Limit Government Growth Eliminate Fraud and Waste
Lovely to read Rep. Chris Cox's sane and substantial comments and plans to fiscally restrain our government, guarding individual liberty and a sane prosperity.
One way to help would be to monitor waste and corruption among our bureaucrats.
Waste, unaccountable, misplaced or errant funds should be totaled for each government program. This total should be subtracted from the next fiscal year's budget. No hardship for programs since the money failed to help them.
Thanks to HUMAN EVENTS for its unfailing support of our individual freedoms.
Rios Interview Covers Timely Legal Issues
The interview with Sandy Rios was very timely, in light of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Court decision effectively ordering the state legislature to legalize same-sex marriage. (Where the court got the authority to give orders to the legislature is a fascinating question, but isn't what this letter is about.)
The court said that existing marriage laws "discriminate against a defined class," and that "separate is seldom, if ever, equal."
The court has got it backward and upside down.
Existing marriage laws do not discriminate; they are precisely the same for both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Within certain limits (such as both parties being adult and single), a heterosexual has the right to marry anyone of the opposite sex who will have him or her. Within the same limits, a homosexual has exactly the same right to marry anyone of the opposite sex.
It's even legal for two homosexuals to marry, if a gay man can find a lesbian who will have him.
Obviously, this is not what the gays want. They are demanding a new kind of marriage tailored to their condition, parallel to traditional marriage, but not the same.
This is: separate but equal.
In any case, all this hooraw is only partly about gay marriage as such. As Mrs. Rios points out, most of the benefits of marriage can already be had through private contracts. And it is telling that we never see lawyers advertising their services to draw up such contracts-apparently the market for that is too small to bother with.
No, the larger agenda behind this is to use the power of the state to force "straight" society to accept homosexuality as normal rather than as a gross deformity.
Homosexuals should be pitied, not persecuted. And what they do behind closed doors is nobody else's business. But they should not be encouraged to parade their unfortunate condition as being in any sense normal.
What Ever Happened To??¢â???¬ ¦?
As a subscriber to your publication, I am thoroughly disappointed in the decision to eliminate the rollcall page. This is the first page I turn to whenever I receive my copy of HUMAN EVENTS.
I am asking you to please return to your previous policy of printing all rollcalls in the paper. You maybe saving money, but as a reader I am inconvenienced to have to consult two different sources and the responsibility of having to print hard copy versus a self-contained source.
I have been a subscriber to HUMAN EVENTS for several years now and usually enjoy your publication. However, with the last few issues I must write and express my disappointment.
You seemed to have discontinued three of my favorite sections that set your publication apart from others.
1. Why have you discontinued having the movieguide.org movie reviews?
2. What about the hard-hitting interview section in the front section? I always enjoyed reading the blunt answers given by members of Congress. ("Sorry, don't have time for you now. . . .")
3. Lastly, the rollcall section in the back. I understand I can go to your website to see votes, but I preferred it in a written hard-copy form.
Don't take this the wrong way as I certainly mean no offense, but it seems you have more advertising and less and less content with every issue lately.
Why is this?
[Editor's Note: Have no fear-the Page 3 interviews with members of Congress have not been appearing only because the members were away on their lengthy Christmas recess. Now that they have returned, Assistant Editor David Freddoso will soon be tracking them down again. To make room for other copy, we will be running occasional rather than weekly movie reviews, but we have not given them up completely. Also, as you may have noticed last week, we plan to continue to run rollcall votes in the print edition while putting other rollcall votes on our website and selected rollcall votes in the print edition. Again, the website gives us more flexibility to run extra rollcalls and more complete vote explanations while freeing up space for additional copy in the print edition. We're flattered by your close attention to our content and appreciate your input. Thank you.]
