December 15, 2004
COMMENTARY: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, Part IV
by David M. Kinchen
Editor, Bluefield News Network
Hinton (BNN)
-- At my last newspaper, the editorial page staff periodically
published a useful commentary column involving thumbs: Up
for good, Down for bad. I’m using this format, which
is offered in many variations at various magazines and newspapers,
to comment on some recent news items or events. This is the
fourth installment of an occasional series.
THUMBS DOWN to
the Bush Administration for thinking that the stock market
will bail out a Social Security system that may not need bailing
out after all. A commentary by Edmund L. Andrews in the Dec.
12, 2004 New York Times asks the question if stocks are such
a great idea, why doesn’t the federal government sell
bonds at 3 percent and buy stocks that yield 7 percent? In
addition to the Kool Aid that must be served at government
cafeterias, the “experts” in charge of privatizing
a part of Social Security have been issued rose-colored glasses.
I cashed in my modest 401(k) in 1999, when I could do it without
paying a penalty. If I had kept the $15,000 or so account
open, by 2001 it would have been worth $5,000 at most—probably
even less. What part of stupid don’t you understand?
Stocks pay a higher return because they’re riskier than
bonds. End of Economics 101 lecture. I’m old enough
at 66 to have lived through several recessions and various
stock market malfunctions. The Social Security system will
be 70 years old next year and many economists predict it will
be on a sound financial footing for more than 50 years in
the future. Andrews in the Times piece makes this point, highly
relevant in a state where many people are receiving monthly
railroad retirement pensions – a parallel system to
Social Security: ”The Social Security Administration's
analyses do include lengthy disclaimers, noting that the projected
returns are highly ‘sensitive’ to what happens
in the markets.”
“But other government
analysts take a much more conservative approach,” he
continues. “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,
which is run by a former chief economist in President Bush's
own Council of Economic Advisers, assumes that equities and
bonds will earn no more than Treasury bonds. Strikingly, the
White House's own Office of Management and Budget recently
made the same assumption. The issue was not Social Security
but rather the projected growth of assets in the railroad
retirement trust. In evaluating the railroad retirement system,
the White House budget office also assumed that investments
would yield the same as Treasuries.”
THUMBS UP
to Magic Mart and Wal-Mart for selling the newly packaged,
non-preservative Stagg Chili in their Southern West Virginia
stores. Stagg is a Stockton, Calif. company that makes the
best chili I don’t make myself at home. At least that’s
my view and I’ve judged chili cook-offs. Chili was Atkins
before Atkins was Atkins! According to the Stagg web site,
www.staggchili.com, the product is in limited markets across
the United States, and has been converted from cans to Tetra
Recart cartons. Tetra Recart is a square carton package constructed
out of a new paperboard laminate material designed for food
products traditionally packed in cans, glass jars or pouches.
The owner of Stagg, Hormel Foods Corp., “is the first
and only company to offer chili in Tetra Recart packaging.”
Talk about the Coors beer cult in the 1970s! Stagg is the
only chili that has its own web site. It is widely available
on the West Coast, but has been difficult to find in this
part of the country. Hormel bought the company several years
ago and wisely has not messed with the formula. You can even
order Stagg in a variety of flavors on-line from the web site,
but first check your local grocers. I mentioned this new packaging
to my local Kroger people. I hope the Hormel folks don’t
mind this comment, but I think Stagg is miles ahead of Hormel
in taste.
THUMBS UP
to the residents of Gauley Bridge in Fayette County, who are
protesting the planned closure of Gauley Bridge High School
at the end of the 2004-2005 school year and the relocation
of the GBHS students to Valley High School. Here’s a
geography lesson from a reporter who has driven the winding,
hilly roads of Fayette County and has covered more school
board meetings in several states than he cares to enumerate:
Fayette County covers 664 square miles, more than twice the
size of Cabell County’s 282 square miles. It’s
hillier than most counties in this mountainous state. Gauley
Bridge parents argue that long bus rides don’t contribute
to quality education. With all the computers and distance
learning in a state that brags about being on the cutting
edge of high-speed, broad-band technology, GBHS students should
be able to benefit from the bigger high schools in Fayette
County. Maybe it’s time to bring a halt to drastic consolidation
in counties —like Fayette – where geography plays
a starring role. As I complete this column on Tuesday, Dec.
14, 2004, all the schools in Fayette County are closed because
of the first snowstorm of the season.
THUMBS DOWN
to the state Department of Highways for deciding to keep Temple
Street, also known as West Virginia 20, open at the slide
area at 10th Avenue. The road is extremely rough as the slide
continues to dislocate the pavement. The plan was to direct
traffic down 7th Avenue to Summers Street, also W.V. 20, which
would become a two-way street through the West End. As Fred
Long, editor of The Hinton News points out, the whole hillside,
complete with houses, could come crashing down, burying cars
and school buses, at any time.
THUMBS UP
to the state Department of Highways for keeping the reconstruction
of Hinton’s Veteran’s Memorial Bridge on schedule.
The structure will reopen to traffic following a 1 p.m. Friday,
Dec. 17, 2004 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Thumbs Archives:
10/16/04 — Part I
11/10/04 — Part II
11/26/04 — Part III
12/15/04 — Part IV
12/24/04 — Part V
12/31/04 — Part VI
01/08/05 — Part VII
01/14/05 — Part VIII
01/21/05 — Part IX
02/04/05 — Part X
02/11/05 — Part XI
02/18/05 — Part XII
02/25/05 — Part XIII
02/28/05 — Part XIV
03/06/05 — Part XV
03/10/05 — Part XVI
03/18/05 — Part XVII
03/26/05 — Part XVIII
03/30/05 — Part XIX
04/09/05 — Part XX