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U.S. must avoid trap of socialism

Editor, OBSERVER: Why are a lot of people beginning to side with the philosophy of socialism, and where is America going if that continues? It’s very tempting to be a socialist. It’s very tempting to want someone else to pay for something you might want. Free sounds good until you have to pay for it. If you think it’s expensive now, just wait until it’s free. We’ve seen time and time again, leaders try to paint society as utopias, that man can be perfected, and that government as a central body, can then fix the ills of society. What would happen if America continues to ...

State minimum wage values work

As of January 1, New York State’s minimum wage for Upstate is $16, up from $15.50. New York State’s minimum wage was the same as the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 as recently as 2013, 13 years ago. Beginning in 2014, the State Legislature put in place increases in the State minimum wage that has brought us to $16 now. The United States Congress, in contrast, has not raised the $7.25 Federal minimum wage since 2009, 17 years ago. In the face of Federal inaction, at least 30 states have enacted state minimum wages above the Federal $7.25. That means, however, that 20 states, ...

State’s energy policies absurd, costly

Twenty years after “An Inconvenient Truth,” none of Al Gore’s wild speculations about climate catastrophe have emerged, yet people still cling to the climate nonsense, and New York state energy policy remains absurdly captive to that narrative. By way of example, climate fraud led New York to require houses built after Jan. 1 to use electric heat, and required the state have 70% “renewable” energy by 2030. The simple fact that these impossible regulations were devised by Albany politicians demonstrates the absolute incompetence of those who run New York. Reality recently ...

It’s the season for snow, not rain

Let’s pick up where we left off 148 weeks ago. Not even you, faithful reader of this column, will recall that we were well into March 2023. By turning on the snow machine then, Mother Nature appeared to be trying to make up for a lack of snow during the preceding winter. “No,” we told Mother Nature that day. Winter sports enthusiasts of all ages need snow in December, January, and February. But in March, it was too late to make up for what hadn’t fallen from the sky when we needed it. ≤ ≤ ≤ Fast forward to this winter. Children are looking forward to building snow ...

A small frame for life’s big picture

Our family has cut way back on Christmas presents in recent years. We all still enjoy filling some desires from the grandchildrens’ wishlists. Honestly, they are the only ones who really need anything. But I have a problem, and it is probably a hangup going back to my childhood. I want everyone to have a package or two under the tree. A few years ago, we set a modest limit, so the gift shouldn’t be big, fancy, or expensive. It just has to be wrapped and tagged “to and from” so everyone gets to feel special. We are such a small family that giving each other a small gift is ...

Court is wild card in tariff talk decisions

On April 2, the Trump administration citing the  International Emergency Economic Powers Act declared a national emergency on tariffs. At the time the administration announced reciprocal tariffs on imports from several nations. Reciprocal tariffs work this way; essentially, if Country A taxes Country B’s cars at 10%, Country B would impose a 10% tariff on Country A’s cars in return, creating a “tit-for-tat” system.  Targeted nations included China, Canada, Mexico. Japan, European Union, Vietnam, India, South Korea and Taiwan, which had all imposed much higher tariffs on ...