Liberation

I recently made a Facebook post about feeling "Liberated", and what would a conservative do to celebrate instead of burning my bra. It was obviously a tongue in cheek statement, but it had some pretty deep roots.

My hometown Monteagle, the town of my elders, the town that my namesake helped incorporate, had an election on Tuesday. Not just any election, it was an election that meant a possible end to 18 years of thug rule if the results went in our favor. Maybe I am exaggerating on 18 years, I want to give the man who was in office some due. I want to believe that he started out wanting to serve the public and do what was best for the town of Monteagle. But over the years, his interests became skewed and his ego took over. And along with his ego, came the breaking of laws and alot of political malfeasance.

Surely, how much harm can a person in charge of a little town of 1100 do? Unfortunately, quite a bit. Monteagle has been a well-known southern mountain vacation community since the late 1800's, it also has two exits right off the major interstate between Nashville and Chattanooga which means it is the financial gateway to many bedroom communities in the several counties surrounding it. Monteagle can help or hinder those communities. That is quite a bit of power to wield.

Over the years, there was also an unwritten rule that to do business in Monteagle, you had to hire the local plumber/electrician...yes, that would be the Mayor. Then, you had to deal with an uneven policy of zoning and water/sewer rights. If you made a deal thru the Mayor, the rest was approved. If you didn't play by those rules, you would pay...one way or another. Many a person has lost alot of money doing business in Monteagle.

Then you had just everyday rules and policies. If you paid homage to the powers that be, you wouldn't have to follow those policies. If you crossed hairs with the powers that be, then they found every law in the book to bring you to your knees. So if you live in a town of 1100, the long arm of the law could reach into every aspect of your life in a very short time with no recourse. For people like myself, this existence is like a prison. A beautiful prison, but still a prison.

So when I talk about the fear of our state and federal government overextending their powers "for our own good", I think about "who" will be carrying out those duties and how in a little town of 1100, hell on earth can happen when you give people the power of "the law".

The devil is always on our shoulder, he especially likes politicians and people in power. I prefer to take away his tools and let everyone deal with his/her own demons personally. Govt shouldn't be his playground.

Liberation? Yes, we won on Tuesday! With a little Divine guidance and sheer hard work, Monteagle, and all her residents have been Liberated! Time to start breaking down the prison walls and building up the life our Founding Fathers envisioned...it starts in small towns all across America folks. We all can make victories happen.

The Ballot is stronger than the Bullet.

My next installment? How a dead man won the Mayor seat in the town next to ours.

It Matters Who Governs - Monteagle

Many of you have read previous posts where I have ranted about the ineptness of my local government...especially when it came to infrastructure issues. We have had a complete systemic failure in our sewer treatment functions, we have run out of water and we have had horrendous audit reports with issues that haven't been corrected in 20 years. Now if that isn't bad leadership, I really don't what is. But hey, we allowed it to happen. It does matter who governs folks.

Fast forward to the elections of 2008, one woman decided to run for city council. She wanted to make a difference in the community that she loved. She was elected in spite of some of the local naysayers. She was off-handedly given the task of getting grants for the town. What harm could she do there. They didn't know Marilyn Nixon.

Identifying needs, finding grant money, getting the paperwork done and taking the steps necessary to get those grants is an arduous task even for the most functional of local governments. But Marilyn doggedly pursued the courses of action to make it happen. She fortunately had two, sometimes three other votes on the council that saw the logic and the possibilities. It does matter who governs folks.

Yesterday, the state announced that Monteagle was #1 on the list for Clean Water Stimulus money in Tennessee. Our local government had failed so badly at providing vital services, that we beat out all the other deserving local governments in Tennessee for this top dog spot in Obama's "free" cash extravaganza.

But no matter how I feel politically about all this Stimulus bs, I say "Go Girl" to Marilyn Nixon. Sometimes it takes a woman to get the job done. It does matter who governs.

Tennessee is preparing to spend $77 million in stimulus money on clean water and drinking water projects, including several local ones.

Topping the state's priority list of more than 300 projects are eight Southeast Tennessee water improvement projects for which state officials are offering quick funding opportunities.

For drinking water funding, the Ocoee Utility District in Polk and Bradley counties, the Big Creek Utility District in Grundy County and South Pittsburg in Marion County have chances to get a total of a little more than $10 million.

For clean water projects, Monteagle, serving Grundy, Marion and Franklin counties; Ocoee Utility District; Benton in Polk County; plus Cleveland and Athens may receive more than $14.6 million.

Tisha Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said money is allocated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. She said the money will be combined with state funds for low-interest loans and grants.

If local communities decline the money or can't make deadlines, other communities will be considered according to the state's priority list, Ms. Calabrese-Benton said.

The federal money -- $57 million for sewer facilities and more than $20 million for planning, design and construction of drinking water facilities -- must be obligated by Feb. 17, 2010, state officials said. Utilities, water authorities or communities must have a signed construction contract or must have begun construction by the same date.

Many area utility officials could not be reached for comment Thursday, but Ocoee Utility District Manager Tim Lawson said his district has decided to put on hold a plan to build a water treatment system. The $1.6 million in funding will go to another project.

"We are proceeding with the drinking water application," Mr. Lawson said.

Two planned extensions will serve several hundred homes in Polk and Bradley counties, he said.

"We just don't think it's feasible for us to be able to start the (sewer) work by February, which we would have to do," Mr. Lawson said.

The state also is set to receive $458,806 to implement water quality management planning projects, including grants to three Tennessee development districts to conduct green infrastructure needs analyses.

Reaganomics vs Obamanomics

Gotta love Ann Coulter. In a recent email, she was plugging a book that is an investor "must read" but her preface is what caught my attention. It is just a matter-of-fact recap of the obvious. Bottom line, liberal economic/social policies have killed us thruout history. I know my braniac liberal leaning friends want to discount this theory because of social responsibility principles but "at what cost".

Me, personally...I just think government needs to get the hell out of the way.

Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics

Dear Fellow Conservative,

You know what really irritates me about liberals? (Besides the fact that they're spineless little girls in pretty dresses who can't play rough because it musses up their hair...)They always think liberalism fixes the problem -- even when it was liberalism that caused the problem in the first place!

