The last American troops have left Iraq. In his comments regarding this event, President Obama did not use any of these words: victory, mission accomplished, win, won, triumph, success, complete, or any other such words. Quite the contrary: A few months ago, Obama said he was uncomfortable with the notion of “victory” in Iraq. So our soldiers just left one day, and we now have another un-won war.
This is a real problem. There are consequences to un-won wars, just as there are consequences when we win.
Let’s look at real examples from United States history that show the consequences of wars that were won and those that were not.
The last war that America won decisively was World War II (WWII). Both Germany and Japan surrendered unconditionally.
For Japan, this happened only after the Japanese Navy was completely destroyed and the American’s were totally defeating the Japanese on Pacific island after island in ferocious, all-out, scorched earth, bloody fighting on their way to an assault on the Japanese mainland (which it was estimated would have resulted in hundreds of thousand of casualties on both side). The nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki eliminated the need for that mainland invasion, but only after the Japanese emperor stepped in and overruled the Japanese military, which wanted to fight on.
In Europe, it was a ground and air war. We all know about D-Day, the longest day, which Eisenhower agonizingly delayed for three days due to weather, and then gave the go-ahead even though the weather was still marginal at best because he couldn’t keep all of those masses of ships and troops waiting offshore any longer. It was the largest amphibious assault in history. After the success of D-Day, it was on to Berlin. On the way, there was the Battle of the Bulge, the last major land battle in Europe, which came close to being a disaster for the Allies, but we held on. The German Air Force (the much vaunted Luftwaffe) had been eliminated, and we were relentlessly pounding military and industrial sites from the air with impunity. The Red Army was closing in from the East. Finally, Hitler realized it was over and committed suicide (with his mistress, Eva Braun). After the war, Germany was a pile of rubble.
It was total victory for the U.S. and it’s allies, and total defeat for Germany and Japan. What have been the long-term consequences of this war that we won decisively? Today, Germany is Europe’s strongest economy, Japan is a major world economy, they have high standards of living, their people are well off, they are modern not third world countries, and both are our good friends. On a personal note, I worked for a company that did forty percent of its business in Japan, and I traveled there many times.
Let’s look at another example of the consequences of a war that was decisively won, the Civil War. I am a Civil War history buff; I must have read two dozen books about the Civil War, the events that lead up to it, and its aftermath. The devastation of this war is incomprehensible to people today. Generals routinely lost a quarter or a third of their army, and lived to fight another day. Lincoln knew that he couldn’t just win battles, but that he had to destroy the rebel army in totality. Lee knew that his only chance for victory was to score some big win on northern territory early on that would be psychologically devastating, hence Antietam and Gettysburg. Toward the end, General Sheridan saw the Shenandoah Valley as the breadbasket of the Confederacy by which the Confederate Army was fed. He laid waste to it, saying that he wanted a crow flying from end to end to find not one kernel of grain, and he pretty much succeeded. The only reason Lee and Jackson didn’t do similar things was because they never got the chance.
In the end, the number of casualties was appalling: over six hundred thousand killed and over one million killed, wounded, or missing in action, at a time when the total population of the country was thirty-one million. It took a hundred years for the economy in the southern states to fully recover.
The Union won decisively, and what have the long-term consequences been? The United States of America that we see today.
Now what about the consequences of wars that we got into but didn’t win?
We’ll start with Korea. We did not win that war, by any account. It was a negotiated truce. North Korea was left intact, and it has been a nightmare for the North Koreans and the world ever since. The North Korean people live under an extremely oppressive regime and are virtually starving to death while the country’s ruling dictator and his select few live in immense luxury. Consider one little factoid: The recently deceased Kim the elder apparently liked good brandy, and reportedly spent $850,00 on it in one year, while his people starved. And then there is that matter of the nuclear weapons that North Korea may have. What will happen if this unstable, rogue country ever gets them for sure and the means to deliver them? This is all the result of a war that America got into but didn’t win.
How about Vietnam? Fifty-seven thousand Americans died in that war plus many thousands more that were wounded or missing in action. We didn’t win that one either; as with Iraq, we just left one day. The consequences: The North Vietnam communist regime took aver South Vietnam, the very thing we were fighting to prevent. Our soldiers died in vain.
Consider Iran. In 1979, Iran disregarded all international norms and occupied the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking a number of the embassy’s staff, U.S. citizens, prisoner. This was an act of war, because centuries-old international law grants diplomats immunity from arrest and regards an embassy to be that country’s sovereign territory. Respect for those principles is considered by all countries to be the most basic tenet of international relations. If an embassy is taken over or otherwise violated, it is equivalent to a similar act on that country’s homeland. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage by Iran after the embassy take-over for 444 days (a few others were released earlier). In the face of this clear act of war, President Carter dithered. After several months, he authorized a military rescue mission that failed miserably. The hostages were held for several more months before finally being released after Reagan was elected President.
The consequence of our failure to recognize Iran’s actions for what they were, an act of war, and to deal with Iran accordingly is that we are still to this day being threatened by Iran’s dangerous behavior. We know the Iranians were supporting terrorists in Iraq, leading to the deaths of American soldiers. Iran has said it wants to wipe one of our strategic allies, Israel, off the map. Iran is trying to go nuclear. Recently, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes a large portion of the worlds oil.
And how about those soldiers that left Iraq recently? The only reason they were there in the first place is because we didn’t win the first Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. In that one, we pushed Iraqi forces out of Kuwait (which they had invaded), declared victory, and left the Saddam Hussein regime in power in Iraq. The rest is history.
There is an unmistakable lesson to be learned from these wars that were won or not. Since the United States is a major world power, there are significant consequences to the outcome of any armed conflict that we undertake. Winning brings good things; losing or just giving up brings more problems that only get worse as the years go by.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas 1776
As we are enjoying our Christmas festivities this year, let us remember another Christmas day over two hundred years ago that may well have altered the course of American history.
1776 had been a very discouraging year militarily for the Americans. The Continental Army had suffered several defeats in New York and had retreated to Pennsylvania. Morale was low; soldiers were deserting. Soldiers lacked adequate clothes and sometimes even shoes. Public spirits were very low.
General Washington knew that he needed some sort of a success soon in order to keep the whole revolutionary effort from collapsing. He devised a plan to attack the enemy garrison at Trenton, New Jersey, which consisted of about 2000 Hessian soldiers. There is speculation that this particular target and time were selected because Hessians are German; they were mercenaries (hired soldiers). Christmas is a big deal in Germany, and it was felt that the Hessians would no doubt have a lavish dinner on the evening of Christmas Day with much beer and dancing. Early the next morning would be a good time to challenge them.
