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I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He hasclothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robeof righteousness. Isaiah 61:10. Portals of Prayer, Concordia PublishingHouse, St. Louis
THE PRESS DAKOTANTHE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER | FOUNDED 1861
Yankton Media, Inc., 319 Walnut St., Yankton, SD 57078
OPINION | OTHER THOUGHTS
Storm Lives Up ToIts Dreaded Forecast
F RO M T H E B I B L E
YO U R L E T T E R S
By The Associated PressToday is Thursday, Nov. 1, the 306th
day of 2012. There are 60 days left in theyear. This is All Saints Day.
Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov.1, 1512, Michelangelo’s just-completedpaintings on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sis-tine Chapel were publicly unveiled by theartist’s patron, Pope Julius II.
On this date: In 1765, the Stamp Actwent into effect, prompting stiff resistancefrom American colonists.
In 1861, during the Civil War, PresidentAbraham Lincoln named Maj. Gen. GeorgeB. McClellan General-in-Chief of the Unionarmies, succeeding Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott.
In 1870, the United States Weather Bu-reau made its first meteorological observa-tions.
In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy,Benito Mussolini described the alliance be-tween his country and Nazi Germany as an“axis” running between Rome and Berlin.
In 1944, “Harvey,” a comedy by MaryChase about a man and his friend, an in-visible six-foot-tall rabbit, opened onBroadway.
In 1950, two Puerto Rican nationaliststried to force their way into Blair House inWashington, D.C., in a failed attempt to as-sassinate President Harry S. Truman. (Oneof the pair was killed, along with a WhiteHouse police officer.)
In 1952, the United States explodedthe first hydrogen bomb, code-named “IvyMike,” at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Is-lands.
In 1954, Algerian nationalists begantheir successful rebellion against Frenchrule.
In 1968, the Motion Picture Associationof America unveiled its new voluntary filmrating system: G for general, M for mature(later changed to GP, then PG), R for re-stricted and X (later changed to NC-17) foradults only.
In 1972, author and poet Ezra Pounddied in Venice, Italy, at age 87.
In 1979, former first lady Mamie Eisen-hower died in Washington, D.C., at age 82.
In 1989, East Germany reopened itsborder with Czechoslovakia, promptingtens of thousands of refugees to flee to theWest.
Ten years ago: A federal judge ap-proved most provisions of an antitrust set-tlement between Microsoft and the JusticeDepartment. A Russian spacecraft carryingtwo cosmonauts and a Belgian astronautdocked with the international space station.Queen Elizabeth II’s surprise revelationthat she knew butler Paul Burrell had takensome of Princess Diana’s possessions forsafekeeping prompted prosecutors to droptheft charges against the servant.
Five years ago: British college studentMeredith Kercher, 21, was found slain inher bedroom in Perugia, Italy; her room-mate, American Amanda Knox and Knox’sItalian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, werelater convicted of killing Kercher, but bothhad their guilty verdicts overturned. (RudyGuede, a petty criminal who was convictedseparately, remains imprisoned.) RetiredAir Force Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets, who’d pi-loted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay thatdropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 92. Lessthan a week after workers ratified a newcontract, Chrysler announced 12,000 jobcuts.
One year ago: Europe’s days-old planto solve its crippling debt crisis and restorefaith in the global economy was thrown intochaos by Greek Prime Minister George Pa-pandreou’s stunning decision to call a ref-erendum on the country’s latest rescuepackage. (Papandreou dropped the refer-endum plan two days later.) Embattled LosAngeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourtand Major League Baseball reached anagreement to sell the troubled franchise.Dorothy Rodham, 92, mother of Secretaryof State Hillary Rodham Clinton and formerPresident Bill Clinton’s mother-in-law, diedin Washington.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress BetsyPalmer is 86. Golfer Gary Player is 77.Country singer Bill Anderson is 75. ActressBarbara Bosson is 73. Actor Robert Fox-worth is 71. Actress Marcia Wallace is 70.Magazine publisher Larry Flynt is 70.Country singer-humorist Kinky Friedman is68. Actress Jeannie Berlin is 63. Music pro-ducer David Foster is 63. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald Khalis Bell (Kooland the Gang) is 61. Country singer-song-writer-producer Keith Stegall is 58. Countrysinger Lyle Lovett is 55. Actress RachelTicotin is 54. Rock musician Eddie Mac-Donald (The Alarm) is 53. Rock singer An-thony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 50.Pop singer-musician Mags Furuholmen (a-ha) is 50. Rock musician Rick Allen (DefLeppard) is 49. Country singer “Big Kenny”Alphin (Big and Rich) is 49. Singer SophieB. Hawkins is 48. Rapper Willie D (GetoBoys) is 46. Country musician Dale Wal-lace (Emerson Drive) is 43. Actress ToniCollette is 40. Actress Jenny McCarthy is40. Rock musician Andrew Gonzales is 40.Actor David Berman is 39. Actress Aish-warya Rai is 39. Rock singer Bo Bice(“American Idol”) is 37. Actor Penn Badgleyis 26. Actor Max Burkholder is 15. Actor-musician Alex Wolff is 15.