Case in point, the Financial Meltdown of 2008 (and counting). To hear liberals tell it, it all goes back to Ronald Reagan -- who with his seductive "B-actor" charm fooled America into thinking that by slashing taxes, regulation, and government spending we could unleash free enterprise and create a new wave of prosperity.
Sure, liberals concede, that seemed to work for, oh, the better part of three decades, but now we're paying the price for all that "greed." The solution? A return to the pre-Reagan policies of Jimmy Carter, LBJ, FDR... Speaking of which, what will victory look like in the "War on Poverty"? When are they going to produce an "exit strategy" from that quagmire?

Unfortunately, the facts -- as always when you're talking about liberal theories -- tell a different story. A story in which all the major villains, it turns out, have one thing in common: government. That's right. From the "Community Reinvestment Act" that pressured banks into affirmative-action lending, to those "government-sponsored enterprises" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- who bought up all the resulting subprime loans and repackaged them as "investment grade" securities -- the greasy thumb-prints of government were all over this fiasco from beginning to end.

But those, as I say, are facts. And facts have no place in the fantasy world of Democratic policy-makers. Nor does history -- true history, that is, as opposed to the public-school propaganda that teaches, for instance, that FDR's New Deal got us out of the Great Depression, when in reality it only deepened and prolonged it.
But the question remains: What can those of us in the fast-dwindling, Reality-Based Community do to survive financially as the Obamacrats prepare a "New New Deal" that threatens to outspend the original by about ten thousand to one?

Personally, I don't have a clue. But thank goodness I know of someone who does.
His name is Mark Skousen, Ph.D., editor of the investment newsletter Forecasts & Strategies -- and he just might be the smartest financial advisor working today.
Don't let that "Ph.D." fool you -- this is no pointy-headed leftist like Obama's economic team who seem to think that all the economy needs in order to flourish are more liberals running the economy.

Skousen, after all, launched his career by predicting during the 1980-82 recession -- and to the scornful laughter of nearly all the other so-called experts -- that "Reaganomics will work."

Boy, did he get that right. And boy, has he gotten it right ever since:

• Like when he issued a "sell everything" recommendation to his Forecasts & Strategies subscribers just 41 days before the stock market crash of 1987 -- then told them to get fully invested again several weeks later, just in time for the recovery.

• And when he called the Gulf War of 1990 "a turning point for U.S. stocks" -- and the Dow subsequently began a bull market that didn't end for nearly 10 years.
• And when he told his subscribers in 1995 that the NASDAQ would double, and then double again -- which is exactly what it did.

• And when, just weeks before the NASDAQ collapsed in 2000, he warned his subscribers that tech stocks were dangerously overvalued.

• And when, in 2006 -- more than two years before the financial meltdown -- he warned subscribers that "we clearly are headed for fiscal disaster," and showed them how to protect themselves.

What's Skousen's secret? I think it begins with understanding the real laws of economics -- not the warmed-over Marxism that passes for "new thinking" to Obama's media groupies.

And here's the best thing about Mark Skousen. He knows how to make you money no matter how bad things get in the financial markets and the economy overall.
After all, he points out, the late billionaire John Templeton -- whom Money magazine called "the greatest stock-picker of the 20th century" -- began to build his vast fortune in the depths of the Great Depression.

Maybe you're not looking to be a billionaire. Maybe you're just looking to keep your head above water while the Obamacrats do their best to sink the economy. Either way, Mark Skousen can help -- and I urge you to give his Forecasts & Strategies a try.
The cost? Less than the tip on a John Edwards haircut -- in today's dollars, that is. After Obama gets done driving down the value of the dollar it wouldn't be enough to buy Governor Rod Blogojevich a haircut.

Sincerely,

Ann Coulter

Wisdom

As I get older, I appreciate the wisdom of my elders so much more than I did as a youth who knew it all. Thanks for sharing Jeanette!


Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17.. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42.. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Health - Personal Responsibility

Star Parker is usually dead-on with her assessments. I respect her opinion even more because she has pulled herself up by her bootstraps and has seen both sides of the spectrum. She is a black woman who tells it straight.

Want to know what troubles our American health care system?
by Star Parker

Consider the thoughts of psychiatrist and Nazi death camp survivor Viktor Frankl.

After spending time in our country as a visiting professor, he saw the looming dangers of freedom without responsibility. He observed: "Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."

We as Americans accept that health care is an individual right, even if someone else is paying for it. The truth that every personal right must have an accompanying personal responsibility is now lost in our self-absorbed materialistic culture. We have only rights, entitlements if you will. Few have any idea what the costs are of the health care they receive. Many get it tax subsidized through their employer, many get it through Medicare in a now bankrupt Ponzi scheme in which those working pay taxes to pay for care of those retired, and more than sixty million Americans do not pay at all through Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

Hundreds of millions receive health care the costs of which have little or nothing to do with their own personal realities and then we wonder why those costs are out of control.

Now Ted Kennedy has introduced his solution to all of this, which also captures the thinking of our president. Set up a new government health care plan, subsidized of course by taxes, and call this choice because you are not forced to take it (although you are forced to pay taxes for it).

As Senator Kennedy announces more free health care -- meaning one group of Americans will get what another group of Americans will pay for -- the disconnect between who gets health care services and who pays for them will grow even greater.

Costs will be controlled, according to Senator Kennedy, by setting up a new army of bureaucrats who will get rid of proverbial "fraud and abuse," will decide for doctors how to treat their patients, and will decide for us how we should behave by dictating the preventative measures we must take for our own good.

To put on a show for what this all might look like, a few weeks ago President Obama "invited" representatives from the major sectors of the health care business -- doctors, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, medical device manufacturers -- to the White House to tell us all how much they would commit to lowering costs.

The result was a supposed commitment by these groups to cut costs by 1.5 percent per year.

Aside from the fact that shortly after the White House announcement, industry representatives began issuing statements denying that they made any such commitment, let's assume it's accurate. That these groups do not know how to run their own businesses and that they can deliver the same products and services annually for 1.5 percent less if the president threatens them.

At our annual health care bill of about $2.5 trillion dollars, savings of 1.5 percent would be about $40 billion.

Let's consider how much of our $2.5 trillion health care bill are costs resulting from behavior that individuals choose.

Googling around and totaling up, I come up with about $240 billion, about ten percent of our total health care bill. This is roughly the total reported health care costs associated with obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and sedentary life styles.

Worth noting is that these occur disproportionately in low income groups who get their health care free. More than half our spending on HIV/AIDS, for example, is out of Medicaid. Can it be accidental that the huge health care costs related to lifestyle issues are most pronounced where individuals do not personally bear the costs of how they behave?