On Christmas Eve, Washington called together his Lieutenants and outlined the plan. The army was to attack across the Delaware River in three places. One force, a smaller one, would cross downriver of Trenton and advance north. A second, even smaller force would attack directly across the river at Trenton and hold a strategic bridge over a creek that could be used by the enemy as a retreat route.
Washington would lead the largest force, 2400 men, which would cross the river nine miles upstream and then head south to Trenton.
Everything depended upon the crossing of the river by these three forces. This was to occur on Christmas night and be finished by midnight. They would arrive at Trenton at five o’clock the next morning and the attack would occur at 6:00 a.m., an hour before daybreak.
On Christmas Day, the weather started deteriorating. The river was high and contained much ice. As the day progressed, the weather got worse. It turned into a full-fledged storm. It rained, hailed, snowed, and froze.
The river crossing was extremely treacherous, at night in a storm. Horses and artillery as well as soldiers had to be loaded onto the boats and taken across. The two smaller forces, unbeknownst to Washington, could not cross at all due to the ice. Washington’s force got across by 3:00 a.m., three hours late. A Sergeant informed General Washington that the soldiers’ powder was wet and they could not fire their muskets. Washington replied that they were to use their bayonets.
The attack began just after eight o’clock in the morning on Dec.26. It all happened very fast, in snow. After forty-five minutes, it was over. Twenty-one Hessians were killed (including their commander), ninety wounded, and nine hundred taken prisoner. About five hundred escaped over the very bridge that was supposed to have been blocked by one of the smaller Continental Army forces but wasn’t because that force couldn’t get across the river. Incredibly enough, no Americans were killed in the battle and only four were wounded, although two froze to death the night before in the march.
Although the strategic fruits of the battle were minimal, the psychological effects were phenomenal.The Americans had beaten a force of the British regulars. Prisoners had been taken; the Americans had captured canons and other materiel. The course of the war had been changed.
1776 had been a very discouraging year militarily for the Americans. The Continental Army had suffered several defeats in New York and had retreated to Pennsylvania. Morale was low; soldiers were deserting. Soldiers lacked adequate clothes and sometimes even shoes. Public spirits were very low.
General Washington knew that he needed some sort of a success soon in order to keep the whole revolutionary effort from collapsing. He devised a plan to attack the enemy garrison at Trenton, New Jersey, which consisted of about 2000 Hessian soldiers. There is speculation that this particular target and time were selected because Hessians are German; they were mercenaries (hired soldiers). Christmas is a big deal in Germany, and it was felt that the Hessians would no doubt have a lavish dinner on the evening of Christmas Day with much beer and dancing. Early the next morning would be a good time to challenge them.
On Christmas Eve, Washington called together his Lieutenants and outlined the plan. The army was to attack across the Delaware River in three places. One force, a smaller one, would cross downriver of Trenton and advance north. A second, even smaller force would attack directly across the river at Trenton and hold a strategic bridge over a creek that could be used by the enemy as a retreat route.
Washington would lead the largest force, 2400 men, which would cross the river nine miles upstream and then head south to Trenton.
Everything depended upon the crossing of the river by these three forces. This was to occur on Christmas night and be finished by midnight. They would arrive at Trenton at five o’clock the next morning and the attack would occur at 6:00 a.m., an hour before daybreak.
On Christmas Day, the weather started deteriorating. The river was high and contained much ice. As the day progressed, the weather got worse. It turned into a full-fledged storm. It rained, hailed, snowed, and froze.
The river crossing was extremely treacherous, at night in a storm. Horses and artillery as well as soldiers had to be loaded onto the boats and taken across. The two smaller forces, unbeknownst to Washington, could not cross at all due to the ice. Washington’s force got across by 3:00 a.m., three hours late. A Sergeant informed General Washington that the soldiers’ powder was wet and they could not fire their muskets. Washington replied that they were to use their bayonets.
The attack began just after eight o’clock in the morning on Dec.26. It all happened very fast, in snow. After forty-five minutes, it was over. Twenty-one Hessians were killed (including their commander), ninety wounded, and nine hundred taken prisoner. About five hundred escaped over the very bridge that was supposed to have been blocked by one of the smaller Continental Army forces but wasn’t because that force couldn’t get across the river. Incredibly enough, no Americans were killed in the battle and only four were wounded, although two froze to death the night before in the march.
Although the strategic fruits of the battle were minimal, the psychological effects were phenomenal.The Americans had beaten a force of the British regulars. Prisoners had been taken; the Americans had captured canons and other materiel. The course of the war had been changed.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A Commission Designed To Fail
The budget deficit and debt debate has been so debilitating to Congress that they gave up on trying to reach an agreement and instead appointed the so-called “super committee” to do it. This committee, consisting of six Democrats and six Republicans, was chartered to formulate a plan for reducing the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. The committee would report back to Congress with its plan, and Congress would vote on it. If no plan was presented or if Congress voted it down, automatic spending cuts equal to the $1.2 trillion would kick in.
In government, when you want to make sure nothing happens, you appoint a committee.
There are 535 members of Congress (100 U.S. Senators and 435 Representatives). They argued about the debt and deficit for months, and couldn’t agree. What reason was there to think that this super-committee of twelve would be able to work magic and come up with a plan when Congress had been so utterly unable to do so for so long? And even if the committee did somehow develop a debt plan, what reason was there to think Congress would approve it after Congress had been deadlocked for so long?
The answer is that this committee was designed to fail. The people appointed to it were the most ideological from both sides. There was no chance they were going to come together after all of the political wrangling and suddenly have a love fest. It was just a way of letting Congress kick the can down the road a little longer and avoid having to make tough choices.
So the committee has failed, as planned, and the automatic spending cuts will be enacted.
In a paragon of political double-speak, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said, “It wasn’t so much a failure as a failure to seize an opportunity.” If you want to know what’s wrong in Washington, just mull that statement over for awhile. Here we have a committee that was given the expressed mandate to formulate a plan to reduce the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion, yet when the committee functionally collapses with no plan, it’s not a failure, it’s a missed opportunity.
Mr. Hensarling, instead of lamenting this missed opportunity, why don’t you take the lead in getting Congress to fix the problem? Congress has unlimited opportunities to fix the deficit. Congress could have done it instead of appointing a committee. Congress could go into session tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next month, and do what needs to be done.
Well, now because this committee has failed, oops, I mean missed an opportunity, we’ll be afflicted with those “draconian” (if I hear that word one more time, I’m going to throw up) automatic across-the-board budget cuts.
No.
