The answer is simple…

The financial crisis, auto industry crisis, and budget crisis are products of businesses and government abandoning simple common sense principles.

In the financial industry too many companies abandoned sound lending principles and gave money to people that were either speculating in the real estate market or simply did not have the means to pay back loans.

The auto industry is paying people to sit around while they get paid 95% of their wage due to poorly negotiated union contracts. The wages are out of balance with the market system. The auto industry executives should be fired for allowing such ridiculous contracts. The big 3 make some great cars, they just cost too much to make.

The federal budget and state budgets are a mess because government is trying to do too much because the American people are asking or expecting it to do too much.

The answers; Lend money to all that have good credit and have shown a history of being able to make an income. Bring back the money down concept that has served us so well for so many years. If it makes sense to renegotiate mortgages then do so, if not, people can go rent an apartment until they can rebuild their finances to buy a home.

The auto industry should file chapter 11 and shed the union contracts that are a noose around the neck of productivity. Fire the top management and move out of Michigan. Michigan with its current Governor is hostile to the idea of free markets. I hear North Carolina and Tennessee are looking for some new car plants.

The American people need to stop asking the government to get involved in everything going on. Our politicians are incompetent misfits that have never managed anything in their lives. They are power hungry nit wits that don’t deserve a speck of respect based on their past performance, and they all need to be thrown out, forcefully if necessary.

Simple yes… Realistic?

Unions are the Government in disguise…

The car industry in America is failing because they are treating their employees like government employees. They are being crushed by contracts that can no longer be sustained, and remain competitive.

All you have to do is look at the pay scale for auto workers and questions arise. The average wage is more than $70 an hour. The real problem is that for every one active worker, GM has 5 retirees they are paying very lucrative benefits to as well. Granted these workers earned them but it is not the tax payer’s responsibility to rescue a failed ponsie scheme. We already have one failed ponsie scheme to support; Social Security. We need them to file chapter 11 and restructure the union contracts.

Union bosses’ average pay for the top 50 officers is $186,000. More than 1000 officers and staff make more than $100,000. I don’t begrudge them their pay; I just don’t want to pay it. If their company can’t afford it, then they can stop paying. Let the two parties work it out. Failure is the only option for these two groups to come to the table.

Let’s all agree - starting today that we need less government in our lives and industry, not more. Let’s get back to good old American ingenuity and stop asking a completely incompetent bunch of politicians to save any industry. They can’t fix anything. Just look at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, EPA, DOE, FCC, etc. They are just a few of the examples of government incompetency…

The more they ask the more we “get”…

Deeper into chaos is where we are heading with all of this tax payer “bailout” we keep talking about. It is time to stop!!!

If you look closely and analyze what is happening it is clear to see; the more the government gets involved the worse things are getting. We need someone to just say NO!

I am truly concerned for our future. If this continues you should be too…

Failure is not an option?

I had the pleasure last year to meet and introduce Gene Krantz, the man responsible for that memorable phrase. If you don’t know, he managed the Apollo 13 crisis. He is a remarkable man, and his determination to save his astronauts is embodied in his famous phrase; “Failure is not an option”.

But in the context of business, failure has to be an option; it is what inspires success. If there is no chance of failure what you get is government. Inefficient agents knowing anything they do cannot impact their success or failure. You get morass, bureaucracy, mediocrity, lost hope, and a failed system.

GM, Ford, Chrysler, and many financial institutions, are in their predicaments because of poor management, both of the business, and for car companies, the unions. These businesses must be allowed to fail to become more efficient. Lots of pain and suffering brings about a new perspective of the future. You learn what to do and not to do next time. It is what has evolved our economy into the greatest in the world.

Failure is the right option. Failure is the only option that will get us back on track. Failure is the precedent to success. Until we stop trying to “save” everyone, we will be stuck in this period of prolonged waiting. Because believe me, we will fail eventually. The longer we try to prop things up with the government the bigger and harder the failure will be. So let’s let the failure begin.

Honoring a Veteran Honoring Veterans...

I always count my blessings on Veteran's Day and look for the right words to honor those that have served and are serving. I found those words in a note from my good friend and veteran Kirk Weisler. I post his words for you to read on this day of honor:

It’s Veteran’s day, and I won’t cheapen it with a feeble effort and some patriotic platitudes. Rather I will attempt to express something from my own experience and from my own heart.

