Fiscally Responsible Government? Yes! Kind of....

So imagine my surprise this weekend when the front page of the newspaper announced that our favorite permanent government contractor UDOT was not starting around $4 Billion dollars worth of projects that were slated to start next year.

You may ask, why was I surprised. Well, perhaps it's cynicism about government, lack of faith in elected officials or just an overall negative vibe I get about government but I was actually happy to see this headline on Friday.

Many people are really broke up about all these projects that they want done and are throwing a hissy about their project not getting done. If I may be Frank for a moment and not Kirk. I applaud our state government and UDOT officials for this decision. They are practicing what I have been talking about in our nations plethora of failing businesses and industries asking for bailouts from the federal government, our state has made a very commendable decision.

It's not that they don't have the money now to fund the projects. It's the fact that they foresee some economic slowdowns ahead and are saving the money to meet the other obligations of government. Ho-rah! You mean government is saving it's money and looking into the future to avoid a shortfall in revenue? Good work.

It's not as if UDOT is going to let little potholes turn into big sinkholes, enveloping entire city blocks. They just aren't starting any new projects because the bonds they issue will be paid for by tax revenues(which are down). Imagine my surprise when I opened the paper and found a story of a government office exercising responsibility with tax dollars! As a result of these actions, I don't think that you will soon find the state of Utah lined up in the state bailout line behind California, New York and Nevada (who is by the way, lobbying officials to alter Nevada State law to decrease the legal gambling age to 18 to help out these poor, suffering casino owners that are verging on having to sell their 19th Ferrari to keep their penthouses.) They should really read our newspapers down there in sin city.

This announcement may affect some jobs in Utah, but maybe they will finally figure out that it doesn't take 10 guys to fill a pothole and practice a little business sense now that it seems like they are doing the right thing and pinch some pennies. Granted Utah state law mandates a balanced budget but I still give props to UDOT who has a little now-demonstrated clout when it talks about fiscal responsibility and looking into the future without reckless abandon (at least on the budget side).

The American "Entitlement" Dream

So how would you define the American dream? For the last ten years, being a "homeowner" has been labeled as the epitome of the American dream. I might be wrong about his but since when did home ownership become a right of every individual in America regardless of their income and part of banking and monetary policies to be regulated by the government?

The way I understand the American dream is one's opportunity to rise to a level of personal success that the world would not have expected of nor given to you. If you look at the great "American Dream" stories, you find individuals that came to America and worked their fingers to the bone building a business, organization or just plain hard work every day of their lives to provide their children with that which they did not have. America doesn't care who you are, where you're from or how many times you've failed. Everyone has a chance to become whatever they want to be-by their own merits. THAT is what makes America great.

Again, I don't understand why owning a home is synonymous with being successful or taking part in the American Dream. And my government doesn't have any right to regulate the banking policies that require banks to lend to people with insufficient income to repay those loans. Some of the happiest, most successful families I know rent their home and live the American Dream more than the doctor on the hill with a million dollar mortgage.

Congressional Junk Mail

Click on the letter for an expanded view.

Looks like someone had a clue what was coming back in 2006. I wonder why this letter, signed by McCain and 19 other republicans was not given credence, house floor time, nor signed by any democrats. No democrat no matter how much he agreed with this letter would have dared sign his/her name to it beside a republican's. The same would have been true of the republicans had this been a democratic party-supported letter. It is yet another illustration as to the wedge of partisan turfism that enables absolute ineptness to go on as accepted "politics as usual"-while nothing gets done about the real problems. Looks to me like these republicans that signed this letter are calling for more oversight not more deregulation as they are daily labeled the "deregulators that caused this whole mess."

The republicans don't stand there lilly white either. Writing a letter expressing concern is a good first step. How about a little follow up? By the way the letter was addressed to Republicans Bill Frist and Richard Shelby. Apparently they get a lot of junk mail on the hill and this got shredded with the rest of the junk mail from Countrywide, Chase and DiscoverCard.

Pays to be Dick

Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld Jr.(yes that IS his real name) sat before a dog and pony show hearing this week to answer questions about his company's demise.

First of all, these silly hearings by Congress are worthless. They don't accomplish anything. The person is not being tried, won't be convicted and will only be indirectly chastised by Congress through leading questions. Congressional Hearings are the equivalent of the first O.J. trial.

