Political discussion group, round two...

The first time I tried this, the bickering and fighting on the Politics forum drowned me out. The link to my current invitation is below.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/grp/975168482.html

We'll see if any interest is generated this time around. 

I'm preparing a post on the current Illinois mess, but I'm trying to figure out a few issues in my head before publishing. Look for it tomorrow!

Mandatory reading

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone! I spent Christmas Day at my in-laws' house in central Minnesota, well away from the distraction of on-line access.

For the "kids" in the family, Christmas morning still unfolds much as it would for those decades younger. We wake up to stuffed stockings and presents under the tree. This year, however, my stocking had an unusual stuffer...

Some of you know that to call me an avid reader is a gross understatement. I had given a list of books to my wife to distribute when she was asked for gift ideas for me. Imagine my surprise when my stocking contained not only a book that wasn't on my list, but one that looked very promising for inspiring a few posts here! The tome in question is by Joe Scarborough, and is entitled "Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day". 

This book should be required reading for all young conservatives. It is a behind-the-scenes account of the Republican revolution of 1994, and is quite disheartening at first glance. When you read deeper, however, you realize that Scarborough seems to be writing it so that we may learn from the mistakes of that attempt to massively reform the spend-crazy culture of Washington. 

Note the date and time of this post; I'm done with the book. It's a fast read: conversationally-written, excellently paced, etc. It's difficult to not self-examine while reading about the backdoor power-brokering that overwhelmed the idealistic young Congressmen. If you get your hands on a copy, ask yourself whether you identify with the freshmen Congressmen, or the established leadership. If it's the latter and you're in Congress, we're coming for your job.

Getting ready for the legislative session...

I'm guessing that the DFL is going to hit hard at the beginning of the MN legislative session with social issues instead of fiscal ones. Gay marriage will be the first one up, forcing the GOP to take a hard stance and pushing Governor Pawlenty into a corner in preparation for the gubernatorial campaign in 2010. The GOP needs to come back with difficult budget decisions in response to our state's budget crisis, and needs to make sure the public knows which party is putting the critical issues first.

Dems have easy wins in the social arena. They profess to want to help everyone, it gives voters a warm and fuzzy feeling, and they feel like something is being accomplished. The problem is that extending the power of government takes away individual rights.

Pay attention, everyone...this is going to be an interesting session.

Missing the forest for the trees...

A parable:

A man with less-than-perfect credit wants to purchase a new car to replace his current vehicle which is outdated and suffers from numerous mechanical problems. He calls and visits various banks and finds out that only one bank is willing to approve a loan for the amount he needs.

Upon visiting the bank, the man is shown a check made out in his name for the amount he requested. The loan officer tells him that once he agrees to a few specific conditions, the check will be signed and handed over. One of the conditions is that the man carry full comprehensive insurance on the new vehicle. Due to his poor credit, the bank requires him to have a much lower deductible than he would normally prefer, which would result in a slightly higher (but still affordable) premium.

The man is indignant and refuses to agree to the conditions. The loan officer reminds him that if he does not agree, the bank will not issue the loan and the man will not be able to purchase the vehicle. The man angrily leaves the bank without agreement, and therefore without the check.

The next day, his failing vehicle breaks down. He now has no choice but to purchase a new car. He goes back to the bank, and the loan officer tells him that the bank will still be happy to loan him the funds, but now the interest rate has tripled, the deductible requirements are even lower, and the bank gets to control how and where he drives the car.

If only he had accepted the original terms...

Let me pose this question to the UAW leadership.

Which is worse for your members, wage concessions or bankruptcy?

From statehouse to courthouse in Illinois...

I'm so disgusted I can barely see straight.

Yes, I'm referring to Governor Blagojevich of Illinois. What a piece of corrupt trash.

How do people like him and his chief of staff (John Harris) look at themselves in the mirror? I'm sure the money helps, but is there no decency in their souls? Money can't erase a total lack of morals and ethics.

So to you, Governor, let me call it like I see it.

SCUMBAG. That is how you will be known throughout history, and may you enjoy being the guest of the federal prison system when they convict you...and they WILL convict you.

As someone who is contemplating a run for office, this is all the more unsettling. I would like to believe that our leaders are ethical men and women regardless of party, that they truly have our best interests at heart...and then this man gets elected.

