Ronald Reagan's D-Day Speech Re-visited

I posted this last year on D-Day, but it is always good to see this each year to remember what our brave soldiers did. And who better to explain it than one of the greatest Presidents ever. Enjoy and remember.

FROM LAST YEAR:

Today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Take a look at the speech Ronald Reagan gave 25 years ago at Point-du-Hoc. No one can say it quite like the Gipper. Let us not forget the men who sacrificed all so we can be free today.

My AIG Quandry

For the past day or so every time I turn on talk radio the only thing everyone seems to be talking about are the AIG bonuses. I've been confused on why so many congressmen are so upset about it, when they agreed to these bonuses as part of the AIG bailout. If there is one thing I can't stand it's someone who is wishy-washy on issues. I even heard Senator Chuck Schumer say today that he was going to get the law changed so that these bonuses could be taxed at 100% if the recipients did not give them back voluntarily. (This is my loose paraphrase of what he said.)

I have been totally against these bonuses, but when I heard his comment today I started thinking that if congress can do this with AIG bonuses, what would stop them from taxing my quarterly bonus at 100%? Then I started thinking, these folks that got these bonuses, did they earn them based on some contract they had and lived up to? No one on the news has answered that question.

Basically, what it boiled down to by the end of the day was confusion. Then this evening I watched Glenn Beck on TV. He broke the whole thing down in a very logical and easy to understand way. This video is not his complete presentation, but it explains a lot about this whole mess.

  The last half of his presentation, which unfortunately is not included here (maybe it will be on his website later), drove the point home that the $165 million for bonuses is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars the government has given to AIG, including billions that were funneled to other countries through AIG. So the government is using this bonus fiasco as a diversion to keep our eye off the real issue of the AIG bailout debacle.

I'm so frustrated that these guys in Washington can make decisions that are bad, and then cover them up by turning our focus to something else. Just listen to Barney Frank over the past year. He's flipped-flopped so many times I'm surprised he can keep everything straight. They don't even seem to feel bad that they don't take responsibility for their actions. I just don't get it! What have we become that this behavior has become acceptable?

Fat Glenn

Here is a video from Glenn Beck's TV show on Fox News. Here he does a great job of explaining how we have gotten into the financial mess that were in. I have to admit, I enjoyed Glenn a lot more before he started running around saying the sky is falling, but everything he says makes a lot of sense. I feel like that there is not much hope left for America. I don't think we'll recognize this country in 5 years. Good thing that as a Christian it really doesn't matter.

Integrity

With everything going on in Washington these days, namely all the folks who haven't paid their taxes either getting into, or almost getting into, cabinet positions, I have been thinking about the importance of Integrity. Today Janice sent me this quote she got from a daily email she receives:

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Then, this evening I saw this small article in the news from the New York Post:

FRESNO, Calif. -- Hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is now every librarian's hero, too.

When the US Airways pilot's plane ended up at the bottom of the Hudson River on Jan. 15, so did a book he had checked out from the library at California State University, Fresno, through his local library near Danville.

Sullenberger contacted library officials and asked for an extension and waiver of overdue fees because the book was in the airliner's cargo hold.

Fresno State library officials said they were struck by Sullenberger's sense of responsibility and did him one better: they're waiving all fees, even lost book fees, and placing a template in the replacement book dedicating it to him.

The book's subject? Professional ethics.

I'm not sure how to wrap my mind around this whole thing. It seems to me that Sullenberger should be the guy going after one of these cabinet positions. Not because he landed a plane in the Hudson. He was supposed to do that. He was trained to do that. But because he's reading a book on professional ethics. I think the above quote applies to him. He has the integrity, and probably the knowledge. Plus he is still trying to get more knowledge. Then he calls the library to say he won't be returning the book! I bet he would have paid any fees had they not waived them and he would have done it without complaint.

I'd like to see what these guys in Washington are reading.

My point is this: I think most of us are more like Sullenberger than these Washington clowns. We're just regular Joe's out there working hard trying to make an honest living. How does it even make sense that any of those guys in Washington can make decisions on our behalf? How do they know what we need or what's best for us? 

