THE 3 C'S OF AMERICAN ECONOMIC RESURGENCE

"The history of free men is never written by chance, but by choice - their choice."   --Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success."   -- Denis Waitley


I had the pleasure to engage in a discussion centered around faith, family and leadership with one Mr. Hughes recently. Mr. Hughes was recounting various significant events in his life, which had led him courageously to escape the restraints of segregation and to proudly serve our nation militarily before becoming a public school educator/administrator. He imparted to me the importance to every leader of embracing "the three C's: Choices, Challenges and Consequences."
 
Our Great Nation is currently gripped by the lingering effects of economic deterioration, which has led to an erosion of employment, family financial security, and confidence in government and corporate leadership.  Whether we like it or not, our Nation's economic viability relies upon the efficient interdependent workings of (1) a sound, ethical, well-financed free market economy; and (2) the local, state and national governments that regulate interstate commerce, fair competition, consumer protection and safety.
 
The free market economy depends upon the efficient flow of plentiful intellectual, human and financial capital. Excessive government regulation, taxation, and marketplace interference merely decrease the incentives for responsible entrepreneurs and corporate leaders to invest and develop (or possibly delay) new products and services.  Burdensome, unresponsive and unilateral governmental regulatory choices may create insurmountable challenges to businesses, whereupon the direct consequences may include middle- and working class job losses, and interstate/international facility relocations.
 
Clearly, government has a limited and necessary role to play in economic affairs as provided for my the Constitution's Articles. Interstate highways and waterways that facilitate the motorized conveyance of goods must be built and maintained.  Border inspection of imported foreign produce, children's toys, and vehicles must be undertaken to protect American lives.  Illegal acts, excessive pollution, and unsafe workplaces must be addressed.  But, if America is to remain the dominant world economic power whose intellectual property, manufacturing productivity, and service excellence exceed all international competitors, then elected officials and agency appointees must choose to partner with business leaders to face those challenges together, lest we mortgage our future to those self-serving nations currently acquiring our Treasury Bills.
 
In the November elections, and in the various state and federal primaries leading up to those November elections, We The People are going to register our votes in a referendum upon the imbalance between lobbyist-loving incumbents and the resurgence of freedom-loving, free market leaders who challenge those entrenched politicians. Neither Party's cronies will be spared as Independent voters makes choices grounded in fact, not swayed by mere opinion or slick 30-second advertisements. Independent voters will be focused upon unfulfilled candidate promises, upon the return of economic prosperity for the American family, upon the values underscored by faith in God. And the consequences for those foolish, fattened incumbents who choose poorly will be a one-way ticket back to the hometown...
 
TODAY'S QUESTION: What definitive economic plan have you --whether incumbent or challenger--developed and published to restore the appropriate balance between free market job creation and government regulation and taxation? [Remember: If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.]

VICTORY 2010: REVOLUTION, CONTRACT, CHANGE OR...

"Reforming public education, cutting property taxes, fixing adult and child protective services and funding our budget can all occur when Democrats and Republicans engage in consensus and cooperation - not cynicism and combat. "
               - Texas Governor Rick Perry

"To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects."
                - Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

As the two quotes above illustrate, even conservative leaders can have difficulty reaching consensus...on the merits of reaching consensus. More broadly, no single political party or grass roots movement has perfected nor obtained a monopoly on building consensus. Yet, electoral and legislative results of the past three decades underscore the importance of building and maintaining consensus throughout the political process, from ballot box to legislative chamber.

I am not attempting to dictate that one American political party is or has been superior to the other. Once we cut through the chest-beating rhetoric of cable news soundbites, town hall meetings, and grass roots rallies, we are left with the reality that the same American public ushered in the Reagan Revolution, the Contract with America, and Change We Can Believe In.

Mathematically, the 104th Congress (1994) elected 55 (R) and 45 (D) Senators; 228 (R) and 206 (D) Representatives. The 111th Congress (2008) elected 40 (R) and 58 (D) Senators; 178 (R) and 256 (D) Represenatives. Fourteen years did not see the entire demography of the nation shift politically, but instead followed a pendelum of social and fiscal policy. Just as midwestern union autoworkers rallied around Ronald Reagan when the economy necessitated strong fiscal leadership, families facing lost jobs and health care crises rallied about Barack Obama. People vote nationally and statewide for the economic, educational, and social policies that they view as most relevant to their own households. 1980, 1994, and 2008 demonstrated that one party more than the other delivered a message that resonated with greater than 50% of voters--plain and simple.

In future installments, we will be addressing how we may increase your share of your electorate by carefully examining and executing upon: (1) Issues upon which you hold very strong, well-defined, and possibly long-term positions; (2) Issues upon which your opponents hold very strong, well-defined, and possibly long-term positions; (3) Issues of current importance for which you have not previously developed a well-defined position; and (4) Issues of anticipated future importance for which you have not previously developed a well-defined position.