It's time to throw the bums out on both sides of the aisle, and we can start with him.

"We the People..."

The content of the post on Ron Paul has opened the door for me to discuss my favorite topic.

We rally behind the flag because it is a symbol of our nation, but we forget that our nation would not and could not exist without the Constitution. It is the founding law of our land, the principles that give us freedoms of which other nations can only dream.

When it was written, there had never been anything like it in all of human history. No nation had ever attempted the brave experiment our founding fathers set in motion.

Who knew that a few pieces of paper could change the face of the world? Did the authors realize the profound effect their words would have on generations to come?

I had the chance to visit the National Archives in January of 2007 on my honeymoon. D.C. is a ghost town in mid-January, and my wife and I had many of the landmarks to ourselves. Three specific instances stand out in my mind: having the Lincoln Memorial to ourselves, having the Vietnam Memorial Wall to ourselves, and having the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom to ourselves.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

I stood there and stared at that phrase, unable and unwilling to speak in the cavernous room. Good men and women have given their lives in protection of the values embodied in that single sentence. So strong was the faith of our founding fathers in the ability of those words to serve as protection for all the people of the United States that our leaders swear an oath not to the people, but to the Constitution.

We the People, indeed.

Clarifying on Ron Paul

My comment about Ron Paul representing the future of the GOP polarized a few people, judging from responses I've received. Allow me to clarify a bit...

I'm not saying that Ron Paul needs to be the nominee in 2012 or 2016. What I'm saying is that by the time the next presidential election occurs, we need to be aligned with the vision of true conservatism. Rep. Paul is the current torchbearer within the GOP of Barry Goldwater's beliefs and philosophies. He doesn't pander to interest groups, be they religious or corporate in nature. He supports the Constitution, and the Constitution alone.

How to be a conservative in December 2008

It's hard to be a conservative these days.

President-elect Obama has made a number of choices that have garnered praise from both the left and the right. Republicans received a very public beating in the election.

I said earlier that it is hard to get in front of people and tell them that government won't solve their problems. Going against the nanny culture that is so popular today is seen as political suicide. The neo-cons screaming about Obama's birth certificate, Clinton conspiracies, broken tax-cut promises and the like don't help the conservative cause.

I'm not losing hope. I believe there is still room for conservatism in goverment, but it must be ACTUAL conservatism, not the doctrine that has been pushed on us in recent years.

I'm calling for a total return to the principles of Goldwater, a reinvention of the GOP. We need to go back to the pre-Reagan era. There is exactly ONE politician on the national stage who embodies those values, and he is Ron Paul. I'm puzzled and disappointed that the GOP treated Rep. Paul as a second-class member of the party when it came to the RNC here in Minneapolis, treating him so poorly that he felt the need to hold his own convention. Ron Paul represents the only future that the GOP truly has, but our party leaders are too blinded by special interests to see it. The Democrats have their unions and environmental groups and the GOP has corporate donors and religious extremists. A special interest is a special interest regardless of party affiliation.

We need to return to the planks of small federal government, strong local government, strong national defense, fiscal responsibility and individual rights. We need to not hide behind the American flag but to wave it proudly with one hand and hold the Constitution in the other.

There is room for conservatism now more than ever, and our job...nay, our duty is to convince the American people that our cause is their cause.

A little spending money?

Maybe it's because Wednesday is my birthday and I'm feeling a bit
punchy due to getting older.

Maybe it's because I can't comprehend how someone can mismanage a
company so badly as to need a multi-billion dollar loan.

Or maybe I'm just sick of over-compensated idiots crying because they
have more Rolexes than brains.

Ford now says that they don't actually need a loan, but would like to
have a $9 BILLION line of credit from the government regardless.

So would I, but it's not going to happen. My advice to Ford? Shut up,
bring your more efficient and reliable European market vehicles to the
US market, and watch your profits go back up.

Until then, I'll keep driving my Honda Civic. 40 mpg, reliable, and
built in Ohio. Detroit should take notes.

-Blogged from my iPhone

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving, there are many Americans who wonder what they have
to be thankful for. After all, we are a nation at war, the economy is
lower than it has been in many years, and unemployment is rising by
the day.

