Profligate Morality?

American Minute from William J. Federer

Sentenced as a galley slave on a French ship, he looked up as they sailed passed St. Andrews, Scotland, and said: "I see the steeple of that place where God first in public opened my mouth to glory; and I am fully persuaded...I shall not depart this life till my tongue shall glorify his godly name in the same place."

John Knox was eventually released, met John Calvin, and returned to Scotland, where he confronted Mary, Queen of Scots, mother of England's King James I.

In 1560, John Knox led Scotland to establish the Presbyterian Church.

Dying NOVEMBER 24, 1572, John Knox stated: "A man with God is always in the majority."

A descendant of John Knox was Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence and, as President of Princeton, taught James Madison.

On May 26, 1789, the Presbyterian Churches in the United States wrote to President Washington: "We...esteem it a peculiar happiness to behold in our Chief Magistrate, a steady, avowed friend of the Christian religion...who, in his private conduct, adorns the doctrines of the gospel of Christ."

President Washington replied in May of 1789: "While I reiterate the professions of my dependence upon Heaven...I will observe that...no man who is profligate in his morals...can possibly be a true Christian."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Cold Day in Hell May Affect SD Highway Funding

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: For months now South Dakotans have been hearing about the shortage of funds in the state's highway fund program. This, with the reduction of fuel being used on our highways, has also caused a cut in the amount of gasoline tax the state gets from motorists. This, of course, adds to the problem of how South Dakota is going to be able to not only maintain its highways and bridges, but to repair and/or replace our highways and bridges.

The lack of funding also poses several interesting questions.

A FORMER West River long time legislator was guaranteed re-elections when he profoundly uttered his often used expression, "It will be a cold day in hell before I'll ever vote for a raise in taxes."

This and similar expressions have almost always been favorites to South Dakota voters. We have been generally recognized nationally for our conservative views, particularly when it comes to raising taxes. However, considering the shortfall on highway funding, South Dakota now finds both voters as well as our legislators may have to rethink "cold day in hell".

A special legislative committee has been meeting off and on for the past several weeks trying to assemble the pieces of the puzzle that will help solve highway funding. Ideas generated from these meetings have run the gamut from the proposal to have yet another study committee, to increasing South Dakota's 22-cent gas tax by several percentage points.

HERE ARE SOME pieces of the puzzle that make an interesting picture. First of all, one piece of the picture puzzle is the fact that $72.3 million will be needed to maintain our roads as they are. Another $17 million is needed for bridge preservation. Yet another $25 million is the cost of the wish list by the Department of Transportation which needs to be done, but which are not scheduled due to the lack of funding.

As I mentioned, the possible solutions are extremely varied. For example, the legislature would have to raise its current 22-cent tax on gasoline and 20 cents per gallon on ethanol by 13 cents a gallon to come close to raising the $72.3 million needed for highway preservation. This appears to be excessive, but if a portion of this proposal would be combined with other tax and fee raises, the $72.3 million may be able to be reached.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION to raise that $72.3 million would be to add the four percent sales tax to the purchase of fuel. It would appear that these two options are the best solutions because using motor fuels would make everyone on the highway share the load. I might add that when I say everyone, this includes those thousands of people, maybe millions, who use South Dakota as a drive-through state.

At the same time, raising license plate fees a few dollars should not cripple any of us too severely. Another option that has been discussed would be to remove the fees on license plates for older vehicles. However, the older cars are generally owned by those who cannot afford newer cars.

This would put a major stumbling block on this proposal.

THERE YOU HAVE IT, a picture puzzle that may not have the l,000 piece puzzle that we used to put together as kids. But assembling the few pieces we do have makes the job as difficult.

How the legislature will resolve the highway funding problem will be dealt with in just a few short weeks. Other options would be to do nothing at all or throw it to another study committee which are both bad ideas.

Consequently, if anything is going to be done, our legislature will have to realize there may be a "cold day in hell" as well as in Pierre awaiting them....

Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion and recently retired after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.

Thanksgiving Week Poll

You will notice near the upper right side of Dakota Voice that the poll-area this week contains a question instead of a poll.

While polls usually measure opinion rather than fact, this questionnaire seeks two specific answers because the Mayflower Compact is specific as to why the Pilgrims made their arduous voyage to the New World.

There are more than two reasons they made the voyage, and they also list more than two reasons in the Mayflower Compact, but you will only find two of the reasons listed in this questionnaire actually in the Mayflower Compact.

The poll/questionnaire reads:

According to the Mayflower Compact, what are two of the reasons the Pilgrims made their voyage?

- Religious freedom
- For the glory of God
- To start a theocracy
- To escape an oppressive king
- Advancement of the Christian faith

This is an "open book test," by the way. If you're not sure, please use the vast resource of knowledge that is the internet and look up the original text of the Mayflower Compact. This is not an attempt to trick, but an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate our heritage as Americans as we enter the Thanksgiving week.

Good luck and blessings to you as you take the poll/questionnaire!

Video: A Look at a Flight 93 Terrorist.

This video about Zia Jara, one of the 911 hijackers, was just released on NBC. It was shot a year or more before the September 11, 2001 attack. Why NBC just now received and is airing this video (as President Bush is on his way out the door) is unclear.

This is one of the terrorists who went down with Flight 93 into a field in Pennsylvania. Due to the heroism of the passengers of Flight 93, untold hundreds of Americans lives--probably in Washington D.C.--were saved.

Let us never forget that what a lack of seriousness and determination can entice our enemies to do.

The Source of National Security

American Minute from William J. Federer

His only son, 11-year-old Bennie, was killed when their campaign train rolled off its tracks. This happened to 14th President Franklin Pierce, who was born NOVEMBER 23, 1804.

Elected to Congress at age 29, Franklin Pierce was a Senator at 33. He resigned during the Mexican-American War, enlisted as a private and was eventually promoted to brigadier general. Pierce's leg was crushed at the Battle of Churubusco.

Franklin Pierce ran for President against General Winfield Scott, whom he had served under during the War.

Before he died, Franklin Pierce was baptized in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord.

His friends included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was with him the night he died.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in a biography of Franklin Pierce: "Whether in sorrow or success he has learned...that religious faith is the most valuable...of human possessions...With this sense, there has come...a wide sympathy for the modes of Christian worship and a reverence for religious belief as a matter between the Deity and man's soul."

President Franklin Pierce said in his Inaugural, March 4, 1853: "It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.