By: John ShafferFriday January 28, 2011 In anticipation of the State of the Union Address, everyone had questions: Has the President heard the voters? Has he digested the election  results?  Will he stay true to his principles or will he change? Well, the President's State of the Union was a blend of the old and the new - a continuation and defense of his programs, with a bow  to reality: President Obama proposed a spend...

By: John ShafferThursday January 6, 2011 The Obama administration, never shy to congratulate itself, has compiled a list of its achievements, and indicates that it is nearly impressive beyond measure, both in size and scope. Well, such a list could be compiled for almost every Congress and almost every President, and many of them would dwarf that of the 111th Congress - of course the perception of achievement often is in the eye of the ...

By: John ShafferWednesday December 22, 2010 Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, is the most widely observed holiday in the United States. It embodies many aspects of our lives, in one way or another - commerce, with the Christmas season being the most important segment of sales for many businesses and industries; entertainment, with Christmas music on the airwaves from Thanksgiving to New Year's  and TV specials a...

By: John ShafferWednesday December 22, 2010 One of the biggest problems that the voters have with Congress is that "they do not listen to us."  The proof of that complaint has seldom been more obvious than it is today, in light of the massive 1,924 page omnibus spending bill that the Democrats in Congress have proposed. The bill includes over 20,000 earmarks and is packed with all types of spending; a wish list that they knew would ev...

By: John ShafferFriday December 10, 2010 The President's compromise on the "Bush Tax Cuts" and  unemployment insurance has ignited firestorms on both sides of the political chasm. Some conservatives are upset about an extension of unemployment that is not paid for (see Senator Jim  Bunning's position when the issue came up a few months ago); others object to any extension at all, on the grounds that  "unemployment insuran...

By: John ShafferFriday December 3, 2010 After spending the bulk of his first two years in office doing as little as possible to involve Republicans in the formation of laws, the President this week has scheduled a couple of meetings with the leaders of both parties in hopes of coming to agreement on some things. Oh, there were occasions in which the President met with the GOP, but those were more  audiences between the Crown and&n...

By: John ShafferWednesday November 24, 2010 The Transportation Safety Administration has created huge problems for itself with its recent decisions to go with full-body scanners and/or pat-downs at selected airports.  This in reaction to the "Christmas underwear bomber." Congressmen from the Republican right to the Democrat left have objected, as have many other people. The TSA has been slowly backing down, moving from "this is the ri...

By: John ShafferFriday October 8, 2010 It was another successful weekend for the Apple 'n Cheese Festival and the Fall Fling, with thousands of people enjoying the splendor and the beauty of this part of Bradford County. The volunteers who work so hard to assemble and organize and administer these two important parts of our community life deserve our thanks.  The events boost our economy, and they do something even more important...

By: John ShafferFriday October 1, 2010 Suppose you are a three-term incumbent US Senator, trailing by eight points in the most recent polls, and the President of the United States (and the leader of your party) is visiting your state. One would think that you would hasten to his side, point out to voters that you supported almost all of his agenda, and embrace him in hopes that the reflected glow would benefit your campaign. Well, act...

By: John ShafferFriday September 24, 2010 Ever since Barack Obama took office he has told us that he "inherited a recession" and that he was working hard to end the recession.  The official figures are in, and the recession that he "inherited" ended in the  second quarter of 2009; barely four months into his term, and  well before anything he did had much of a chance to take  effect, let alone to turn a recession into...