Reply to George Terhaar letter to editor.
After leaving the priesthood, one of the first things that Bill Wassmuth did was to establish the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, a six – state organization which to this day remains a vital and vibrant organization.
October 3, 2001. PROCLAMATION. On this date, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne officially declared October 11, 2001 to henceforth be the official BILL WASSMUTH DAY. In so doing, the governor noted: “Bill was moved by his faith and commitment to human rights; that he is a hero in word and deed; that he “has made an enormous difference in the lives of Idahoans and he stands as an example for all of us to emulate”. [His reference to “all” did not exempt residents of Idaho County].
August 22, 2002. Bill passed away.
March 3, 2003- (Monday). Mohammed Joban, a Muslim cleric was scheduled to deliver the opening prayer for the Washington State House of Representatives. Two of the representatives walked out in apparent protest. A firestorm of sorts developed. State Republican Chairman, Chris Vance rebuked the "walkers" as did the Council on the American/Islamic Relations in Washington DC. Additionally, a representative of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment was interviewed on TV and echoed what Bill would have said had he been alive, i.e., that there is no place in society for displays of such bigotry and hatred. (One of the Representatives said it was her patriotic duty to walk out).
George Terhaar To The Rescue. George is a former educator, and a somewhat notorious serial “letter to the editor writer” espousing hard right conservative politics and bashing anything he perceives as progressive or liberal. He immediately sent a letter to the South County Journal in Kent, Washington praising the Republican representatives for their courage in leaving the House floor when cleric Joban rose to pray.
Days later, I opened the morning edition of the paper, and ran across George's letter to the editor and since I knew of both Bill Wassmuth and George Terhaar and their Greencreek heritage, I wrote a letter to the editor noting the background of these two gentlemen growing up among the wheat fields of Idaho County, and how they oddly had polemic views when it came to human decency. I noted both were probably born in the same Catholic hospital; baptized by the same Catholic priest; same priest presided over their first confessions and first Communions; educated through the eighth grade by the same Catholic nuns; probably Confirmed by the same priest; both left the community to further their educations; one became a priest; the other, among other accomplishments, a prodigious “letter to the editor writer”. I concluded by saying that in my opinion, one of these gentlemen had grown up to have a very large heart whereas the other gentleman had a very narrow mind, leaving the reader to guess which one was which. George was somewhat of a sacred cow with that particular newspaper (it has since gone out of business), and as might be expected, my letter was not published.
I assume that the good citizens of Idaho County are familiar with the IDAHO ANNE FRANK HUMAN RIGHTS MEMORIAL in Boise. I recommend that you visit it, and while you are there, you can visit the adjoining WASSMUTH CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS where Bill's legacy is being carried forward in perpetuity. 
I remain mystified that there is no decent sized memorial of some sort in the local area recognizing Idaho's officially designated “example for all of us to emulate”. If I am mistaken concerning memorialization, please set the record straight and accept my apologies.
Now, as for Mr. Terhaar taking license with what I had to say and offering his erroneous conclusion that “The local electorate’s conservative leanings prevented this [the lack of statues] from occurring,” that was not what I said, and not what was intended. (Keep the statues in church where they belong), (Ignoring Wassmuth wasn’t a political matter, instead there may be other factors at play). A little bit of honesty will suffice. When Father Bill quit the priesthood and got married, there were to my knowledge many derisive statements made in the local communities about him notwithstanding everything that he had undergone and accomplished in his prior life, and what he stood for. I am not going to identify the speakers, but I can assure you they were out and about. I know first hand how Catholics in Cottonwood react to those who leave the Church. When an uncle and aunt left the Church, the extended family living in Cottonwood were noticeably upset. My grandmother until the day she passed away continued to encourage all of us to pray that some day the wayward brother would see the light and return to the fold. 
In conclusion, George, if you have not been updated, our mutual friend Don is doing remarkably well following his dual knee replacement surgery. Peace.
Wayne J. Wimer

Redneck Review!
No. 127 - 9/25/17
The rather bold claim has been made in our last review, that Keynesian theory is basically flawed.  That claim is definitely apt to stir up criticism, but even more than that, ridicule, in view of the fact that the theory is so well accepted around the world today by very influential individuals!
But the claim is made none the less!  Briefly, it is that the use of government and bank methods to crank up a sagging economy does work, and is well supported by people at all levels. Using "quantitative easing" or throwing more money into an economy logically will work and does work.  It has worked in our country, and the continued new records set by our stock market is just one of the proofs!  Of course, it ends up with bigger and bigger debt, as the money needed to jolt the economy has to come from somewhere! Borrowing on the future is the method most readily used, and is the one which is the least painful at the time!  Obviously, raising taxes to increase government spending on projects to spur the economy will not work, because every dollar taken from taxpayers reduces the money they have to spur the economy by consumer spending or investment in business.  All it really does is shift the spending priorities from the private sector and place it instead in the hands of the public sector, or in other words, it shifts the use of that money spent from the private individual or firms who earned it to government officials who have not earned it, and in the process, might even be spent in less productive ways! Think about it!
And in our last review, the claim was made that the flip side of the Keynsian system, that says the same agencies, government and banks,  providing  the money to spur an economy, will not resort to the braking side of the system, the use of raising interest rates, clamping down on easy credit, and repaying the debt that results will not be used. It is economic and political suicide!  It was argued last time that our human nature makes us much more willing
to accept the good times excess money provides than we are to buck up and accept tactics that shrink income and reduce current spending in order to pay off debt that accumulated in the past!   Thus it is easy to understand why our national federal debt is huge and growing! It will continue to grow, because there is no way to stop it short of total economic disaster!
And we cannot say we have not been warned of the results in the past. Last time the term LEGAL PLUNDER was mentioned.  A brief review of the lengthy explanation provided in RNRs 12-17 is given here. THE LAW, written by  Frederik Bastiat about 1850, argued that the right to own private property was an absolute necessity for a thriving economy, and that anyone who took by force the hard earned gain of another was guilty of theft. Such theft, if allowed unchecked, would doom any involved economy.  So Bastiat argued that the same taking of force by government from one who earned it and then giving it to another, was the same thing, theft. He called it PLUNDER, and since government did it with the sanction of law he called it LEGAL PLUNDER.  His argument was simple, that such action by government in the beginning involved only a little taken from many, hardly noticeable, then given to a few! But he predicted that the "few" who received the plundered gifts would grow as more people would want to be on the receiving end, so that more and more would have to be forced from the unwilling "givers."  Eventually he argued that the time would come when it would not be possible to extract enough from the "givers," to keep happy the "receivers," so that money borrowed on the future would have to be the result.  He predicted what would happen over the years! A study of American debt and the transfer of PLUNDERED money proves his claim!
Next week we will review the argument Alexander Tyler is remembered for when he claimed that all democracies face economic collapse because of the increasing demands of voters! 
Jake Wren

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