David Thomas: “I certainly join my friend from Texas. He spells out some things that are quite clear but obviously are not talked about…”

“I certainly join my friend from Texas. He spells out some things that are quite clear but obviously are not talked about very much. I was listening earlier to my friend from North Dakota, who talked about the differences between the parties, between the Presidential candidates. Certainly there are differences. They talk about them being the same; they are not the same. I think there are some very clear philosophical choices to make. Of course, that is why we are here. There is nothing unusual about having different points of view. Those points of view are very clear. Often we get involved in details and get bogged down in the choices in terms of direction and where we want to go, in terms of where we want the country to be in 10, 20, 50 years. That gets lost. They are the most important issues that we have. One of them, in general terms is, what is the role of the Federal Government? How extensively does the Federal Government get involved in all the activities in our lives? What is the role of local government? Of course, most important is the role you and I, as individuals, have experienced over the past decade. For nearly a decade, the idea was that whatever the problem was, it was up to the Federal Government to resolve it. Of course, much of that comes from politics. That is a great way to get votes. There is a saying: You can teach a person to fish and they always have a fish; give them a fish and you will always have his vote.”