Detroit Reveals the Facts on Government Policies

·         Leadership: When you have a separatist Mayor (Young) people separate and take their productivity and wealth with them.

·         Taxes: When you raise them people flee.

·         Business: If you threaten them they will leave taking their jobs and tax base with them.

·         Unions: You can negotiate any contract you would like but taxpayers can decide to leave and not support the taxes needed to sustain the contracts.

·         Politics: You get the government you vote for and voting for democratic rule for over 40 straight years gets you bankruptcy.

·         Education: If you can’t read you should not be allowed to graduate. If you graduate and you can’t read you probably will not find a job. It is especially true when you have chased the business community away (see above). Education is the door to opportunity and trusting the system to government and union’s guarantees failure.

·         Crime: It must be punished or it thrives. It is the cancer of all inner cities. Justice must be blind and corrupt cops must be punished. Corrupt politicians are a cancer and must be prosecuted without exception.

·         Race: When the government focuses policy on race that race suffers. Race relations improve as economic status improves. Unless you put a fence around a city people of all races will leave based on their improved economic status if the above conditions are present.

Detroit is a preview of this nation’s future and it is being promoted by liberal democrats. Will they learn the lessons of Detroit and change their policies?

Government Failure: The Cause of Chaos

Epic government failure is everywhere. So is the feeling of chaos. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all welfare programs have been deemed unsustainable from every legitimate audit agency that has reviewed the programs. We have spent billions of dollars on a new federal agency to protect the homeland and we find out at the Boston Marathon that we were under a false sense of security. The threat is greater now than it was after 911. The reason is we have an administration that can’t call out terrorism or the people that are mostly responsible for the acts of terrorism.

The new healthcare bill that was passed in 2009 is bankrupting the country and ruining the efficiency of the greatest and most innovative healthcare industry in the world. Unemployment has been at record highs, but more importantly are the millions of people that have given up looking for work or applied for disability. That number has skyrocketed and is unsustainable. Never mind that it is bad for the individual psyche of the nation. We are printing money as if that is a solution when in fact it is adding to the problem of government gluttony.

We have “sustainable” energy companies funded by tax dollars with the only requirement to obtain capital for that business is being a political donor to the administration in power. Most have gone bankrupt after paying out millions in bonuses to the people that ran them (into the ground). Crony capitalism is undermining the legitimate and most effective economic system, capitalism, by painting all capitalism as corrupt. The truth is the government is the corrupt player along with willing accomplices, not capitalism as a system.

The Middle East is a powder keg of radical activity. The Islamic terrorists hate us more than ever even with this president’s naïve attempt to “soften” the rhetoric. Syria has crossed the red line set by the president and the consequences? Still waiting to see how far the president will move the red line back. Setting lines in the sand is never a good idea unless you intend to enforce them. The American people have no stomach for spilling blood and treasure in the Middle East so lines in the sand are just that.

The country has not seen this much depression in attitude and economy since Jimmy Carter in the 70’s. College grads move back home in the basements of their parents after accumulating thousands in education debt for a “Fill in the Blank” Studies Degree. There seems like no hope in sight for a better future. This is just the tip of the iceberg in a list of government failures that just keep adding up as fast as the national debt.

And the President plays another round of golf. God Bless America…

Lies and Passion

President Obama is in full campaign mode and he is passionately preaching his efforts to “fight for the middle class, bring manufacturing jobs back in the US, fairness, and the notion that everyone must pay their fair share” speaking as if he is an innocent bystander. The most concerning thing is the ease in which this president can tell a lie. And he lies with a passion that can fool the casual observer.


It is hard to beat a president that is willing to lie especially when the press doesn’t hold him accountable the same way they hold the GOP candidates in the race accountable. This president’s policies are decimating the middle class. This president’s idea of “paying their fair share” is asking the people that already pay the majority of taxes in this country to pay even more. Nearly 50% of people in this country pay no Federal tax beyond the payroll tax which is a pass through to Social Security and Medicare, and some even get money back that they never paid in. So “fair share” is anything but fair. This presidents “fair share” is actually punishing the successful for being successful and rewarding laziness and incompetence by taking those tax dollars and subsidizing failure.

