At a recent Tea Party in Moorhead, a critic noted that there wasn’t enough racial diversity. Similar criticisms populate news stories and opinion pieces across the nation in an attempt to discredit the call for freedom and liberty coming from the American people. This is not a phenomena exclusive to Tea Parties; the list of victims includes representatives, senators, and anyone who publicly criticizes policy decisions of the democrat party.
Racism today is a pale and fading shadow of the horrific violence of previous generations and the term (like so many others) has been co-opted by a group of people with a specific agenda. Racism is a simple issue to understand; the idea that one person would hate another due to an arbitrary attribute (usually color of skin) is deplorable. The simplicity of this concept makes it a prime label to paste on to people who disagree with you. That’s the real travesty of racism; that factual racism has been kidnapped and replaced with phony racism to push political policy. What service is that doing to the brave men and women of the civil rights struggles?
Our founding principles state that all men are created equal, and we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Conservatism upholds these ideas. Conservatism is color-blind because color isn’t relevant to policy; all men are created equal. This isn’t, however, about ignoring our cultural heritage and family traditions. This is about writing law in Washington, and about having the freedom to disagree with the principles of other people.
Twice American means first knowing that we are all equal, and second celebrating that we are all different. Diversity is much more than skin deep; cheapening our individual experiences by viewing them through the lens of race goes against everything America should represent. When you are born in America, or become American by choice, you are American first. So let us shatter the looking glass of racial identification. Let’s shred the racial qualifiers we use to identify ourselves. We are Americans, we want to go back to the founding principles of equality, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and we want our government to remember that they represent us.
In November, we will remind them.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Performing Surgery With a Meat Cleaver
On Sunday 3/21/2010 our government passed one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in the history of our country. Arguably, this is the furthest step away from the constitution that we have ever taken. While the constitution and the founding principles of our nation are the celebrity victims of this legislation; they remain the beginning of a very long list of casualties.
When the fog of war fades and the sun rises on peacetime, many countries build a single monument to “the unknown soldier.” This memorial serves as reminder that not everyone comes home from war, living or deceased. Today, we must erect that monument and remember what we have lost during this fight; specifically, the process of crafting and voting on legislation. Of course, according to Washington incumbents, we Americans don’t care about the process, right?
Crafting legislation is serious business which we can equate to surgery. It requires a problem or issue, knowledgeable people who can diagnose the problem and craft a solution, and finally the proper tools to implement the solution. We must take care that our actions actually solve the problems facing us. We must also measure those actions against the barometer of the constitution. Washington has failed in performing this operation; the patient (health care) is worse off than when we started.
Washington incumbents have been chanting a dangerous mantra, “We have to start somewhere.” We’re being sold the idea that while this legislation isn’t perfect, it’s a starting point, and we MUST start somewhere. That’s like your doctor screaming that we MUST operate now, grabbing a meat cleaver, and hacking away. Our leaders need to be calm, confident that the solutions measure up to the expectations of our founders, and the demands of our constitution. They need to pick up the scalpel and make precise incisions to complete the surgery in as few steps as possible.
Twice American means first choosing the right tool, and second wielding it with practiced precision.
When the fog of war fades and the sun rises on peacetime, many countries build a single monument to “the unknown soldier.” This memorial serves as reminder that not everyone comes home from war, living or deceased. Today, we must erect that monument and remember what we have lost during this fight; specifically, the process of crafting and voting on legislation. Of course, according to Washington incumbents, we Americans don’t care about the process, right?
Crafting legislation is serious business which we can equate to surgery. It requires a problem or issue, knowledgeable people who can diagnose the problem and craft a solution, and finally the proper tools to implement the solution. We must take care that our actions actually solve the problems facing us. We must also measure those actions against the barometer of the constitution. Washington has failed in performing this operation; the patient (health care) is worse off than when we started.
Washington incumbents have been chanting a dangerous mantra, “We have to start somewhere.” We’re being sold the idea that while this legislation isn’t perfect, it’s a starting point, and we MUST start somewhere. That’s like your doctor screaming that we MUST operate now, grabbing a meat cleaver, and hacking away. Our leaders need to be calm, confident that the solutions measure up to the expectations of our founders, and the demands of our constitution. They need to pick up the scalpel and make precise incisions to complete the surgery in as few steps as possible.
Twice American means first choosing the right tool, and second wielding it with practiced precision.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Moral Compass or Financial Roadmap?