In hopes of inspiring others, here is my personal list.

I have a loving family, and I am married to the woman of my dreams.

I have a steady job that pays a decent wage.

I have many friends who enrich my life and work.

I have my health and youth (relatively speaking).

I live in a nation where there is no war and no civil uprising, and
where people are free to worship and speak as they please.

Beyond that...everything else just dims a little and fades into the
background.

May God bless you all as He has blessed me, and may God continue to
bless the United States of America.

-Blogged from my iPhone

Shame on you, CNN

CNN currently has an article on their homepage that is a supposed
human-interest piece about the automaker bailout.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/24/gm.uaw.family/index.html

These economic difficulties certainly affect the rank and file workers
but was it necessary to turn the article into a UAW feel-good promo,
especially when the monopoly that the UAW holds has helped to cause
this mess?

A lot of the blame rests on terrible management decisions, but
unreasonable union contracts only make things worse. We need to stop
allowing unions to bargain industry-wide.

Let's boot the execs AND the union leaders. Let the workers run the
union as what it was supposed to be...a collective bargaining group
for the employees of a single company. Force the union to bargain on a
company-by-company basis.

-Blogged from my iPhone

Views from a small town (Part 1)

I was at a wedding this weekend and had the chance to talk to some family friends who live in central Minnesota. By all rights, these people should be diehard DFL supporters. People outside of Minnesota don't always realize it, but there is a different breed of Democrat in this great state. As I often say (only half-jokingly), in Minnesota it's ok to be a Democrat and carry a gun. These were residents of a farming community, and the DFL is the "Democratic-FARMER-Labor" party.

What I discovered is that these people, like so many others, were actually in line with traditional conservative values. They place a high value on personal morals, but don't want the government interfering with anyone's right to worship. They don't want to see more taxes for education programs that provide no benefits to their small town. They don't understand the concept of how some people can receive money for doing no work (aka welfare), and they want to see less government regulation on their small businesses.

The conversation provided inspiration for a series of articles. This will be the first, focusing on church and state. I'll cover education, welfare, taxation, and labor in future writings.

I don't know precisely when the GOP became the soapbox for the religious right, but smart money says it was about the time Jerry Falwell came into the public eye. Most conservative citizens place a very high value on personal morals, as do many who identify as liberals. The difference between a "new" Republican (or "neo-con") and a traditional Republican is that the neo-con will push to legislate based on the beliefs of a specific religious demographic, while the traditional Republican will fight to the death to block any legislation promoting the combination of church and state.

The people discussing these issues saw the benefits of keeping the state far from the trenches of religion. That's not that surprising when you consider the divides that can still occur in a small Minnesota town between different Lutheran synods, much less between different religions. Our founding fathers were very careful to remove religion from government. They realized the damage that a government could do when in collusion with the church and did not want the United States to fall victim to the same woes.

Make no mistake, I am an evangelical Christian. I attend a Minnesota Baptist-affiliated church where the head pastor is the current president of the National Association of Evangelicals. I have read and continue to read the Bible. I pray daily, and I believe that God has given me the tools he wanted me to have in order to accomplish the tasks set before me. I am proud to say I am "born-again".

"They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."" (Matthew 22:21; NASB)

God himself recognized the separation between the laws of man and the laws of God. I wouldn't dare presume to step into His role as judge. It isn't for government to regulate or judge based on the laws of God. He can handle Himself in a fight just fine.

Removing the block...

I'm removing the requirement on moderating comments. One of my main concerns was that as people followed me over from a few other forums, some of the trash talk might follow as well. 

That hasn't been the case, and while I can tell that there are quite a few of you following my writings, you have all been silent. I hope to encourage you to change that.

Should things devolve into the wild west...well, I'll deal with that when the time comes.

We aren't alone.

In the course of my browsing around the net tonight, I came across a site that was of great interest.

The New Republicans

There are others who believe that the GOP has strayed far from its core. There are others who believe that it is time to start fighting from the solid, sensible base that conservatism provides.

Hats off to Steven Lee and his team. Let's hope we can shout loudly enough to be heard around the country by 2012.

Keep your eye on the ball...