This president talks about supporting manufacturing at the same time he punishes them with burdensome over regulation and subsidizes companies that he believes “deserve” subsidies like “green” companies. Even though every “green” company he has supported is either bankrupt and out of business or going out of business due to no market demand for “green” technology. This directly hurts legitimate companies that don’t get subsidies in the market. It also burdens tax payers with more debt and higher fuel prices.

The price of gas has gone up 183% during this president’s term due to his unwillingness to allow companies to build pipelines or drill for domestic oil. This hurts the middle class the most and is the highest hidden tax we face today. How is that fighting for the middle class Mr. President?

This president talks about how he “cut taxes for the middle class” with the payroll “tax cut”. It is not a tax cut - it is a temporary holiday from putting money into the Social Security system and Medicare account. It is as if you temporarily stopped having 10% taken out of your paycheck for your 401K account. You have more money in your paycheck but when you retire you have less money in your account to retire on. Somewhere along the way the money either gets put back in or you have less money to retire on or in the case of Social Security more money will need to be borrowed from the Chinese.

This president is a great campaigner loaded with passion and convincing lies. He is going to say whatever he needs to for his re-election and he will not be scrutinized by the media. It is going to take a strong GOP candidate and each of us to hold him accountable. I am worried because all of the GOP candidates are not as passionate as I want them to be. And the media is in full re-election mode for this president.

It is going to take every ounce of energy we have to win this campaign. I hope we are up to it!

Misplaced Faith

Why do so many Americans place faith in the Federal Government? It seems that whether it’s a person that buys a mortgage with lousy terms and loses their home, a fee on an ATM card, a recall on a car, or some tainted food product, the first response by the media and many Americans is “what is the federal government going to do about it?”

The Federal Government is the greatest source of failure in this country. There is no market holding it accountable. It is the consummate monopoly and still people put their faith in it. Look at the Post Office; it is bleeding billions of tax payer subsidies for inefficient processes and management. Look at Welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, the EPA, FDA, Department of Education, all bleeding tax dollars through corrupt bureaucracies and mismanagement.

The private sector market is not perfect but it is regulated in the most effective manner known to man, the competitive process. If a private sector organization fails they are punished by losing customers and profits. Competitors come in and replace them therefore righting the wrong that was done by that organization. It happens every day, almost unconsciously as consumers make choices to buy or not buy products.

GM was bailed out by the Federal Government and everyone praises the fact that they saved the company. The argument is that if the feds didn’t bail out GM the company would not exist today. There is nothing further than the truth. The company would have simply gone into bankruptcy court, restructured all of its contracts, including the unsustainable union contracts, re-organized its car lines, eliminated the cars that only sell a few hundred a month (green cars) and come out a better more efficient company. The best thing is we the tax payer would have paid $0 in the process. It has been happening in the airline industry for years. Mis managed companies are forced by the market to become better companies or close their doors forever. That is the market process.

Some people get hurt in the process but that is why the system works so well. The winners and losers are rewarded or punished based on their ability to perform for the consumer resources they hope to attract. Because the Federal Government injected itself into the GM debacle, the company still has contracts that are weighing down their long term success and many consumers, myself included, will never buy another GM product due to their relationship with the feds. That is the market at work and unless the Federal Government buys every car company I will always choose a non- government company every time.

Every time we ask the Federal Government to do anything the cost to us is freedom. The Federal Governments most efficient process is to limit freedom. They limit our choices by interjecting regulations that keep competitors out of industries. They increase the cost of doing business which stifles new business growth and they mandate what companies must provide and what consumers must buy. And yet we keep asking the Federal Government to do more. The US Constitution was created to limit the encroachment by the Federal Government against the freedom of every individual in this country, yet we turn a blind eye to the greatest document against tyrannical government ever. Why?

Subsidize Behavior and You Get More of It…

Whether the behavior is good or bad, if you subsidize it with government dollars you will get more of that behavior. That is why measuring results is so important for government programs. What government programs measure results? Well, all of them actually but the results are either ignored or excused with the notion that not enough money was spent to get the results that were hoped to be achieved.

Recently VP Biden said that the reason college tuition keeps going up is because colleges get government subsidies. Government money continues to be funneled into higher education with the assumption that college educations are important for America. College education is good for individuals that really want an education. The problem is every student that wants a college education is not necessarily prepared or in need of a college education for their chosen career path.

