The Virginian-Pilot
© February 21, 2011
Living on borrowed time
Re 'Cuts not slashes,' front page, Feb. 15: Reading about the federal budget was like getting hit upside the head with a tire iron. The administration plans to spend $3.7 trillion, with projected revenues of only $2.6 trillion.
Really?
If one were to apply this strange math to a typical Hampton Roads family, it would be hard to explain how a family earning $80,000 per year could possibly survive while spending $114,000. Anyone able to understand budgeting knows this will result in bankruptcy for the family and, inevitably, for the nation as well.
So what can be done?
The biggest slices of the spending pie are entitlements. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid eat up 41 percent of the federal budget. So it stands to reason that our politicians should be talking about entitlement reform, right?
Wrong!
Even though a family spending $114k (while earning only $80k) will walk a short road to bankruptcy, it appears that most of our politicians can't apply the same reasoning. It's time to increase the Social Security retirement age and apply means testing to qualify needful beneficiaries.
Perhaps it's not fair for a person to pay more than 15 percent of what he earns over the course of his life and then get nothing in return, but the reality is that disability insurance, survivor benefits and a lifetime-income-safety-net have untold value. It's kind of like car insurance for someone who never has an accident.
We must have entitlement reform before we bankrupt our country. Our politicians surely must know this.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 15, 2010
RE 'PRIVATE liquor stores and public roads,' op-ed column by Gov. Bob McDonnell, Sept. 10:
I'm from one of the 32 states with private liquor stores, not ABC-run outlets as in Virginia. By all means, Virginia should end its active role in the distribution of distilled spirits. But after reading McDonnell's column, it seems the political pendulum has swung too far to the right. 'A large amount of the 1,000 licenses will likely be purchased by stores that already sell beer and wine,' the governor wrote.
Does that mean I'm going to walk into Walmart and see Jim Beam sold on the shelf next to the soda? If so, we are going from 322 ABC stores that effectively made the purchase of hard liquor an adult endeavor to the desensitization of our young people who prowl the aisles of Walmart. Let's get the state out of the business of booze, but please don't make it so mainstream that it is being sold at the local supermarket.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
© September 15, 2010
RE 'PRIVATE liquor stores and public roads,' op-ed column by Gov. Bob McDonnell, Sept. 10:
I'm from one of the 32 states with private liquor stores, not ABC-run outlets as in Virginia. By all means, Virginia should end its active role in the distribution of distilled spirits. But after reading McDonnell's column, it seems the political pendulum has swung too far to the right. 'A large amount of the 1,000 licenses will likely be purchased by stores that already sell beer and wine,' the governor wrote.
Does that mean I'm going to walk into Walmart and see Jim Beam sold on the shelf next to the soda? If so, we are going from 322 ABC stores that effectively made the purchase of hard liquor an adult endeavor to the desensitization of our young people who prowl the aisles of Walmart. Let's get the state out of the business of booze, but please don't make it so mainstream that it is being sold at the local supermarket.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
Monday, July 6, 2009
Too Much Smog on CO2
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 6, 2009
Too much smog on CO2
The cap-and-trade bill passed by the U.S. House is generally based on the 'science' that the world must curb carbon dioxide emissions or face the consequences of global warming.
I'm not arguing the Earth isn't warming and that CO2 levels aren't rising. As an environmentalist, I'm concerned that the focus on CO2 a clear, odorless gas that we exhale, which is essential to all plant life has taken our eyes off other issues like toxins, soil erosion, animal waste runoff, ocean pollution, species loss, heavy metals, trace pharmaceutical drugs in our water supply, etc. It would be tragic to see the latter list of issues mar our planet (and therefore our lives) irreversibly while we continue to debate and legislate a single focal point: CO2.
Cap and trade is serious, long-lasting legislation that will adversely impact everyone's wallet. The bill declares that CO2 emissions must be curbed through taxation to spur development of alternate sources of renewable, non-CO2-emitting energy sources in order to save the planet.
In consideration of other pollution woes and the cost of implementing cap and trade, I believe working to fully understand what caused the last four climate changes on Earth makes more sense than proclaiming CO2 guilty; new evidence suggests it may in fact be an innocent bystander.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
© July 6, 2009
Too much smog on CO2
The cap-and-trade bill passed by the U.S. House is generally based on the 'science' that the world must curb carbon dioxide emissions or face the consequences of global warming.