So after a shameful display of finger pointing and question dodging, Mr. Dick Fuld gets to go home and relax in his mansion and savor the fact that in the last five years he has paid himself almost a half a BILLION dollars. And Congress thinks this is showing the American people it's doing something about the crisis. He also said that he thought his compensation was "fair." (Express Outrage ...........................................now!)

The only solace I got from this news was a report that the Sunday after Lehman announced its bankruptcy, Mr. Fuld was working out in the company gym when Hans, the brother of Franz, came up and decked Dick. Reportedly he was knocked unconscious. Ah to have seen that.

Dear Taxpayer

Dear Taxpayer,

I am an executive for AIG. I wanted to let you know how we are using the $85 Billion you loaned my company. The week following the loan we laid aside the worries about horrendous leadership, bad investments and deplorable management. AIG executives were sent on a luxury retreat to California to regroup before spending the $85 billion. Have you ever tried to spend that much money?

The cost for this little getaway was only $440,000, including $23,380 for spa services. Now we are actually ready to spend the rest of the money and solve this problem. The only holdup is that none of us have very good toupees. So when we get back we'll do something about that and then we will really get to work. By the way...thanks taxpayer. I am confident that you knew we would use the money wisely. Wink.Wink. Write your congressman and say thanks!

Sucker.....

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081008/D93M0K6G3.html

ACORN Has Grown to a Giant Oak Tree

So I have been doing some homework on ACORN. I have been hearing about it in the news and didn't even know what it was. It is an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and is the largest left wing radical group in America. They have over 150 sub-organizations with various fields they concentrate their efforts. They are a group of community organizations that use two forms of activism. One of force, civil disobedience and fear tactics to get their messages out. Second, an inside approach where they control a situation through legislation and bullying tactics. The group makes no effort to conceal that they are a radical socialist party. ACORN turns in thousands upon thousands of new voter registrations each week throughout the country. Massive task forces must be employed to review these application due to a track record of voter fraud. ACORN is currently being investigated in as many as 12 states for voter fraud. Naturally the majority of them democratic.

ACORN is the modern successor of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO)that sought to remove eligibility restrictions for welfare, thus flooding the welfare rolls and requiring a massive government rehaul of the entire welfare system for our "socially unjust capitalist society." Their efforts did nothing but destroy the inner cities and create a culture of dependency.

Now you may be thinking, this kind of sounds like the bailout problem that now requires the government to intervene. Well, there's a bit more to the story than this.

Under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)passed under the ACORN supported Clinton administration, banks are required to make a certain number of sub-prime loans to certain ethnic and low-income groups. If the banks want to expand or merge, they are required to show that they have met these requirements. So the banks comply and the housing bubble begins to build. The banks begin making plenty of money and ACORN no longer has to threaten lawsuits to push these lending practices. You know the rest of the story now.

Now I am not one for believing in and loosing a lot of sleep over conspiracy theories but this is not a coincidence. In the bailout bill as it was voted on the first time, those Congresspeople close to ACORN included a loophole to allow them to give the first 20% of any profits made to organizations such as ACORN. Before the taxpayer! Many house republicans recognized this bamboozle and voted against it. It was removed in the second version of the bill because of public outcry.

A side note now. Apparently, Obama has close ties to ACORN. He has trained staffers for them during his community organizer days, argued for them as a lawyer in major cases and while serving on the board of directors of two foundations, funneled millions of dollars to ACORN.

When all this bailout started being talked about, I find it funny that Obama remained so quiet and unopinionated. Perhaps because he knew of these connections and how ACORN stood to potentially profit from the bill passing.

So the organization that helped cause this massive financial meltdown is now sitting in the corner watching their plans for the meltdown of capitalism as we know it unfold. I think now our eyes are open and we can see what has happened and it's too late to fix this in a rational way. France, Germany, Russia and now Al Queda are all watching this happen and claiming this is a result of our corrupt capitalist society. Perhaps the problem with our capitalist society is we allow the government intervention that allows groups like ACORN to exert their influence on private enterprise and legislators that taint the system with failed policies. I categorically reject the stance Obama takes on this mess. He claims it is the Bush administration's failed policies. In 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 both Greenspan and the Republican treasury secretary warned of the impending crisis if action was not taken to reform lending practices of Fannie and Freddie. Each time, democrats voted no along party lines on reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you need proof check the congressional record.

I apologize for the lengthy post.

Frankly, I don't care for you....