How can our health care problems be solved by more entitlements and bureaucrats when this is what is causing the problem to begin with?

Viktor Frankl had it right. At the heart of the solution for our health care crisis is personal responsibility. This means more freedom and more markets.

Healthcare - Intro

Besides Nukes and SCOTUS, Healthcare seems to be the topic du jour. I am going to stay away from the first two topics for the time being because I would probably be labeled a militant constitutionalist...and then the discussion would devolve from there.

But Healthcare is a topic that can be rationally discussed these days because noone really has the answer...and I think even the most radical left or right thinkers will admit that premise.

Fortunately, I have some very dear friends and family members who come from different sides of the equation. They hold learned viewpoints from the private, public, political and educational sectors. I look forward to future discussions with all of them as well as hearing the viewpoints of those who are on the ground dealing with these issues either personally or professionally.

Three points I am going to make upfront:

I believe that personal responsibility is the cornerstone for any successful program that we adopt. It is not mine nor my neighbors responsibility to fund your unhealthy lifestyle choices.

A total government run program is not an option. Government has NEVER run anything successfully. Accessibilty, Quality and Affordability will be out the door before the game starts.

Throwing money at anything just doesn't work. We (TN) threw $61 million dollars at a state-of-the-art Switchgrass program in 2007 with nothing to show for it. Government LOVES throwing money at things. Businesses want results. Somewhere the two shall meet.

Now that we have gotten the ground rules out of the way, let's talk.

BTW, thanks Eric, Damian and Richard for getting the topic going in my head. You know I am OCD!

Profound Statements

I was cleaning out my "inbox" this morning of all the things I kept for future reference (thank goodness it is paperless), and happened on this little nugget. I especially like the older quotes and #13.

As we remember our American warriors and the sacrifices they gave to protect our way of life, let's not forget that way of life was a dream given to us by our forefathers...after careful consideration of all the pitfalls that doomed previous civilizations and the innate nature of man.

Profound Statements

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.

-- John Adams

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.

-- Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself.

-- Mark Twain

4 . I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

-- Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

-- George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.

-- G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

-- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.

-- Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

-- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.

-- Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

-- Ronald Reagan (1986)

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

-- Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!

-- P.J. O'Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.

-- Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!

-- Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.

-- Mark Twain (1866)

Redneck Values

As I was perusing my morning reading material, I happened on a few items that connected in a strange way. A.C.K. had a commentary on the Gibbons vs Haslam message and then I received an email from my local militant friend that I am posting below.

As the party searches their souls to redefine what it means to be a Republican, I can't help but appreciate what makes life in small town America so appealing.

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK:

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

If you got this email from me, it is because I believe that you, like me, have just enough Red Neck in you to have the same beliefs as those talked about in this email.

God Bless the USA !

Tennessee & John Jay Hooker

One of my personal and professional fascinations is researching the reasons behind why laws were originally passed. It is kind of like CSI for the political junkie mind. I did the same thing when I tried to understand the art world, but I decided to stick with politics after I learned of the sordid story between Gauguin and Van Gogh and the real reason Van Gogh cut off his ear...the art mind is just way too out there for my conservative leanings. Now, I just prefer to appreciate the beauty of art. Hmmm...I guess I can translate that thought process to other people's feelings on politics. Egads!

Oh well, back to politics. Personally, I think we need to start repealing laws right and left because each law that is passed seems to shackle somebody to something. A few laws that get passed are truly done in this vein of thought, those laws are sometimes called "enabling legislation" (and yes, we have gotten much more of these this year). However, it seems the majority of laws that get passed each year are not enabling legislation at all but just more legislative slavery. The less nefarious ones are passed because of knee jerk reactions to tragedy or intentional malfeasance, they are sometimes called "public welfare legislation". The darker ones invariably get passed to benefit somebody in power under the GUISE of public welfare legislation because that is the only way they can get passed. It is a very, very old game. I see alot of it in organizational behavior, and unless you know how the game is played, many "good-intent" players don't realize the repercussions of the maneuvering until the deal is done. Machiavelli still has many dedicated and passionate disciples among us.

The best defense to this legislative slavery and abuse of power is an informed citizenry...and a demand for less government control. Our founding fathers knew what we were in for when our country was birthed. They were the parents who risked their own lives for their children's future. And like any good parent, they did their best to put the tools in our hands to keep us free from the tyranny they themselves had fought against...but they did warn us that without moral fortitude in the public arena, man's sinful nature would take over.

Sometimes I wonder if we haven't pawned off many of those cherished tools to Guido the killer loan shark for a spring break trip to Daytona Beach...but I digress.

Today, I was perusing my usual news sources and found this video gem. I can't remember a better 20 minutes of oratory than what John Jay Hooker gave last week in committee. It speaks to me on so many levels. And this man's command of Tennessee history and the art of old school oratory is breathtaking. Thanks SC for this one. You were dead on.

As Rosa Parks once said..."Not all laws are just laws". And John Jay Hooker confirms why and how a constitutionally flawed law came to be. Definitely a Wizard of Oz unveiling after my own heart.

Click on the link below for this amazing moment of political clarity.

http://dailydocket.blogspot.com/2009/05/john-jay-hooker-against-retention.html

Auto Restructuring Plan

Being in the political arena is a double edge sword if you have a conscious. Too often you have to translate political prose into bottom line reality and then somehow have to convince your own people what that means to them because the political prose is so dang pretty and deceptive...the snake in Eden concept.

It is kinda like a joke being told by a group of tuxedo clad people at a cocktail party, and the only people who don't get it are the people at the end of the punch line.

The facts of this restructuring represent that kind of joke.

Chrysler Restructuring Plan a Power Grab
By Robert Robb

The proposed end games for General Motors and particularly Chrysler illustrate why government shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

It's worthwhile to begin with the broader picture. Americans used to buy about 17 million new cars and trucks a year. Now, we're buying less than 10 million. That, of course, puts considerable stress on manufacturers with weaker products or financial structures.

How many new cars Americans will want to purchase in the future is unknown. But there can be a high degree of confidence in this: however many it is, someone will sell them to us.

Moreover, they are likely to be produced in the United States. A majority of cars sold by foreign manufacturers in the U.S. are actually built here.

So, why should the federal government care who it is that sells us our cars? There are two rationales offered. First, to preserve an "American" auto industry. Second, to preserve "American" jobs.

The proposed Chrysler restructuring gives the lie to both rationales.