If government stopped subsidizing education the result would be lower tuition costs with a more qualified student population. Government subsidies help marginal students gain access to the system even when they are poorly prepared to attend colleges. It has resulted in remedial programs at the college level. If a kid needs to take remedial classes at the college level the question should be how did they get into college in the first place? That is a total waste of money.  Government subsidies also allow Colleges and Universities to operate without worrying about efficiency. They can hire and keep classes that only a few students choose to take. They don’t have to manage the budget to market principles knowing they will get increased revenue even if they are running at less than optimal efficiency.

Government subsidies create more poverty, less access to healthcare, poor housing conditions, and they steal individual incentives and drive. By subsidizing the poor we have created an “acceptable” life style that no individual would choose if they had a choice. Government subsidies for healthcare are making access almost impossible because people that get it for “free” use with no discretion to cost. By subsidizing housing we create ghettos where no one feels connected to their home. And the most important thing government subsidies do to harm us is to steal the ingenuity, accountability, and happiness that comes with providing for one’s self.

The greatest thing we could do to improve the lives of millions of Americans is to remove government subsidies completely. Government subsidies do more harm than good. First do no harm would be a good oath for the next President to take…

Teach a Man to Fish…

The lessons of the Bible can be so simple yet so profound. When we give people things we only temporarily suspend the circumstances of that individual. When we teach people how to take care of themselves we open up boundless opportunities for success.

Today we have millions of poor Americans living in deplorable conditions within most of our major cities. These Americans have been given fish now for generations. Each generation has come to expect their fish to be handed to them. Getting fish has become their life. One of the most glaring examples of the results of giving fish instead of teaching to fish was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hordes of people wondered aimlessly waiting for someone to “give them a fish”. The simple activity of getting to safety was too overwhelming for people that had been lulled into dependency by government programs. Even the survival instinct was stolen from these people. Very sad.

The most compassionate thing we can do for our fellow Americans is to teach then to fish. Allowing people to learn the consequences of their actions is a lesson that quickly becomes a motivating factor in their lives. When you drop out of school and have no education, you will not be hired. The result should be the realization that you must go back to school. Temporary help with a commitment from the individual to pay it back when complete is teaching people to fish. Putting time limits on help for people that can provide for themselves is an impetus to learn how to fish.

Generations of Americans have been convinced that giving people fish is compassion and teaching people to fish is mean spirited. The opposite is true. We have been trying the fish giving approach and all you have to do is drive through any inner city to see the results. The results are a failure. It is time to teach people to fish and wean them off the dependency of government programs. These programs are destroying the potential of millions of Americans. Especially poor Americans.

The two approaches will be on display in the November election. America elected the first Black president and you would think he would be the candidate that would understand the power of teaching people to fish. Black Americans in too many numbers have been duped for generations to accept promises by politicians to be provided with more fish from a heartless government bureaucrat. Instead of taking a teach someone to fish approach, this president is doubling down on the dependency strategy. The candidates that are trying to replace this president want to teach poor Americans to fish by reducing the dependency the poor have on government. That is not mean spirited, it is true compassion.  

Teaching people to fish is the much harder path to follow. Not because it is complicated but because it is easily demonized as being heartless toward people. The funny thing is we teach our kids the same lessons. If the lessons of self-reliance are right for our kids, how come it is not right for poor family’s kids?

Giving fish is easy and makes some feel good but feeling good is not the result we are looking for. We are looking for the result of ending poverty and introducing a world of opportunity to people that have no hope. That is something we could all feel good about. If that is the result we want then we need to fire this President in November.

Capitalism is Compassionate…

The most compassionate nation in the world is the United States of America. We are not compassionate because we have special DNA or are some special form of human species, we are compassionate because of capitalism. Capitalism has given us the gift of excess goods, services, and resources that we share with the rest of the world.

At the heart of capitalism is the ability of individuals to produce and create wealth for their own personal use and their family. As human beings, we first must take care of ourselves by producing food, clothes, and shelter. It is the nature of survival that is first and foremost in the human condition. In most economies prior to the capitalist system of the United States, goods and services were assumed to be owned by some ruling class. Production was stifled because the people producing wealth for others is much harder to manage than a system that allows for individuals to keep what they produce for themselves.

