The chilling impact of big government

By Jim Waters

WASHINGTON — I’m in the nation’s Capitol, where I testified in support of allowing the marketplace, not government, to determine wage scales paid on public projects, especially schools.

But for a moment, let me explain how some cold winds blew my thoughts back home.

I’m disheartened by events in Kentucky, where five years of planning by the city of Hodgenville for the bicentennial celebration of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth got wiped out in a matter of hours by snow and ice. Plans called for first lady Laura Bush to kick off events. Many dignitaries hoped to make their way to the birthplace of our 16th president.

Few can rival the effort folks in Hodgenville dedicated and committed to working on this project. But a glitch in the celebration should not allow us to ignore what Lincoln represents.

I choose to ignore revisionist historians who speak ill of Lincoln, including one in that lot who called him a “war criminal.” Reasonable and intelligent Americans understand what a great president he made in spite of great obstacles. Honest Abe managed to guide the union through war, emancipation and historic change.

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