Under the Obama administration's proposal, Chrysler would, in essence, be given to Fiat, an Italian company, to operate.

So, how is an Italian car manufacturer operating in Michigan any more "American" than a Japanese manufacturer operating in Kentucky?

And why should the federal government give a market preference - through taxpayer financing and warrantee guarantees - to Italian cars produced by American workers in Michigan over Japanese cars produced by American workers in Kentucky?

The Obama administration's proposed restructuring is more than just unjustified, however. It dangerously undermines the rule of law, as explicated so beneficially by Friedrich Hayek in his classic, "The Road to Serfdom."

The essence of the rule of law, according to Hayek, is that what the government will do is known to all economic actors in advance. That government will not act arbitrarily in specific circumstances to favor some economic actors over others.

Chrysler has $6.9 billion in secured debt. Under the law, secured lenders have the first claim on the assets of the debtor in the event of non-payment.

The Obama administration is attempting to muscle past this law. Under its proposal, the health care trust of the auto workers' union, an unsecured creditor, would forgive 57 percent of what Chrysler owes it, and receive 55 percent of the company's equity in exchange. The federal government would forgive about a third of what it would loan Chrysler and receive 8 percent of the company's equity. Fiat would pay nothing for its 20 percent initial ownership.

The secured creditors, with the first claim on Chrysler's assets, were asked to forgive 70 percent of what they are owed and receive nothing in equity. When they refused and forced the company into bankruptcy, they were excoriated by Obama - a shameful act by a president who pledged to uphold the law, not make it up as he went along.

The proposed GM restructuring is equally lopsided. The union trust would forgive half of what it is owed and receive 39 percent of the company. The government would forgive half of what it is owed and receive 50 percent of the company. The other private lenders, in this case unsecured, would forgive 100 percent of what they are owed and receive just 10 percent of the company.

In his recent press conference, Obama said he had no interest in owning or operating car companies. Until this point, I was willing to accept Obama at his word, while fundamentally disagreeing with his economic policies.

Given his actions, however, it's hard to credit his disclaimer in this instance.

These proposed restructurings are power grabs, pure and simple. The positions of lenders are eviscerated to give control to the union trust and the government. The emergent companies are given market preference through taxpayer financing and government warrantee guarantees. All to serve no true national purpose.

Education

Since the legislative session is winding down and my OHV bills had a 1/3 success ratio with time to spare before next year's battle, my philosophical focus has now shifted to the education conundrum. A huge issue in my neck of the woods and one that could, in my opinion, be easily changed if we all put our thinking caps on and be willing to get over "status quo" issues and think about solutions.

Personally, I think the solution to any problem is education of the mind and expanding our world view. Since adults usually close off the most porous of these brain cells (unwillingly, willingly or just by attrition), my intentional focus will be the children and figuring out how to help them be the best that they can be in life...whatever that path may be. I think we spend way too much time telling them what they should be instead of focusing on their own unique skillsets. God has given us each our own set.

I decided to have my own children later in life (although I was one of the first of my dear college friends to do so). When I made that decision, my entire life revolved around expanding their minds and souls. Yes, I even did the Vivaldi in the womb thing.

When it was time for school, I jumped in and became that involved parent. By second grade, my eldest was evolving faster then her teachers could keep up with educationally. Unfortunately, the school resources were being spent teaching English as a Second Language and not challenging the above average student(our little suburb had a huge influx that they were not prepared for).

As PTA President, I did what I could, but the education system is not one you can "fix" overnight. So after third grade, I pulled her from public school and placed her in a Christian private school that fit my preferred educational qualifications. I had one shot at this parenthood thing and education was a huge component.

Sometimes life gets in the way with all of our best laid plans, but so far, my children are still expanding their minds (they are 12 and 17 with 4.0's). So I know this education thing has some merit. In fact, opening up their world views early in life probably helped them get thru some of the hardest of personal times a child can have in life. I am thankful every day for that miracle.

I don't have all the answers, but I welcome an open discussion on the matter...and maybe just maybe, we can put our thoughtful discourse into practical application. It is time to think out of the box on this issue. Let the fun begin!

God and the World Theatre

Ron Paul has a point. We really need to stop telling the world how to run their lives. I know it ticks me off beyond belief to have my own government trying to run my life, can you imagine how it would feel to have another country try to do it? I think Jihad (as-sayf type) would be a calm movement compared to what some of my local brethren would do if such a situation happened here.

In bible study today, we took an entire class period to discuss God's will in history. Are the prophets writing it as it happens or are they recounting it after the fact? I know when things happen in the world today, it takes a great deal of thought and prayer to find the hand of God in it. If I wrote about it several years later, I might be able to find the lesson and the message. It certainly does make a difference in perspective.

When we as a nation get involved in other world conflicts, is it because we are trying to be good Christians or are we doing it to further our own interests (which goes back to my issues with the lamentation of Tyre in Ezekiel)? We think about Hitler when we think about moral "intervention" but Genocide is not a new concept in world history. Who are we to say that we know best? Inflicting our own morality into world politics is a slippery slope. Where do we draw the line. I think it is our job as Christians to give others the ability to choose a better way of life, but it is not the government's job to do so...nor it is the government's (or Christians) right to force it on them.

So if we were writing recent history from a God's will point of view...what do you think it would say?

Communication 101

Being in the Communication business, I come across way too many "failure of purpose" instances due to poor communication. They are not failing at what they are doing, they are failing at communicating their actions to their primary audience. Big difference.

I have a dear friend who has ventured into local politics because she wanted to make a difference. She is having to work extremely long (unpaid) hours at it because the municipality is in such dire straights due to long standing mismanagement. There are more dynamic figures in the game who outshine this individual, however, she is the one who is guiding the work with new solutions to old problems. She is a fresh, intelligent voice in this mix and her efforts should pay off for the long-term stability of our city.

But what happens when it comes time for reelection or election to higher positions? For those who know the behind the scenes story, it is a no-brainer. She is one of the most capable and energetic individuals on the ballot...but does the rest of her target audience know that? How should she go about communicating that on a regular basis not just at election time? I have my own solutions, but I will share them with her in private.

For the rest of you, don't ever think that because you do good work means you will get that promotion or the recognition you deserve. Effective communications, my friends, is the magic bullet. And these days, we need all the help we can get to keep our jobs.