We've all heard the same old phrase from coaches, teachers, and parents. "Keep your eye on the ball." We've heard it applied to sports, schoolwork, and life in general. It also applies to politics.

Since the election, there has been an uproar beyond measure from "conservative" interest groups bemoaning the loss of liberty that they believe is certain to ensue from the Obama administration. One of the most focused-on areas is the 2nd Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms. 

Those who know me personally know that I am a firearms rights advocate. I write to elected officials, spread the word far and wide about the 2nd Amendment, attend hearings at the state capitol and above all, I am an active shooter. I believe in the right to own firearms without type restrictions and the right to carry firearms for personal protection, and I believe that such rights are directly protected by the Constitution of the United States.

We'll likely see some restrictions resurrected after the changeover. The Clinton-era assault weapons ban will probably be put back into effect. The Clinton ban doesn't actually solve any problems, of course. Criminals don't care whether they are allowed to have a 10 round magazine or a 15 round magazine, they don't care whether the gun they use to commit a crime meets legal requirements...I think the very act of committing the primary offense overshadows the other considerations. I think the ban is a joke, a farce; the ban is something that Democrats will pass in order to show their base that they are being "tough on crime". 

Is the ban a direct violation of our 2nd Amendment rights? 

Absolutely. 

Should we be angry and loudly oppose any movement toward taking away our rights? Absolutely. 

Is this the most pressing issue on the table? 

Absolutely not.

Both sides need to keep their eyes on the ball. I would like to say that conservatives won't have anything to worry about under the upcoming administration, but I can't. Still, we need to make sure we don't forget which issues are the most pressing. You don't need a firearm to defend your home if you no longer own a home to defend. I also implore the Democrats to keep THEIR eyes on the ball. They must ensure they don't make the same mistakes that the RNC made in the election and put emotional issues front and center while the nation crumbles around us. 

Please allow me to address my closing lines to the incoming administration and Congress:

Fix the economy.

Get us out of Iraq.

After those issues are resolved, let's debate gun control. Invite me, I'll mop the floor with you.

And so it begins...

We're seeing unconfirmed reports that Senator Clinton has told
President-Elect Obama that she will accept the nomination for
Secretary of State.

I hope I'm wrong about her, but I think the best we can hope for is
that her interventional policies will be harmless.

We can hope.

-Blogged from my iPhone

Cabinet Positions

A long-held rule in politics is that politicians are only as good as the advisors they select. I'm now officially concerned.

I was one of the few conservatives I know who held out hope that President-Elect Obama would select a cabinet made up of the best and brightest; after all, didn't he talk about a need to move away from Washington insiders?

I don't begrudge him the choice of his chief of staff. Every politician needs a bulldog in order to get things done, and that includes Obama. The position that concerns me the most right now is Secretary of State.

The goodwill that President Clinton enjoys (and whether you are a conservative or a liberal, you must admit that his reputation on the world stage is very good) does not extend to his wife. I fail to see what foreign policy experience she has obtained, even as a senator. Her main agenda seems to be the creation of a nanny state, not ensuring constitutional freedoms and promoting our nation overseas.

I can get behind John Kerry for this position. Kerry has a long-standing reputation as a foreign policy expert, serves on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and is able to drop the partisan bickering when needed in order to serve the nation.

We'll see how long Obama keeps his promise to not surround himself with lobbyists. Even if that promise is kept, I don't see much of a difference if he chooses the standard Washington crew.

Throw out the bailouts!

Finally, we see some sense coming out of Washington. Both parties combined to stop a bailout for the auto industry.

I know, I know, this issue isn't resolved yet. That said, at least our government didn't hand over a blank check...or rather, a $25 billion check.

The lesson today was that ignoring the needs of your customers only gets you so far. Why is the American auto industry failing? The answer is simple; they aren't making vehicles of the type, efficiency, and quality that we have come to expect from foreign auto manfacturers.

A collapse of the big 3 won't kill the industry. Even the foreign manufacturers employ tens of thousands of American workers...look at Honda in Ohio. The brand capital for the big 3 is good enough that there will be foreign interest in purchasing the companies if things slip too far. This is what bankruptcy was designed to cover. It allows a corporation to restructure while providing some relief from pressing debts.