I was never really interested in politics at all growing up. I could never figure out what a republican or democrat was but I knew it was impolite to ask three questions. One-How much money do you make? Two-What religion are you? And three- Are you democrat or republican? So instead of looking it up, I just ignored it all together. Until I went on a mission to Europe. I saw socialism at it's worst. The government was even more "out of reach" there than it feels here. I realized how good I had it in America. I wasn't in the states for the big Bush/Gore election debacle so this feels like the first time I have actually had a strong opinion in a presidential election. When I came home, I began learning, forming my own opinions and defending my positions and beliefs in college. It was good for me. Many of my professors would have been right at home in Austria. So, in my accounts in political history be kind, I am only an 6 year old!

One of these items of my political naivety is that I thought when you hold public office, you handle your affairs in such a way that is above reproach. Maybe it's the way I was raised but it seems like just the opposite now. When you get elected now you must get a goodie basket that has two get-out-of-jail-free cards, one lack-of-judgement card, one dozen free lies, an extra marital affair, love child or run in with a prostitute, and four bad personal association cards. Nixon, Clinton, Dodd, Craig, Clinton, Obama, McCain, Edwards, Clinton and now Barney Frank.

So I have been learning a little bit about Barney Frank lately. Again, call me naive or ignorant but apparently he's been "out of the closet" since 1984. He said he didn't want to make excuses to keep his private life in check with his political life anymore. There's no room for anything to go wrong now that everyone knows he likes other congressmen!

So, in the 80s, he hires a male prostitute for 80 bucks, moves him in, and tries to help the young man change his life around and then dumps the kid. (Let's leave the prostitute life changing to Richard Gere) Everyone finds out that favorite politician from Boston hires long term male prostitute-no prob Frank. We'll re elect him another couple decades or so. He has a card for that! Remember? And anyway, what he does in his personal life is his business! Quit meddling.

It's now the 90s and Mr. FRANK is on the House Financial Services Committee overseeing the big government run programs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During the same time, Mr. FRANK accepts over 40,000 dollars from Fannie Mae while serving on this oversight committee that advocates lax lending practices for minorities and sub-prime loans. (As does senator Chris Dodd, also on the committee) Guess what direction the Financial Services' Committee leans? You guessed it. Oh and one more thing. For 10 years on the HFSC, Mr. FRANK was involved romanticly with a man named Herb Moses. He openly called Mr. Moses his spouse. Herb Moses was an executive for none other than our now favorite government bailout-owned Fannie Mae. I wonder if there was any possibility of a conflict of interest there? Since 2003, Mr. FRANK has been the chairman of this committee that "oversees" government programs and makes policy recommendations as to lending practices, government backed mortgages and banking policy. Gee, this is the same guy criticising republicans of letting this whole economic mess happen? Also the same guy that just 5 weeks ago said publicly that Sarah Palin's personal live was fair game?

Excuse my cynicism a moment while I ask a couple rhetorical questions.

If Mr. FRANK was a straight conservative republican, would not the press be reporting this with fervour?

If Mr. FRANK was a straight conservative republican, would this not be grounds for dismissal from this critical committee or from office altogether?

Although I am a bit naive still when it comes to politics, I am at least smart enough to know that if elected to public office, I'd better keep my nose clean. That is unless that goodie bag comes with some kleenex. As for Mr. FRANK, he is now being investigated by the FBI.

Maybe someone will finally tell Mr. FRANK to leave the ballpark. He may feel right at home in federal prison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgctSIL8Lhs

Like a Kick in No-Man's Land.

I am still sorting out what happened last night and what could potentially be signed into law tomorrow. The House voted no to a bailout on Monday and so they added another $105 Billion to the price tag and it passed in the Senate. Guess it wasn't a big enough kick in the crotch. Hopefully we see a resurgence of kids playing with wooden arrows soon. Otherwise we'll know this thing didn't work. This is the equivalent of the government coming around your neighborhood and collecting Between $5,000-$6,000 for every family in America. I think even democrats might start clinging to their guns if this was realized.


How about discussing some alternatives? Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas have put together some ideas that would cost much less and accomplish much more. Here is a link to the plan in formal form.

http://mikepence.house.gov/UploadedFiles/RSC%20Version%20Economic%20Rescue%20Alternative%209-29-08%20(2).pdf

An FYI for you Utah folks....

