Bell

HAGERSTOWN, IN -- I just finished spending a week of evenings at our county fair. I’m not sure how long a person can survive on Lemon Shake-Ups and Elephant Ears, but know from experience you can make it at least 7 days. I’m sure there are people who believe that spending three dollars for some lemon seeds and sugar in a glass of water, or four dollars for an ounce of fried dough dragged through a bowl of cinnamon and sugar might be wasteful, but it sounded like a good idea at the time, and it did sustain me for a week. And if I was wasting money, at least it was my own.

HAGERSTOWN, IN -- The Libertarian Party of Wayne County has announced its convention nominees for this fall's November 4th general election. Representing the Libertarian party will be:

• Cheryl Heacox, Wayne County Commissioner, District 2
• Gayle Bond, Wayne County Commissioner, District 3
• Jim Mikesell, Wayne County Council At-Large
• Marvin Heacox, Wayne County Council At-Large

The county candidates join Rex Bell and Jon Bell, running for the Indiana Statehouse 54 and 56 seats, respectively.

HAGERSTOWN, IN -- While involved in a discussion of politics recently, one of the participants blamed the lack of aid to the Myanmar cyclone victims on some Libertarian characteristics of the military government there. It's a common mistake. Libertarians haven't always explained their principles all that well.

And a lot of people, through choice or misunderstanding, fail to draw a distinction between what are called large "L" Libertarians, small "L" libertarians, and anarchists. While there are similarities, there are also some differences. Anarchists are probably best described as being in opposition of all government. Small "L" libertarians are a little more accepting of a little bit of government, as long as it doesn't interfere with any individuals rights.

HAGERSTOWN, IN -- In a recent Courier Times article, my honorable Republican opponent for this fall's District 54 race, Tom Saunders, states that "Rex wants you to do away with a lot of government, but I'm not sure that's what the public wants." He's right about me wanting to do away with a lot of government.

Rex Bell is a Wayne County Libertarian and candidate for House District 54. He writes a monthly column on events that shape our lives from a libertarian point of view. If you have a comment or question on a particular subject, you can e-mail him at lpwc@msn.com.

HAGERSTOWN, IN - Being grandparents lets you relive a lot of the experiences you had when you were raising your own children. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant. My wife and I are now embarking on our second round of “potty training”. While I have never been overly enthusiastic about changing diapers, especially with the rinsing and pinning required with the cloth diapers of my early parenthood, I did find that I tolerated that chore better than the dreaded cry of, “Daddy, come wipe me!”

HAGERSTOWN, IN - "Like the old lady said when she pee'd in the ocean, 'Every little bit helps'".

When I was growing up and helping on our farm, my Dad used to work that phrase into the conversation pretty often. At least when an old lady wasn't around. I think the phrase applies well to congress and its attempts to rein in earmarks in the budget. Several newspapers in central Indiana have been running editorials praising our Representative Mike Pence for his efforts, and I certainly don't want to belittle any effort to curb government spending.

But we need to keep in mind that earmarks account for about 1% of the federal budget, and considering that less than 10% of them are targeted for elimination, I'm not sure the savings to the taxpayers merits the media attention the cuts have been receiving. It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, but I fear they are overlooking the real problem.

Written by Rex Bell, candidate for Statehouse District 54.

HAGERSTOWN, IN - One of the problems we face when we talk about eliminating property taxes is the insistence by our elected officials that the loss of revenue would result in the loss of government services. The first things they mention are police and fire protection. I guess that is the first lesson in Politics 101. Whenever taxpayers start to complain about excessive government spending, threaten them with the loss of police and fire protection. And if they complain about the cost of the new high school gymnasium, threaten to lay-off some teachers.