Congress, demonstrating yet again that it isn’t serious about any of this, put in place the provision that the cuts won’t happen until 2013, over a year from now.
Once again, we see that the committee was a farce. It didn’t have those “draconian” (excuse me for a moment – OK, I‘m back now) cuts hanging over it ready to immediately fall like a guillotine if the committee failed to reach agreement. The cuts won’t happen until over a year from now!
Hmmm - 2013. There’s something about that date. 2013, 2013 – what is it? Oh, yes, we have an election in November 2012. They put the cuts off until after the next election!
So what do you think will happen in the first Session of Congress in 2013? They’ll undo the cuts, of course. The cuts will never happen, and that was the way it was planned.
You can’t make this stuff up.
$1.2 trillion sounds like a lot of money, but in the world of Washington, it isn’t.
The total federal deficit recently reached $15 trillion. So even if the deficit were reduced by $1.2 trillion, it would be a rather modest 8% reduction. And that’s over ten years, so it comes out to only 0.8% per year. Yes, all of this caterwauling in D.C. is because they can’t find a way to reduce the budget deficit by somewhat less than 1% a year.
Or look at it this way. The total federal budget for 2011 is $3.8 trillion. The $1.2 trillion of cuts over ten years represents a cut of $0.12 trillion per year, or a little more than 3% per year.
In a time of financial distress, Congress can’t manage to reduce the federal budget by 3% a year or reduce the deficit by 0.8% a year. How much do we pay these people?
It gets better. Another factoid that no one is talking about right now is that even if the $1.2 trillion of cuts do happen, nothing is actually going to be cut. That’s right, even under that “draconian” (there I go again) scenario, nothing will be cut, because in Washington, an increase is a cut. The “cuts” that are the target of all of these political machinations represent a reduction in the budget increase. That’s the notorious base-line budgeting process whereby every year the federal budget automatically increases across the board by some percentage, and then any reductions to those increases are demagogued as “draconian” (I can’t help it) cuts. But the spending goes up in absolute terms everywhere. So an increase is a cut in Washington; even if those $1.2 trillion in “cuts” happen, spending will still go up. Nothing will be cut!
Here’s what’s really going on. There is a fundamental ideological war going on in this country. There are two competing visions for the future of America. Liberals want to continue on the path to a European-style socialist democracy with lots more government spending, much higher taxes and more government borrowing, a much smaller military, complete government-run healthcare, more government spending on “green” energy, more entitlements (the latest proposal being government-paid-for baby diapers), more government jobs programs, more environmental regulations, and so on. Conservatives what to roll back the welfare state, cut government spending, reduce taxes, reduce regulations that inhibit the economy, keep a strong national defense, promote traditional American values and patriotism, foster individual responsibility and self-reliance, let the private economy create jobs, and not have the government do anything for people that the people could and should do for themselves.
This battle for the future of the country vis-à-vis big government vs. small government has been going on for decades, but it has intensified during the last three years. Since then, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been fighting vigorously over everything, but especially over the issues of government spending, entitlements, the federal budget, and the deficit, as we have all witnessed.
The resolution to this fundamental conflict will not come until November 2012. Until then, expect more of the same.
In government, when you want to make sure nothing happens, you appoint a committee.
There are 535 members of Congress (100 U.S. Senators and 435 Representatives). They argued about the debt and deficit for months, and couldn’t agree. What reason was there to think that this super-committee of twelve would be able to work magic and come up with a plan when Congress had been so utterly unable to do so for so long? And even if the committee did somehow develop a debt plan, what reason was there to think Congress would approve it after Congress had been deadlocked for so long?
The answer is that this committee was designed to fail. The people appointed to it were the most ideological from both sides. There was no chance they were going to come together after all of the political wrangling and suddenly have a love fest. It was just a way of letting Congress kick the can down the road a little longer and avoid having to make tough choices.
So the committee has failed, as planned, and the automatic spending cuts will be enacted.
In a paragon of political double-speak, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said, “It wasn’t so much a failure as a failure to seize an opportunity.” If you want to know what’s wrong in Washington, just mull that statement over for awhile. Here we have a committee that was given the expressed mandate to formulate a plan to reduce the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion, yet when the committee functionally collapses with no plan, it’s not a failure, it’s a missed opportunity.
Mr. Hensarling, instead of lamenting this missed opportunity, why don’t you take the lead in getting Congress to fix the problem? Congress has unlimited opportunities to fix the deficit. Congress could have done it instead of appointing a committee. Congress could go into session tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next month, and do what needs to be done.
Well, now because this committee has failed, oops, I mean missed an opportunity, we’ll be afflicted with those “draconian” (if I hear that word one more time, I’m going to throw up) automatic across-the-board budget cuts.
No.
Congress, demonstrating yet again that it isn’t serious about any of this, put in place the provision that the cuts won’t happen until 2013, over a year from now.
Once again, we see that the committee was a farce. It didn’t have those “draconian” (excuse me for a moment – OK, I‘m back now) cuts hanging over it ready to immediately fall like a guillotine if the committee failed to reach agreement. The cuts won’t happen until over a year from now!
Hmmm - 2013. There’s something about that date. 2013, 2013 – what is it? Oh, yes, we have an election in November 2012. They put the cuts off until after the next election!
So what do you think will happen in the first Session of Congress in 2013? They’ll undo the cuts, of course. The cuts will never happen, and that was the way it was planned.
You can’t make this stuff up.
$1.2 trillion sounds like a lot of money, but in the world of Washington, it isn’t.
The total federal deficit recently reached $15 trillion. So even if the deficit were reduced by $1.2 trillion, it would be a rather modest 8% reduction. And that’s over ten years, so it comes out to only 0.8% per year. Yes, all of this caterwauling in D.C. is because they can’t find a way to reduce the budget deficit by somewhat less than 1% a year.
Or look at it this way. The total federal budget for 2011 is $3.8 trillion. The $1.2 trillion of cuts over ten years represents a cut of $0.12 trillion per year, or a little more than 3% per year.
In a time of financial distress, Congress can’t manage to reduce the federal budget by 3% a year or reduce the deficit by 0.8% a year. How much do we pay these people?
It gets better. Another factoid that no one is talking about right now is that even if the $1.2 trillion of cuts do happen, nothing is actually going to be cut. That’s right, even under that “draconian” (there I go again) scenario, nothing will be cut, because in Washington, an increase is a cut. The “cuts” that are the target of all of these political machinations represent a reduction in the budget increase. That’s the notorious base-line budgeting process whereby every year the federal budget automatically increases across the board by some percentage, and then any reductions to those increases are demagogued as “draconian” (I can’t help it) cuts. But the spending goes up in absolute terms everywhere. So an increase is a cut in Washington; even if those $1.2 trillion in “cuts” happen, spending will still go up. Nothing will be cut!