By Schatzie Brunner • April 27, 2009 * Tennessean

Have you just landed a new role or different job in your organization? With any shift in responsibilities there are new communication issues to face.

According to executive coach Scott Eblin in his book, The Next Level, executives spend most of their time producing and dealing in ideas. "For those ideas to be of any value, they have to be well communicated to the right audience at the right time," Eblin says.

How many times have you heard the catch phrase "Know your audience"? But one of the biggest pitfalls is learning how to define "audience."

Is your message going to the entire organization, or to your boss or peers? Keep in mind that the way you craft a message has to be based on the specific person or people receiving it.

For instance, if you want to reach your boss, craft a message in terms of his or her interests. What drives the boss — is it overhead costs, ego or something else?

Those drivers will no doubt be very different from those of your peers or the team you may manage.

Start by defining those drivers and asking yourself why your message should matter to the audience. No matter what level you occupy, you are always onstage. And so is each recipient.

The more deliberate you become in your communications style, the more impact you can have each time you communicate.

Keep the energy up
Energy is such a key component to communicating a message — and yet it's easy to forget to stay engaged.

Knowing how you come across to others, whether in a written or spoken message, is critical information. One exercise I use with clients — and in keynote addresses — is to take a pen and paper and make two lists.

One is all the things, people, places and activities that give me energy, and the other is a list of what saps energy away. It's a great way to evaluate yourself so that you know when and where you are engaged, interested or attentive.

I've found in coaching hundreds of folks that self-perception and reality are never congruent; you may think you sound like a ball
of fire when someone else may experience you as less than dynamic.

The trick is to get to know yourself and your style better. Don't leave it to chance.

Even when you feel you don't have the energy to put one foot in front of the other, realize that no one else cares about your level of fatigue as you try to communicate in business.

So, even if you have to "fake it until you make it," do so in order to come across as the dynamo
you want others to believe you are.

Unemployed?

The other day, I was listening to the laments of my 80+ Grandma Nell about her morning paper delivery being canceled (The Tennessean, bad move on their part btw on totally canceling Franklin County delivery). For someone who has gotten the morning paper for 50+ years, this was a huge big deal in her quality of life. If Grandpa Mose were still alive, there would have been hell to pay.

Being the ever-thinking entrepreneur, I immediately thought that situation was a prime opportunity for someone to come in an offer paper delivery for a fee. You have a captive, established market who was already paying for the service, you have the product ready to deliver, the only thing you needed to do was set-up the mechanisms to make it happen. Kinda brainless actually. If I didn't already have 5 jobs, I would do it.

There is always a way to make a living in any economy. You just have to get out there and find opportunities and make it happen. Surely, we haven't lost that much of our good ole American ingenuity.

Here is a great article for those thinking about jumping into the self-employed genre (willingly or unwillingly).

I accepted a severance package from my employer because I've always wanted to be self-employed. My problem is I'm not sure if the work I did for the past 30 years translates to private enterprise. With the economy the way it is, is this a bad time to start a business? In what industry will I find the greatest profits?

It depends on what your interests and skills are. What do you enjoy doing? Would anyone pay you to do that? What does the marketplace need right now, and how does that relate to what you're passionate about?

Keep these five tips in mind:

1. Remember, baby boomers are the largest generation on the planet, and they have money. They are at the prime of their lives and do not anticipate sitting in a rocking chair. Although the present economic decline may affect their portfolios, this means only that they may postpone retirement. However, they remain more affluent than past generations at their age. They need financial planning, health care and help traveling. Consider providing it.

2. Because many boomers will continue to work as long as possible, they also need help caring for their aging parents. At the same time, more elderly citizens want to remain at home. Senior services companies offer clients help such as making medical appointments, providing transportation, shopping for groceries, and taking care of banking and other financial needs.

3. Going green is hip, smart and part of a $209 billion-a-year industry. Marketing and installing solar panels is one way to tap into that trend and earn a living on your own.

4. If gadgets or electronics are your strong suits, consider a second life as a technology consultant. All businesses have computers and need someone to help keep them humming. So, why not earn money from those technical talents?

5. Finally, a sector that has gotten a boost from the federal stimulus bill is construction. Tennessee is scheduled to get millions of dollars, much of which will go to private industry to create construction jobs. An additional $150 billion is in the bill to repair or replace states' crumbling infrastructure, which includes bridges, highways, roads, public transportation and water projects. Private enterprise will play a role. Maybe you could, too.

Rules of Engagement

I am sure alot of you have seen this email as it has made the rounds among the conservative ranks. Snopes currently says the validity is "Undetermined". Although I really try to give our President the benefit of the doubt (it is hard, but I do try), this Somali pirate scenario is certainly plausible and likely all considering.

I have recently read the "Lone Survivor" book by Marcus Luttrell who was the lone survivor of a SEALS mission over in Afghanistan in 2005. The Rules of Engagement (ROE) is a major issue in the military and even more so with these mighty warriors who are solely trained for mission success against all odds.

If recent news stories are any indication, I think the way our military "does business" will be challenged and possibly changed forever. Are we really ready for that kind of "Change"?

If you are interested in what really happened in the piracy hostage standoff this week, read the following from a friend with a lifetime in national security-related operations. I have erased the name of his personal SEAL contact as he is still on active duty and I would not want to risk career damage to him for his truthfulness. FYI, ROE= rules of engagement, BHO=our esteemed president.

Here is a note a SEAL friend sent me.

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

1. BHO wouldn't authorize the SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours, going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.

2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger.

3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE.

4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.

5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams

6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies

7. BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behaviour. As usual with him, it's BS.

So per our last email thread, I'm downgrading Obama's performace to D-. Only reason it's not an F is that the hostage survived.

Read the following accurate account:

Philips’ first leap into the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Phili ps threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — but none was taken.

Guidance from National Command Authority — president Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff, unless the hostage’s life was in clear danger.

The next day, a small Navy boat was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed, thanks to a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background dealing with such issues, decided that an outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.

After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene-commander decided he’d had enough.

Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.

Three rounds and all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.

There is an upside, a downside, and a spinside to the series of events over the last week .

Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration claimed victory and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.

Despite the Obama administration’s attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the president, the reality is nothing of the sort.

What should have lasted only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.

Economics 101

Found these wonderful quotes today and thought I would share...


"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -- Author unknown


"Every time you take a rich man down, you take a 100 poor men with him."