Capitalism rewards the hard work of individuals and is destroyed by the policies of taxation or confiscation without due compensation. It is a simple premise that is rooted in human nature. As we create our own wealth beyond the basic survival needs, we create additional wealth that allows us to become more compassionate. Whether that is on the personal scale of donating food to the local food pantry or the on the corporate scale of creating foundations that help other nations climb out of poverty, it can only happen when we create excess wealth. Excess wealth only happens in a capitalist economic system.

There are people and companies that abuse the system but on the whole most people and companies in the United States are a great example of how capitalism is the only system that works is a free society. As the government tries to regulate business and the capitalist system they impede freedom, freedom of individuals, and freedom of markets to conduct business. This limits wealth, reduces freedom, and smothers compassion.

So as you listen to all of the political posturing in 2012, remember capitalism is the most compassionate economic system in the world. It produces both winners and losers. The losers often come back into the market to become winners. But that can only happen when the government keeps its hands out of the arena. Any business or business person breaking the law should be punished. But any business or business person that fails in the market must be allowed to fail and not bailed out by the government.

If the government continues to distort the market capitalism is dead. Once capitalism is dead so is wealth and compassion. It’s that simple…

Temporary: Maybe it’s Our Turn…

The Congress and the president have come up with yet another temporary “fix” to the latest funding extension to a budget that hasn’t been passed in over two years plus. It seems we are always scrambling to avoid another federal government shutdown. Well I say let the place shut down. Then at least we will know we are saving some money. The problem with the shutdown for government types is as long as Social Security checks go out, no one will notice the shutdown!

Here is my proposal for these incompetent lawmakers: if all you can pass is temporary measures then we will pay you temporary wages. How about you come to congress for two months a year, do the business of the people and go home. This way we can eliminate the high pay, fabulous benefits and permanent pensions. I think it’s a win for the American people.

The less time these representatives spend in DC and the more time they spend at home will give them a better understanding of the impact of their lawmaking. There is no set provision in the constitution for the time lawmakers must spend working on government. All of the rules of congress are made by the congress. What are the chances these current representatives will vote to reduce their influence in our lives? Slim to none on both sides of the aisle.

The Federal Government is too big, too intrusive, and has taken on many unconstitutional activities which is why we are on the decline. For every government employee we hire, private sector opportunities are reduced. The money we spend on useless activities in every department of government, we reduce the number of potential small businesses in this country. It is a fact that the federal government payroll could be reduced 50% and the average American wouldn’t even notice beyond the peaceful solitude of knowing some useless bureaucrat isn’t waiting in the bushes to shut down their lemonade stand.

So let’s support representatives that want to reduce the influence of the Federal Government in this next election. The more temporary every federal worker is (minus our soldiers) the better America will be…

The Elderly, Poor, and Disabled…

It is common for those that oppose any reforms in entitlement programs to lump the elderly, poor, and disabled into a category of folks that must be protected from reductions in government programs. It drives me crazy when the media broad brushes these groups to support arguments against any real reform of any government program. It’s as if every elderly, poor, or disabled person has to rely on a government program to survive.


Nothing could be further from the truth to think that these groups need government support. The “elderly” are actually as a group some of the most affluent Americans both economically and emotionally. After years of working, many elderly Americans own their homes outright, have both private pensions and social security, and many work to supplement their savings and retirement. There are some elderly on a “fixed” income but it is not every elderly American.

The “poor” in America are a very diverse group of individuals. The first question we need to ask is why are they poor? Could it be they have been depending on government programs instead of their own ingenuity? Could it be they have been brought up by single mother no father “families” that have been perpetuated by government programs that incentivize unhealthy behavior? Could it be a choice to rely on drugs and alcohol? Have government bureaucrats that depend on these vices for their living become advocates to keep people poor? The failure of government education has kept people from breaking out of their socioeconomic circumstances and we need to wrestle schools from the government. Should we be supporting programs that perpetuate a hopeless future?

The “disabled” designation for Americans has consistently grown in this country. It is not because we have more disabled Americans but rather we have designated more people as being disabled even when they are not. Alcoholism is now a disability. A lack of focus has become a disability. Obesity is now a disability. There are millions of “disabled” Americans that ask nothing of the government and are capable of making their own way in life. There are truly disabled Americans that need help but the numbers are nowhere near the numbers the federal government cites.

