• Kudzu and politics synonymous

Kudzu is taking over our country. In some parts, the take over is already complete. Whoa — just a minute, give me time. I’ll bet that some of you are already jumping ahead and are visualizing the parallel between kudzu and the morass or quagmire that we find our country in today. Easy parallel — right?

Right. Kudzu was brought into this country to aid in controlling erosion and it has done just that. I remember it in the ’40s and ’50s. If not contained, it literally spreads like wildfire and will quickly consume the entire country side. The present administration was elected to control erosion but its performance is suspect at best.

Our government is infested with kudzu. It’s not a Democratic thing nor a Republican thing nor a black thing nor white thing. Neither did it just happen during Bush’s term either — it goes back many decades. Like kudzu, it began insidiously — nobody noticed at first. Later on, maybe somebody did notice it spread but did nothing about it. Leave it alone — someone else may see it and do something. That’s how it started. Now then, add greed, dishonesty, selfishness, corruption, power (lots of power) and all the other adjectives you can think of. In that environment, people began to think that maybe I can get by with anything I would like to do because nobody will notice. That prevailing attitude has brought us up to the circumstances that we find ourselves in today. Kudzu and politics are synonymous.

Americans, not Democrats nor Republicans, have got to stop this erosion of the principles and values that have made our country great. Millions have paid the ultimate price to establish this process which we all cherish. Yes, we have finally noticed and are going to stop the kudzu. Do your part. Don’t just belly-ache, do something. God bless America.

W. Troy Tolbert

Valdosta

Brig Gen., USAF (ret)

• The mother of all unfunded mandates

Jimmy Carter, big media and many liberal politicians have been quick to condemn President Obama’s conservative critics as “un-American” and even “racist.” But would they label fellow Democrats the same? Governor Phil Bredesen (D-TN) may find out soon enough. He has been an outspoken critic of the huge costs of ObamaCare for some time.

ObamaCare will be implemented by opening up Medicaid to virtually everyone. The Washington Post recently described ObamaCare as “the biggest expansion of Medicaid since its creation in 1965.” The problem is that the cost of Medicaid is shared between the federal government and the states. And Washington’s plan to turn Medicaid into ObamaCare has virtually every governor and state legislator panicking.

Back in July, Gov. Bredesen called the plan, “the mother of all unfunded mandates.” How does he feel now, with unemployment creeping toward 10 percent? The Post quotes Bredesen as saying, “I can’t think of a worse time for this bill to be coming. … nobody’s going to put their state into bankruptcy or their education system in the tank for it.”

Bredesen is right. The bill is “the mother of all unfunded mandates.” He notes that if the bill passes, Tennessee can expect a billion dollars in extra Medicaid costs in the first five years alone, and says, “I have no idea how we’re going to afford it.”

Unfortunately, I know exactly what will happen: Our taxes will go up. Virtually every state in the union operates on a balanced budget, and if the liberal Democrats in Congress pass ObamaCare, state budgets will explode, as will tax rates.