TODAY'S QUESTION: How will your campaign ensure that your message engenders the victorious spirit of 1980, 1994 and 2008?

LIBERTY: FINISH THE RACE

"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."              -Ronald Reagan

"Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith."                -Ronald Reagan

Many in the main-stream media will speak of the 2010 election cycle as the next significant opportunity for power to shift in government. That futuristic frame of reference ignores the more significant opportunity that citizens and elected officials have DAILY to speak up, dialogue, and take constructive action to tackle the pressing issues of our day. Today. Every day.

The state of the American economy may be one of the most pressing issues we face as a nation. Recessions occur cyclically regardless of which political party controls Congress or the Presidency, so I do not wish to devolve into a partisan finger-pointing exercise here. Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke have served Presidents of both parties. Unemployment lines and lost healthcare benefits deny families the fullness of the American dream in Democratic and Republican households alike. Simply, persistent economic struggles in our nation threaten our Liberty.

Economic strife is the volcano that spews forth the oppressive lava of government largesse and regulation. If we are to prevent the overreaching of federal regulation and federal financial entitlement spending, we must restore fiscal discipline to the outflow of our federal tax dollars. We must restrain the federal knee-jerk impulse to raise additional revenue through taxation. We must guard against benignly-titled legislation and programs that further restrict our free markets, free movement, and innovation.

We let our guard down as a nation when we focus too much media attention on the lingering effects of mortgage-backed securities, corporate downsizing, and bank failures. If we allow our elected officials to act on the media hysteria, we end up with new regulations, new controls, and limits on free market freedoms that kill entrepreneurship and innovation. One need only look back as far as the post-Enron media-frenzy to recognize the Sarbanes-Oxley framework that emerged from that event.

Our elected officials in every era--and especially our current era--must put partisanship aside to come together to craft fiscally-responsible, low-regulation solutions that will encourage free market entrepreneurship and innovation; reward research and development of new products and technologies; employ the hardworking men and women who welcome the workplace opportunities that full employment brings. Do not allow the mainstream media to lull our elected officials into building a Big Brother state.

Taxation, regulation, and unrestrained handouts will NOT strengthen our Nation and safeguard our Liberty.

We MUST do everything that can be done to restore our economic vitality in a responsible manner, so that those who come after us can recognize that we finished the race, kept them free, and kept our Faith.

TODAY'S QUESTION: As an elected official who represents ALL the citizens [regardless of party], can you put aside partisanship to build consensus toward restraining aimless taxation and regulation, to instead strengthen free market innovation that leads to increased employment and economic prosperity for America?

UNANIMOUS CONSENT: VICTORY WITH HONOR

"You give me your shield of victory,
And your right hand sustains me;
You stoop down to make me great."
                                                -Psalm 18

 

"Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They were wrong."

-Ronald Reagan

Today, as every day, I thank our veterans and active duty and reserve service members. No just war is entered into casually or without gut-wrenching deliberation given to the certain peril of our nation's sons & daughters, fathers & mothers, brothers & sisters. The entry into the Pacific theater that followed the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the horrific bombing of that September 11th both necessitated that our nation do "what we had to do."  Vietnam, Korea, Bosnia, Somalia and the first Gulf War were no less challenging. America always leads when called to action.

When our last Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces sent my brother, sister and brother-in-law to fight the War on Terror, along with hundreds of thousands of our brave service members, I believed (and still believe) that his decision was guided by wise counsel from above, sincere counsel from military leaders, and studied counsel from civilian leaders. Partisanship does not and cannot enter into the decision to deploy troops to safeguard the security of our Great Nation and its global security interests. Thus, I will likewise support the decision of the leaders who will redeploy my sister next year. I do not allow partisanship to enter into an arena where consensus is required to save lives.

War is expensive, but defeat is far more expensive. Peace is preferred, but passivity in the face of terrorism weakens a nation. We will eventually depart militarily from Afghanistan and Iraq, and our Nation will do so victoriously with Honor.

Thus, I move for unanimous consent...on the issue of the successful, fully-funded, fully-resourced prosecution of the War on Terror and full aftercare for our brave veterans upon their return. We are not a nation of warmongers, so we must trust our military leadership when they lead our troops toward victory. Save the partisan put-downs for debates over pork barrell projects!

There is no time for filibusters, holds, and delay on decisions that provide adequate reinforcements, armor, provisions, vehicles, artillery, and veterans benefits. We all can appreciate meaningful debate and the yearning for peace sooner than later, but God help the member of Congress whose partisan delay tactic allows one more soldier, sailor or marine to lay dying on the foreign battlefield for want of armor, ammunition, or reinforcements. That brave service member did NOT volunteer to become a partisan pawn in a cable news sound bite --he/she volunteered to protect our nation and bring home Victory with Honor.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Can we put aside petty partisanship on matters of successfully prosecuting and provisioning the War on Terror until the victory has been concluded and our troops have safely returned?

