By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… A number of people in the Moapa Valley have been championing the cause of more local control over the various agencies governing the valley. There is a drive for incorporation that due to the down turn in the economy seems to be going nowhere in the near future.

However, control over our high school has been localized through the empowerment movement in the District. Moapa Valley High School has been operating for three years under this empowerment policy.

The first set of students who have been totally educated under this policy are now eleventh graders and have completed their proficiency tests. Ninety-seven percent of the eleventh grade students at Moapa Valley High School have passed their math proficiency tests. One hundred percent have passed the reading proficiency test and 94.3% are proficient in science. The writing part of the proficiency tests is the lowest score for the juniors at MVHS at 84.5%. This leaves 19 students yet to pass the writing test in their senior year. Keep in mind these figure include all the students in the eleventh grade, even those with learning disabilities.

Since the public has declared student failure, the sole responsibility of the teacher one can only conclude these positive results are the sole responsibility of the teaching staff at Moapa Valley High School. For this effort, the state legislature is asking teachers to take a large cut in pay and to teach more students. Teachers have also volunteered to teach an extra period. It may be time to stop beating teachers up and recognize the fact they do one great job.

No one asked me but… Federal and State governments are suffering from either a lack of funds or an over abundance of expenses.

The option one takes depends largely on the role one sees for government. It is the contentions of the Republicans that the problems are due to irresponsible Democrat spending. The Democrats contend the problem is that the Republicans are heartless money pinching misers. There is probably a grain of truth in both positions. The Bush tax cuts to the rich surely did not produce the prosperity predicted by those who said if you allow the rich to hold on to more of their money they would use it to spread the wealth through job creations and higher wages for the masses. How did that work out?

Tax cuts were made during the eight years of the Bush administration. During those eight years, the country went from a balanced budget and a surplus to over $1 trillion in debt. This debt has grown to over $14 trillion under the Obama administration. The top income tax rate was cut to 35 percent and the capital gains tax was lowered to 15 percent. I now pay more federal tax than General Electric and BP AMACO combined.

However, before we blame all of this on the rich, one must consider the fact that in 2010 more than 45 percent of the American people paid no federal income tax at all. Not only do 45 percent of Americans pay no taxes, millions who pay no taxes receive a refund payment. Actually, it is not a refund, it is a direct dole. You cannot refund that which is not paid in the first place.

How does this work? A married couple with three children and $40,000 in income can take a $9,700 standard deduction and $15,000 in personal exemptions, bringing their taxable income to $14,800. They would now owe $1,505 in taxes. This seems fair. However, with three children, they would get $3,000 in child credits, leaving them no taxes paid and a $1,495 dole from the federal government.

The problem is at both ends of the political spectrum. The rich are not doing their share in the private sector and therefore the government is going to step in, much to the chagrin of those of us who hate government interference with our lives.

Those at the other end of the spectrum are not doing their share when they pay no taxes at all. Every American should pay something to maintain the country. If the rich would allow the profits they enjoy from the tax cuts to trickle down to the middle and lower levels of the economic scale and if those who presently are not paying taxes were called upon to help support the nation, the problem would be solved.

No one asked me but… The Constitution reads, “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President, neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen years a Resident within the United States.”

I believe Andrew Jackson was the first President actually born in the United States. Barry Goldwater was not born in the United States. He was born in Arizona territory in 1909 prior to Arizona being admitted to the Union. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. George Romney was born in Mexico. Rumors circulated that President Chester A. Arthur who claimed a Vermont birth was actually born in Canada. I don’t hold with the idea that the current President is not a natural born citizen.

My issue is not that Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States; my issue is how does anyone run for the office of the Presidency of the United States without producing a birth certificate. I cannot enroll my kids in school without a birth certificate. You cannot get a driver’s license, a passport, or social security benefits without one. I even had to prove I was born to complete my retirement papers.

One would expect that one would have to produce a birth certificate to file for the Presidency of the United States. How would you know if the person met the age requirement without a birth certificate?

I find it interesting that the President had to send a Washington lawyer after the document. It seems that a simple letter to the Bureau of Statics in Hawaii would have done the trick.

Thought of the week… In the early days of the Indian Territory, there were no such things as birth certificates. You being there was certificate enough – Will Rogers