What can we do? Uncle Ted (Ted Nugent) said it best. I heard him interviewed a few weeks ago. He said we need to make our opinions known to our congressmen and senators as often as possible. Let them know we are not politicians, we're just regular people. Scream loudly and often and make them listen. Be nice, but always share your opinion. Get involved in your community and help make changes at the local level. Make a difference in your community. Volunteer. Serve. Help others. Be part of a community. Have a stake in something.

I feel like this whole posting is a bunch of rambling, but only we can make a difference. We can't give up. Our nation depends on it.

Imprimis

Several years ago I heard Paul Harvey on the radio talking about a newsletter that you could get a free subscription to. It was produced by Hillsdale College in Michigan and it was called Imprimis. I made the phone call and since then I have been enjoying the newsletter. It arrives monthly and it features a printed version of a recent speech that was given by various people at different venues around the world. The reason I mention this now is because I just read a great speech last night from the November 08 issue by Dinesh D'Souza. D'Souza is a great Christian thinker and the author of the recent book, What's So Great About Christianity. The book made some waves in the mainstream media when it came out a few months ago.

Anyway, in his speech in the November issue of Imprimis, he gives some great insight on America being founded on Christian principles. Hillsdale College archives Imprimis online, so click here if you want to read his speech.

If you like what you read, you may want to sign up for your free subscription to Imprimis.

Inconvenient Debt

The government has decided to print money...lot's and lot's of money, to try and "stimulate" the economy.  They are also in the midst of passing a huge "stimulus package" which many of the politicians in Washington think will fix everything.  This is actually very scary.  Check out this video from Glenn Beck.  He is someone I have listened to for a long time on the radio.  He now has a TV show on Fox.  Sometimes I think he's a little nutty, but all this money printing is making me nervous.  Glenn's take on it is very interesting.

Senator McCaskill, Honesty & Atlas Shrugged

Today I decided to call my congressman and senators to voice my opinion on a few issues. By the way, I would encourage everyone to do the same. It's easy to save their numbers in your cell phone, and it only takes a few minutes to leave your opinion. Anyway, I called Senator Bond and McCaskill's offices to voice my opinion on the confirmation of Eric Holder for Attorney General as that vote was taking place this afternoon.  I told both senators that I regretted not calling last week and voicing my opinion about Michael Geithner, President Obama's pick for Secretary of the Treasury. Who, by the way, was confirmed earlier this week. After extending my regret for not calling earlier, (please note, I did not share my opinion on how I felt about Geithner at this point) I asked how each senator would be voting for Holder's confirmation. The lady who answered the phone for Senator McCaskill immediately flew off the handle and angrily said that she didn't know how she would vote. I asked her to calm down and not treat me in this rude manner. She immediately yelled at me and insisted she was not being rude. I then told her that seeing as how my tax dollars paid her salary, she should really reconsider how she was speaking to me. To make a long story short, the conversation only went downhill from there.

So, Senator McCaskill, if you by some miracle happen to read this blog, please help this young lady learn to be happy in her work. Maybe she needs a vacation. Or maybe, she's a closet conservative who needs to be rescued from this liberal senatorial office.

So why do I mention honesty in my title? Because I'm really concerned that so many people think it's OK to put people in these leadership positions (Geithner & Holder) who have integrity issues. Even Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who is typically quite conservative, voted for Geithner in the confirmation vote. Why? Because he says it's more important to get someone like Geithner in place so he can start working on the bailout of the economy than to start another confirmation process all over again. WHAT!?!? Why is it OK to place someone in a leadership role who has integrity issues. This should never happen! Under no circumstances! 

This is not about left vs. right. This is about right vs. wrong! My grandpa, who was a farmer his whole life, was the smartest man I ever knew. This was a man who couldn't even read or write. He also had more integrity in his little finger than anyone else I've ever met has in their whole body. I spent a lot of time with him as a kid. He used to tell me, "Honesty is like pregnancy; either you are or you aren't." So there's no middle ground here. These guys have integrity issues. Period. These things will not change now that they are in these high level positions. 

So do my senators care that these guys have integrity issues? Does it matter to them? I hope so. What can I do? Keep calling, even if the response to my question is rude, I will continue to call.