Here’s what’s really going on. There is a fundamental ideological war going on in this country. There are two competing visions for the future of America. Liberals want to continue on the path to a European-style socialist democracy with lots more government spending, much higher taxes and more government borrowing, a much smaller military, complete government-run healthcare, more government spending on “green” energy, more entitlements (the latest proposal being government-paid-for baby diapers), more government jobs programs, more environmental regulations, and so on. Conservatives what to roll back the welfare state, cut government spending, reduce taxes, reduce regulations that inhibit the economy, keep a strong national defense, promote traditional American values and patriotism, foster individual responsibility and self-reliance, let the private economy create jobs, and not have the government do anything for people that the people could and should do for themselves.
This battle for the future of the country vis-à-vis big government vs. small government has been going on for decades, but it has intensified during the last three years. Since then, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been fighting vigorously over everything, but especially over the issues of government spending, entitlements, the federal budget, and the deficit, as we have all witnessed.
The resolution to this fundamental conflict will not come until November 2012. Until then, expect more of the same.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Obama's Occupiers
On October 18, speaking of the Occupiers, President Obama said on ABC news, “We are on their side.” And the President told Occupy demonstrators in New Hampshire, “You are the reason I ran for office.”
Here are some recent news headlines and quotes concerning the Occupiers:
“Wall Street Protesters Evicted From Camp”
“Police roust protesters from New York square”
“It took 150 Sanitation Department workers hours to clear the mess, finding everything from hypodermic needles to buckets of human waste”
“L.A. Police Disperse Protesters’ Camp”
“Death brings more pressure to close camps”
“Occupy Atlanta organizers said Sunday that they plan to again try to camp at a city park, setting up yet another overnight showdown with police a night after 19 people were arrested -----.”
“Anti-Wall Street protesters dig in against police”
“Occupy Wall Street Gets More Violent”
“Kitchen Volunteer’s Sex Arrest Shocks Zucotti Park”
“Police clear protesters near Oakland’s City Hall” “They cited concerns about rats, fire hazards, public urination, and acts of violence at the site.”
“A woman involved in the Occupy Philadelphia protests was raped in a tent by another protester”
”Salt lake City police Chief Chris Burbank said officers have made 91 arrests at the camp -----.”
“These incidents follow violence last month in Oakland, California, in which protestors shut down a busy port, took over abandoned buildings, set fires, burned American flags, defaced private property, and destroyed ATM’s.”
These are apparently Obama’s kind of people.
Who, besides Obama, sympathizes with the Occupiers? The Socialist Party USA, the Democrat Socialists of America, the Communist Party, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, House Democrat Minority Leader Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and one of the main committees of the Democrat Party (the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee) have all either endorsed the Occupiers outright or expressed support for them.
I have some questions for you. How many tea party rallies did the police clear out? How many tea partiers were arrested? How many people were raped, shot, or assaulted at a tea party really? How many tea partiers shouted insults at police, or at anybody? How many American flags were burned at a tea party rally? How many buckets of human waste did the tea partiers leave behind? Did you ever hear tea partiers saying such things as “take back”, “reinforcements”, “tactics”, “demands”, and other such aggressive talk as has come from the Occupiers? No, tea partiers would have a remarkably well behaved rally and then go home (leaving the area cleaner than when they arrived). They might also call or write a letter to their Congressman.
What do the Occupiers want, other than sex, drugs, and a rent-free place to live? It’s hard to tell, since when some of them were asked, they gave incoherent answers. When they have been able to speak clearly about their issues, they have said that they want an end to all home foreclosures and millions of new living-wage jobs.
Lets look at the demand for an end to all foreclosures, and do a little thought experiment. Suppose that actually happened. What would immediately occur next, as a result? Everybody would stop paying their mortgage, of course, which would lead to a new economic catastrophe that would make the one we just came through look puny by comparison. So, ending all home foreclosures is a nonsensical idea.
What about the Occupiers’ demand for millions of new, living-wage jobs? This is a laudable goal, but where could those millions of new jobs possibly come from? In order for these new jobs to be sustainable, on-going jobs rather than just temporary make-work jobs, they could only come from a re-invigorated private sector, the very thing that the Occupiers decry! More silliness.
These Occupiers fall into the category of “useful idiots”. They are useful to the Democrats now because they direct the public’s attention away from Obama’s terrible record as President. And since the Occupiers have become experienced in street violence and anarchy, they could also be very useful to Obama and the Democrats after the next Presidential election in the event Obama looses.
Here are some recent news headlines and quotes concerning the Occupiers:
“Wall Street Protesters Evicted From Camp”
“Police roust protesters from New York square”
“It took 150 Sanitation Department workers hours to clear the mess, finding everything from hypodermic needles to buckets of human waste”
“L.A. Police Disperse Protesters’ Camp”
“Death brings more pressure to close camps”
“Occupy Atlanta organizers said Sunday that they plan to again try to camp at a city park, setting up yet another overnight showdown with police a night after 19 people were arrested -----.”
“Anti-Wall Street protesters dig in against police”
“Occupy Wall Street Gets More Violent”
“Kitchen Volunteer’s Sex Arrest Shocks Zucotti Park”
“Police clear protesters near Oakland’s City Hall” “They cited concerns about rats, fire hazards, public urination, and acts of violence at the site.”
“A woman involved in the Occupy Philadelphia protests was raped in a tent by another protester”
”Salt lake City police Chief Chris Burbank said officers have made 91 arrests at the camp -----.”
“These incidents follow violence last month in Oakland, California, in which protestors shut down a busy port, took over abandoned buildings, set fires, burned American flags, defaced private property, and destroyed ATM’s.”
These are apparently Obama’s kind of people.
Who, besides Obama, sympathizes with the Occupiers? The Socialist Party USA, the Democrat Socialists of America, the Communist Party, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, House Democrat Minority Leader Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, and one of the main committees of the Democrat Party (the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee) have all either endorsed the Occupiers outright or expressed support for them.
I have some questions for you. How many tea party rallies did the police clear out? How many tea partiers were arrested? How many people were raped, shot, or assaulted at a tea party really? How many tea partiers shouted insults at police, or at anybody? How many American flags were burned at a tea party rally? How many buckets of human waste did the tea partiers leave behind? Did you ever hear tea partiers saying such things as “take back”, “reinforcements”, “tactics”, “demands”, and other such aggressive talk as has come from the Occupiers? No, tea partiers would have a remarkably well behaved rally and then go home (leaving the area cleaner than when they arrived). They might also call or write a letter to their Congressman.
