Thursday, December 3, 2009

Henry Waxman, meet Jenny Beth Martin

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey notes that Rep. Henry Waxman wants taxpayers to bail out newspapers. Having spent 22 years in the newspaper business, you might think I'd be in favor of such a proposal, but I'm not.

Sad as it is for an old newsman to see the industry circling the drain (especially the worsening woes of the Washington Times) I'd go back to driving a forklift before I'd work for a newspaper dependent on bailout money swindled from the taxpayers.

This "gimme" attitude -- that government has an obligation to support us at the expense of our fellow citizens -- is antithetical to liberty. One of the people who rejects that attitude is Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots.

One of the most touching scenes in Tea Party: The Documentary Film shows Jenny Beth and her husband looking at their dream house -- a house they lost to foreclosure last year as the result of a business deal that went bad. But the Martins didn't go looking for a government bailout, and Jenny Beth talked about that in a two-part video interview at last night's premiere:



"When they started talking about the mortgage bailouts, we realized . . . that is not a good thing. If you can't afford your house any longer, you don't need to be in it."
What happened to the Martins -- like what's happening to the newspaper business -- is painful, but it's part of a larger struggle that makes this country great. We are Americans. Maintaining our independence despite adversity is what we do and who we are. As Allen West said, "In life, you're going to get knocked down. The measure of someone's character is what you do after you've been knocked down."

I walked away from the newspaper business nearly two years ago, and spent out my 401(k) to pay the bills while I launched a freelance career online. It hasn't been easy and I haven't gotten rich (yet), but it beats the hell out of sitting around waiting for a government handout.

Want to tell Henry Waxman to shove his newspaper bailout up his notorious nostrils? Just support your favorite bloggers, and we'll make sure he gets the message.

Bailout? We don't need no stinkin' bailout!

Hit the tip jar!

8 comments:

  1. Speaking of dead tree media..

    http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/12/feinstein-durbin-seek-to-limit-citizen-journalism.html

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  2. If we don't let the bubble that developed in housing and everything else to fully deflate, then either we won't get any kind of adequate economic recovery, or if we do get a good economic recovery, it'll be because of massive new debt that will eventually take us all dowwwwwwn.

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  3. Do the Democrats have any solutions to ANY issue that DOES NOT require raising taxes and spending taxpayer money? This is a serious question.

    So much for the "new" politics of the Obama era. The new politics, just like the old politics. Do Democrats have anything to offer besides throwing money at problems and lying about the inevitably disappointing results and calling anyone a racist who dares to disagree?

    If the Republican party weren't so inept I'd be a bit more optimistic about the future of conservatism. The American people are not stupid. They know idiocy when they see it...

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  4. 1) RE: Waxman's statements: Spoken like a true fascist [using the acutal meaning of the word].

    2) Anytime, anytime, the government forms a partnership with a private business or industry it holds the figurative majority stock in the company or companies. It has the power to force the private businesses involved to do whatever it wants done [as Ayn Rand so eloquently put it 'at the point of a gun']. And the company or companies can do nothing about it. This is most especially true when the government is holding the purse strings. Once the weed of government germinates inside of a company or industry, it feeds off them and its growth is uncontrollable because they've got might on their side. All controlling power eventually and inevitably accures to the government and the employees are absorbed into the Borg-like Collective.

    And those working or owning the private businesses involved in such an arrangement who are in favor of the 'collaboration' all end-up becoming enslaved to the government. Many are willing to do this [see the rest of the AIM report and read their sheep-like comments]. And, I suspect, because, in this case the vast majority of people in the news business are Leftists, they will happily sit there while their shackles are applied. They will be overjoyed morphing into apparatchiks.

    3) Quoted from and Linked to at:
    AT THE POINT OF A GUN

    -----
    It's Time To ROC 'N' ROLL:
    Restore Our Constitution & Restore Our Lost Liberties

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  5. "The measure of someone's character is what you do after you've been knocked down."

    Or as Sarah Palin demonstrated,it's what you do after you've been knocked up.

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  6. Interesting picture of Waxman. Has he had a stroke? Or is he just so thoroughly partisan that the right side of his face has stopped functioning?

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  7. All I ever hear is complaints about how the Democrats are taking our liberty, people are demanding more of our money through the leverage of the armed IRS...so? You can watch a game without any rules or you can try to make some rules that will make it fair. Would they give away so much of our money if the recipients had to accept an IRS Form 1099-GOV or bailed-out businesses were required to adhere to the Freedom of Information Act? I think not! No policy...no solution! You can continue to dream about the liberty you lost if you don't want to try to shackle government like our forefathers!

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  8. I have not subscribed to a newspaper for over a decade. The Tulsa World would not deliver the paper by 6:40AM (when I left for work) as opposed to their guarantee of 6:00AM. The Tulsa Tribune did not seem to care that my afternoon paper was wet every time it rained. I they want my business, they have to act like they want my business.

    Sincerely,

    Donald K. Mitchell

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