AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

We'll see. I think when the people find out what it will cost them, Obama won't be enjoying anywhere nearly as much support for his healthcare plan.

Why did George Bush increase government spending 50% in seven years?
He went from a 2 trillion dollar national budget to a 3.1 trillion dollar budget in seven short years.

Monday, June 19, 2006
Administration Oversight
Dollars, Not Sense: Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration
Dollars, Not Sense
Links & Resources

* Full Report: Dollars, Not Sense
* Highlights: New Findings
* Searchable Database of Problem Contracts

Under the Bush Administration, the “shadow government” of private companies working under federal contract has exploded in size. Between 2000 and 2005, procurement spending increased by over $175 billion dollars, making federal contracts the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending.

This growth in federal procurement has enriched private contractors. But it has also come at a steep cost for federal taxpayers. Overcharging has been frequent, and billions of dollars of taxpayer money have been squandered.

At the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, this report is the first comprehensive assessment of federal contracting under the Bush Administration. The report reaches three primary conclusions:

* Procurement Spending Is Accelerating Rapidly. Between 2000 and 2005, procurement spending rose by 86% to $377.5 billion annually. Spending on federal contracts grew over twice as fast as other discretionary federal spending. Under President Bush, the federal government is now spending nearly 40 cents of every discretionary dollar on contracts with private companies, a record level.
* Contract Mismanagement Is Widespread. The growth in federal contracts has been accompanied by pervasive mismanagement. Mistakes have been made in virtually every step of the contracting process: from pre-contract planning through contract award and oversight to recovery of contract overcharges.
* The Costs to the Taxpayer Are Enormous. The report identifies 118 federal contracts worth $745.5 billion that have been found by government officials to include significant waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement. Each of the Bush Administration’s three signature initiatives " homeland security, the war and reconstruction in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina recovery " has been characterized by wasteful contract spending.

The fastest growing contractor under the Bush Administration has been Halliburton. Federal spending on Halliburton contracts increased over 600% between 2000 and 2005.

We'll see. I think when the people find out what it will cost them, Obama won't be enjoying anywhere nearly as much support for his healthcare plan.

An objective discussion of policies of an elected government is therefore helpful, and so is a willingness to criticise even an administration that one essentially supports. Hyperbole and shrillness by supporters of the opposition as well as unwarranted comparisons to the Hitler or Stalin will probably not help.

old europe wrote:

An objective discussion of policies of an elected government is therefore helpful, and so is a willingness to criticise even an administration that one essentially supports. Hyperbole and shrillness by supporters of the opposition as well as unwarranted comparisons to the Hitler or Stalin will probably not help.

If somebody is demonizing capitalism and wealth, and using some of the same political tactics, I don't think it is necessarily that extreme to mention the pitfalls of the past, oe. And you claim Republicans have used some of the same language, fine, but do they have friends like William Ayers, Reverend Wright, etc., and used the political methods of Saul Alinsky? Call it shrillness if you wish, but if you did not sympathize with alot of those socialistic and Marxist values, you would probably tend to agree with me, I think.

I am not going to apologize for being suspicious of Marxist sympathizers and socialists.

If somebody is demonizing capitalism and wealth, and using some of the same political tactics, I don't think it is necessarily that extreme to mention the pitfalls of the past, oe.

And you claim Republicans have used some of the same language, fine, but do they have friends like William Ayers, Reverend Wright, etc., and used the political methods of Saul Alinsky?

Call it shrillness if you wish, but if you did not sympathize with alot of those socialistic and Marxist values, you would probably tend to agree with me, I think.

I am not going to apologize for being suspicious of Marxist sympathizers and socialists.

You are as bad as any of the people you mentioned. You and other conservatives constantly lie, distort the facts, send out hoax e-mails, slander, and libel. I don't see libs doing that. There may be a very, very, tiny number of extremists on the left who are the exceptions who proved the rule.

However, Obama has not been demonizing capitalism. Obama has not been demonizing wealth. On those grounds, the comparison is completely baseless.