What do the Occupiers want, other than sex, drugs, and a rent-free place to live? It’s hard to tell, since when some of them were asked, they gave incoherent answers. When they have been able to speak clearly about their issues, they have said that they want an end to all home foreclosures and millions of new living-wage jobs.
Lets look at the demand for an end to all foreclosures, and do a little thought experiment. Suppose that actually happened. What would immediately occur next, as a result? Everybody would stop paying their mortgage, of course, which would lead to a new economic catastrophe that would make the one we just came through look puny by comparison. So, ending all home foreclosures is a nonsensical idea.
What about the Occupiers’ demand for millions of new, living-wage jobs? This is a laudable goal, but where could those millions of new jobs possibly come from? In order for these new jobs to be sustainable, on-going jobs rather than just temporary make-work jobs, they could only come from a re-invigorated private sector, the very thing that the Occupiers decry! More silliness.
These Occupiers fall into the category of “useful idiots”. They are useful to the Democrats now because they direct the public’s attention away from Obama’s terrible record as President. And since the Occupiers have become experienced in street violence and anarchy, they could also be very useful to Obama and the Democrats after the next Presidential election in the event Obama looses.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Democrats Are Killing Jobs
When President Obama proposed “son of stimulus”, any remaining doubt about his intentions was removed. He doesn’t care about jobs; his overriding concern is to massively increase government spending and raise taxes to pay for it. One member of Obama’s staff famously said a crisis should never go to waste. That’s what this is all about - Obama using the economic situation as an opportunity to further his agenda. He doesn’t want to solve the problem; he wants to exploit it. He and his enablers are statists who want most of all to increase government control of every aspect of our lives. To them, only the elite ruling class is competent enough to know what’s good for the masses.
If Obama wants jobs, why does he prevent more off-shore drilling and the thousands of high paying jobs that would go with it? Why does he want to bankrupt the coal industry (as he was caught on tape saying)? Why has he delayed the Keystone pipeline project that would create more thousands of jobs? Why is he letting the EPA put forth even stricter standards that will cause AEP to have to close six power plants (including Glen Lyn). Why is he pushing cap-and-trade that will send thousands of jobs overseas? Why is his administration going after Gibson Guitar? Why did he let his NLRB sue Boeing to keep them from building a new factory in South Carolina? Why is he continually talking about higher taxes? Why is Obama doing so much to kill jobs if he wants jobs?
The facts show that the first stimulus was an abject failure. Unemployment is stuck at 9%, and the real unemployment rate that covers the underemployed and those who have given up is estimated to be at 16%. The economy is still on life support and the housing market is not recovering at all. These are the results that Obama and crew have achieved with all of their massive government spending.
What is their response to the failure of the first stimulus and all the other government spending? Spend more!
The government has no money of its own. It only has money that it takes from us as taxes, or it can borrow.
How can the government stimulate the economy by taking money from one citizen (as taxes) and giving it to another citizen? There is no net gain in that.
Or even worse, as is now happening, how can the government stimulate the economy by spending borrowed money. The national debt is now close to $14 trillion, which will all have to be paid back with interest. This will be a burden to the federal budget and the economy for generations. You can’t continually borrow your way to prosperity.
The Republicans tried to provide some adult supervision in the recent debt ceiling issue, but the Democrats fought it tooth and toenail. The Democrats don’t care about trillions of debt and all of the bad effects of that; they demand more of it.
If you want to look back at the Great Depression, it is actually very instructive. President Roosevelt and all of his massive government spending and government make-work jobs did not solve the unemployment problem. What got us out of the Great Depression was World War II and the real jobs in the private sector that came from that.
If Obama wants to create jobs, he needs to learn how to do it.
Steve Jobs literally started Apple Computer in his garage, with his high school buddy. After some initial success with his fledgling company, Steve Jobs was fired from the company he founded by the person he himself had recruited to take over as President so that Steve could focus on the technical innovation side of things. He then founded another company, sold it to Apple, returned to Apple again as part of the deal, and the rest is history, as they say. Today, Apple Computer is wildly successful, has revolutionized the way we get and use information, employs 46,000 people, has created thousand of other jobs in suppliers, has made millionaires of hundreds of its employees through stock option grants, and has more cash on hand than the U.S. government!
This all happened without one penny of government stimulus money. There are untold more such examples. That is how you create jobs - provide an environment where companies large and small can flourish, grow, and hire people because they need them. Obama does the exact opposite; he punishes companies and incites class warfare.
If Obama wants jobs, why does he prevent more off-shore drilling and the thousands of high paying jobs that would go with it? Why does he want to bankrupt the coal industry (as he was caught on tape saying)? Why has he delayed the Keystone pipeline project that would create more thousands of jobs? Why is he letting the EPA put forth even stricter standards that will cause AEP to have to close six power plants (including Glen Lyn). Why is he pushing cap-and-trade that will send thousands of jobs overseas? Why is his administration going after Gibson Guitar? Why did he let his NLRB sue Boeing to keep them from building a new factory in South Carolina? Why is he continually talking about higher taxes? Why is Obama doing so much to kill jobs if he wants jobs?
The facts show that the first stimulus was an abject failure. Unemployment is stuck at 9%, and the real unemployment rate that covers the underemployed and those who have given up is estimated to be at 16%. The economy is still on life support and the housing market is not recovering at all. These are the results that Obama and crew have achieved with all of their massive government spending.
What is their response to the failure of the first stimulus and all the other government spending? Spend more!
The government has no money of its own. It only has money that it takes from us as taxes, or it can borrow.
How can the government stimulate the economy by taking money from one citizen (as taxes) and giving it to another citizen? There is no net gain in that.
Or even worse, as is now happening, how can the government stimulate the economy by spending borrowed money. The national debt is now close to $14 trillion, which will all have to be paid back with interest. This will be a burden to the federal budget and the economy for generations. You can’t continually borrow your way to prosperity.
The Republicans tried to provide some adult supervision in the recent debt ceiling issue, but the Democrats fought it tooth and toenail. The Democrats don’t care about trillions of debt and all of the bad effects of that; they demand more of it.
If you want to look back at the Great Depression, it is actually very instructive. President Roosevelt and all of his massive government spending and government make-work jobs did not solve the unemployment problem. What got us out of the Great Depression was World War II and the real jobs in the private sector that came from that.
If Obama wants to create jobs, he needs to learn how to do it.
