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Jesup, Georgia 31545

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

75

In 1974, Sen. Herman Talmadge didnt sound like a 2012 Democrat

Huddled around an iPad, 20 Georgians listened to a familiar voice on YouTube. If we had been reading the script rather than listening to the unmistakable drawl of DINK Sen. Herman NeSMITH Talmadge, the Chairman group would have guessed the words were from the Tea Party. But these clips were from 1974, and the senator was railing against big government. Left up to him, he vowed, hed dismantle half of the federal government and send it back to local city halls and courthouses. Government had become too large and so complex that it alienated people. He believed red tape was choking business, and he had 30 people on his Washington staff trying to cut the red tape of bureaucracy. All 11 of his phone lines stayed lit up. Imagine what the senator would think today with e-mail and social media lighting up Capitol Hill. On average, back then, his office got 500-600 letters per daypeople wanting help. Many he claimed were seeking largess, coming with their hats in their hands. We have more people on the wagon, he said, than pulling it. The way he saw it, the federal government had no wealth. It has only what is taken away from productive citizens who pay taxes. Weve made it too easy to get a government check, he argued. He believed the terms liberal and conservative were much abused. He figured some considered

My Opinion
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him a wild-eyed radical or a reactionary beyond redemption. Nonetheless, his basis for making a legislative decision was three-fold: Was it constitutional? Was it in the states and the nations best interest? Can we afford it? Can we afford it? Now, thats a good question that hasnt been asked often enough. Instead, Washingtons motto appears to be: Nothing is too good or expensive for the taxpayers of America. Sen. Talmadge was worried about the $150 billion national deficit. He growled that about one-third of Americas gross national product was used to pay interest on the debt. Imagine what hed think of the $16 trillion deficit in 2012? He wouldnt be happy with our foreign policies, either. We cant keep being banker, policeman and Santy Claus to the world, he said. I repeatthese views came from a lifelong stalwart of the Democratic Party. If he were alive, the cigarchomping senator would be speaking from the GOPs most conservative side. This past Saturday, I made two lapstwo hours apartaround the

Last week, 20 Georgia leaders huddled around an iPad to listen to Sen. Herman Talmadge rail against big government in 1974.
courthouse square in Perry. Each time, I was stunned to see the line streaming down the sidewalk. Mothers held infants on their hips. People chatted on cell phones and punched text messages, as they inched toward the voting booths inside. On a crisp fall Saturday morning, peoplelots of peoplewere standing in line to vote early. I like that. And then the next day, I read that more than one million Georgians had voted early. I like that, too. America is in turmoil. People are clawing to survive in this Great Recession, and they want to send a message: Give us our paychecks back! The ballot box is the best megaphone for their voices to be heard. But as I listened to Sen. Talmadges 38-year-old recording, I remembered a friends prediction. Dont get your hopes up, he warned. Politicians are too busy trying to get re-elected to make hard decisions that will turn the country around. They buy votes with entitlements and programs. He may be right, but we must not stop voting. We cannot give upever. dnesmith@cninewspapers.com