Dakota Beacon

So much that passes for news these days is utterly inconsequential. It’s no wonder so many people lose interest in the mainstream media. News as entertainment becomes standard fare.

Media conversation degenerates to baby talk: Michelle Obama’s garden, who’s getting married in Hollywood, the carryings on of pop culture icon Lady Gaga.

Here’s an excellent example of news not covered. This involves the unintended consequence of bloated government.

In an effort to make our planet more “green,” a 2007 congressional mandate forces every household in the United States to change from incandescent light bulbs by 2014 to Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) as specified in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Result? The last incandescent light bulb factory, owned by General Electric in Winchester, Virginia, will close this month. Guess where all the new CFL bulbs will be manufactured? You guessed it. China.

Let me get this “green” thing straight. The Chinese will manufacture the bulbs, then truck them to a port, then ship them by freighter to the US where they will then be trucked to consumers. Nice going Senators Conrad and Dorgan and Congressman Pomeroy for passing the Clean Energy Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) that killed the incandescent light bulb and shipped jobs overseas. All in the name of saving the planet.

What should be front page news gets nary a nod. The so-called “doctor fix” will soon raise its ugly head once again. In June 2010 the 21.2% cut in reimbursement payments to doctors who accept Medicare patients was delayed until the end of November -- conveniently after the elections. This temporary reprieve preserved access by seniors to Medicare. For the past year congress dithered with the problem. Rather than fix the problem permanently, and pay for it, congress just bickered, then kicked the can down the road.

If congress opts for another temporary fix it will be the fifth in twelve months. Meanwhile, more and more doctors choose not to accept new patients whose health care is funded with federal dollars. That’s the real news story. I know, I know. The headlines read “Blame Bush” while the media ignores congressional intransigence on the “doctor fix.”

Once again, thank you Senators Conrad and Dorgan and Congressman Pomeroy for saddling us with a highly unpopular and greatly expanded health care system while not solving the old Medicare reimbursement problem.

Funny how what goes around, comes around. Many in the media are up in arms about the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Koran. Yes. Not only the goofy pastor from Florida, but groups in Wyoming, Kansas and Tennessee follow up with copycat acts.

How quickly public figures race to condemn Koran burning as a supreme no-no. Oh sure, they throw a sop to “free speech” but remain vociferous in their condemnation of the act. Where were these public figures in condemning US flag burning? Too bad public figures like Conrad and Dorgan didn’t think enough of prohibiting desecration of a symbol to support an anti-flag burning amendment. I guess every path has its puddle.

Here is another great example of news not covered by the media. This story involves political corruption through vote buying in the redistribution of wealth. The US Department of Labor’s OSHA recently announced the 2010 Susan Harwood Grant Awardees (http://www.osha.gov/dte/sharwood/2010_grant_recipients.html). This is the Obama administration passing out goodies by way of your tax dollars.

The news media is quick to point out government waste in the Defense Department and the Pentagon, but tend to ignore waste associated with the Department of Education, the Justice Department and Health and Human Services. Who would ever think a tiny agency like OSHA would pass out billions of tax dollars in walk around money? It flies under the radar.

Many of the organizations on the list of awaRdees are little more than fronts for illegal immigrant advocacy groups. Liberals and other leftists push for big government not to do good for their constituents. They do it to gain access to the public treasury allowing them to spread the wealth and populate their causes.

Do a Google search for the 2010 Susan Harwood Grant Awardees and see if any of the mainstream media carry the story.

So much real news, so little coverage.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).