I would like to share with you a personal story of an opportunity I had while serving a 4 year active duty enlistment with the 3rd Ranger Battalion at Ft. Benning Georgia. I also got to serve a short stint with the 10th Mountain Division while at Benning. Part of my service included being assigned to the dreaded “Funeral Detail” Which I was informed would be a mostly boring assignment to honor recently deceased veterans. The funeral detail was a 30 day duty assignment where I would be in charge of the seven man team who did the 21 gun salute, during the funeral services of any active or retired serviceman who passed away within a 2-3 hour driving radius of our post. Also assigned to our detail was a service man to play Taps, and the crew assigned to carry the deceased veterans casket and attend to the folding of the flag from his casket and passing it to the spouse or next of kin.

I cannot think of any other assignment or duty I performed during my enlistment that was as personally rewarding to me as this one. The absolute depth of humility and gratitude I felt for these men, whom I did not know, was surprising to me then as a young and mostly immature soldier. But my knowing them did not seem to be important…knowing that they had sworn to “uphold and protect”, that they had worn the uniform of a soldier, that they had been willing to put their life in harms way for a cause greater than themselves, seemed to be more than enough. I remember clearly the intense feelings that came to myself and my squad each time the sound of Taps reached through our ears to our hearts, each time the shots rang out, and each time our sacred flag was folded with reverence and respect. It seemed during those moments that the soldier we honored that day was some revered national hero, someone whom had single handedly won the day. As if the soldiers we honored at those services somehow represented every soldier who had every fought in or been to battle… the presence or sense that I felt during those sacred moments was if there were literally thousands of soldiers there at that moment, coming to pay their respects, to give reverence and honor to one of their own. On the sometimes long and mostly quite bus rides back to base as I reflected on the feelings of the day…I could easily imagine the deceased whom we had honored being welcomed from this life into the next by the Warriors and Soldiers of yesterday’s battles into a Army of with perhaps a different uniform, maybe a different commanding officer and weapons…but still fighting for the same cause…. A cause of Justice a cause of Mercy, Be-Cause of Freedom.

The fanciful romantic musings of a young Christian soldier?…Maybe so. One thing is for certain though…Funeral Detail was anything but mostly boring and honoring veterans dead or alive is no singular activity. Honoring one is honoring all, honoring all is honoring the one. Today I will find at least one veteran, I will thank him for what they have done, what they were willing to do, what he/she is doing right now and what they may be asked to do tomorrow. My experience on that funeral detail taught me anything it taught me that honoring one….truly can be honoring all…and in honoring them all we miss not a one.

God Bless America and the Soldiers Who’ve Fought for Freedom Kirk Weisler, Former Sgt, 3rd Ranger Bn. , 10th Mtn Division, 19th Special Forces

Hooah and thank you!

Finally economics we can toast with a beer...

This little story about some beer drinkers explains a lot.
A good lesson for our country.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it
would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every
day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the
owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he
said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks
for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they
divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted
that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would
each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested
that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same
amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued
to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20', declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar,
too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,
they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money
between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most
benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being
wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might
start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia


For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible. ...

Two stories to ponder…

Since the radical left have this feeling like the rest of the country believes in their tripe, I have a couple of lessons for this mis-informed group of “do-gooders”.

Remedial Economics: Let’s apply a simple economic example for the left although they may be too emotional to get it, the rest of us will. The following is an example of why taxes and big government are not the answer to help our economy.

Mayor Bloomberg of NY (I often wonder how he stays a billionaire) is proposing raising all kinds of taxes, adding bridge tolls where there currently are none, and overall making it even more expensive to live and do business in NYC. He believes that if he adds tolls to the bridges that have no tolls now he will add a billion dollars to his coffers. He gets that figure from counting the current number of cars that cross the bridge. The problem is, once you add the toll less people will use the bridge. The same thing goes for adding taxes to do business in NYC. Raise them and less businesses will start and more will leave; remedial economic principle.

Now just imagine your favorite coffee shop is no longer making a profit. They refuse to reduce staff and become efficient; they simply raise a cup of coffee from $1.50 to $5.00 to increase their business to cover their inefficiencies. You go to your favorite coffee shop and go to buy your morning coffee and the counter person says, “That will be $5.00”. You say that must be a mistake it was $1.50 yesterday. They say well we had to raise our price to cover our inefficiencies. You do what? My guess is you will either stop buying their coffee and find an alternative, or buy coffee less often. So now the coffee shop actually makes less money and goes out of business. Remedial economics.