"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." -- Benjamin Franklin


"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." -- Milton Friedman


"I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible." -- Milton Friedman


"When the United States was formed in 1776, it took 19 people on the farm to produce enough food for 20 people. So most of the people had to spend their time and efforts on growing food. Today, it's down to 1% or 2% to produce that food. Now just consider the vast amount of supposed unemployment that was produced by that. But there wasn't really any unemployment produced. What happened was that people who had formerly been tied up working in agriculture were freed by technological developments and improvements to do something else. That enabled us to have a better standard of living and a more extensive range of products." -- Milton Friedman


"Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property." -- Milton Friedman


"When everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition. That is why buildings in the Soviet Union -- like public housing in the United States -- look decrepit within a year or two if their construction..." -- Milton Friedman


"(T)he supporters of tariffs treat it as self-evident that the creation of jobs is a desirable end, in and of itself, regardless of what the persons employed do. That is clearly wrong. If all we want are jobs, we can create any number -- for example, have people dig holes and then fill them up again, or perform other useless tasks. Work is sometimes its own reward. Mostly, however, it is the price we pay to get the things we want. Our real objective is not just jobs but productive jobs -- jobs that will mean more goods and services to consume." -- Milton Friedman


"There is all the difference in the world, however, between two kinds of assistance through government that seem superficially similar: first, 90 percent of us agreeing to impose taxes on ourselves in order to help the bottom 10 percent, and second, 80 percent voting to impose taxes on the top 10 percent to help the bottom 10 percent -- William Graham Sumner's famous example of B and C decided what D shall do for A. The first may be wise or unwise, an effective or ineffective way to help the disadvantaged -- but it is consistent with belief in both equality of opportunity and liberty. The second seeks equality of outcome and is entirely antithetical to liberty." -- Milton Friedman


"The great danger to the consumer is the monopoly -- whether private or governmental. His most effective protection is free competition at home and free trade throughout the world. The consumer is protected from being exploited by one seller by the existence of another seller from whom he can buy and who is eager to sell to him. Alternative sources of supply protect the consumer far more effectively than all the Ralph Naders of the world." -- Milton Friedman


"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." -- Thomas Jefferson


"A rising tide (in the economy) lifts all boats" -- John Kennedy


"The record of economic success during the 1980's is clear: 18.6 million new jobs were created, increasing U.S. civilian employment by 20 percent. Only 12 percent of these jobs were in low-paid restaurant and retail areas, while 82 percent were in high-paid technical, managerial and professional areas. Once Reagan's tax cuts kicked in (fiscal year 1982), the country experienced 92 months of economic growth without a recession. This represented the longest period of sustained peacetime economic growth in American history. America's most successful achievers do pay a higher share of the total tax burden. The top one percent income earners paid 18 percent of the total tax burden in 1981, and paid 25 percent in 1991. The bottom 50 percent of income earners paid only 8 percent of the total tax burden, and paid only 5 percent in 1991. History shows that tax cuts have always resulted in improved economic growth producing more tax revenue in the treasury." -- Rush Limbaugh


"What pays under capitalism is satisfying the common man, the customer. The more people you satisfy, the better for you." -- Ludwig Von Mises


"Don't knock the rich. When did a poor person ever give you a job?" -- Laurence J. Peter


"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -- Ronald Reagan


"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." -- Adam Smith


"It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy...What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage." -- Adam Smith


"Sellers in general maintain the quality of their products and services for fear of losing customers otherwise. But, when price controls create a situation where the amount demanded is greater than the amount supplied -- a shortage -- fear of losing customers is no longer as strong an incentive. For example, landlords typically reduce painting and repairs when there is rent control, because there is no need to fear vacancies when there are more tenants looking for apartments than there are apartments available." -- Thomas Sowell


"Tariffs that save jobs in the steel industry mean higher steel prices, which in turn means fewer sales of American steel products around the world and losses of far more jobs than are saved." -- Thomas Sowell


"Four things have almost invariably followed the imposition of controls to keep prices below the level they would reach under supply and demand in a free market: (1) increased use of the product or service whose price is controlled, (2) Reduced supply of the same product or service, (3) quality deterioration, (4) black markets." -- Thomas Sowell


"Politics offers attractive solutions but economics can offer only trade-offs. For example, when laws are proposed to restrict the height of apartment buildings in a community, politics presents the issue in terms of whether we prefer tall buildings or buildings of a more modest height in our town. Economics asks what you are prepared to trade off in order to keep the height of buildings below some specified level. In places where land costs may equal or even exceed the cost of the apartment buildings themselves, the difference between allowing ten-story buildings to be built and allowing a maximum of five stories may be that rents will be twice as high in the shorter buildings. The question then is not simply whether you prefer shorter buildings but how much do you prefer shorter buildings and what price are you prepared to pay to mandate height restrictions in your community. A doubling of rents and three additional highway fatalities per yet? A tripling of rents and six additional highway fatalities per year? Economics cannot answer such questions. It can only make you aware of a need to ask them." -- Thomas Sowell


"In a small town, an idiot breaks a shop window. He's called a vandal, until someone points out that a window installer now must be paid to replace the window. The window installer then will have enough money to buy a new suit. A tailor will then be able to buy a new desk. And so on. The whole town apparently gains from the economic activity generated by the broken window. Of course, if this made sense, cities should hire people to run though town, breaking windows.

But it doesn't make sense. It's a fallacy because the circulating money is seen; what is not seen is what would have been done with the money if the window were still whole. The shopkeeper, instead of paying the window installer, might have expanded his business, or bought a new suit or a new desk. The town is worse off because of a broken window." -- John Stossel



"Minimum prices in general tend to discriminate against the lesser skilled person or the less preferred item. Let's say ten workers show up and you only can hire five. Well, you can't discriminate based on price because you have to pay them all eight dollars an hour. So you may hire according to what you like. So if you prefer Catholics to Jews or whites to blacks, you'll have a tendency to indulge your preferences. You can apply that phenomena to anything. If we made a law, let's call it a "minimum steak law", that is, fillet mignon and chuck steak both sell for $10. Well, the cost of discriminating against chuck steak would be zero, because you have to pay $10 anyway. The way that less preferred things compete with more preferred things is by having a lower price. Even though people prefer filet mignon to chuck steak, chuck steak doesn't have any problems selling at all." -- Walter Williams




"We might think of dollars as being "certificates of performance." The better I serve my fellow man, and the higher the value he places on that service, the more certificates of performance he gives me. The more certificates I earn, the greater my claim on the goods my fellow man produces. That's the morality of the market. In order for one to have a claim on what his fellow man produces, he must first serve him." -- Walter Williams


"(Tariffs) help some steel workers keep their jobs, but it turns out to be a losing proposition on balance. The reason why steel workers and their companies want tariffs on foreign steel is so they can raise the price of steel produced by US companies. So, it will save some jobs in the steel industry, but one has to look at the "steel using industry." The companies in the US that buy steel to produce their products are hurt by the tariffs. You find unemployment in those areas because of the higher costs of their inputs, which makes them less competitive on world markets. So what one has to look at is not the seen, but the unseen. Yes, you can see as a result of tariffs that more jobs are saved in the steel industry. What goes unseen are the jobs lost elsewhere because of the steel tariffs. Tariffs save some jobs at the expense of many, many, other jobs."