Your comparison might be warranted once he actually starts doing what you accuse him of doing. Until then, it's merely obnoxious.
.....
Now, isn't this name-calling a fun game?

...
You have no case.

okie wrote:

If somebody is demonizing capitalism and wealth, and using some of the same political tactics, I don't think it is necessarily that extreme to mention the pitfalls of the past, oe.

If somebody would be doing that, you would have a point.

However, Obama has not been demonizing capitalism. Obama has not been demonizing wealth. On those grounds, the comparison is completely baseless.

old europe wrote:

okie wrote:

If somebody is demonizing capitalism and wealth, and using some of the same political tactics, I don't think it is necessarily that extreme to mention the pitfalls of the past, oe.

If somebody would be doing that, you would have a point.

However, Obama has not been demonizing capitalism. Obama has not been demonizing wealth. On those grounds, the comparison is completely baseless.

I disagree, I believe he has been. You apparently do not understand American politics, oe, nor do you understand America. So since you are wrong, my comparison is therefore not baseless at all, it is totally valid.

Obama did not have millions chanting "change" over nothing. He has not spelled it all out, we have to guess at some of it, until it becomes more clear, but it is obvious Obama neither understands or sympathizes with businesses.

To understand more about what I think Obama believes, just listen to some of the rants of the Reverend Wright, and you will begin to get the picture. Otherwise, all you get out of Obama are platitudes and vagueries.

I disagree, I believe he has been.

You apparently do not understand American politics, oe, nor do you understand America.

So since you are wrong, my comparison is therefore not baseless at all, it is totally valid.

Obama did not have millions chanting "change" over nothing.

He has not spelled it all out, we have to guess at some of it,

until it becomes more clear, but it is obvious Obama neither understands or sympathizes with businesses.

To understand more about what I think Obama believes, just listen to some of the rants of the Reverend Wright, and you will begin to get the picture.

Otherwise, all you get out of Obama are platitudes and vagueries.

Well, you apparently do not understand the politics of the Third Reich, nor do you understand the context of the Weimar Republic. That hasn't stopped you from claiming that Hitler was a socialist.

I guess we're even.

STOP DEMONIZING CAPITALISM

Senator Obama, your policies are an affront to capitalism and you demonize it with your subtle cynicism and your condescension.

Where capitalism appears to have failed is because of government intervention. This fact is not even debatable. Government intervention has created such deviant versions of capitalistic democracy that those variants should not even be called true capitalism.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has declared class war on capitalism and democracy in Latin America. Much of the Latin American form of capitalism should be called “capitalistic cronyism,” where true open and vicious head-to-head commercial competition was never allowed to take root and the best entrepreneurial minds were hamstrung by aristocratic legacies and corrupted governments.

Do not compare America’s capitalism to its failed imitators. Your plans for more federal government intervention and control of our economy will most assuredly lead to the same fate as the club of failed imitators.


UNINTENDED CONSEQUNCES OF YOUR IDEAS ON OUR COMPANY AND OUR EMPLOYEES

Senator Obama, your promises of horrifying tax increases on me and on the company I run and your threats of even more burdensome regulation are, in your own words, “game changers.”

Higher corporate income taxes and payroll taxes rob and neuter all businesses great and small of their ability to make and keep essential promises to the people who depend on them. This is a shame and a consequence of idiotic and pander motivated ideas.

Under your taxation plan, I may one day be in a position to no longer make any meaningful promises to our fantastic employees.

I need you to come to Dallas and join me some day in our bi-weekly company staff meeting and tell them why their hard work may not be rewarded with higher compensation, promotions and higher self-worth, which all should come from their successful efforts.

You need to explain to them why I may no longer be able to afford the 100% matching contribution in their 401(k) plan.

You’ll need to explain why I may no longer be able to afford top-tier group medical, eye care, and dental insurance for them.

You’ll need to explain why I may no longer be able to afford to continue our great personal development programs.

You’ll need to explain to them why their stock options may never be as valuable as they had hoped because the company is less profitable and less valuable.

