Conservatism Helps The Poor And Society In General

I think there are some serious misconceptions out there about the Republican Party and conservatism. One of the worst misinterpretations of conservative tenants is the perception that we could care less about the poor. Conventional wisdom out there in liberal land tells you that Republicans love stomping on the poor with the proverbial boot of big businesses. Nothing could be further from the truth, but our methodology is not as obvious as getting a check in the mail.

First, Republicans are pro-business for a reason: successful businesses help everyone out, including the poor. We have an economic system where all the businesses are fighting to give you what you want, when you want it, and at the lowest possible cost so more people buy their stuff over the competitor's. Having the necessities of life at a minimal price helps the poor greatly. If you're poor, Wal-Mart is your best friend. Dollars saved here and there add up quickly.

Second, companies provide tons of jobs for everyone to help poverty and unemployment at a minimum. I know many of you work at Daktronics. Having that big company right here in tiny Brookings is a great source of jobs for the poor (a.k.a. college students) to help them make ends meet. Liberals would have you think Daktronics is rich and evil and that they need to be taxed as much as possible. The corporate tax rate in the United States is 39 percent. Just think how many more jobs Daktronics could afford and provide if they could make 39 percent more? Companies expand and reap greater profits through hiring additional people to get more things done. Also, look what companies have been able to do for us. Through their millions of investors and customers, they have been able to accomplish unimaginable things for the benefit of all.

Take Verizon Wireless, for example. Last year they spent over a billion dollars on network improvements alone (or 14 dollars for each of their 70.8 million customers), allowing people to communicate from almost anywhere in America. If you get caught in a blizzard and call 911, your phone will communicate with a satellite in outer space, which can then tell dispatchers where you are within one foot. All that at the lowest possible cost to all of us. Taxing companies more hinders the ability for them to provide services like that and provide work for Americans.

Probably the most important way that conservatives care for the poor is how we choose to help them out. We actually like handouts to the needy just like our liberal friends; the difference is that we believe it's our responsibility as individuals to help our neighbors out. Sure it's easy to just raise taxes on the rich to help the poor, where we give the government ten dollars for one dollar worth of benefit. Let me keep that ten dollars and I'll go over and drop it in the Children's Miracle Network box in The Union. We know our neighbors and friends way better than any government entity, so who is best suited to help them out - the government or us? When I'm having a tough time, I talk to my friends and family instead of calling congressmen. If you're hit with hard times, what's going to give you a better, more positive outlook on life: a big check in the mail or a big spaghetti fundraiser with all of your friends and family there to help you pay for your chemotherapy? We need to help each other out, not look to a bloated, inefficient government to do it for us.

Real Change vs. Radical Change: What Would Conservatives Change?

Change. During this election, we’ve heard that word so many times we’re ready to puke. Obviously this country needs something different from what we currently have, what with a presidential approval in the low 30’s and a congress with an absolutely dismal approval rating of 9 percent. But in these rough times, I would ask you to think very carefully about what kind of change you want. There’s a difference between radical change and real change. I think most of America’s frustrations stem from the fact that the people we send to Washington to run our country don’t reflect what we believe. Let me throw some numbers at you:
-57 to 27 percent of the country would prefer less government services and lower taxes
-72 percent of Americans think that people moving to this country should adopt our culture
-69 percent of Americans feel the income tax system is unfair in that it taxes earnings rather than spending
-62 percent of Americans feel the country is fair and decent compared to 27 percent feeling it is unfair and discriminatory
Looking at these polls (all done by Rasmussen), I don’t see anything in Barack Obama’s liberal agenda that falls in with what mainstream America believes. Conservatives and Republicans stand with the country on those issues. Here are some areas where we Republicans and conservatives feel change is desperately needed.
Some high schools will spend a week teaching you how to put a condom on (the directions are on the wrapper), but will barely give 2 weeks to fiscal responsibility—God forbid an entire YEAR—teaching students incredibly important real-world things like how to do your taxes, manage a personal budget, and use credit responsibly? And everyone wonders why we have a 10 trillion dollar national debt and we’re in the middle of a financial crisis. Nobody knows how to manage money responsibly! I guess that English class semester on Greek mythology was more important. Speaking of fiscal responsibility, maybe we should send our bills to Washington D.C? Ridiculous suggestion, but where do we draw the line on bailouts? Oh wait; there shouldn’t be a line, because there’s no place in the constitution that says it is government’s responsibility to give money to companies when they’re having trouble. That would be liberal, activist lawyers/judges who have milked the “general welfare” clause of the constitution for all it’s worth.
Why is a picture of Jesus in a flask of urine (“P*ss Christ” by Andres Serrano) award-winning art, yet a political cartoon of Muhammad with a bomb for a turban is completely taboo? Both are figureheads of widely followed religions, but with the liberal agenda Jesus degradation equals free speech. Muhammad degradation equals offensive and divisive.
Education is key in our country. America spends the most money in the world on education, but with mediocre results. Why? I’ve had some incredible professors, and I want their pay to reflect that. Keeping lax educators in the system (thanks to Obama-supporting teachers’ unions) just drags down pay and incentives for quality educators and robs students of the best instructors they could possibly get. When did teachers’ job security and tenure become more important than student success and quality education?
I agree, this country does need change, but I believe us conservatives reflect the attitudes of the country as a whole and offer real solutions and the right change to get this country heading the right way.

