Free Money from Pharmacies

Hendersonville is providing citizens discount cards for prescriptions. The article in the Times News is only a requirement for enrolling in the program. It took some digging to discover, but the cost of the reportedly free subsidy will be picked up by local pharmacies. The program is made available to municipalities that are members of the National League of Cities through CVS Caremark.

Pharmacies in the national discount network agree to absorb the cost of the discount. The benefit to the pharmacy of participating in the program is that it creates customer loyalty and increases store traffic.

Hypocrisy

It’s time to incriminate myself. It is somewhat difficult to survive in this “mixed economy” unless one is independently wealthy. My car broke down on the way to visit my parents. My wonderful parents were generous enough to help me with a new car, but my father, even though he owns Ford stock, wanted to get me a Federal Motors vehicle. As we hung out in the waiting room, people came and went, but the ongoing conversation was heated against the president’s radical nationalization activities. So, there we were, all knowing we had a problem, but unable to afford to pay the price of helping private corporations compete against government.

By Official Decree

The state of emergency declared for Watauga County was rescinded today. It had been declared by the county commissioners December 18, but only made headlines when it wasn’t rescinded after the pre-Christmas snowstorm.

Build It and . . . Woops!

Maggie Valley has hired a new director for its festival grounds. The town held off hiring yet another after the grounds fell short of anticipated profits. Taxpayers spent approximately $500,000 on the venue as government hoped to recover costs by booking high-draw acts. That was before the economic downturn.

Should Government Spend More on Energy Crops? Food Values? Diversity?

In past years, the Cooperative Extension has been faulted for lacking a mission and needing to survey the public for ideas about what it should be doing. This link may not work, so below are listed the needs from which respondents to Buncombe County’s survey are to select their priorities.

• Aging Issues
• Communication
• Household Maintenance
• Best Management Practices
• Farm Incubator
• Marketing
• Sustainable Commercial Landscapes
• Business Planning
• Value Added Agriculture
• Diversification of Existing Agribusinesses
• Tailgate Markets
• Agritourism
• Energy Crops
• Organic Production
• Educate Consumers on Value of Local Foods and Agriculture
• Fresh Produce Safety on the Farm
• Food Safety at Home (storage and preparation)
• Preserving and Canning Foods
• Safety, Health and Hygiene of Workers on the Farm and in Food Production
• Extension Community Association (ECA)
• Master Gardners [sic.]
• 4-H
• Civic Education
• Diversity
• Public Planning
• Policy Making
• Partnership Development
• Community Group Facilitation
• In-Door Air Quality
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Healthy Cooking and Eating
• Physical Activity
• Food Labels
• Nutrition
• Parenting Education
• Child Care Programming and Education
• Family Stress
• Child Development
• Out Door Learning Environments
• Spending and Budgeting Plans
• Planning for Emergencies
• Identity Theft
• Financial Goal Setting
• Food Availability for Low Income Families
• Home Energy Conservation
• Water Quality
• Air Quality
• Pesticide Safety
• Youth Environmental Programs
• Farmland Preservation
• Septic Systems and/or Private Wells
• Land Use Conservation
• Environmentally Sound Landscape Management
• Plant Selection
• Home Fruit and Vegetable Production
• Community/School Gardens
• Indoor and Outdoor Pest Management
• Water Conservation

Small Government Decisions with Big Repercussions

January 2, Buncombe County will change waste collectors. What seems a small thing was devastating for GDS, which had had a contract for multiple residential collections in the county. GDS was stuck raising rates on its remaining customers.

Nobody Wants to Pay for It

Even the New York Times is writing articles opposing healthcare reform. They claim states with generous governmental contributions to healthcare will suffer under the Senate’s bill, as they will get no more perks, but will have to pay for other states’ socialization. The article even refers to Congress’ actions as

moving toward universal health insurance coverage in large part by expanding Medicaid,

though they may have meant it as a compliment.

On Perpetual Motion

One problem with sin taxes is they are unsustainable. Government should not make itself dependent on a revenue stream from an activity it wants to prevent. Carbon taxes should only be approved by persons who want to reduce the size of government. One would also expect persons advocating healthcare reform dependent on soaking the rich, a class government is intent on destroying, to want minimal government involvement in the process.