Thought for Today: “Good taste is theworst vice ever invented.” — Dame EdithSitwell, English poet (1887-1964).
TO DAY I N H I S TO RY
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Kelly HertzEditor
James D. CimburekSports Editor
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Bernard MetivierDistrict Manager
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* * *BY WILLIAM KERRFor the Press & Dakotan
“How to improve the economy, increase jobs andincrease U.S. tax revenue without increas-ing our deficit.”
Is that really possible? I think so. And,no candidate or incumbent I have heard iseven mentioning the idea.
“One obvious place to begin would be toincrease the minimum wage, which as Roo-sevelt Institute senior fellow, RichardKirsch points out, now buys 30 percent lessthan it did 40 years ago.” So stated the arti-cle “The Missing Economic Debate,” writ-ten by Sherle R. Schwenninger in the Oct.29 edition of The Nation.
It would all be spent immediately as it isreceived by the working people, whohaven’t had a rise in buying power since1968, while normal price rises have takenprices up on just about everything theybuy considerably since then. (I can’t imagine manypeople working for minimum wages putting the extramoney into a savings or investment account.) So, withnearly 2 million people (according to the U.S. Depart-ment of Labor) working at that level, if the Congresswould raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour, itwould bring to the economy nearly $2 billion per year,with no cost to the U.S. government. But wait, thatisn’t all. If we raise the minimum to $12, there will be alot more people who have already been earning be-tween $7.25 per hour and $12 per hour who wouldthen also get a rise in pay. Might even bring in closeto another billion dollars per year.
As more things were purchased consistently, store-keepers would soon have to hire back some of theemployees they had released due to the reduction intheir cash register income after the recession hit.Those re-hired employees would also spend most ofthe extra income right along with their regained in-come, and both would give another boost to the econ-omy. Soon those increases would reach the point
where suppliers would have to hire back a few moreformerly released employees to handle the increasedbusiness. Next when the stocks of the suppliers andthe manufacturers began to reduce, the manufactur-
ers would have to begin hiring back someof those they released during the recessionto handle the increased business.
I just can’t imagine many of the workersor the re-hires would immediately begin tosave either their newfound wages or theextra minimum wage money. We are just nota people with saving ways. If you don’t be-lieve me, look at how many people todayare using credit cards for living expenses. Idon’t have figures, but I see them usingcredit cards in grocery stores as well as de-partment stores! My parents would turn intheir graves to see such goings on!
Then, too, with this increase most of ourminimum-wage workers who have not beenpaying income tax (the ones Mitt Romney
has said he doesn’t care about) would earn enoughmoney to now pay income tax — and more incometax if they were already earning enough to pay incometax before the increase. On top of that, the owners ofmany suppliers and small businesses might ultimatelypay a little more income tax as a result of the extrabusiness. And best if all, none of this extra incomewould cost the government any money and thereforenot increase the national debt! How about them ap-ples?
I do understand that the increase would be a littlehard on the retailers until the money started bringingin the additional business, but on the other hand,many of those whom they have laid off when this re-cession began have had four years of hardship withno income of consequence.
It’s so simple, it’s hard — and dumb not make theincrease so millions (and the government) can benefitby it. Because it’s dumb not to do it, Congress hasn’tand probably won’t without some pressure, maybefrom a newly elected president and newly electedcongresspersons if you voters do a good job.
Writer’s Block
A Minimum-Wage Idea
William
KERR
BY ROBERT G. DUFFETT Dakota Wesleyan University
Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell and SouthDakota lost a dear friend. George McGovern, age 90,DWU Class of 1946, died early Sunday morning, Oct.21, 2012.
As a congressman, senator, and the Democraticcandidate for the American presidency in 1972, hegained international fame. Rolling Stone magazine’s40th anniversary issue said McGovern was one of themost significant people in the last half of the 20th cen-tury.
As I view his life, three talents may account for hismeteoric rise.
First, George was an exceedingly bright man. Thiswas a gift of birth. Yet, he developed this gift by read-ing and writing — two habits that sharpen the intel-lect. We at DWU claim the importance of lifelonglearning, recognizing no college provides a completeeducation. Rather, a DWU education is a springboardto a lifetime engagement with important ideas. Georgeabsorbed this lesson. He wrote books, articles andspeeches almost to the very last day of his life. Whatnature gave, George developed.
By his own admission, he was shy — not the typeof person attracted to debate or politics. Yet, throughone he found the other. A teacher at Mitchell HighSchool suggested this painfully shy boy join the extro-verted debate team. He flourished, continued debateat DWU, and became a nationally renowned collegedebater. Later, as professor of history at DWU, he wasthe debate team coach. The discipline of debatestrengthened his ability to research ideas, marshal ar-guments, present them in persuasive ways, and thennext time, argue against what last week he affirmed.Debate was his second talent.