Is the Free Market Dead?

In times of economic turmoil, everybody's looking for somebody to blame. To Democrats, everything is of course George Bush's fault, and in this case they may be partially right. But they're screaming that the free market and capitalism are dead, and more regulation is needed. I beg to differ, and would argue that regulation caused this crisis in the first place. The President had a responsibility to point out shaky businesses and shady accounting to the public, and then let the free market take care of those businesses as they'd see their stock value fall, forcing them to clean up their act, lest they go out of business. In that way, President Bush failed to keep the public informed about companies who were not operating properly.
What all this economic crisis boils down to is people defaulting on their mortgages. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are companies that purchase debt (mortgages) from banks so the banks can have more cash on hand and can then make more loans. These big companies purchased a lot of that debt, and many individuals who owed money were unable to pay it. Like I said, it all boils down to individuals defaulting on their loans. This happened for two reasons:

1) People were living outside their means. When you bite off more than you can chew, you aren't able to pay everything you owe, so this is a lesson in only purchasing what you can afford.
2) Regulation created the possibility for people to purchase houses that really couldn't afford them. The big kicker was the Community Reinvestment Act passed in 1977, and especially the tweaks the Clinton administration added to it. His goals were to emphasize "performance over paperwork", by extending credit to inner city communities. The goal was to give credit to low-income people and raise them up; a reasonable goal of government, but good intentions can lead to problems. As Janet Reno of the Justice Department stated:

“Today’s actions demonstrate that we
will tackle lending discrimination wherever and
in whatever form it appears. No loan is exempt,
no bank is immune. For those who thumb their
nose at us, I promise vigorous enforcement.” (article here)

In other words, the Clinton administration was so hell-bent on preventing loan discrimination, they forgot that, statistically speaking, the groups that were "discriminated against" have statistically bad credit. So go ahead and force banks to loan to low-income, inner city minorities. There's a reason certain people were not granted loans, because they had bad credit. Just don't be surprised when these people that banks had to give loans to (because of Clinton's enforcement) default on their loans and can't make the payments. Big institutions were buying all this potentially bad debt, and here we sit at the financial crisis.

I'm not paying $700 billion in taxpayer funded bailout to help out people who lived outside their means and have to move into a smaller apartment, or to bailout companies who make profit by purchasing bad debt trying to turn a profit on it and cook their books to make it look like the debt isn't as bad as it seems. I'll take the hit in my IRA, because this sets a terrible precedent and sends the message that big companies (too big to fail?) don't have to worry about risk, because if things go bad the government will bail them out. They got too big and too risky, now they have to pay the consequences. Market corrections do that; businesses that were too risky in good times fail and smart ones succeed. We're doing the country a disservice by helping out the unwise ones. Even if we have to take a hit now, we'll all be better off in the long run.

Solution:
1) Get rid of the bad regulations that extend l0ans to bad credit individuals/businesses.
2) More transparency in these large companies that deal in debt purchases.
3) We need more oversight, rather than regulation, so investors can see exactly what's going on and can make wise decisions and the government can inform us of potentially risky business and the free market will keep people from making those bad investments and likewise improve the companies in question.

Palin Column

For those of you who missed it, here's my column that appeared in the SDSU Collegian last week:

Who would have thought that a former mayor of a town smaller than Brookings could be on a presidential ticket? John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin of Alaska surprised everyone, including Palin's family. She fishes, snowmobiles, has a pilot's license and hunts. As Sen. Fred Thompson put it at the GOP convention, "She is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose . . ." Palin was mayor of Wasilla for six years and governor of Alaska for two, so why do I think she's actually qualified to be on this presidential ticket? I'm not saying that she has tons of experience, but neither does Barack Obama. His experience amounts to maneuvering his way to success in the very corrupt Chicago political system, being a state legislator and Illinois senator for two years and announcing his candidacy for president after 143 days in the Senate. And remember: he's running for the top dog position.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has more executive experience than all of the rest of the tickets combined. It's easy for Obama, McCain and Biden to sit and debate legislation and cast their vote, passing laws and resolutions. Well, someone has to make those things happen, and that person is Sarah Palin. That's what executive experience is: execution of laws and orders. Talking big is easy, but actually making things happen is a great deal more difficult.