GENUINELY PRO-LIFE HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION

"Happy those concerned for the lowly and poor; when misfortune strikes, the Lord delivers them...
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed, allays the malady when they are ill." [Psalm 41:2,4]

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." [Matthew 23:23]

If we are to engage in honest, Christ-focused debate amidst crafting truly comprehensive health care legislation and retake the lead in ensuring that a bill emerges that will reduce costs to businesses, protect human life at ALL stages, and encourage further medical technology innovation, we must restrain our urge to communicate solely via cable news soundbites and caustic blog postings.

Jesus valued LIFE...ALL life.  We tend to focus so much upon the blight caused by abortion that we neglect to speak to the truths of those already born and suffering (children, seniors, etc.).  Jesus cared for and encouraged others to care for the poor, the children, the sick, the widows.

He did not employ a partisan litmus test before administering healing.  Jesus did not come only to heal one party, one gender, or one economic class to the exclusion of others, and the Lord's message as told to us through Scripture is no less poignant and clear today than it was thousands of years ago: "Do unto others as you would have done unto you."  Be not a modern day Pharisee, but be a Light upon the Hill.

Instead of fighting AGAINST health care legislation, why don't we Conservatives retake the high ground in the debate and restore our principles to the legilation in a manner that will allow us to go back to our Districts and be able to share with our constituents our pro-active efforts on their behalf.  Cancer doesn't evade conservatives' children, nor does dementia evade their elderly parents.  Being uninsured after a job loss is not limited only to members of the liberal caste.  Wouldn't we benefit more if we could stand before our constituents back home, men and women, young and old, Republican and Democrat, business owner and retiree, and tell them of our SUCCESS in fighting for ALL OF THEM.

Personally, I wish Ronald Reagan and Lee Atwater could have been with us longer...Why don't we retake the initiative on this legislation, build consensus around God-fearing, pro-life, fiscally responsible free market principles, and be heralded in history as the party that governed our citizenry with compassion and delivered REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM.  Or, as I heard a pastor say once, "Be Jesus to others in all of your affairs, as you may be the ONLY Jesus that someone encounters today."
TODAY'S QUESTION: How can YOU embrace the Lord's Word in the health care debate so that YOUR principles are encompassed in the final legislation in a manner that benefits ALL of God's children?

YOU: THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR

Ronald Reagan's 1976 is for many a forgotten footnote in the annals of history. Instead we should recognize its similarities to December 1773 aboard the cargo ship in Boston Harbor, followed by the tumult of 1775 and the Spirit of 1776.  Recall that when the War ended and the Constitution had been signed, many who had previously been in opposition to the Colonists eventually came to be governed by the new nation. We saw such consensus-building on the heels of defeat occur again following the Civil War, when the opponents again recognized the greater value in healing the nation and looking forward.

I have spoken earlier of the importance of adhering to our principles, even in periods of legislative loss, and continuing to convey those principles (and the solutions they undergird) in the most pro-active and broad-based manner possible.

Recall Reagan's smile...his charm...his wit. Reach back into your memory of the 1980 Presidential debate and hear Ronald Reagan chide Jimmy Carter to a knowing American audience, "There he goes again!"  America nodded in agreement all the way to the ballot box that year. Yet, Ronald Reagan never had to resort to banal name-calling, slander or lies against his enemies. No, President Reagan needed only to communicate to America why conservative principles, as intended by our Founders, could pull the nation out of deep recession, draw back the Iron Curtain, and restore Faith to families regardless of political affiliation.

When a conservative prevails in an election, he/she prevails because members of both major political parties, as well as a significant percentage of Independents have embraced his/her sincere message. As I mentioned in a previous segment, electoral victories are no longer won simply by garnering the votes of one party. Real solutions will affect partisans and non-partisans alike, just as real challenges (unemployment, loss of health care, crime) do not stop only at the doorsteps of Democrats or Republicans.

The United States of America was founded by God-fearing and spriritual individuals, committed not to anarchy but committed to balanced federalism, free markets, and strong national defense. More than two centuries later, a majority of Americans continue to adhere to these conservative principles and passionately shun losses of civil and fiscal liberty at the hand of bureaucratic legislatures and executives.  When you win your election, you represent not only your supporters but also those voters who had opposed you. We must be principled enough to boldly represent our entire electorate once the votes have been cast.

