This page was last updated on October 26, 2010.
Privatization talk masks other issues; William G. Horter; Beaver County Times; October 26, 2010.
When Mr. Horter isn’t bashing Republicans in general, and former President Bush specifically, he tries to push a taxpayer-funded, government-run healthcare system (some examples are here, here, here, here, and here) on U.S. citizens. As time has progressed, Mr. Horter has increasingly resorted to name-calling and personal attacks, especially in his comments on the Times website. Since I don’t know Mr. Horter, I don’t know if he actually believes all the stuff he writes or if he just likes to stir things up. If I were the type to run a disinformation campaign, I’d invent someone like Mr. Horter. After all, the image Mr. Horter projects is a caricature of the stereotypical lefty. I have to believe a large number of lefties cringe whenever they read a comment or letter from Mr. Horter. I know I cringe whenever I read a Horter-quality comment from an alleged righty. Then again, perhaps I’ve overestimating lefties. <g>
Mr. Horter used to be one of our local Republican impersonators (The group also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, Edward “Fellow Republicans” Hum, and George Reese.) who write claiming to be disgruntled Republicans. In June 2008 Mr. Horter wrote, “So after 50 years of being a Republican, I have changed my party. I am now a Democrat.”
History also shows you need to do your own due diligence regarding the “facts” Mr. Horter presents in his letters and the comments he posts on the Times website. Here’s just one example.
Along with other letter writers I’ve mentioned, I wish Mr. Horter could get a regular column in the Times.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Here we are again, with Republican candidates talking of privatizing government programs that have been running very well since the 1930s.
“First, gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett is talking about the state store system, which brings in almost a half-billion dollars to the state’s general fund each year, as well as providing more than 4,000 family-supporting jobs.”
[RWC] When the Times proposed privatizing “the state store system” several times during the past few years, there were no letters from Mr. Horter complaining. That Mr. Horter believes the government should be selling anything that could be handled by the private sector shows how far to the left he is. When you are further to the left than the Times, you’re really out there.
“Somehow, he thinks privatizing and turning those jobs into minimum wage would be better.”
[RWC] Simply privatizing the state store system would “turn those jobs into minimum wage” only if current employees are grossly overpaid. That said, since the current system has no competitors by law, it’s likely state store employees currently earn more than they would in a free market.
“The idea is preposterous. Alcohol is a problem in our society; we don’t need access to booze 24/7. We don’t need disinterested minimum-wage workers selling to whoever walks in the door, either. The system works, and it works well. Just leave it alone.”
[RWC] Based on his letter-writing body of work, I think Mr. Horter believes all businesses should be run by the government. You may recall Mr. Horter is a big proponent of a government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare monopoly (Obamacare).
As I’ve noted previous critiques, I lived in Texas for over 18 years and I can testify the ability to buy alcohol in grocery stores, private liquor stores, et cetera and the lack of state stores didn’t bring about the end of the world.
“And that brings me to senatorial candidate Pat Toomey, who, while at the same time saying Wall Street wasn’t worth bailing out, wants to give that very same Wall Street the keys to Social Security funds. There is little problem with Social Security; it is solid for the next 30 years.”
[RWC] Mr. Toomey does not propose “privatizing” Socialist Security and Mr. Horter knows it. From what I’ve read, Mr. Toomey proposes taxpayers have the option to invest a very small portion of their SS taxes in personal accounts, but still under the oversight and rules of the SS Administration. Democrats themselves proposed and supported personal accounts in the late 1990s. Remember the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), Sen. Hillary Clinton’s immediate predecessor? This was also a recommendation of the bipartisan President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security in 2001.
“There is little problem with Social Security?” What is Mr. Horter smoking? Perhaps Mr. Horter gets his news from Beaver County Reds. According to the Social Security Trustees in their 2010 report to Congress, SS was to go into deficit (benefits paid exceed SS taxes collected) in 2016, the Disability Insurance portion of SS will be bankrupt in 2018, and the overall SS “trust fund” (the equivalent of a stack of federal government “IOUs” for revenue already spent by the feds for other programs) will be exhausted by 2037. Because of the current recession, news reports indicate SS is already in deficit, a full six years ahead of the 2008 projection. That’s because SS (as well as Medicare) is a Ponzi scheme.
“All this talk of privatizing is simply greed as far as I’m concerned. We have some other real problems, don’t we?”
[RWC] If you’re familiar with Mr. Horter’s body of work, you know he believes there is no such thing as principled opposition to his positions. In Mr. Horter’s mind, if you have a differing opinion, it’s because you’re stupid, bought off, greedy, et cetera. That means Mr. Horter can dismiss differing opinions without engaging in a real debate based on economics, facts, history, logic, et cetera.
Finally, while Mr. Horter gave us his leftism-based “reasons” to vote against Messrs. Corbett and Toomey, he never told us why to vote for their opponents.
© 2004-2010 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.