Not only does Palin have more executive experience, but the McCain/Palin ticket truly represents the ticket of change and Washington shakeup. Look at Obama/Biden. Sure, Obama would be the first African American, which is definitely change, but he proposes a return to '70s style nanny-state government that no amount of rich people can be taxed to pay for. Obama never breaks party line in his votes, which doesn't show me that he's "tired of same-old partisan politics." Not to mention he became top dog in a very corrupt Chicago political arena, rampant with back door deals and bribes. Obama went on to pick a conventional running mate: Biden, a career politician who also rarely breaks party lines. The Obamas are quite rich, whereas Palin had to elope with her husband because they couldn't afford a wedding.

The McCain/Palin ticket offers much more reform. It's led by an experienced political maverick who does what he feels is right, regardless of party lines. And backup president to the most experienced person in the campaign is Sarah Palin, a woman who isn't afraid to give the finger to her own party when they act stupid and corrupt. Just ask Ted Stevens (R-AK), whose $350 million bridge-to-nowhere earmark was vetoed in Alaska by none other than Palin, which is just one example of Palin's corruption purging. She's gone up against corruption in both parties and won. Some may criticize the fact that she was a former sportscaster, but let's not forget the last Republican sportscaster/actor that ran for President: Ronald Reagan.

Final Convention Note

Well, the 2008 Republican National Convention was a great success, as we can see how the McCain ticket has leaped in the polls. Although they are still essentially tied, McCain is now on the top of some of those polls. Stay tuned for the debates, people. The debate schedule is as follows:

1st Presidential - September 26
Vice Presidential Debate - October 2 (don't miss this one!)
2nd Presidential - October 7
3rd Presidential - October 16

Back to the convention, here's some pictures I took with my good camera:

Pictures, starting at the top left.

1) Me at the convention
2) John McCain speaking the last night of the convention
3) All the balloons falling
4) CNN converted a pub I ate at when I went to the Excel for volunteer training; they literally took the whole place over and remodeled it entirely
5) Armed guards to fend off the protesters. There is a huge anarchist group in Minneapolis/St. Paul that slashed delegate bus tires and news van tires.
6) A huge, HUGE TV screen outside of the Fox News tent, and it was playing news and commentary outside during the convention. I checked it over, and I don't think it was made at Daktronics.
7) View of the Excel from the outside. You can see the security checkpoints right there in the middle of the picture.
8) Me and Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. I was volunteering help out at the Alaska/Tennesee delegate hotel, and in walks Bill Frist was there with the Tennessee delegation. So I took a picture with him!

GOP Convention Day 2

Well, the convention today was a much more eventful and exciting day, for the country and me, as the convention was back on after hurricane Gustav and I was able to score guest passes to the convention for today and the rest of the nights.
First off, I was working at the Alaska/Tennessee hotel assisting delegates which is where this picture comes from: (bear with me, I'll have better pictures when I can use good camera pictures and not phone pictures)














There were some local T.V. stations advertising "Minnesota Nice" and going around to various convention locations showing off Minnesota products and traditions. These Tennessee ladies were introduced to lutafisk, and it was pretty hilarious to watch their reactions.

The Alaska delegation (clearly big fans of drilling for oil in ANWR) had on hard hats sporting the "Drill here Drill Now" slogan, as well as full oil worker gear and were wearing them to the convention to make a point on energy solutions. I know new oil drilling won't increase actual supply for a few years, but oil is traded on a futures market, and the prospect of future supply will cause a drop in oil prices now, just like farm crops.















Once I finished helping delegates, I hopped on one of the convention buses and headed to the Excel Energy Center. Here's my view from the nosebleed guest section...but it was awesome! You really can't tell how huge that screen is from this picture, but it was massive and had top-quality picture...Daktronics maybe?














Yea, those are all the thousands of balloons that will be raining down on the delegates Thursday night...I'll have a video of that to post up. All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience. I ran into a few big people. I walked by Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota, talked a bit with state legislator and delegate Al Novstrup of South Dakota, and helped out the son of Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, when he and his dad forgot their credentials at a different hotel.

Probably the most moving moment was when the RNC honored the family of deceased Medal of Honor recipient Michael Monsoor, the 4th in the war on terror. This man saved his friends and comrads by diving on top of a grenade, thus protecting them. He died 30 min later. This is a picture that was a picture of President Bush that was taken during the Medal of Honor presentation ceremony, where he had tears streaming down his face:


















Regardless about what you think of the man, don't think for one second the president doesn't realize what consequences his actions have.

More to come tomorrow!

New Feed

I modified my blog website address, so anybody who has mine bookmarked, there's a new address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ConservativeCandor

And if you have subscribed to the site feed, there is also a new feed address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ConservativeCandor