Steve Jobs literally started Apple Computer in his garage, with his high school buddy. After some initial success with his fledgling company, Steve Jobs was fired from the company he founded by the person he himself had recruited to take over as President so that Steve could focus on the technical innovation side of things. He then founded another company, sold it to Apple, returned to Apple again as part of the deal, and the rest is history, as they say. Today, Apple Computer is wildly successful, has revolutionized the way we get and use information, employs 46,000 people, has created thousand of other jobs in suppliers, has made millionaires of hundreds of its employees through stock option grants, and has more cash on hand than the U.S. government!
This all happened without one penny of government stimulus money. There are untold more such examples. That is how you create jobs - provide an environment where companies large and small can flourish, grow, and hire people because they need them. Obama does the exact opposite; he punishes companies and incites class warfare.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Liberals Feel; Conservatives Think
During my decades of observing and commenting on political and social issues, I have slowly come to the conclusion that liberals apparently live in a parallel universe where reality is not defined by past history, logic, reason, hard data, common sense, and factual observations but rather by how one feels. Reality to a liberal is determined by their feelings and their dogma. This is why you can’t have a legitimate debate of the issues with liberals; what they feel must be true even though past history and hard data show the contrary.
Let’s go on a journey through the parallel universe in which liberals live.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The “rich” don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
Real universe of facts: The top 1% of income earners paid 38% of all federal incomes taxes, the top 5% paid 59%, and the top 10% paid 70%, according to IRS data from 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. On the other end of the income scale, 49% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax whatsoever.
Liberal response: The rich have too much money and need to pay more, no matter what IRS statistics one can come up with.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The current federal budget deficit could be fixed if the “rich” paid only a little more in taxes.
Real universe of hard data: If Congress tried to pay off the deficit by raising taxes on small businesses, investors, and individuals making more than $250,000 per year, the top two tax rates would have to be raised to 132% and 142%, i.e., more than the affected people make. If Washington took all of the income of the top 1% , it would yield $938 billion, compared to a $14 trillion national debt.
Liberal response: Well, no matter, the rich need to pay more.
Liberal’s parallel universe: The economy can be jump-started by government spending.
Real universe of historical experience: After TARP, the stimulus, bailouts of Wall Street, bailouts of Detroit, cash-for-clunkers, bailouts of the states, bailouts of teachers, huge government deficit spending, etc. the economy has not recovered, the housing market is still in the tank, and unemployment has not gone down.
Liberal response: The government didn’t spend enough; we need another stimulus.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is rising due to the effects of mankind’s energy usage.
Real universe of actual events: Leaked emails from East Anglia University, one of the major climate research institutions, show that climate research scientists who support man-made global warming fudged the numbers to get the answer they wanted, ignored evidence to the contrary, ostracized and persecuted scientists who disagreed with them, and raked in millions of dollars in research grants in the process.
Real world of common sense: Meteorologists can’t accurately and consistently predict the weather for next week, the Farmer’s Almanac can’t reliably tell us what the weather will be this coming year, but global warming scientists can predict the earth’s temperature fifty years from now to within a hundredth of a degree, with surety.
Liberal response: It doesn’t matter, because man-made global warming just must be true.
Liberals’ parallel universe: Public schools are failing, in general, because they are underfunded.
Real universe of observable, factual results: The Washington, D.C. schools get more money per capita than any school system in the country, but achieve some of the worst results. Catholic schools spend much less than public schools per student and get some of the highest results.
Liberal response: It’s all about the children! Schools need more money!
Liberals’ parallel universe: Unemployment benefits are good for the economy.
Real world of common sense: So why don’t we just all quit our jobs (or get fired) and go on unemployment? The economy would boom.
Liberal response: Umm, umm, well ------.
Liberals’ parallel universe: We live in a racist society. People of color are held back.
Real universe of actual people: Condoleeza Rich, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Barack Obama, Alan West, Marco Rubio, Michael Steele, Herman Cain, E. W. Jackson, the NFL, the NBA, Francis Rice, Thomas Sowell, college faculties, Nikki Haley, Jesse Lee Peterson, etc.
Liberal response: They don’t count.
Liberals’ parallel universe: People should wash their jeans less and do all sorts of other things in order to save water, because if we don’t, the planet will run out.
Real universe of science: The water cycle: Water evaporates from the oceans, goes into the atmosphere as water vapor, condenses and falls back down to Earth as rain or snow or ice, and the cycle repeats itself over and over. The water does not leave the planet. Local shortages can occur, but the planet will not run out of water, barring some cosmic event.
Liberal response: Huh?
Liberals’ parallel universe: Bill Clinton is a respectable person.
Real world of actual people and events: Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, and Juanita Broderick all accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse of the worst sort. Ms. Broderick actually accused Clinton of raping her. Clinton settled with Ms. Jones for $850,000. And then there was Monica.
Liberal response: Well, Clinton supports abortion and other liberal causes, so he must be a good guy. We need more people like him.
Liberals’ parallel universe: Cigarette smoke is so dangerous that smokers must be banished to 25 feet from an office building because just a whiff of second-hand smoke or even coming into contact with third-hand smoke (yes, we’re up to third hand smoke now), such as touching the steering wheel of a car in which someone has smoked a lot, can kill you.
Real world of common sense: Touching the steering wheel of a smoker’s car can kill you?
Liberal response: You want people to die, don’t you?
The list goes on: Barack Obama has been a good President; The “occupy” movement is a peaceful uprising of ordinary citizens; Ted Kennedy was a great human being; “Cash for clunkers” was a worthwhile program; The H1N1 scare warranted a massive government response; Eating red meat is bad for you; CO2 is a pollutant; Passing out condoms to ninth graders is a good idea; Polar bears are dying off; The sub-prime mortgage collapse was caused by greedy banks; etc. ad nauseum. All of these notions are demonstrably false in the real world of rational fact-based thought, but they and many others live on and thrive in the parallel liberal universe of “feelings”.
The next time you try to have a discussion of some issue with a liberal, notice how quickly they resort to name calling and the questioning of your character. That’s because if they debate the issue, whatever it is, using facts, hard data, actual experience, logic, and reason, they lose every time. So they call you names instead and retreat to the safety of their parallel universe where all that matters is how they feel.
Let’s go on a journey through the parallel universe in which liberals live.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The “rich” don’t pay their fair share of taxes.
Real universe of facts: The top 1% of income earners paid 38% of all federal incomes taxes, the top 5% paid 59%, and the top 10% paid 70%, according to IRS data from 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. On the other end of the income scale, 49% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax whatsoever.
Liberal response: The rich have too much money and need to pay more, no matter what IRS statistics one can come up with.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The current federal budget deficit could be fixed if the “rich” paid only a little more in taxes.