The difference between the two examples is government does not go out of business, and that is very unfortunate. The one principle that does stay the same though is the higher the price the less people will or can buy the service or product. Taxes are the price of government. Increase the tax and the revenue is reduced, and you can’t pay for the cost of providing the service. It is a vicious cycle unless the entity goes out of business. In the private sector the business goes away, in the government it does not. That needs to change.

Global Citizenship: With the election of Obama there is a move for these same radical left people to push for global solutions because we are “citizens of the world”. First of all, we are not, we are citizens of the US under the governance of the US constitution. We have enough problems running our own government, what makes anyone think we want to get into a mess like the EU? It is just a matter of time before that entire structure falls apart under the weight of inefficiency and quests for power.

The US is the greatest nation in the world because we adhere to US principles that put Americans first. We don’t need other countries trying to control our natural and human resources. Talk about an impetus for revolution.

So as Obama gets ready to take office his first order of business is to reject the radicals on the left. Just a thought…

Honeymoon? Stimulus? Stealing our 401K’s?

What is a honeymoon for a president? The world doesn’t stop, terrorists don’t stop their plans to kill us, the economy continues to tank, and Obama has been campaigning for two years to get this job. His policies will be criticized, analyzed, and praised from the second he proposes them. If the policies are bad we will rebel, if they are good we will support them; period. We can’t afford to allow him any slack to move us to the left.

The only stimulus that will work is the reduction or elimination of the capital gains tax for the next four years. Reduced taxes and a return to sound lending practices is the only path to a renewed housing market. It is a simple concept; less government intrusion, greater economic gains. More government will drive us into a depression.

There is a democratic leftist proposal to take our 401K savings and put them into government run accounts. Can you say Social Security is going bankrupt under government control? If there is any move to do this my money goes off shore. I will bet I am not alone. I will take the penalties associated with liquidation because that will be nothing compared to what they will do with the principal I have been saving for my entire adult life. This proposal should be crushed; now!

Obama has a scary past for those of us that believe in individual liberty and free market capitalism. We must protect what has made us great and organize against any efforts to undermine our core values as Americans. A lot of people got involved in this election that have little understanding of politics. It will be our job to educate them on the policies and values that will bring prosperity to this country.

Expecting a free ride, giving away our tax money to people that did nothing to deserve it, or taking our hard earned retirement savings will only destroy the future of this country. It is not easy to stay optimistic but when I am down I say two words to lift my spirits; Ronald Reagan…

What now?

We always learn from failure. Thomas Edison said it best when asked about his pursuit of inventing the light bulb; “I didn’t fail over 2000 times, I learned 2000 ways how not to invent a light bulb” (or something close to that). The point being, failure has something to teach us if we are open to learning.

If I were a Republican this is what I would have learned:

· When you abandon your core conservative values to try to win over moderates and democrats you lose.
· Conservative principles don’t change they only need to be communicated properly and passionately; then implemented!
· “My Friends” should be eliminated from the lexicon.
· Sarah Palin was not the reason Republicans lost; she was the reason the loss wasn’t bigger.
· When you are voted into power on conservative principles; govern as a conservative.
· Answer every media criticism with confidence, facts, and the simple caveat; I don’t agree with the premise of your question (it works for almost every question the media throws at a conservative).

I left the Republican Party over a year ago but I keep wondering if that is that the best way to impact the process? I am troubled by the process and want to be a part of the solution but I struggle with whether or not to get back in and fight the battle from the inside out. I look at the few votes that third party candidates get, and wonder if it will ever change. So many people just look for the R or D. They don’t get involved beyond that.

Looking for some help in my decision; should I run in 2010 as an unaffiliated candidate or should I return to the Party and get more involved? Who cares?

No more excuses…

Conservatives have always known America is a country that celebrates hard work and ability. Liberals have carried around some unfounded guilt about how racism has kept the minorities and especially black Americans down. It looks like America really isn’t a racist nation as liberals suggest. It is a nation that rewards hard work and ability as conservatives suggest. America elected a black president, and the question to liberals is; can we now agree that anyone that wants to achieve, can achieve?