"Suppose I hire you to repair my computer. The job is worth $200 to me and doing the job is worth $200 to you. The transaction will occur because we have a meeting of the mind. Now suppose there's the imposition of a 30 percent income tax on you. That means you won't receive $200 but instead $140. You might say the heck with working for me -- spending the day with your family is worth more than $140. You might then offer that you'll do the job if I pay you $285. That way your after-tax earnings will be $200 -- what the job was worth to you. There's a problem. The repair job was worth $200 to me, not $285. So it's my turn to say the heck with it. This simple example demonstrates that one effect of taxes is that of eliminating transactions, and hence jobs." -- Walter Williams


"How many times have we heard "free tuition," "free health care," and free you-name-it? If a particular good or service is truly free, we can have as much of it as we want without the sacrifice of other goods or services. Take a "free" library; is it really free? The answer is no. Had the library not been built, that $50 million could have purchased something else. That something else sacrificed is the cost of the library. While users of the library might pay a zero price, zero price and free are not one and the same. So when politicians talk about providing something free, ask them to identify the beneficent Santa Claus or tooth fairy." -- Walter Williams


"Here's Williams' roadmap out of poverty: Complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children; and be a law-abiding citizen. Among both black and white Americans so described, the poverty rate is in the single digits." -- Walter Williams

Tea Parties

Wow, where do I begin.

Started the day in Monteagle where we had a Tea Party at Noon. A local business owner had asked me to host one because he was so darn fed up with everything. Of course, I couldn't say no. Direction was quickly given by the TN event organizers, I was VERY impressed with both Ken and Judson's immediate feedback and action plan.

Signs went up Saturday and the invite was pretty much word of mouth. I was thinking 15 people showing up would classify it as a success considering we live in such a small town with alot of apathy. People started arriving at 11:30am, I was a little shocked, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. 11:45am the parking lot was almost full and we were having traffic control issues. Noon, it was full-blown. I have not seen anything like it in all my days here. Some say 65, some say closer to 100, I really was too busy to get a head count.

Music by Sarah Mallory, Pledge, Prayer, National Anthem and then audience participation. So many great, heartfelt words...so many cheers of approval. All ages, all walks of life. It was beautiful. Food and drink were donated, war stories were shared afterwards. I feel hope again.

Made a quick dash to Sewanee for the T.Boone Pickens book signing (line too long, gave friend Andy my book to sign).

Then off to Tullahoma where dear friend Lynn Sebourn was on the organizing team. He had asked me several weeks ago to be on the speaker list and I was happy to comply. I pulled in about 4:45pm and the South Jackson Civic Center front lawn was covered up with people and signs. I was in awe. Jerry Anderson was emceeing and he was certainly in his element. Glib, charming and gently jabbing. Rep. Matheny kicked off the speakers, always my hero, he had just gotten in from a long day on the hill and he looked exhausted...but he nailed it as usual. Lynn Sebourn was brilliant as always, Steve Heath was rocking, Kent Greenough was rocking too, Greg Sandlin made his points so very deftly, my fellow revolutionary Chip Ramsey was passionate and inspiring. I got in there after Kent and since everyone was making such great points, I thought I would go in a slightly different direction and talk about guns and anarchy. I guess I hit a nerve, the response was pleasantly surprising.

As I sit here exhausted from so many discussions over the day, I can honestly say that what happened today was almost a miracle in my book. Can this be the beginning...?

17 Things to Love

Happy Easter everyone! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and Jesus has risen! The power of the resurrection always gives me hope for a better tomorrow and rejuvenates my spirit and soul for the upcoming year.

Maybe that is why I was amused today at this little web diddy.

1. In the South, the word "bulls*it" has three syllables and serves as a verb, noun, adjective and, occasionally, a nickname. (There is alot of b.s. here and we call it like we see it.)

2. In fact, people down south often have charming nicknames- for example- I had three aunts: Chicken, Goat and Pig. (Roundhead, mush, bug eye, turkey...)

Sadly, only Aunt Chicken is left.

3. Down south, everything looks better in camouflage print. (Oh yea!)

4. In the state of North Carolina, it is illegal to use an elephant to plow a field. Couples staying in a hotel must have a room with double beds and they must be at least two feet apart. (Glad I don't live in North Carolina.)

5. For the Southerner, any dish can be improved with a slab of pork. Pork in your greens, pork in your green beans, pork in your Rice Krispies...(The great flavor secret.)

6. Southerners take church very seriously- a Southern church service can easily last five hours- without air-conditioning. We rate the sermons as "rare", "medium" and "well done". (We have evolved...there is airconditioning.)

7. Every part of the pig is edible. Every.Single.Part. The hog foot, the hog tail, the hog maw, the hog grammaw...(I wouldn't call it edible, but we eat it.)

8. The Southern lady is schooled in the art of hairdressing, make-up application, Christian virtue and the loading of various fire-arms. (Absolutely!)

9. Most Southerners scoff at the idea of healthy eating- they eat just what the Lord Jesus himself ate- neckbones and biscuits. (Didn't he?)

10.In Tennesse you can't shoot any game from a moving vehicle- except whales. In Tennessee. Where.there.is.no.ocean.... (Details, details)

11. The Georgia legislature once considered making it illegal for a restaurant to not serve sweet iced tea. (Was that an ethics issue?)

12. I love the way people from Louisiana talk. Can't understand what they're saying, but I love that they're saying it...(A smooth southern drawl can melt any heart.)

13. Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Zora Neal Hurston were all southerners. Yankees ain't the only ones what can read and write...(And boy, can they write!)

