Closing Words for 2005

As the year draws to a close, Joe Coletti, in an Op-Ed for the Garner Times,
provides the best recap of the changing political times, from 1950 to
the present.  In it, Coletti traces the rise and decline of paternalism
– or the practice of governing by oversight and intervention at the
cost of individual freedom – beginning with Lyndon Johnson’s Great
Society. “The end of paternalism,” writes Coletti, “will ultimately
come because Americans under 40 are comfortable with responsibility and
choice,” an idea that he insists is finding a foothold in America. Donna Martinez, with WPTF’s Kevin Miller, offered her own insights into 2005, highlighting the future of the state-run lottery, the ethical questions circulating around State House Speaker Jim Black, and the extension of the “temporary taxes” in the state budget.