Bennett (R-UT) Yea

Hatch(R-UT) Yea



Senators who voted NO

Allard (R) Barasso (R) Brownback (R) Bunning (R) Cantwell (D) Cochran (R) Crapo (R) DeMint (R) Dole (R) Dorgan (D)Enzi (R)Feingold (D) Inhofe (R)Johnson (D)Landrieu (D)Nelson (FL) (D)Roberts (R)Sanders (I)Sessions (R)Shelby (R)Stabenow (D)Tester (D)Vitter (R)Wicker (R)Wyden (D)


Please share your thoughts......

Way to Go Thaddeus!

Thank you Roxanne for suggesting this video. Barney Frank got the job how? Nice to see a little passion from the people in our elected congress. Props to Tad! I'd vote for the dude. I like his suit too. Sharp....

End of an Era

I'm trying to look for the good today people I promise....

Imagine my surprise when I returned from lunch today to see the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 777 points. Looks like Congress has defected again. They will be out until Thursday celebrating the Jewish Holidays while our economy sinks into oblivion. If I were a Jew, I wouldn't care if someone worked on a holiday if it meant this much to my country. Are we going to start taking personal days now so we can observe Wiccan holidays? I hear Witch Burning days are mid to late October. Nancy Pelosi has a CHUGG nomination for a front row seat to that one. Chick scares me.

We are back to partisan bickering and politics as usual. I thought, naively, that perhaps the country could take front seat over who gets reelected for once. I have tried hard not to just take on someone else's opinion in this matter and think it out for myself. I don't know why just now, members of congress and the house are pointing so many fingers at each other. Give me a break...Barney Frank, Chairman of the Financial Oversight Committee was apparently scarfing down his morning box of Twinkies for the last 10 years while all this mismanagement was happening right under his nose. Maybe his nose was full of cream filling. If we want to fire CEO's who mismanaged major corporations and misled stockholders, let's have equal criticism for members of congress that didn't do their jobs on these committees or were so unbelievably ignorant as to not see this coming. If I were in charge of Golden Parachutes for Congress, I would make sure that Mr. Frank's severance package contained some Twinkies. You can't expect the guy to go cold turkey!

I am a conservative. That is, I believe in accountability, personal responsibility and the idea that government is not the solution to everything. Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem."

I understand that we need elected representatives to vote for us on important issues such as these. If there was one bright spot on a very cloudy day, it was that the voice of the American people manifest itself on Capital Hill today. Many more Americans were against a Wall Street bailout than were for it. In the back of my mind, I wanted to see something come forward, presented by both parties in a civilized manner that would help all of our investment accounts and protect the little guy.

Truth be told, I thought that the way the Bush Administration asked for a lobbied congress to pass the bill was wrong and all too familiar. My way or the highway-both Democrats and Republicans. I think President Bush is a well intentioned man in most regards, however I disagree considerably with his ability to lead and manage a situation entirely. If this President is a conservative then Nancy Pelosi is Margaret Thatcher. The man is not a conservative. I thought it was put well when I heard someone say tonight that asking Congress and the Financial Oversight committee to fix this problem was like them burning the Thanksgiving turkey and then asking them to cook Christmas dinner. Republicans have purposed a plan to use the free markets and insurance to help the economy. I think this avenue should be explored. How about an open discussion for an idea from the citizens of the country? We have brilliant minds in this country-not just in Washington D.C. Contrary to their own belief, they are not gods.

If I am honest with myself, I and my family have benefited greatly from the good economic growth and "the way things were" in America. Three years ago, I didn't have $100k to put down on a house. But I live in a great neighborhood now. I think we are seeing the end of an era. Things are probably going to look pretty grim for a while but guess what.....we knew they would didn't we? I mean how long have we been counseled to have food and supplies on hand?

Another bright spot in this whole mess-Wall Street greed and unethical practices are being exposed, brought to the front page and the people are talking about it. And they are mad. Are you reading this? Will you talk about it? Will you tell other people to read and talk about it? Yes. And that is a great thing. I just hope we don't forget as quickly as we did after the tech bubble burst.

It's called the pride cycle and I think I have read about it somewhere ..... where was it?

Another truth be told. We are a resilient people. We will come back from anything. It may take some time but I believe in the goodness and hard work of Americans.

Bottom line...we should not become a communist country. We should not abandon our morals. We should not initiate corporate welfare for Wall Street. We should just do what is best for our country and it's citizens.

One more word of advice...listen to conference this weekend.

Bailout Basics

With the very real chance of a financial meltdown, the Congress has now sent a bailout bill to the House to vote on. I ask myself if the average Joe American has any idea what this bailout actually is supposed to do and what the ramifications are if it doesn't work. I thought I would lay it out as simple as possible.