14. In the state of Georgia, it is illegal to keep a donkey in a bathtub. (But how do you wash him?)

15. In the state of Arkansas, a man may beat his wife, but not more than once a month. (Wouldn't want to spoil her you know.)

16. In Mississippi, it is illegal for a man to be sexually aroused in public. (Are there enough jails in Mississippi to handle this one?)

17. Every Sunday is an occasion for a big dinner, usually consisting of fried chicken, white rice, gravy, collard greens, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, fresh corn, cabbage, potato salad, fatback, fried green tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, hush puppies, fried catfish, biscuits, corn bread, deer meat, tomato preserves, homemade pork rinds- and hey where y'all goin' don't you want no dessert? (Yep, and it just doesn't get any better than that, love Easter dinner down home!)

Conservative Manifesto

Reading this book is on my "to do" list. Finally a Manifesto to believe in.


Conservatives' 'Manifesto' DestinyKathryn Lopez
Saturday, April 04, 2009

Standing between liberty and tyranny is you.

That's one of many essential lessons found in a powerful and necessary new book, Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" (Threshold, 2009).

Levin's tome sounds a call to arms for conservatives, urging every last one to realize the stakes and engage in public affairs to the best of their ability. Understanding that it's not always the first instinct of the conservative to take on Washington, he urges more focus on our nation's capital, whether by going there, running for office closer to home, or educating those in your living room. Doing your job and living your life are important contributions, Levin writes, but "it is no longer enough." America needs more from its concerned citizens.

When the actions of a Republican president set the scene for the current commander in chief's CEO-firing, it's time for a new level of attention from all Americans. In Levin's words we need "a new generation of conservative activists, larger in number, shrewder and more articulate than before, who seek to blunt the Statist's counterrevolution -- not to imitate it -- and gradually and steadily reverse course. More conservatives than before will need to seek elective and appointed office, fill the ranks of the administrative state, hold teaching positions in public schools and universities, and find positions in Hollywood and the media where they can make a difference in infinite ways."

We appear to be living in a paradigm shift, during which the government is taking over in unprecedented ways. If you're uncomfortable with what you're seeing, get to work.

There are countless historical examples of American citizens with concerns similar to Levin's who went into politics. One of Levin's contemporary favorites, as anyone who regularly listens to his syndicated radio show knows, is Michele Bachmann. She's a congresswoman from Minnesota who the left loves to hate -- she almost lost her seat last year under threat from a loony liberal barrage.

After one of her foster children (she and her husband have taken care of 23 such kids over the years, in addition to five children of their own) came home from high school with an assignment for math homework that centered on coloring, she realized there was something wrong with the public-school standards area, and started working to change things. Her efforts would eventually take her to the state senate and now the U.S. Congress. Ask her about her experiences and you'll have the sense of a woman who does not have an office in mind, but a country.

Talk to Bachmann about politics and the future, and it is clear that she has "liberty and tyranny" on her mind (both literally -- she cited the book on Sean Hannity's show -- and more foundationally). Her high-minded conversation seems to be stemming not from political ambition but from those initial concerns that spurred her into politics. She views herself as a backbencher with an opportunity and a responsibility during a crucial time in American history. She's a former federal tax litigation attorney who now sits on the Financial Services Committee. A small-business owner and an educational entrepreneur (she helped found one of the first charter schools in the country, which is still running) Bachmann brings a breadth and depth of experience to Washington tables to which "gotcha" sound bites do not do justice.

On Levin's show late last year, Bachmann was open about her amazement that anyone would want to subject themselves to the harrowing rigors and painful exposure of the political process. There's little question that she's felt that way since, as her every word continues to be parsed and highlighted by the liberal media and its legion of faultfinders and scandalmongers. Bachmann was doing more than her part before she ran for Congress, before she ran for state office, before she and her husband welcomed a gaggle of foster children into their home. But she, like Levin, knows America needs all hands on deck. Consider it the real, substantive, bipartisan "yes we can" message. It's the message of the citizen-politicians of America's founding era.

In his best seller, Levin prescribes a way to combat "the ascent of a soft tyranny" rampant in the United States today. Rather than ask the government to fix everything, we must "return to founding principles," which involve "a free people living in a civil society, working in self-interested cooperation." This is what Bachmann gets up every morning and starts doing. We can't all be members of Congress, but we each have a sphere of influence upon which we ought to be full and informed participants. That doesn't just mean a vote and a letter to the editor now and then. We need to teach our children that which is worth preserving. We need to engage with our friends in a smart and respectful way. The future of liberty depends on it -- on us.

Utopia

When I lived in the high-end suburbs of Chicago, cocktail conversation usually revolved around money and politics with 90% of it being Republican politics. Democrat was a dirty word because it represented the dysfunctional thug politics found in Chicago...just 35 miles away. Everyone did charity work, were involved in school activities, went to church and joined social organizations or clubs. It was a very close, interpersonal community relationship with grievances usually taken care of quickly and efficiently...mostly to everyone's satisfaction. Government was rarely involved in our lives. They made sure we were safe and had adequate infrastructure, petty politics was involved among a select few who I personally think enjoyed that kind of thing.

When it was time to revitalize our historic downtown district, people rolled up their sleeves and got to work. The 100+ year old Chamber of Commerce worked with the local city government on an economic development plan and put it into action. We all got on committees and put our different skillsets to work. It was poetry in motion...it got done.

Major projects like a downtown parking garage and high-end condo development on top of it provided the much needed pedestrian traffic to incentize new retail establishments to invest in renovating the old vacant storefronts. We had an architectural review board and vision plan in place so that new merchants were on the same page as we were when they made their decision to come onboard.

Our historic downtown, once old and worn (and vacant) just a few years earlier became the thriving, charming hometown where families walked the sidewalks to ice cream shops, young people had their choice of parks, sweets and coffee shops, retail shops sprung up with destination quality products, restaurants became destination quality too. We had car shows on Friday nights, music on the square, our historic movie theatre was saved from the wrecking ball, a new train station was built, our library expanded.

The funny thing was...we just had the vision, everything else happened because we had a plan. The best part about all this "change"? The government didn't do it, we did it, the private sector. The local government just got out of the way and enabled and encouraged it to happen. They were partners in the process.

So when people tell me I live in a fantasy land because I think that same process could happen here in Monteagle...I just shake my head and smile. Being a true Republican means never having to say you are sorry. We just get the job done.