Year: 2021

My post on the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Obamacare provoked a response which I feel compelled to share with you. It was submitted by Bill Potter, an attorney who spent twenty years as a member of a not for profit health care insurance company and a large multi-specialty physicians group. The system has about…

The lopsided 7-2 decision yesterday favoring the Affordable Care Act was a welcome relief and a signal that Obama’s healthcare program will be around for the foreseeable future. This is the third time that Obamacare has been upheld by the high court. It also has survived 63 challenges from Republicans in congress.The court specifically rejected…

If our gridlock politics were not enough, we have Joe Manchin playing the good guy and Mitch McConnell, as usual, playing the “grim reaper.” Both present insights into the state of Washington politics. If you take Senator Manchin at his word, he is trying to be the grown-up in the room seeking compromise and fair…

After a couple months of cool and stormy weather, summer has arrived with its usual blessings of easy living. The weather has gotten warmer along with sunny days. It’s time for porch sitting and hanging out in the White Pine Saloon in the evenings. I’ve finally gotten on top of needed work and the place…

I have enclosed Peggy Noonan’s piece from today’s Wall Street Journal as an example of what conservatives and others might say in response to my offer to print their take on the attack on the Capitol this past January. Noonan, as most of you know, is a conservative columnist who speaks plainly and tells the…

It would be helpful if the conservatives, Republicans and libertarians who read these pages might contribute a guest blog from time to time. There is a rich variety of thought out there on politics and contemporary events. While we frequently see things differently we can learn from one another and, in doing so, gain respect…

This was the front page headline in the Dahlonega Nugget, our local newspaper for Lumpkin County, Georgia. The subtitle was “Experts credit vaccine with reducing spread.” I believe this is true along with our habits of doing the right thing by wearing masks and being careful. It is wonderful news. It still confounds me, however,…

Some of the critics who read these pages – conservatives, Republicans and libertarians – seem obsessed with what they see as the threat of authoritarianism emerging on the Left side of politics. They complain about their usual punching bags, the media, the universities and other “elites,” whom they contend control everything from pop culture to…

There are many long term issues that need attention such as immigration, infrastructure, health care, gun carnage, climate change and new energy proposals that will not get fair and serious hearings in the present political climate. The same goes for long standing foreign policy decisions in regard to the Middle East and China. Unfortunately, most…

Tom Oliver, Betty’s cousin and a good pal, recently came up to Potlatch to hang out for a couple days. When he’s in town he frequently stops by with his Lab, Fischer, who is Rucker’s brother. It’s a reunion of sorts and always enjoyable for us and the dogs. This last trip he said something…