Real universe of hard data: If Congress tried to pay off the deficit by raising taxes on small businesses, investors, and individuals making more than $250,000 per year, the top two tax rates would have to be raised to 132% and 142%, i.e., more than the affected people make. If Washington took all of the income of the top 1% , it would yield $938 billion, compared to a $14 trillion national debt.
Liberal response: Well, no matter, the rich need to pay more.
Liberal’s parallel universe: The economy can be jump-started by government spending.
Real universe of historical experience: After TARP, the stimulus, bailouts of Wall Street, bailouts of Detroit, cash-for-clunkers, bailouts of the states, bailouts of teachers, huge government deficit spending, etc. the economy has not recovered, the housing market is still in the tank, and unemployment has not gone down.
Liberal response: The government didn’t spend enough; we need another stimulus.
Liberals’ parallel universe: The temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is rising due to the effects of mankind’s energy usage.
Real universe of actual events: Leaked emails from East Anglia University, one of the major climate research institutions, show that climate research scientists who support man-made global warming fudged the numbers to get the answer they wanted, ignored evidence to the contrary, ostracized and persecuted scientists who disagreed with them, and raked in millions of dollars in research grants in the process.
Real world of common sense: Meteorologists can’t accurately and consistently predict the weather for next week, the Farmer’s Almanac can’t reliably tell us what the weather will be this coming year, but global warming scientists can predict the earth’s temperature fifty years from now to within a hundredth of a degree, with surety.
Liberal response: It doesn’t matter, because man-made global warming just must be true.
Liberals’ parallel universe: Public schools are failing, in general, because they are underfunded.
Real universe of observable, factual results: The Washington, D.C. schools get more money per capita than any school system in the country, but achieve some of the worst results. Catholic schools spend much less than public schools per student and get some of the highest results.
Liberal response: It’s all about the children! Schools need more money!
Liberals’ parallel universe: Unemployment benefits are good for the economy.
Real world of common sense: So why don’t we just all quit our jobs (or get fired) and go on unemployment? The economy would boom.
Liberal response: Umm, umm, well ------.
Liberals’ parallel universe: We live in a racist society. People of color are held back.
Real universe of actual people: Condoleeza Rich, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Barack Obama, Alan West, Marco Rubio, Michael Steele, Herman Cain, E. W. Jackson, the NFL, the NBA, Francis Rice, Thomas Sowell, college faculties, Nikki Haley, Jesse Lee Peterson, etc.
Liberal response: They don’t count.
Liberals’ parallel universe: People should wash their jeans less and do all sorts of other things in order to save water, because if we don’t, the planet will run out.
Real universe of science: The water cycle: Water evaporates from the oceans, goes into the atmosphere as water vapor, condenses and falls back down to Earth as rain or snow or ice, and the cycle repeats itself over and over. The water does not leave the planet. Local shortages can occur, but the planet will not run out of water, barring some cosmic event.
Liberal response: Huh?
Liberals’ parallel universe: Bill Clinton is a respectable person.
Real world of actual people and events: Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, and Juanita Broderick all accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse of the worst sort. Ms. Broderick actually accused Clinton of raping her. Clinton settled with Ms. Jones for $850,000. And then there was Monica.
Liberal response: Well, Clinton supports abortion and other liberal causes, so he must be a good guy. We need more people like him.
Liberals’ parallel universe: Cigarette smoke is so dangerous that smokers must be banished to 25 feet from an office building because just a whiff of second-hand smoke or even coming into contact with third-hand smoke (yes, we’re up to third hand smoke now), such as touching the steering wheel of a car in which someone has smoked a lot, can kill you.
Real world of common sense: Touching the steering wheel of a smoker’s car can kill you?
Liberal response: You want people to die, don’t you?
The list goes on: Barack Obama has been a good President; The “occupy” movement is a peaceful uprising of ordinary citizens; Ted Kennedy was a great human being; “Cash for clunkers” was a worthwhile program; The H1N1 scare warranted a massive government response; Eating red meat is bad for you; CO2 is a pollutant; Passing out condoms to ninth graders is a good idea; Polar bears are dying off; The sub-prime mortgage collapse was caused by greedy banks; etc. ad nauseum. All of these notions are demonstrably false in the real world of rational fact-based thought, but they and many others live on and thrive in the parallel liberal universe of “feelings”.
The next time you try to have a discussion of some issue with a liberal, notice how quickly they resort to name calling and the questioning of your character. That’s because if they debate the issue, whatever it is, using facts, hard data, actual experience, logic, and reason, they lose every time. So they call you names instead and retreat to the safety of their parallel universe where all that matters is how they feel.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Yes we Cain!
Herman Cain is running for the Republican nomination to be their candidate for President in the 2012 election. To say that he’s not your usual Presidential candidate is an understatement. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a breath of fresh air in what can be the stultifying world of political candidates.
Let’s take a quick look at his life. He has truly lived the American dream.
Herman Cain grew up in Atlanta in the 1950’s and 60’s with, as his bio says, “loving parents and little else”. His father worked three jobs and his mother was a domestic worker. Their dream was for their two children to go to college. Herman graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a degree in mathematics, and his brother graduated from Morris Brown College. Mission accomplished.
Herman went on to get a Master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University while working full-time for the Department of the Navy (as a civilian employee). After moving back to Atlanta, he took a job as a computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola. His mathematics and computer science degrees made Herman somewhat of a techno-geek of that time. He liked the work, but gravitated toward business management. He moved to Pillsbury and became regional vice-president of the Burger King division. Herman was assigned to a low performing region of 450 restaurants, and within three years it became the best performing segment of the company.
With that success under his belt (no pun intended), Herman accepted the challenge to become President of Godfather’s Pizza, a company that was close to bankruptcy. Herman and his management team returned Godfather’s to profitability; then they bought the company!
All of this led to Herman being named President of the National Restaurant Association, a trade and lobbying group for the restaurant industry. In this role, he once had the opportunity to speak to President Clinton regarding the impact to businesses of Clinton’s proposed health care overhaul. Herman challenged the President on this issue, which gained Herman some national attention. Newsweek magazine credited him with being one of the primary reasons that Hillarycare got nowhere.
Herman’s work at the National Restaurant Association gave him the opportunity to work with business leaders across the country. This resulted in him being named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He subsequently became Chairman of the Board.
Think about this life. Here is a person who started with literally nothing except his God-given talents, a desire to get ahead, and a willingness to work hard to make it happen. And look at what he’s accomplished! Only in America; that’s what I love about this country.