Politicians today like to set boundaries and categories to make it easier for voters to identify with their agenda. This tactic is not only disingenuous, it also allows politicians to sidestep commitment to any sort of principles. They don’t have to pick a platform, they just follow every other politician in that category.
The most common distinction is to pick either socially (read: morally) or fiscally (read: spending) liberal or conservative. The split seems to be the stance-of-the-day for the follower-class of politicians in Washington, either socially liberal but fiscally conservative or visa versa. Each of these translates to undecided moderate. On any given issue, the politicians can excuse themselves from a tough decision by painting the issue in either a social or fiscal color.
The core problem with this classification is the inappropriate attempt to separate moral issues from economic issues. The reality of life is that morality on all sides ties directly to economic performance. Our country was founded on principles of morality and fiscal conservatism; the government had a limited role. Since our founding, major economic crises can be traced back to decisions that are either immoral or amoral; we don’t have to go back very far to find examples of this.
We had a housing crisis in which the mortgage industry boiled over sending our economy into turmoil. What’s interesting about the housing crisis, everyone has an opinion of how it occurred, the root causes, and all of the conclusions lead to a moral crisis; yet, in addressing the issue, the government took a strictly fiscal approach. The crisis came about because banks made loans to people who couldn’t afford to pay them back. A combination of personal entitlement, greed, a lack of personal responsibility, and government regulations favoring “fairness” fed the furnace of looming catastrophe.
Twice American means first following your moral compass, and second finding the most fiscally responsible financial roadmap to success. Knowing your direction without knowing your destination is as useless as knowing your destination but having no idea which way you are going. We need leaders who know where they are going AND how to get there; back to the principles that made this country great.
The most common distinction is to pick either socially (read: morally) or fiscally (read: spending) liberal or conservative. The split seems to be the stance-of-the-day for the follower-class of politicians in Washington, either socially liberal but fiscally conservative or visa versa. Each of these translates to undecided moderate. On any given issue, the politicians can excuse themselves from a tough decision by painting the issue in either a social or fiscal color.
The core problem with this classification is the inappropriate attempt to separate moral issues from economic issues. The reality of life is that morality on all sides ties directly to economic performance. Our country was founded on principles of morality and fiscal conservatism; the government had a limited role. Since our founding, major economic crises can be traced back to decisions that are either immoral or amoral; we don’t have to go back very far to find examples of this.
We had a housing crisis in which the mortgage industry boiled over sending our economy into turmoil. What’s interesting about the housing crisis, everyone has an opinion of how it occurred, the root causes, and all of the conclusions lead to a moral crisis; yet, in addressing the issue, the government took a strictly fiscal approach. The crisis came about because banks made loans to people who couldn’t afford to pay them back. A combination of personal entitlement, greed, a lack of personal responsibility, and government regulations favoring “fairness” fed the furnace of looming catastrophe.
Twice American means first following your moral compass, and second finding the most fiscally responsible financial roadmap to success. Knowing your direction without knowing your destination is as useless as knowing your destination but having no idea which way you are going. We need leaders who know where they are going AND how to get there; back to the principles that made this country great.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Healthcare: the State of the Issue
You can’t look at Washington right now without seeing something about healthcare. According to most sources, the need for healthcare reform is unanimous; there is simply some disagreement on the scope and scale of the reform. There’s a major problem, however, with all of these healthcare reform conversations: the federal government has no business reforming health care in the ways Washington is currently discussing.
When our founders drafted the Constitution of the United States, they built the framework for our federal government. The key aspect of a framework is that as you go on, you can dress the walls, but you can’t build outside of the frame. The constitution limits the chances of a massive federal government restricting the rights of not only the citizens, but also the states. Reform of healthcare in America belongs to the citizens and the states. This is a core value of our founding fathers: the federal government is to protect the citizens and the states, not rule over them.
The constitution says in Article IV section 2: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. Many people have guessed at the meaning of this phrase, but one interpretation has held true; no state may discriminate against citizens from another state in favor of citizens from its own state. This is the only place in which the federal government has any say in healthcare reform amongst the states, and it’s one of the most important reforms to reducing healthcare costs: the elimination of state mandates.
State mandates are requirements placed on health insurance providers who wish to do business in a given state. The provider must cover X, Y, and Z if they wish to sell insurance. The problem is, it effectively makes it illegal for you or me to buy health insurance from another state, even if it’s more cost effective and better fits my needs. What free market? This is a clear violation of the constitution as it restricts our freedom to purchase products across state lines, and insurance companies’ rights to do business with any free citizen.