There are billions of wasted dollars in the federal government programs that need to be trimmed. There are people that need to be weaned off of federal subsidies including American corporations and foreign governments. More importantly these government subsidies undermine individual hope and our freedom.

The path we are on is not sustainable. It is time to start treating Americans as capable individuals and stop the nonsense that we have nowhere in the federal budget we can make cuts. The economy will suffocate unless we reduce the federal government by 30 to 40%. American’s are ready to step up and make their way if the politicians would just get out of it…

The Facts Are Clear…

Big government breeds big failure.


Fact; education scores are lowest where government has the most control and parents expect government to teach their children

Fact; the economy will never recover because the reality is we are bankrupt. If the government was a private company they would be forced to close by, well, government regulators.

Fact; the federal workforce is made up of mostly people paid to enforce the regulations of well, the federal bureaucracy.

Fact; government programs have grown based on arbitrary numbers determined by well, the people running the government programs.

Fact; the majority of American school children don’t know we are a republic, are governed by a constitution or the three branches of government. In Detroit a majority can’t even read.

Fact; most politicians in congress have never held a real job. They are mostly lawyers, and bad ones at that.

Fact; One of the agreed upon duties of the federal government is border security. One of the biggest failures of the federal government, border security.

Fact; government control of airline safety is a jobs program and has nothing to do with airline safety.

Fact; healthcare is the final frontier of free markets and freedom. Free markets and freedom are losing.

Fact; the people that lead the left are enemies of our constitution. They are a minority but have a powerful accomplice, the mainstream news media.

Fact; the environment is being used to destroy capitalism. Capitalism is the fuel of freedom and compassion. Capitalism is losing.

Fact; you could fill a book as big as War and Peace with government failure and it still wouldn’t be enough to convince people that limited government is the answer. See fact 1 and 5…

Two Types of “Rich” One Needs Reform…

The rank and file on the left hates the rich. They hate individuals that have created a product or service that the market has embraced and in turn has made these individuals a financial success. These individuals should be revered in our society but all too often they are demonized for having “too much”.


What is too much? In a capitalistic system the answer is there is no such measurement. But what you find with these “rich” individuals is they often answer that question themselves by their support of charity organizations. America is the most benevolent country in the world because we have the ability to create wealth and choose the way we distribute our individual wealth. The more a government takes the less benevolent the society. Government confiscation of wealth reduces the benevolence of a society.

The people that risk and create businesses that become successful are the engine for jobs, opportunities, and new sources of wealth and should be celebrated. These entrepreneurs are successful in spite of the attempt of the left to hinder their success and the constant threat of stealing their private property.

Then there are the “other rich people” that run large corporations that maintain their wealth by paying off politicians to write laws that protect their market place from competition. The corporate executives that belly up to the federal, state, and local troughs should be the target of reform. There are legitimate organizations that provide services to the government but when you peel back that onion the stink starts to become overwhelming.

Defense contracting is so massive and cumbersome with such a high entry to compete it breeds inefficiency. Large banks and financial institutions are in complete cahoots with government regulators along with car companies, oil and energy companies. The executives that reap massive stock and cash bonuses on the back of the taxpayer must be limited and reformed. The “market” they serve are the taxpayers. And often the process they use to get business at the government level is at best flawed at worst corrupt. Most of these contractors through regulation, contracting rules, and laws become monopolies because of the high cost of entry and cumbersome processes to become a legitimate government contractor.

The people that get rich on our backs are the “rich” that I have little respect for. They are leveraging the political system and manipulating “markets” and ultimately bilking we the taxpayer. The bottom line is that the rich in a free market are different from the rich in a monopolized government “market”.

But even if we took all the wealth from every “rich” person in the country it is not enough to support a welfare state that seems to be the path of this administration. Instead of pulling ourselves up by the boot straps the message today is that we are entitled just because we are Americans to the wealth of others. That is immoral and a cancer in our country.

We need to celebrate private sector entrepreneurs and reform the government contracting process. We are being bilked for billions of dollars by very savvy private sector executives. As the federal sector continues to grow so will the amount of corruption in the private sector trying to secure the tax dollars associated with this growth. It is unsustainable to expect private sector entrepreneurs to support the corruption and waste of this federal scheme of the fox guarding the hen house.