I'm not arguing the Earth isn't warming and that CO2 levels aren't rising. As an environmentalist, I'm concerned that the focus on CO2 a clear, odorless gas that we exhale, which is essential to all plant life has taken our eyes off other issues like toxins, soil erosion, animal waste runoff, ocean pollution, species loss, heavy metals, trace pharmaceutical drugs in our water supply, etc. It would be tragic to see the latter list of issues mar our planet (and therefore our lives) irreversibly while we continue to debate and legislate a single focal point: CO2.
Cap and trade is serious, long-lasting legislation that will adversely impact everyone's wallet. The bill declares that CO2 emissions must be curbed through taxation to spur development of alternate sources of renewable, non-CO2-emitting energy sources in order to save the planet.
In consideration of other pollution woes and the cost of implementing cap and trade, I believe working to fully understand what caused the last four climate changes on Earth makes more sense than proclaiming CO2 guilty; new evidence suggests it may in fact be an innocent bystander.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 17, 2008
It's not a tough call
Re 'How he died denies Marine recognition from state,' front page, Nov. 12: Seriously, are you kidding me? A Marine dies when his helicopter goes down in an Iraqi sandstorm, and he is not afforded the honor of being included on the Virginia War Memorial?
I served eight years in the Navy and never came remotely close to combat; during Desert Shield, my ship was in dry-dock while Desert Storm was under way, defending against engineering inspectors.
I can see how someone might not consider me a veteran because I never 'fought,' but telling parents their son or daughter died in a combat zone but will not be included on the state's war memorial is something even the 11-year-old sitting across from me at the breakfast table knows is just wrong.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
© November 17, 2008
It's not a tough call
Re 'How he died denies Marine recognition from state,' front page, Nov. 12: Seriously, are you kidding me? A Marine dies when his helicopter goes down in an Iraqi sandstorm, and he is not afforded the honor of being included on the Virginia War Memorial?
I served eight years in the Navy and never came remotely close to combat; during Desert Shield, my ship was in dry-dock while Desert Storm was under way, defending against engineering inspectors.
I can see how someone might not consider me a veteran because I never 'fought,' but telling parents their son or daughter died in a combat zone but will not be included on the state's war memorial is something even the 11-year-old sitting across from me at the breakfast table knows is just wrong.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Are you happy?
I was reading the other day that Steve Irwin's widow, Terri, when asked what she missed most about Steve and she thought and replied that he was fun...
Try to do something fun each and every day.
Try to do something fun each and every day.
Tuesday, July 16, 1996
The Virginian-Pilot © July 16, 1996 "VMI GROWS UP"
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 16, 1996
Carol Simpson, mother of a VMI cadet, attacked the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow women to attend VMI (letter, July 17).
Speaking from experience, VMI is in for significant changes. As a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a career officer for more than eight years, I can testify that women have served and will continue to serve our country with honor and distinction. The idea that a female pilot can be blown out of the sky but shouldn't be allowed to "break out" as a VMI rat is ludicrous. Most of the harassment and hazing that Mrs. Simpson thinks are so critical to the development of the VMI cadet have nothing to do with the founding traditions of VMI. Its roots can be traced back to the admission of Ivy League students who brought with them their associated fraternal "birth right," of the freshman initiation. That's where the negative "bonding" comes from that Mrs. Simpson so easily associates with character development.
Yes, VMI is going to change. Women's heads will not be shaved clean. And women will not be required to run as fast, jump as high or do as many push-ups as male cadets. So what?
What VMI will become is a taxpayer-supported school providing the best education and military indoctrination possible, a unique and very different education experience offered to all members of our society, not just young men.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach, VA
© July 16, 1996
Headine: VMI GROWS UP
Carol Simpson, mother of a VMI cadet, attacked the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow women to attend VMI (letter, July 17).
Speaking from experience, VMI is in for significant changes. As a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a career officer for more than eight years, I can testify that women have served and will continue to serve our country with honor and distinction. The idea that a female pilot can be blown out of the sky but shouldn't be allowed to "break out" as a VMI rat is ludicrous. Most of the harassment and hazing that Mrs. Simpson thinks are so critical to the development of the VMI cadet have nothing to do with the founding traditions of VMI. Its roots can be traced back to the admission of Ivy League students who brought with them their associated fraternal "birth right," of the freshman initiation. That's where the negative "bonding" comes from that Mrs. Simpson so easily associates with character development.
Yes, VMI is going to change. Women's heads will not be shaved clean. And women will not be required to run as fast, jump as high or do as many push-ups as male cadets. So what?
What VMI will become is a taxpayer-supported school providing the best education and military indoctrination possible, a unique and very different education experience offered to all members of our society, not just young men.
David Beemer
Virginia Beach, VA
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