Love of history is the third talent. George himselfsaid he had great history teachers at both MitchellHigh and DWU. At DWU he was particularly influ-enced by Dr. James Van Kirk. Van Kirk spent his entireteaching career at DWU. He, like George, obtained hisPh.D. in American history from Northwestern Univer-sity. I have always thought this was George’s best tal-ent. It set him apart from almost every politician. Heknew instinctively that any contemporary politicalproblem, issue, or crisis had a trail of past events orfactors. He could see that trail and context, whichgave him portentous insight. For instance, George
was no pacifist. He knew evil exists andwar is sometimes the only way tocounter it. He was a legitimate hero ofwhat Studs Terkel called the Good War.He was against the war in Vietnam be-cause the Vietnamese, like Americancolonists in 1776, sought independ-ence and autonomy. He argued Ameri-can armies in Vietnam were analogousto and as welcome as the British RedCoats. He saw this sooner and more
clearly than most due to historical insight.Was it debate or history that pushed him to poli-
tics? I am not sure. What I am sure of is that these tal-ents gave him a significant advantage on thecampaign trail, in the Senate, and in his writings andspeeches. History provides content, context and in-sight; debate the means to explicate ideas.
His religious faith brought together his three tal-ents. The Wesleyan Methodist church of his father,the Rev. Joseph McGovern, called people to personalfaith and activated them to do something useful in theworld. For George, the useful part derived from theuniversal moral imperatives from Sunday SchoolBible stories:
• Feed the hungry;• Cloth the naked;• Do good to all humanity;• Do justice;• Learn war no more.Due to the emotional excesses of zealous believ-
ers, George carried a lifelong reticence about per-sonal faith. Yet, he built his world-shaping politicalcareer on social and humanitarian issues grounded inChristian ethics. Like an Old Testament prophet, helifted our moral vision and summoned society to ahigher ethical plane.
Some say George was the greatest humanitarianand peacemaker of our era. Rolling Stone magazinethought so. This is why we at DWU honor him bynaming our library, Center for Leadership and PublicService and a museum for him. It all began here inSouth Dakota; his influence had worldwide impact.
Jesus’ words may be a fitting epitaph for his life:“Blessed are the peacemakers ... they are the sons ofGod.”
Duffett is president of Dakota Wesleyan Universityin Mitchell.
Point Of View
George McGovern’s Three Talents
Duffett
W R I T E U S n Make your feelings known! Write to the PRESS & DAKOTAN on a topic of the day, in re-sponse to an editorial or story. Write us at: Letters, 319 Walnut, Yankton, SD 57078, drop off at319 Walnut in Yankton, fax to (605) 665-1721 or email to [email protected].
Sincere Appreciation!Steve Sternhagen, YanktonYankton County Child ProtectionTeam
I would like to acknowledge andrecognize the generous supportfrom the Yankton United Way, Yank-ton Crime Stoppers, and Ladies FireAuxiliary for sponsoring the TrueLies Bullying Assembly. This assem-bly was held on Friday October 26 atboth the Yankton Middle School andthe Yankton High School. Nationallyrenowned speakers Phil Chalmers
and L.G. Wise presented a dynamicand powerful presentation which ad-dressed teen violence, substanceabuse and bullying. The fast-pacedpresentation delivered informationabout the consequences of makingpoor choices and decisions whiletrying to empower and encouragethe youth to take a stand and makepositive choices to end substanceabuse, violence and bullying. Againthank you to all the individuals andgroups who made this presentationa success.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS (Oct. 30): Hurricane Sandy rede-fined what it means to be in harm’s way.
Billed as the perfect storm, an Atlantic maelstrom unrivaled in gen-erations, Sandy became all that and more — morphing into superstormSandy, in the parlance of TV weathercasters, paralyzing and splinteringa huge swath of the East Coast, then punishing a quarter of the na-tional map with relentless rain and wind, and even an October blizzard.
The monster that roiled the ocean reached across and roiled theGreat Lakes.
The monster that shut down New York became the monster thatshut down a presidential campaign. In that regard, it touched all Ameri-cans.
The campaign hiatus was fitting and proper, albeit a political no-brainer for President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney. Withdozens dead and unaccounted for, with millions without power andwondering about putting their homes and businesses back together,politics needed to take a back seat.
Blunt-spoken New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie perhaps said it best, ashe pondered the devastation of his state’s coastline, ground zero forSandy’s landfall Monday night.
“I don’t give a damn about Election Day,” Christie told reporters.“I’ve got bigger fish to fry” ...
The job of putting more than 20 storm-ravaged states back in work-ing order will be less dramatic. Millions of New Yorkers in the center ofthe nation’s business nerve wondered how they would be getting towork in the days ahead after the subway system suffered a level ofdamage it hadn’t seen in a century. ...
The PRESS & DAKOTAN Views page provides a forum for open discussion ofissues and interests affecting our readers. Initialed editorials represent the opin-ion of the writer, but not necessarily that of the PRESS & DAKOTAN. Bylinedcolumns represent the view of the author. We welcome letters to the editor oncurrent topics. Questions regarding the Views page should be directed to KellyHertz at [email protected].
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