Obama can now say to all Americans that individual hard work not government programs is what dreams are made of. Will Obama now do what he said he would in the campaign; review and eliminate all of the government programs that have not achieved the mission they were created for, including affirmative action? Time will tell.

It is not the delivery of eloquent words that make a president a great figure but the implementation of sound policies. Will Obama force more government on America or reduce the chains of government that have stolen the hopes and dreams of so many especially in his own community. He made a very inspiring speech last night that offered some glimmer of concession to true American values and not feel good liberal ones - but the jury is out. Will he govern as his past suggests or the rhetoric of his campaign?

Voters last night rejected George Bush and the message of John McCain, both men were not able to articulate or implement the American vision. Americans are pragmatists when it comes to politics but don’t mistake pragmatism for liberal ideology. Americans believe the fruits of individual hard work should be rewarded to the people that do the work. Americans are the most compassionate and giving people because they want to be not because they are forced to be by confiscatory tax policy. We love our military and the mission of protecting freedom around the world but we get tired quickly if those people do not step up and show their own commitment to freedom. We believe in free speech not political correctness. We believe in equal opportunity not equal outcome. We believe that God has blessed us and it is OK to express that on any property. We agree that atheists have rights but not the right to deny us ours. The majority of Americans want to choose life but are extremely suspicious that a government that can’t do anything right should be allowed to legislate the womb. Americans want to trust their government but politicians have made that impossible. Big government and big corporations are very much the same; they have no core values. Americans have lost all faith in a media whose job it is to investigate and report but only do that for candidates with an R next to their name. Americans do want change but a change that reflects the American values that made us great not some change toward the values of Europe or the rest of the world.

America will watch Obama closely and determine whether or not he promotes spreading the wealth of the people that work hard, or spreading the opportunity to work hard and keep our wealth. One will make him a great president; the other will make him a typical liberal. Obama will decide how history will judge him. He seems like a guy that wants to be great so I believe he will choose to change his past leanings for a more pragmatist approach to the future. His decision will help us to decide if he is a one term empty suit or a two term president deserving of a truly historical place in American history…

If you needed evidence for reforming education – here it is…

Obama will pay for my gas and mortgage! OMG talk about ignorance and a lack of understanding how America has become the envy of the world…

Today is the day…

I spent yesterday celebrating my 49th birthday. It didn’t seem much different than my 29th or 39th, and I hope that I feel this way on my 59th (scary thought). I was born on Election Day in 1959, and I blame my absolute obsession with politics on that fact. I spent the day yesterday contemplating next steps if Obama wins this election, and takes this country in the wrong direction.

I came to the conclusion that Americans, who believe in the constitution, small government, individual liberty, and a government of the people, need to start educating others, and especially the young people in this country on the fundamentals of being American. We have left our education system to the left and they have destroyed it. It is a bastion of political correctness, shallow learning, and stewarded by people that have little if any real business or life experience. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good teachers trying to make a difference but nothing replaces real life experience and passion in a classroom.

We need to reform the way we hire teachers. We need people teaching that have spent their careers in the private sector building, managing, and understanding the way our private sectors operate. We need lawyers, doctors, engineers, and nurses becoming teachers after they have spent 20 years in the private sector. We need to hire for real life knowledge and passion in our classrooms. Political correctness and unions be damned.

We need to go on the offensive and focus on the failure of every bureaucracy and government program, offer solutions, then move on to the next bureaucracy. We have to be diligent and persistent in the fight. Then in the next election cycle the only candidates that will rise to the top will be ones worthy of our vote. We have ignored our political and educational institutions for far too long. We know this because we have seen the values that have made this country great disregarded, impugned, and ridiculed in this election cycle.

We have people asking what the government is going to do about our “problems”. I ask what are you doing for yourself? We must stop asking the government to get involved where they have no business. You can tie most problems right back to the government, whether it is inefficiency, over reaching regulation and taxation, creating dependency and stealing the hope of individuals, ruining our education system or financial systems, or being lax in our National and border security. Wherever there is a problem, the government is not far away. It is time to fight this intrusion.

Many of us are anxiously awaiting today’s results, and I know I am not the only one concerned with the radical left being in control of all three branches of government. You know who you are. We need to unite here and start the battle. No matter what the election results are we need to start engaging in the system so we have a much more informed electorate in the next election cycle. Our saving grace is that we know; God always blesses America…