It’s time we get leaders in Washington who will adhere to constitutional solutions to our problems. Leaders who are bold enough to work within the framework of our founders, who will empower the citizens, not the politicians, to solve our problems. Twice American means first knowing the framework established by our founders, and second working within the framework to preserve the liberty of “we the people.”
When our founders drafted the Constitution of the United States, they built the framework for our federal government. The key aspect of a framework is that as you go on, you can dress the walls, but you can’t build outside of the frame. The constitution limits the chances of a massive federal government restricting the rights of not only the citizens, but also the states. Reform of healthcare in America belongs to the citizens and the states. This is a core value of our founding fathers: the federal government is to protect the citizens and the states, not rule over them.
The constitution says in Article IV section 2: The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. Many people have guessed at the meaning of this phrase, but one interpretation has held true; no state may discriminate against citizens from another state in favor of citizens from its own state. This is the only place in which the federal government has any say in healthcare reform amongst the states, and it’s one of the most important reforms to reducing healthcare costs: the elimination of state mandates.
State mandates are requirements placed on health insurance providers who wish to do business in a given state. The provider must cover X, Y, and Z if they wish to sell insurance. The problem is, it effectively makes it illegal for you or me to buy health insurance from another state, even if it’s more cost effective and better fits my needs. What free market? This is a clear violation of the constitution as it restricts our freedom to purchase products across state lines, and insurance companies’ rights to do business with any free citizen.
It’s time we get leaders in Washington who will adhere to constitutional solutions to our problems. Leaders who are bold enough to work within the framework of our founders, who will empower the citizens, not the politicians, to solve our problems. Twice American means first knowing the framework established by our founders, and second working within the framework to preserve the liberty of “we the people.”
Monday, March 1, 2010
Finally, we have reached the summit!
Have you noticed an increase in the amount of summits taking place in Washington? It used to be that only mountain climbers, explorers, or geologists knew what it meant to reach the summit. The summit is a huge climbing achievement, and it takes quite a few people to make it possible. Once you get to the summit, there’s a bit of celebration, euphoria, maybe some inspirational speeches. But, after the respite and the speeches are through, everyone leaves and heads back down the mountain.
Well, we can add Washington insiders to that list. It sure seems appropriate; they go to the summit, they make some speeches, they celebrate the fact that they are there, and then they go home. Very little seems to be getting accomplished at these summits; it’s almost as if the summit is more important than the solution.
The summit craze is a symptom of a deeper problem in Washington. Politicians forget how government was developed in this country: By the people. At some point, Washington took a top down (or summit down, if you will) approach to problem solving. Politicians stopped listening to their employers, the citizens of this country, and decided that they know the solution.
This “summit” approach shows that finding solutions is less important than trumpeting the plan they’ve decided will work. This isn’t leadership; it’s Hollywood, or perhaps Vaudeville, more appropriately. Being a leader means knowing where solutions have come from through history, the people. Leadership is about leading your team to a solution, not selling the team on your solution.
Twice American means first recognizing a problem, second getting government out of the way of solutions from the people. Being a typical politician means coming up with a plan and then waiting for an issue to come up that fits your agenda; and, of course, holding a summit to tell everyone why your agenda is right.
It’s time our politicians remember who solves the problems: We the people.
Well, we can add Washington insiders to that list. It sure seems appropriate; they go to the summit, they make some speeches, they celebrate the fact that they are there, and then they go home. Very little seems to be getting accomplished at these summits; it’s almost as if the summit is more important than the solution.
The summit craze is a symptom of a deeper problem in Washington. Politicians forget how government was developed in this country: By the people. At some point, Washington took a top down (or summit down, if you will) approach to problem solving. Politicians stopped listening to their employers, the citizens of this country, and decided that they know the solution.
This “summit” approach shows that finding solutions is less important than trumpeting the plan they’ve decided will work. This isn’t leadership; it’s Hollywood, or perhaps Vaudeville, more appropriately. Being a leader means knowing where solutions have come from through history, the people. Leadership is about leading your team to a solution, not selling the team on your solution.
Twice American means first recognizing a problem, second getting government out of the way of solutions from the people. Being a typical politician means coming up with a plan and then waiting for an issue to come up that fits your agenda; and, of course, holding a summit to tell everyone why your agenda is right.
It’s time our politicians remember who solves the problems: We the people.
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