While I don't blame the rank and file workers, I do have to wonder why their unions haven't screamed bloody murder over the mismanagement of the corporations by over-compensated executives. Would it be too cynical to think that perhaps there are some "agreements" in place between union leaders and politicians? Granted, I'm shooting blind here...but I don't think that I'm wrong.

A note on this blog and moderating comments.

I want to make sure my reasons for moderating comments are understood.

Those who spend time on unmoderated political forums know that insults and conspiracy theories are the rule rather than the exception.

I don't want that to become the case here.

You have my word that I will not censor comments based on their position in relation to my views. I want this to be a place of intelligent conversation and debate. I do NOT want to see conspiracy theories, blatant party-bashing, or insults. I will not allow comments containing any of those items to be seen.

-TC (True Conservative)

Where to start...

"Any traditional conservative should be ashamed that the country has been run so deeply into the red by a Republican administration. There simply is no excuse for the fiscal impropriety that we have seen under the outgoing administration.

Reagan took office during an economically challenging era. Inflation and unemployment were out of control. While Reagan's policies achieved results in many ways, he was, in my opinion, flawed in his following of trickle-down economic theory. He also increased defense spending to record levels, which in hindsight could have been avoided by realizing that the Soviet Union's economy was collapsing, and simply maintaining necessary levels while waiting out the fall of the Iron Curtain.

There was some good buried in there. Deregulation certainly helped to stabilize markets, and there was a bipartisan effort to clean up the tax code. It's debatable that all of that was due directly to Reagan, but his administration certainly played a large part in those acts.

To balance the budget, logic tells us that either spending must decrease, or taxes must increase. If you strip away all the flowery language and fancy charts, those are the two options which remain.

Military spending must decrease. How do we decrease military spending without weakening the national defense? We should focus on just that...national DEFENSE. I think that most Americans can agree that going after Al-Qaeda is an acceptable use of our military, and is in our nation's best interest. That said, I fail to see the connection between deposing Saddam Hussein and stopping Al-Qaeda. In Saddam, we had an annoying but toothless dictator whose secular beliefs made him a target of derision for Islamic radicals. He certainly wasn't financing those who despised him. A solid exit strategy for Iraq is the first step to economic recovery.

Gutting social programs wholesale isn't going to solve our problems either. My first step would be to institute more efficient management and more directed oversight. Make agency directors directly responsible for their spending. I have to account for every line item in my division's budget at work, so why shouldn't the head of a federal agency be expected to do the same?

As far as healthcare goes, I'm not willing to trust the government to manage a healthcare system, nor do I think it is their job. On the other hand, healthcare costs are absolutely outrageous. Want to blame someone? Blame the government for subsidizing and assisting the creation of HMOs. Those three letters cost the American people more money in a single year that most of us could ever imagine. Get rid of the HMOs, and you'll get rid of a large part of unnecessary healthcare costs. Let's get health insurance back to what it was designed to do, which is to pay for catastrophic care.

I'm the child of an educator, so I would never advocate a total war on education. I believe that No Child Left Behind has failed, and failed miserably at that. What I've always wondered is why we fill our educational leadership ranks with those who have barely set foot in the front of a classroom? I also have to ask why, if the teachers' unions are so powerful (and they are powerful), are teachers barely paid a living wage? The unions serve their own interests, not those of the rank and file teachers. Cut the constant federal reporting and the work / expenses that go with it, let the districts retain that money and use it to make teaching the highly-paid, respectable career it deserves to be. How DARE the federal government assume that the needs of a school in the inner city are the same as those in an upscale suburb. Let the schools decide how to manage their funds. The weak schools and teachers will fail, the strong schools will become beacons. My mother spent almost half of her time doing paperwork for federal programs during her last two years of teaching. It sucked the love of the work out of her, and she took early retirement. There is something seriously wrong.

As for trade...well, we're in a mess. I don't know what all the answers are, but more government regulation that we can't afford isn't going to help. The government needs to level the playing field within the nation, and protect American interests from foreign interference. Outsourcing is hurting our nation. We've increased taxation and fees to the point that it is more economical to move operations out of the US, and that's wrong. We're also all footing the bill for an economic bailout that places our financial infrastructure at great risk. The cost of no bailout? Some people are going to take it in the proverbial shorts. It's the risk you run as an investor. Let's face it, the stock market is legalized high stakes gambling. Sometimes you win...and sometimes you lose. We need to let some people lose.