"Capital Markets"-There is a constant need for credit in our economy. Big companies and corporations need capital to do business and often float credit to meet expenses. For example-Say GM needs to borrow $20 Million to buy steel to manufacture cars. In the current financial state, no one is willing to lend money because they need those reserves for their own companies and are worried about lending to a company that's already in trouble. If GM can't get the capital required, it has to cut costs somewhere else. You guessed it, probably jobs. This is how quickly the matter could escalate. When large American companies start laying off employees then that affects every aspect of the economy in a negative way.

"Credit Crunch"-This refers to the unwillingness of banks and other financial institutions to loan money to each other. Banks loan to each other on the overnight market at the LIBOR rates. These rates have decreased to because no one is lending to each other. Banks are fearful of their solvency because of their bad loans and their customers "making a run on the bank" because they are fearful that their bank is one in trouble financially. Thus, they hold on to any of the reserves they can. It was reported today that there is over $5 Trillion in capital available in treasury notes and other assets that could flood the markets. The purpose of the $700 Billion bailout that Congress is negotiating is intended to alleviate fears and concern about lending and will thus free up these trillions that are out there. If this doesn't happen, the bailout will fail. The $700 Billion is not intended to rescue the entire economy by buying all the bad assets. It is mainly an emotional trigger that the government is now hoping will make a difference in overnight lending.

"Sub-Prime and lax lending practices"-Foreclosing on your home seems to be something that someone with a good steady job will never have to worry about. Back in the 1990's under the Clinton administration, many lending practices were altered and underwriting requirements were made much more liberal citing "affirmative action" in the lending arena. Banks agreed because they were often only agents in the deal. You sign the mortgage and within a few days, they had packaged and sold the majority of these mortgages as securities to investment banks and other investors. They didn't care if the underwriting was bad. They only have to risk their own money for a few days. So as long as you make your first payment, the bank if off the hook and has made a handsome profit on the origination and sale of the loan.

"Predatory Lending/Borrowing"-I am sure you've seen houses on the hill and wondered how that person affords that mortgage. In the past, you had to have some money down to buy a house. The down payment was your way of showing the bank that you were serious enough about the house purchase and the ensuing payments that you were willing to put up thousands of your own money to back that up. As of lately, you have been able to get 100-125% financing on your home with no down payment. In addition to this, you have been introduced to a mortgage called the Option ARM that allows you to pay a 30 year payment, an interest only payment or a minimum payment. The minimum payment is also called a negative amortization payment. Your monthly mortgage payment does not even cover the interest on the loan. So if you choose to pay the minimum payment, you are actually increasing the mortgage balance every month. This worked for some people when the property values were going up. It also enabled the bank to sell a mortgage considerably higher than a 30 year mortgage, thus making the bank more money. Now for the fine print. In 3-5 years your payment reverts back to a 30 year payment (much higher) and your interest rate begins increasing each month. Tough if your mortgage balance has also increased 20% due to the negative amortization. At this point you have two options. Sell the house and get out of the mortgage. Also tough if you owe more than your house is worth and the market is flooded with other houses in the same position. Option two, walk away. Most are doing this because they have no down payment and no stake in keeping the mortgage. Banks that hold these mortgages are going out of business left and right because the homes are now only worth a fraction of what has been borrowed-and the bank can't sell the house either. Banks used these mortgages as collateral to buy other assets, stocks and other securities. Thus bad debt on the books. We the taxpayers will now buy these bad debts from these greedy companies to enable them to continue on with their business. This is the major cause of our financial mess. Greedy banks and greedy borrowers.

"Investment Banks"-Banks and Securities firms are required to allow themselves to be regulated. Their books are examined and they are supposedly overseen by the regulators. They in turn are offered the ability to access money from the Federal Reserve at a lower rate and loan out at a higher (arbitrage) However, investment banks are different. These investment banks act as agents and investors in the global financial markets without any regulation at all. They deal in hundreds of billions of dollars and have no rules. The only rule is to make money on the deal. You can imagine the corruption and greed that would abound in such an environment. Up until a few weeks ago, the only two major investment banks left were Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. They have since applied for bank charter. Because of the global ties of these investment banks, the world economy as a whole is under the same stress.

The proposal as I understand it at this point gives the treasury secretary $250 Billion to use immediately, another $100 billion to use with a letter request to Congress and the other $350 Billion on reserve to be accessed if needed but only with Congressional action.