I then got an email from a friend who sent me this great article by Stephen Moore. He's an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal. I've seen him in several interviews and he always seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He talks about Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. I've got this book in my library and I've never gotten around to reading it, but now it seems I need to. This book was written over 50 years ago, but in this short article I was amazed at how this 50 year old text is so applicable to us today. So, even though this blog entry is already really long, take a few more minutes and read this article. It will make you think.

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years 

By STEPHEN MOORE

Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."

In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.

The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.

David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."


Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial page.

Ben Stein's Answer To The Bad Economy

Ben Stein is someone I admire and respect.  He is a great conservative thinker and uses logic in his commentaries. You may remember him from his role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Bueller, Beuller). But, that's not all he's done. He was a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and he was part of Reagan's economic team for a while. He also put out a movie recently that I highly recommend. It's titled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. It was released on DVD a couple of weeks ago. He recently had a commentary on CBS Sunday Morning which I thought was great. You can read it here. In the second to the last paragraph he talks about stimulating the economy by donating money to charity. This is exactly what we want to do with Stimulate Columbia MO. WE can help get the economy going by donating money locally. Government is not the answer. I think if Ben knew about the little project we had going on, he would get behind it. 

Ronald Reagan and Christmas

This article was emailed to me from one of my customers who shares my high regard for Ronald Reagan.  This is one of the many stories about him that show the kind of man he was.  Enjoy!

President Reagan's Favorite Christmas Gift
By Floyd and Mary Beth Brown
December 20, 2008

"Christmas has always been a very special day for as long back as I can remember," Ronald Reagan once wrote in a letter. "Maybe this was due to my mother and her joyous spirit about the day."

Although President Reagan could have spent his White House Christmases with family at his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., he instead stayed in Washington, D.C. His sacrifice allowed Secret Service agents and other aides to spend Christmas at home with their families. He was a thoughtful person.

Reagan grew up in a desperately poor family. His father was a shoe sales clerk who had trouble keeping a job, partly because he was an alcoholic. "There were very few decorated trees in the years of my growing up. But never defeated, my mother would with ribbon and crepe paper decorate a table or create a cardboard fireplace out of a packing box. And she always remembered whose birthday it was and made sure we knew the meaning of Christmas."

His mother Nelle was an optimistic Christian woman who always looked for the positive side in every situation. President Reagan explained, no matter how bad things were for their family, his mother was always finding someone worse off than them. Reagan's most vivid early memory of his mother was of her with a covered dish taking it to a needy family. Nelle was always helping others.

Perhaps those lean years are one reason why Ronald Reagan once said a particular Christmas gift was especially memorable for him. It was his favorite gift and it came from his brother Neil. He called it "a gift truly in keeping with the spirit of the day." Neil had been struggling to find a suitable gift for his brother; they both were middle-aged adults and both men had successful careers.

Neil solved his dilemma by writing a letter. In the letter, Neil told his brother he had found a truly needy family with small children "who wouldn't go to bed with dreams of Santa Claus in their head." Ronald Reagan recounted how his brother Neil changed that and "became Santa 
himself, providing a Christmas from tree to turkey plus toys and gifts for all." Included in Neil's letter was a very detailed blow-by-blow account describing the "joy of the children and the grateful happiness of their mother."

This act of charitable giving by Neil reads like the end of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and became President Reagan's most unforgettable Christmas gift. He called it "a gift that will never grow old," as he would re-read the letter or think about the family's reaction to Neil's generosity.

Helping and serving others gives true joy and happiness, not only to the recipient but even more so to the giver. Maybe Neil's gift was particularly touching to Reagan because he knew what it was like to go without.

Today, there are still families out there who are in difficult circumstances and they face a bleak Christmas. A gift like Neil's may be the perfect gift for you to give to that someone in your life who has everything. Your church or locally based charities such as the Salvation Army are aware of needy families. You could make a difference and receive special Christmas joy by giving to a family who has hit hard times. Then write a letter similar to Neil's describing 
the family's reactions and give it as a gift. This is the true spirit of Christmas.

