I’m often accused of being overly critical of the Obama administration.
But any criticisms I’ve ever made regarding our government have always been done on an equal opportunity basis. Truth is, I’m loyal to no political party. To quote Carlton Ridenhour, “neither party is mine, not the Jackass or the Elephant.”
I have no time for partisan buffoonery, and I have no interest in supporting a corrupt two-party system designed to deter the the magnificence of democracy. However, on the rare occasion I find myself in agreement with a lawmaker, on either side of the aisle, I don’t make it a secret. Certainly my long history of support for Congressman Ron Paul is proof of that.
And today, I’m writing to show my support of a plan offered by President Obama that could help reduce the deficit by about $25 billion. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, that’s not a lot. But certainly every bit helps.
Turns out, President Obama is proposing a review of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that could lead to the privatization of this US-owned power company.
Now the TVA was created in 1933 in an effort to bring electricity to rural communities and reduce the risk of flooding in those regions. It was actually an integral part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Since then, however, many conservatives have fought to turn over this program to the private sector, including President Reagan and President Eisenhower, who, incidentally, called the TVA, “creeping socialism.”
Truth is, the private sector could run the TVA much more efficiently and economically than the government. So when I heard that President Obama had proposed the review and possible sale of the TVA, I was pleased, but admittedly, a bit shocked, too. Of course, what wasn’t so shocking is that a handful of Republican lawmakers who regularly wave the flag of fiscal conservatism blasted the proposal – showing their true colors like the bureaucratic chameleons they really are. (My colleague likes to call them Socialist Republicans)
Senator Lamar Alexander said it was one more bad idea in a budget full of bad ideas, and attempted to scare folks by claiming that it could lead to higher electricity rates for customers. Of course, he provided no evidence, because that’s what they do.
And Representative John Duncan from Tennessee told reporters that privatizing TVA has been proposed before and was determined to be a very bad idea. I would love to review the data on that, and more importantly, find out who provided it.
No, in this instance, I’m going with Obama on this one, and would suggest he take this one step further by also proposing to privatize the postal service and Amtrak as well.
After all, as my father used to say, either do it right or don’t do it.
The truth is, this could be the start of something positive. But make no mistake about it, without a proper finish, starting is pointless. So it should be interesting to see if those “Socialist Republicans” do end putting the kibosh on this proposal. We’ll soon find out.