Now Herman is running for President, because he thinks the country is headed in the wrong direction. He sees a big, bloated federal government that is exerting too much control over almost everything; he sees an economy that is on life-support with no improvement in sight; he sees federal government policies that are making the economic problem worse; he sees out-of-control federal spending; he sees a President who only wants more of the same. Herman wants to get us back on track as a nation so that the American dream he experienced can continue to be available to future generations and so we will remain the land of the free.
I had the opportunity to hear Herman speak live at an event last June. At that time, he was getting little attention, and many of the political elite were saying that this pizza guy had no chance to get the nomination. Herman came out on stage and blew the others away. No one else was close. His catch line was: I didn’t get that memo (saying I have no chance), so I’m going on. Nicely done, I thought.
Speaking of the “pizza guy”, I really do wish Herman would let it be known that he was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. Given that the economy is one of our major problems and there is all of this talk about monetary policy, quantitative easing, inflation/deflation, interest rates, etc., I don’t understand why Herman doesn’t play up his experience in this area more. No other candidate has this kind of monetary policy experience
Now Herman is pushing his “9-9-9” plan to improve the economy and overhaul the federal tax code. His plan is getting a lot of attention. It’s all over the news, the internet, and even The Wall Street Journal did a piece on it. In one of the recent debates, the other candidates were attacking 9-9-9 from all angles, which was curious, I thought, since at the time the only other candidate with an economic plan was Romney. So all of the others who had no plan were attacking Cain’s plan!
Herman’s 9-9-9 plan does, however, need to be discussed and debated. That’s as it should be. But whatever you may think of 9-9-9, Herman deserves credit for taking a bold position and for initiating a national discussion on this major issue, rather than tiptoeing through the tulips, as politicians are wont to do.
And that brings me to another reason why I like what I see in Cain: He’s not a career politician. Herman isn’t running for President because he’s next in line, or because this is his next promotion, or because he’s good at telling people what they want to hear, or because he has been pandering to various special interest groups his whole life and they will now support him, or for his own self-aggrandizement.
Not being a career politician has another benefit: Herman has no fear of the party bosses. They didn’t make him, and they can’t hurt him. His career isn’t at stake. He’s already made it in life. He is untouchable.
Herman has lived his life in the real world; a world where he solved problems instead of just talking about them. It’s a world where posturing isn’t enough; you actually have to deliver. He wants to be elected President so he can lead the way in solving our nation’s problems and ensuring that America remains that shining city on a hill, the world’s last best hope, the greatest nation on Earth.
Let’s take a quick look at his life. He has truly lived the American dream.
Herman Cain grew up in Atlanta in the 1950’s and 60’s with, as his bio says, “loving parents and little else”. His father worked three jobs and his mother was a domestic worker. Their dream was for their two children to go to college. Herman graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a degree in mathematics, and his brother graduated from Morris Brown College. Mission accomplished.
Herman went on to get a Master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University while working full-time for the Department of the Navy (as a civilian employee). After moving back to Atlanta, he took a job as a computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola. His mathematics and computer science degrees made Herman somewhat of a techno-geek of that time. He liked the work, but gravitated toward business management. He moved to Pillsbury and became regional vice-president of the Burger King division. Herman was assigned to a low performing region of 450 restaurants, and within three years it became the best performing segment of the company.
With that success under his belt (no pun intended), Herman accepted the challenge to become President of Godfather’s Pizza, a company that was close to bankruptcy. Herman and his management team returned Godfather’s to profitability; then they bought the company!
All of this led to Herman being named President of the National Restaurant Association, a trade and lobbying group for the restaurant industry. In this role, he once had the opportunity to speak to President Clinton regarding the impact to businesses of Clinton’s proposed health care overhaul. Herman challenged the President on this issue, which gained Herman some national attention. Newsweek magazine credited him with being one of the primary reasons that Hillarycare got nowhere.
Herman’s work at the National Restaurant Association gave him the opportunity to work with business leaders across the country. This resulted in him being named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He subsequently became Chairman of the Board.
Think about this life. Here is a person who started with literally nothing except his God-given talents, a desire to get ahead, and a willingness to work hard to make it happen. And look at what he’s accomplished! Only in America; that’s what I love about this country.
Now Herman is running for President, because he thinks the country is headed in the wrong direction. He sees a big, bloated federal government that is exerting too much control over almost everything; he sees an economy that is on life-support with no improvement in sight; he sees federal government policies that are making the economic problem worse; he sees out-of-control federal spending; he sees a President who only wants more of the same. Herman wants to get us back on track as a nation so that the American dream he experienced can continue to be available to future generations and so we will remain the land of the free.
I had the opportunity to hear Herman speak live at an event last June. At that time, he was getting little attention, and many of the political elite were saying that this pizza guy had no chance to get the nomination. Herman came out on stage and blew the others away. No one else was close. His catch line was: I didn’t get that memo (saying I have no chance), so I’m going on. Nicely done, I thought.
Speaking of the “pizza guy”, I really do wish Herman would let it be known that he was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. Given that the economy is one of our major problems and there is all of this talk about monetary policy, quantitative easing, inflation/deflation, interest rates, etc., I don’t understand why Herman doesn’t play up his experience in this area more. No other candidate has this kind of monetary policy experience
Now Herman is pushing his “9-9-9” plan to improve the economy and overhaul the federal tax code. His plan is getting a lot of attention. It’s all over the news, the internet, and even The Wall Street Journal did a piece on it. In one of the recent debates, the other candidates were attacking 9-9-9 from all angles, which was curious, I thought, since at the time the only other candidate with an economic plan was Romney. So all of the others who had no plan were attacking Cain’s plan!
Herman’s 9-9-9 plan does, however, need to be discussed and debated. That’s as it should be. But whatever you may think of 9-9-9, Herman deserves credit for taking a bold position and for initiating a national discussion on this major issue, rather than tiptoeing through the tulips, as politicians are wont to do.
And that brings me to another reason why I like what I see in Cain: He’s not a career politician. Herman isn’t running for President because he’s next in line, or because this is his next promotion, or because he’s good at telling people what they want to hear, or because he has been pandering to various special interest groups his whole life and they will now support him, or for his own self-aggrandizement.
Not being a career politician has another benefit: Herman has no fear of the party bosses. They didn’t make him, and they can’t hurt him. His career isn’t at stake. He’s already made it in life. He is untouchable.
Herman has lived his life in the real world; a world where he solved problems instead of just talking about them. It’s a world where posturing isn’t enough; you actually have to deliver. He wants to be elected President so he can lead the way in solving our nation’s problems and ensuring that America remains that shining city on a hill, the world’s last best hope, the greatest nation on Earth.
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