On Christmas Eve 1984, speaking to the nation, President Reagan said, "families and friends across America will join together in caroling parties and Christmas Eve services. Together, we'll renew that spirit of faith, peace, and giving which has always marked the character of our people."

At the end of his tale, Dickens writes, "it was always said of [Scrooge], that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May this be said of all of us. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"

Merry Christmas!

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©2008 Floyd and Mary Beth Brown. The Browns are bestselling authors 
and speakers. Together they write a national weekly column distributed 
exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. For more info call 
Cari Dawson Bartley at 800 696 7561 or e-mail cari@cagle.com.

Postponing Reality

Here is a short article by Thomas Sowell where he talks about the upcoming bailout of the big three automakers.  G. Gordon Liddy calls Sowell the smartest man in the world.  I don't know if that's true, but he is very wise.  I find this very interesting and full of truth.  Let me know what you think.

Postponing Reality

By Thomas Sowell

December 17, 2008

Some of us were raised to believe that reality is inescapable. But that just shows how far behind the times we are. Today, reality is optional. At the very least, it can be postponed.

Kids in school are not learning? Not a problem. Just promote them on to the next grade anyway. Call it "compassion," so as not to hurt their "self-esteem."

Can't meet college admissions standards after they graduate from high school? Denounce those standards as just arbitrary barriers to favor the privileged, and demand that exceptions be made.

Can't do math or science after they are in college? Denounce those courses for their rigidity and insensitivity, and create softer courses that the students can pass to get their degrees.

Once they are out in the real world, people with diplomas and

degrees-- but with no real education-- can hit a wall. But by then the day of reckoning has been postponed for 15 or more years. Of course, the reckoning itself can last the rest of their lives.

The current bailout extravaganza is applying the postponement of reality democratically-- to the rich as well as the poor, to the irresponsible as well as to the responsible, to the inefficient as well as to the efficient. It is a triumph of the non-judgmental philosophy that we have heard so much about in high-toned circles.

We are told that the collapse of the Big Three automakers in Detroit would have repercussions across the country, causing mass layoffs among firms that supply the automobile makers with parts, and shutting down automobile dealerships from coast to coast.

A renowned economist of the past, J.A. Schumpeter, used to refer to progress under capitalism as "creative destruction"-- the replacement of businesses that have outlived their usefulness with businesses that carry technological and organizational creativity forward, raising standards of living in the process.

Indeed, this is very much like what happened a hundred years ago, when that new technological wonder, the automobile, wreaked havoc on all the forms of transportation built up around horses.

For thousands of years, horses had been the way to go, whether in buggies or royal coaches, whether pulling trolleys in the cities or plows on the farms. People had bet their futures on something with a track record of reliable success going back many centuries.

Were all these people to be left high and dry? What about all the other people who supplied the things used with horses-- oats, saddles, horse shoes and buggies? Wouldn't they all go falling like dominoes when horses were replaced by cars?

Unfortunately for all the good people who had in good faith gone into all the various lines of work revolving around horses, there was no compassionate government to step in with a bailout or a stimulus package.

They had to face reality, right then and right there, without even a postponement.

  Who would have thought that those who displaced them would find themselves in a similar situation a hundred years later?

Actually the automobile industry is not nearly in as bad a situation now as the horse-based industries were then. There is no replacement for the automobile anywhere on the horizon. Nor has the public decided to do without cars indefinitely.

While Detroit's Big Three are laying off thousands of workers, Toyota is hiring thousands of workers right here in America, where a substantial share of all our Toyotas are manufactured.

Will this save Detroit or Michigan? No.

Detroit and Michigan have followed classic liberal policies of treating businesses as prey, rather than as assets. They have helped kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. So have the unions. So have managements that have gone along to get along.

Toyota, Honda and other foreign automakers are not heading for Detroit, even though there are lots of experienced automobile workers there. They are avoiding the rust belts and the policies that have made those places rust belts.

A bailout of Detroit's Big Three would be only the latest in the postponements of reality. As for automobile dealers, they can probably sell Toyotas just as easily as they sold Chevvies. And Toyotas will require just as many tires per car, as well as other parts from automobile parts suppliers.

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Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.

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