We must continue in our grassroots efforts and public campaigns for office to emphasize that we have the solutions that will deliver bi-partisan and non-partisan healing. Smile more, explain plainly, engender trust with your sincerity...and when you must draw distinction between your solid solutions and your opponents failed policies, do so with a wit and a knowing wink that would make President Reagan proud.

TODAY'S QUESTION: How can you improve your message to emphasize your principled, practical solutions in a manner that appeals broadly across party lines.

HEALTH CARE: ANGELS AND DEMONS

The current multifaceted and very visible debate surrounding the proposed health care overhaul legislation provides us an excellent opportunity to further explore our theme of PRINCIPLED COMMUNICATION. If a fiscally responsible, market-based solution that reduces cost and reduces the number of uninsured American citizens is to prevail, then we shall all have to focus more upon what the sensible individuals (and their constituencies/organizations) on each size of the issue AGREE upon. We must all appeal to our better angels and defy the demons of doom if that solution is to emerge. Put aside petty partisanship and focus upon the basics.

1) America is a Pro-Life nation. The Declaration of Independence spoke of the "the separate and equal station to which...nature's God entitle them...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life..." We would be hard-pressed to find a Christian, Jew, or Muslim who would condemn a stranger to death simply over economics. Thus, to be a pro-life nation, we must look beyond economics and recognize that access to health care is congruent with God's command many times over in the Bible to look out for the poor, the widows and the orphans.

2) Access to Health Care reduces costs associated with absenteeism. Some 85% of American citizens participate in a health care plan. Preventative care detects warning signs of early-stage disease, allowing for the timely application of lifestyle changes, medications, and medical technology to prolong life. Most employers provide access to health care plans because it is humane, but also because healthy employees show up for work more often, have higher morale, and manufacture/sell more products/services. Contrast that forethought with the obscene costs thrust upon private citizens and companies when uninsured individuals seek last-minute chronic care at America's emergency rooms. Like our grandmothers told us, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

3) America is a free-market nation whose business ingenuity can overcome any challenge. Malicious slander and venomous lies won't attract stakeholders to the table. Whether applied to putting a man on the moon in less than a decade or curing cancer, our free market economy can often provide timely solutions to critical problems when dialogue is dignified. While government can certainly be a partner with private industry through appropriate legislation (i.e. the Interstate Highway System, NASA, Medicare, the Armed Forces, university research & development), government shouldn't be running the businesses themselves.

Thus,

• Let's first acknowledge that all of God's children should have the opportunity to access health care as needed.
• Then let us stop beating up on doctors, insurance companies, and employers, and instead invite all stakeholders to brainstorm and recognize their many points of agreement.
• Finally, let the stakeholders, both public and private, work together without the venomous rhetoric to develop a market-based system that will allow (but not mandate) all American citizens to access affordable health care and the doctors/hospitals of their own choosing in a fiscally responsible manner.

Sometimes it's seems easier to digress into the demons and doomsayers, but our nation has always risen above (think Berlin Wall coming down) when all sides on an issue allowed their better angels to prevail. No one loses if the solution is God-inspired, pro-life, and market-based.

TODAY'S QUESTION: How do we reframe the dialogue surrounding a divisive issue to (1) increase consensus, and (2) to reduce non-essential cacophony, so that a majority will embrace our sensible solution?

THE MARGIN OF VICTORY

Bill and Bob had taken their families to the zoo one fine Sunday afternoon. While their wives had taken the children over to the ice cream stand, Bill and Bob stood admiring the lions in their natural habitat exhibit. The lions looked hungry, licking their chops in anticipation of the next feeding.

Suddenly one of the lions jumped over the enclosure from the rocky perch and landed on the concrete pedestrian walkway. Bill looked at Bob, terrified, and exclaimed, "Do you think you can outrun a hungry lion?" Bob replied smiling over his shoulder as he took off, "No, but I think I can outrun you."

Campaigns are won by a margin of victory, sometimes (as in the examples of Bush v. Gore and Franken v. Coleman) quite slim. But a victory is a victory nonetheless. At the pre-primary stage of many contests you will find a field of mostly well-meaning individuals committed to principles and ideals, and as the election cycle continues, those who are focused upon the "lion" begin to fade away. The contest ultimately ends when one individual remains statistically ahead of his/her final competitor(s), even if only fractionally so.

Every race of consequence will have its valiant heroes willing to stand entirely upon one or a few pungent issues that fan the passions of a core constituency. Much media attention may even be paid to the fervor. But as the last confetti and balloons fall, the man/woman who outran the lion is the individual who put forth the issues that propelled him/her beyond the fearful footfalls of the lion's prey, who only a few months before may have stood side-by-side peering into the lion's den. The electorate will judge which candidate put forth the critical solutions...with its hearts and minds [and feet] on election day.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Are YOU putting forth the critical solutions that address the issues and win the hearts and minds...or will the lion eat YOU?