In my past I managed a government contract at the local municipal level. I was always cognizant of what I spent but my equals in the public sector had a saying they often used between each other when they were considering a spending initiative and it speaks for itself; “it’s not your money you know!” The sad thing is it is our money and we are broke…

The Constitution Forbids It…

The Constitution is clear where legislation must be proposed; the House of congress. Article I section VII and VIII make clear that the responsibility for legislation at the federal level is the responsibility of the House. The idea that federal bureaucracies can make “rules” that become laws that include punishment for breaking such laws, is unconstitutional. The EPA, FCC, FAA, and every one of the other thousand agencies have no authority to set laws for the states.


Let’s take for instance the EPA that has bankrupted farmers in California to “save” a small fish that finds its way into the irrigation system or the recent FCC ruling to start regulating the internet. Federal agencies have taken the legitimate role of oversight to the unconstitutional role of creating rules and laws that have squashed businesses creativity and ability to expand operations.

Some may argue that the congress has already legislated the rules and the bureaucracies are just enforcing the laws they have created but this is simply not true. The federal bureaucracies have been expanding their roles and creating what is ultimately legislation by implementing processes that end run the congress and the legitimate creation of law...

Through intimidation, increasing barriers to entry into an industry, by using faulty science, regulatory bodies have become de facto legislators. These bureaucracies are unaccountable to the people and are a great excuse for legislators that agree with their leftist agenda to hide behind for political cover. It is rule by tyranny. They set the rules and we have to abide by them. But where is their authority coming from?

There are many levels to pick this apart but the first level is the constitutionality of any of these bureaucracies. Where in the constitution is the authority to meddle in the internal states affairs regarding the work rules (OSHA), irrigation and water to farm (EPA), and the free and open market on the internet (FCC). The commerce clause is the left’s answer but the abuse of the commerce clause must come to an end. Precedence be damned. We must take every case individually and apply it to the original intent of the constitution.

The commerce clause was created to make commerce regular among the states. When goods were traded and transported between and through states, it was determined by our founders that the confidence and stability of clear standards of conduct was beneficial to the economy of the United States. Making the rules regular would encourage commerce and break down trade barriers among the states and the countries the United States traded with. It was not intended to determine the hours of labor a man worked in a factory or on a farm in any particular state. Our founders understood the power that a strong and vibrant private sector was for the strength of our country. They were the biggest promoters of private business and trade. It seems our representatives are the biggest roadblock to private enterprise and free trade. How times have changed.

Even if you could make a constitutional argument that any of these regulatory bodies have a role in one of the federally enumerated powers, it is still unconstitutional for congressional representatives to pass on responsibility of creating rules that are truly laws to any other government body. If we follow this logic we would have no constitutional republic. For example, Congress could simply pass a law that said all legislative powers are herby handed over to the Department of Energy for the good of the country when the matter is energy policy. Would this be allowed if this was stated outright? There would be outrage, I would think. The people would no longer be in control of their government, bureaucrats would be in control.

We have too many federal bureaucrats with too much control of our lives at the federal level. We have failed to defend the constitution, and in particular the Tenth Amendment. We have for too long accepted the trampling of our rights by overzealous central planners who were the intended target of our founders in the Constitution. It is not surprising that the same people that defend central planning believe the Constitution is a “living” document that must be open to interpretation of the most current circumstances of the people. It is not surprising that these central planners would like nothing more than to continue to ignore the intentions of our founders and the new Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party is made up of people that believe that words mean things and our Constitution is our guiding law that was intended to keep control with the people and the states. The Tea Party is a movement to educate and protect the founding principles that encourage private business and limit government interference. The fact that we have allowed the Constitution to be ignored and federal bureaucracies to expand is not an excuse to throw constitutional government away.

The Constitution is there to be defended and used to bring this country back to the miracle it once was. It is not too late to defend it or enforce it. But we must understand it. Presidents have used uncertainty and hard times as an excuse to ignore the Constitution. We must use uncertainty and hard times to re-establish the foundational principles to return to greatness…

A Perfect Example…

I recently learned the High School I graduated from in 1977; John F Kennedy in the Bronx has finally closed its doors. I say finally because it has taken an ugly journey all too common with government run programs.