I hope this helps you understand the commonly used terms that are so important to understanding why we are in this mess.

Finally something admirable from a politician

Senator McCain has done something very patriotic in my opinion. Below is his statement.

"America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns.This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward.I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration' proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country."


This is what I have been talking about!!!!! I hope Senator Obama will join him. Way to go McCain.

The Latest Pea Shooter is Obama

Did you know that John McCain has 13 cars? Outrageous! Did you know he owns 8 houses? My goodness! Did you know that his cars were not all made by American workers? Disgraceful!

This is the latest chapter in Obama's quest to vilify Senator McCain.

If owning a foreign-made car is a sin now, I would like to know how many celebrities would give back their Priuses for our country's sake.

Mr. Obama drives a Hybrid Ford Escape. He also owns one house. What a patriot! He's a living example of what an American should be. I just wish he'd put an American flag on his private jet. No that would send a message!

I've got to have a talk with my father. He owns 5 cars! Five! Can you imagine!? That makes him almost 1/3 as evil as John McCain. We just can't have that!

As for me- I'm a proud owner of a Toyota Pickup, Honda Minivan, Kawasaki and Honda motorcycles and many articles bought at Wal-mart supposedly made in China. (gasp) I presume the vehicles were all made in Japan. I'll make sure I think twice before buying another Japanese vehicle. I may want to run for office some day. So, I must repent. How could I think of being so unamerican?

My Day with Dr. Covey

I would be remiss not to mention that I was privileged enough to be able to spend about 4 hours being instructed by Steven Covey this week. What an enlightened man. His teaching style was interesting-not overbearing and not boring. He left politics out of his decision making and looked to the higher purpose of life in everything he does and is so inspirational.

One things that I realized as he talked about his current projects was this; he is asked to participate in trainings and leadership counsels with countries all over the world. He is meeting with the president of Mexico soon, just got back from the South American continent and Asia and has in the course of his career counseled with some of the greatest minds and most influential and powerful people in the world. What he has to say and the way he changes your perception of yourself and those around you is simply profound. However, he is not utilized in his own country. After the conference, I discussed my thoughts with my father-in-law. We agreed that we may get more done in a day of congress if they were all forced to sit through 4 hours of leadership training by Dr. Covey.

So back to my thought. This man is a talented leader. He has enormous amounts of experience in both foreign relations, economic and social policy. As he talked to us. I wondered how our America could get someone with these leadership qualities to run for office.

Any of you that are thinking, "Oh great a motivational speaker as our next president, great idea Kirk!", let me explain. His thoughts are inspirational and I have sat through my fair share of "motivational speakers." This man is more than that. He is a leader.

When we are honest with ourselves, isn't the job of President of the United States a job that requires leadership? Someone who can build teams around him and bring out the hidden talents in those around him/her. I won't vote for someone because he's been in public office prior to his presidency. I also won't withhold my vote because of their lack of experience. If that person is a leader, these things won't matter.

We don't expect our dentists to know how to set a broken arm just because he's in the medical profession. We don't expect our plumber to know how to wire a basement just because he works construction. But somehow, probably because of the scope of his job, the President is expected to be an expert in all things at all times. Newsflash, no President will ever be completely prepared to lead the minute he's sworn in. Have you ever started a new job? Can you imagine the learning curve?

So if I had my pick, I would chose someone with a track record of humble leadership, success and significance in the business world and moral values that guide his decisions. To be honest, many of Dr. Covey's projects have a strong socialist component. However, each program's success is based on trust, hard work and individual success-not a hand-out. I believe Americans are capable of more than our current government gives us credit for.

We have a choice to overcome or ignore the metastasizing cancer of political turfism. We need a leader. We need a national goal. We don't need another partisan president. Our goals need to be communicated and then executed. If you were part of a team that didn't use your skills or talents to better the team or reach the goal, would you want to even be part of that team? No. I believe this is why so many Americans feel forgotten in our political system and are resentful of our politicians that claim to understand the "working class".

Every bright spot in our nation's history has been illuminated by a cause that brought every American closer through a common goal. What a powerful union our nation created when we defeated Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan. What a unity we created in the Apollo missions. What great patriotism was reveal after 9/11. These ideas have brought us together with great force. However, if we don't have a national goal to pull us together, we will be swallowed with up in bickering with the same force that coalesced around such great ideas of the past.

I learned this week that every break through is a break with an old way of thinking. What's your thought?