I don't know if we have a leader in any party who can champion all these causes. The push-back from the bureaucracy will be huge, and the power of the bureau-bums is massive. It needs to happen, or eventually our government will collapse under its own weight." (I posted this on craigslist on 11/14/08)

Stand our ground...

"I'll be surprised if we don't see a split in the GOP ranks down the road.

Many traditional conservatives are headed for the Libertarian camp. By many definitions, I'd fall under the classification of a Libertarian Republican if not a Libertarian.

We're seeing a change in definitions, and that is part of the party's identity crisis. Traditional conservative values such as those championed by Goldwater are finding a home in the Libertarian movement. "New" conservatives aren't much different from Democrats; both parties believe that the government is the solution to social issues. They just come at the problems from different sides, and the positions can be equally incoherent and inconsistent from both parties.

While some in the GOP might brush me off as a Libertarian, I submit that those who share my viewpoint are the TRUE base of the Republican Party, and we're mad as hell about the subversion and distortion of an organization that used to fly the banner of individual rights. We can either speak up, or stand by and watch as the tiny but very vocal minority that shamed us in this last election drives our party straight into the ground.

I wonder how many in the current GOP leadership have read "Conscience of a Conservative?

I wonder how many have read "The Revolution: A Manifesto"?

If we hadn't moved away from the values listed in the former, there wouldn't have been a need for Ron Paul to write the latter." (I posted this on craigslist on 11/13/08)

A true conservative...

"The policies of the new conservative movement are not the policies that formed the bedrock of the Republican Party.

A conservative, by definition, is one who believes in a restricted government; one who believes that when giving power to a government, the people should be cautious and give only that power which is absolutely necessary to ensure the stability of society. One who believes that when government must exist, it should exist only to protect the freedom and power of the people.

A true conservative believes in the total freedom of people to worship in their own fashion, without government interference, as long as it does not infringe on the freedom of any other citizens. Gay marriage, abortion...while a true conservative may have personal opinions, those issues are ones for the states to decide. Empowering local governments and protecting states' rights should be cornerstones of conservative policy.

A true conservative believes in a strong national defense. Defense means just that; our military exists to protect our citizens, not to solve the problems of other cultures. The invasion of another sovereign nation without that nation having attacked or directly threatened the United States should boil the blood of any true conservative.

A true conservative supports civil rights. All men are truly created equal. Racists, homophobes, and other bigots have no place in our ranks and should be cast out to wallow in their own filth.

A true conservative believes in fiscal responsibility. It is a point of shame that a conservative administration allowed our nation to accumulate such a deficit. The nation should NEVER run in the red under conservative leadership.

It is difficult to be a conservative, especially in this time and place. It is difficult to stand in front of people and tell them that government will not solve all of their problems. It is difficult to convince them of the benefits of a truly free economic system. It is difficult because our leaders have not held true to those values. It is time to take the party back, and to convince the American people that conservatives truly have the best interests of our society at heart. That we are not a party of hatred. That we do have a plan and vision for America." (I posted this on craigslist on 11/13/08)

It's time.

I'm angry.

I'm angry that our great nation has moved so far from its founding values.

I'm angry that special interest groups have taken over both parties.

I'm angry that instead of mindful debate, we have mindless rhetoric.

I'm angry.

The core values of conservatism have been forgotten, and it is time we took back the GOP.

The first few posts here will be from my posts on the Minneapolis craigslist political forum, and I'll be posting future thoughts in this blog.

A summary of my values and aspirations:

"Now is the time for true conservatives to stand up and get angry. Our core values of small government, fiscal responsibility, individual rights, and strong national defense (rather than offense) have been severely compromised by our own party leaders. It's time we take back the party and show America why the GOP was the party of Abraham Lincoln. It's time we show America why the GOP was the party of civil rights. It's time we kick the racist, hate-filled, rhetoric-spewing bums out of OUR party, and return the GOP to the party it was intended to be by its founders." (I posted this on craigslist on 11/12/08)