I was in the second graduating class of JFK. I was one of only a few in my neighborhood that attended a public High School. Most of my friend’s parents paid for their kids to go to Catholic High Schools known for teaching and discipline that graduated students competent enough to get a job or go to college. Most public High Schools in NYC were incubators of failure. But JFK did not start that way. That is one of the reasons my parents risked sending their oldest son to the school.

The school was approved for funding based on promises made to the neighborhood residents that surrounded the campus. Our families were told that JFK would be different; if the school was built the neighborhood would be guaranteed a good education, and would not suffer the fate of most of the other public schools in the city. The school was built, and for the four years I attended, many of the promises were realized.

The first principal of JFK High School was impressive and he took a no nonsense approach to education. Show up or get thrown out. Teachers were encouraged to teach and supported in their efforts to do so. Security was heavy to ensure “kids” with ill intent were kept out of classrooms and not allowed on the school grounds. He kept some sense of order.

The kids from the neighborhood came from decent family backgrounds not typical of most students in the inner city. The advantage of having interested and engaged families that supported the principal’s goals was a good foundation for the school’s academic success. For a little while the school operated with relative success for a public High School in the Bronx.

Over the years the school exploded to house over 6000 students. It was built for approximately 4000. The neighborhood changed and the parental engagement was replaced with gang activity. Eventually this activity resulted in a student being murdered at the school. The school achieved the ranking of being the worst High School in New York City. An achievement that I am truly sad to report being an Alumnus. An attempt was made to take the school and divide it into 6 different schools with a focus on different disciplines. The attempt to salvage the school with this effort failed.

So the inner city is left with a building built with hope and promise sitting empty. The public school system has failed another generation of inner city kids that will have less opportunity than their peers. It is heartbreaking to watch. It is really personal for me having seen it first hand and knowing that the answer is to allow private institutions to teach these kids. The answer is not to keep rewarding public schools with our tax dollars. The answer is more complex than just poor schools but if we don’t change the schools we will never break the chain of hopelessness for these inner city kids. We will pay tenfold for the failures of these schools and government dependency.

When will enough be enough? I’m not talking about money because NYC public schools spend in the vicinity of $15,000 a year per student, well over the countries average. When will we face reality that we need a solution that does not count on government bureaucracy? When will we let educational entrepreneurs take a shot at educating these kids? What have we got to lose?

Government run schools and programs always start with good intentions. Government programs always deliver the same results; failure. The government has no soul and cares nothing about the lives they destroy as long as politicians and bureaucrats get paid and keep their jobs. Government has proven test after test that they don’t understand the material and will continue to fail no matter how you mix up the questions on the test. Government does not deserve our trust or the trust of these victims within our cities. They are the most vulnerable because they can’t pick up and go to a better school in a better neighborhood. We need to bring better schools to them through private organizations with a passion to teach.

Trying something new is the least we can do for these kids. As public schools become havens for gangs, drugs, and danger these kids are left to the squalor of government and politics. They deserve a better effort on our part and what is the worst that can happen? These kids get an education that can save them from a life of dependency on a government that has failed them for generations…

Topic - Central Government Inefficiency and Fraud

Why the founders created a limited central government:

MIAMI – A federal program designed to help impoverished families heat and
cool their homes wasted more than $100 million paying the electric bills of
thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar
mansions, according to a government investigation.
The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services spent $5 billion through the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program in 2009, doling out money to states with little oversight of
the program. Some states don't verify applicants' identifies or income. For
example, the program helped pay the electric bill of a woman who lives in a $2
million home in a wealthy Chicago suburb and drives a Mercedes, according to the
yet-to-be released report obtained by The Associated Press.

The Government Accountability Office studied the program after a 2007
investigation by Pennsylvania's state auditor found 429 applicants received more
than $162,000 using the Social Security numbers of dead people.

The investigation found HHS paid thousands of dollars to people who were
obviously ineligible for the program.
• HHS paid $3.9 million to 11,000
applicants who used the identities of dead people.
• HHS paid $370,000 to
725 applicants who were in prison.
• HHS paid $671,000 to about 1,100 people
who made more than the maximum income to qualify for the program.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she was "very disturbed" by the
investigation.

Really?