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?

FOR THERE IS MUCH WORK TO BE DONE

"He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'" [Matthew 25:20-21]

"...[B]ut rather labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with one in need...[And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ." [Ephesians 4:28, 32]

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What if we could invest in Americans, reduce waste, increase GDP, and improve family morale with a philosophical shift in the administration of taxpayer funded unemployment benefits? Would Congress have the courage to take action?

The recent extension of unemployment benefits is but another chapter in an economic saga for which the end has yet to be written.  Among the unemployed are many skilled and talented job seekers eager to return to gainful employment. The economic meltdown's domino effect has led many breadwinners to lose their previously "secure" positions, despite dedicated their dedicated service to their former employer, coupled with specialized technical training and/or post-graduate education.

As the unanimous Senate vote and earlier overwhelmingly bipartisan 331-83 House of Representatives vote suggest, no God-loving person would want to see their neighbor's family starve or lose their home simply as a collateral result of a layoff.  Yet I would put forth that there would be a more effective manner in which these taxpayer dollars could be transferred from the federal coffers to the family budgets.

If one were to agree that a majority of unemployed men and women possess the strong American work ethic and derive dignity and self-esteem from actively engaging in productive and creative work, then might there be a better manner to pay out these taxpayer-funded benefits?

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  Among the unemployed are skilled architects, engineers, and building trades. Are there not schools, government buildings, hospitals, and housing projects in needs of expansion, maintenance, or repair?
  
  
  
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  Among the unemployed are skilled technology professionals. Are there not public schools, state universities, government agencies, hospitals, and the military in need of networking & cabling, software design & programming, data mining, and hardware deployment?
  
  
  
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  Among the unemployed are skilled teachers, counselors, and administrators. Are there not at-risk children (pre-K through high school) who could benefit from the caring, compassionate attention that additional educators and specialists could bring to challenged & underfunded public school systems?
  
  
  
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  ...and so forth...
  
  
  

I think we would be hard pressed to find able-bodied Americans who wouldn't trade the hours of stress, loneliness, and uncertainty for the engagement of familiar or new meaningful contribution to the economy. So long as we've made the decision, through our Legislative and Executive Branches to spend taxpayer funds to support families through a prolonged period of unemployment, can't we at least structure such a program to produce a return on our investment instead of simply a government-funded benefit?

TODAY'S QUESTION: How can Congress restructure future unemployment compensation legislation to produce the greatest return to our nation on the meaningful and necessary investment of taxpayer funds?

YOUR AUDIENCE: THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORATE

When the media spin is peeled away from the November 3, 2009 election results, one sees the unvarnished result in the seeming hodge-podge of results across the spectrum: the Independent Electorate spoke for themselves at the ballot box.

One can reconcile the seemingly diverse results of well-won gubernatorial victories by Bob McDonnell (VA) and Chris Christie (NJ), Michael Bloomberg's 3rd-term mayoral victory in the Big Apple, and Bill Owen's century-aged Democratic victory in the NY-23 congressional district within the context of voters choosing the candidates that they themselves perceived to be the best qualified to address their respective local, state and national issues.

Particularly in the Virginia and New Jersey contests, both victors sincerely and consistently engaged the citizens of their states in real dialogue so that they, as candidates, could develop broad-based plans to address their citizens' concerns. The 2010 gubernatorial contests in Texas (Governor Rick Perry) and Michigan (current Attorney General Mike Cox) reflect similar genuine family-focused, pro-free market solutions to the real challenges facing men and women, business leaders, and municipalities.  Particularly in Michigan, candidate Mike Cox continues his genuine, heart-felt mission of representing ALL citizens with his well-researched, comprehensive practical plan to rejuvinate Michigan on several critical fronts (see: http://www.mikecox2010.com/putting-michigan-back-to-work/).

The victors in local, state, and national elections in 2010 (much like 2008 & 2009) will be drawn from the men and women who propose comprehensive, practical solutions. The real challenges facing our nation's citizens know no partisan bounds. Unemployment, high taxes, lost health insurance, foreclosure, and crime cut deeply through Republican, Democrat, and Independent families, farms, and business alike. While bitter, partisan punditry may make for entertaining cable news shows, only REAL solutions that address REAL FAMILY & BUSINESS concerns will lead that ever-important Independent Electorate to pull your lever in 2010.

TODAY'S QUESTION: What are YOU doing to engage YOUR electorate personally to sincerely identify the pressing challenges and craft meaningful solutions that will ensure the resurgence family and business financial security?