The Nebraska Legislature should, of course, give careful consideration to the tax reductions recommended by Governor Dave Heineman.

But how about starting at the other end of the tax/spending equation?  How about first appraising the needs which state and local governments can legitimately be expected to meet with the help of state tax revenue?  State aid to local schools is a prime example.  So is state support of higher education.

Is proper consideration being given to whether these vital governmental services, services on which the welfare of the state ultimately depends, are properly funded?

If essential services are being appropriately funded by a state tax structure which is actually producing excess funds, tax reduction is obviously desirable.  But I know of no evidence that this is the case.

So let’s start at the appropriate end of the equation:  How much money is needed, not how much can we reduce taxes?

* * *

Grief Should Be Combined With ‘Tough Love’
To Persuade Youth To Stop Foolish Driving

When will families and friends and the news media stop emphasizing the grief that reckless young drivers cause and start emphasizing the fact there would be fewer needless deaths and injuries to grieve over if more young drivers drove responsibly and used their vehicles for transportation rather than for dangerous thrills.

A major story in the Sunday World-Herald carried this headline:  “’Cherish Every Moment,’ grieving family urges.”

As I see it, it would have been far more appropriate for the grieving family to urge young drivers to conduct themselves so that there will be more moments to cherish and enjoy because fewer young lives will have been needlessly snuffed out.

A let’s-grieve and money-raising event which drew several hundred people to a Bennington restaurant and bar in the course of last Saturday evening.

People were asked to contribute in various ways to pay medical bills of two teenagers who suffered severe injuries but survived the crash which killed the reckless young driver.

The father of the teenage driver who died said he didn’t doubt that she was eager to make her Volkswagen airborne over one of the State Street hills where at least 10 people have died in auto accidents since early 1994.

How about parents, police and the news media focusing on efforts to convince foolish young drivers that they are endangering their lives and the lives of their passengers when they drive recklessly anywhere, not just when they test whether they can make their vehicle go airborne over a portion of the highway that has been called “The State Street Jump”?

The news media can be especially helpful if they stop giving almost exclusive emphasis to the grief that has been caused rather than emphasizing the foolhardiness that caused that grief.

 * * *

Get Off It, Conservative Christians;
Politics Shouldn’t Be Religious-Driven

I’m pretty confident that I have a great deal of company in being weary of the argument that to get their political support, candidates—specifically this time including Mitt Romney—must agree with their far-right “evangelical” or “Christian conservative” religious beliefs.

They can say they’re talking about political beliefs, but the issue really boils down to political beliefs which are influenced by—or determined by—their religious views.

What makes “conservative Christians” think they have, in effect, the right to be the decisive influence as to who wins the most voter support in, for example, South Carolina, the current focal point of the battle for the Republican presidential nomination?

Consider the view of one South Carolinian, who told a reporter that since Romney is a Mormon, “that’s hard for me as a Baptist.”  She said Romney grew up being taught in “a cult” and she doesn’t approve of that “mystical, cult-like thing.”

Apparently this South Carolina voter—too typical, I fear, of “evangelicals” or “conservative Christians”—is not aware of the generally accepted definition of a cult, under which broadly-accepted definition she, too, is a member of a cult. It’s just that it’s a different cult from Romney’s.

My dictionary says a cult is “a particular system of religious worship.”  Doesn’t that definition fit any religion, including the South Carolinian’s own religions?

Some Christian Articles Of Faith Test Credibility, Too

Apparently a good many conservative Christians think that Mormons accept hard-to-believe articles of faith.  One might ask such religious conservatives whether they realize their “cult” also embraces some  questionable articles of faith.

For example, followers of a variety of Christian denominations are asked to believe that a son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, was born to a virgin and after being crucified, rose from the dead and went to live in Heaven.

And consider the widespread cult/religious belief that God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel, delivering them to Moses on Mount Sinai, from which Moses brought them down to the tribes of Israel from which they spread to widespread acceptance by various cults/religions.

Interestingly, has it occurred to the conservative Christians who are among Newt Gingrich’s supporters that Gingrich is known for having committed adultery, which is one of the “thou shalt not” mandates in the Ten Commandments?

My point is that Mormons, like followers of other cult/religions, should surely be allowed the freedom to practice their brand of religion under the religious-freedom of the First Amendment.  And when it comes to politics, all cults/religions should be discouraged from violating the sound principle of separation of church and state.

* * *

Bob Kerrey Would Face A Credibility Test
In Explaining Return To Run For The Senate

It seems to me that as Bob Kerrey considers returning to Nebraska—or at least establishing legal residence here—to run for the Democratic nomination for the Senate, he had better choose better reasons than he has voiced so far in answer to the charge that he is a sort of political “carpetbagger” lured back to his native state by political opportunism—a chance to enjoy once again the feeling of power and influence which goes with being a United States Senator.

Kerrey has said he always considers himself a Nebraskan.  He has talked of “my” eating places and “my” fitness clubs in Nebraska, along with an assertion that he pays Nebraska property taxes.

There is a widespread belief that the eating places and fitness clubs are owned by Kerrey and other family members.  And are the property taxes levied on Kerrey personally or on the business?

Whatever, ownership in whole or in part, it has still been absentee ownership for 11 years now.

Kerrey’s candidacy would not be helped by the fact that his wife and child will continue to live in New York City or move to Washington—perhaps best for the child, as Kerrey suggests, but hardly the picture of a wife with a real interest in Nebraska except as a place from which your husband might be again elected as a senator.

Kerrey points out that a Republican, Chuck Hagel, returned to Nebraska and ran successfully for the Senate after residing in the Washington area for a number of years.

So?  Interesting, but hardly the basis for saying, in effect, “Chuck Hagel did it so why should there be any fuss about my doing it?”

If political ambition is the prime motivation for a former Nebraskan to return to his native state, that motivation is clearly and appropriately subject to challenge.

* * *

Surprise!  Candor In A Mavericks’ Hockey Story

For an oft-beat column ending, let’s consider a surprising example of departure from the almost worshipful sports page coverage which the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks hockey team receives:

If you have noticed a sports page example of critical comment on the Mavericks—except an occasional criticism from head coach Dean Blais—you have been reading the coverage of the Mavericks more closely than I have.

I wouldn’t call it exactly critical comment but it was at least a departure from the typical let’s-support-the-Mavericks coverage.

The Mavs were trying to break the all-time record for crowd attendance—it involved some kind of bargain ticket promotion—when they played Minnesota-Duluth, the nation’s No. 1 team.

Instead of simply reporting the supposed “sell out” attendance for their last Friday night game against Minnesota-Duluth, the sports page story used these words to describe the crowd:  “…in school-record crowd announced at 16,138.”  (Emphasis supplied.)

Then on an inside page, another reference to the “announced crowd of 16,138,” and followed, to my surprise, by this objective reporting:  “At its peak, about 80% of the seats appeared occupied.”

A pretty clear indication that the crowd figure included tickets sold or given away but not used.  A not uncommon pattern, I should hasten to add, including the pattern of reporting Creighton basketball crowds.  It is based on tickets sold, including season tickets, not all of which are always used.

I don’t look for continuing occasional candor in coverage of the Mavericks in the same sports pages that turn as many as four or five critics loose in coverage of Nebraska’s football coaches and players.

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