You’ll need to explain to vendors why I may no longer be able to do business with them because our revenues may drop and corporate tax rates rise.

The mere threat of your policies is force enough to cause small businesses to react. You and the Congress do not even need to enact them into law.

I must eventually yield to the socialist state. I will unfortunately have to run our company much leaner in anticipation of these terrible policies because I was born to use my talents and gifts toward a better life, not to be forced to suffer for the so-called “betterment of the greater good.” That is my truth and the truth of all closely-held businesses and their working class owners.

You need to ponder today the inevitable consequences of working class business owners giving up on the pursuit of joy, significance and meaning in their own lives in America because of our hostile tax, regulatory and legal environment. What would happen if we simply took our talents to another country like Ireland, Russia, China, India, or Brazil where ideas, labor, capital and victories are loved and respected?

All great lives commence with a person’s quiet realization he or she will not play the coward’s role. Working class business owners are the most courageous people in America, except for our men and women in uniform, those police officers protecting us on the streets of America, and firemen who rescue us from tragedy and peril.

Where you see a successful business, where you see a successful life, I promise you tremendous gut-wrenching courage has been exerted again and again to build that life. High tax rates discourage many talented people from ever acting on that call to courage. They simply conclude that it is not worth it.

Your unspoken Socialist creed “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” is a creed which will eviscerate any chance of a great and honorable society.

The source of America’s daily sustenance and the source of her eternal salvation is from grace. There is no salvation from the federal government.

I believe our nation can achieve greatness beyond our imagination only if salvation by federal government is erased completely from our consciousness. It is a toxic addiction - the heroin from which we must commence immediate withdrawal.

The federal government is dysfunctional beyond repair. Dysfunctional organizations are chaotic and grossly inefficient and you, amazingly, intend to make it bigger. Why?

The first axiom on organizational dysfunction is that dysfunction increases exponentially by the sum of (a) the square of the headcount of its non-productive persons (usually the people who feel most victimized by the organization and who express extreme forms of social compassion to fix all of the world’s problems utilizing the resources of the organization) and (b) the cube of the number of incompetent management people. The federal government has set the bar high for this axiom. Just ask any working class businessperson who knows all too well the causes and dangers of inefficiency.

You, who have never run an organization in your life, may be stepping into the chairman’s seat of the largest most dysfunctional organization in the world. I am astonished you think you are prepared for it. I am even more horrified you want to make it bigger.

The purpose of business is to make people’s lives better. Business and commerce have improved and will improve far more lives than any government. Yet under your policies, we who improve the lives of others are targeted for extinction. We might all collectively “shrug,” give up and go on strike. What happens when there is no one left to create jobs like we can?

I have risked my entire financial future on noble enterprises which have improved the lives of others, and yes, even my own family. My family and I have borne the high cost of the pursuit of happiness.

I wake up every morning thinking about what promises to make and how I will honor the promises I have already made. This is the result of grace, but it is not grace itself.

I have paced the hallways of my own home for three straight days and nights worrying and praying about how to solve an insurmountable problem that I could not even define, or whom to trust, or where the resources would come from, and in the end successfully turned the dire situation to the good. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

In the early years, I had to make more than one payroll out of rotating a series of personal credit cards because of tight cash flow and the commitment to my employees that they were always to be paid before me. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

I have many times out of compassion, and when I did not have money, carried on the company payroll employees who were not performing as needed or could not be helped to improve, or who were going through a traumatic personal crisis. My benevolence gave these employees time and money to sort out their problems or to find other employment. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

I have taken many complex and almost desperate situations and, from the wits of our leadership team, turned them into positive outcomes. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

I have been sued many times under nuisance pretenses. The distractions of litigation did not and could not divert the energy needed to run and grow my organization. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

Two years ago at the age of 50, I was diagnosed with a rapidly growing stage three throat cancer with only a 15% statistical chance of a five year survival. I do not smoke and I drink only an occasional glass of wine with a restaurant meal. This was not a tragedy. This was just life.

I suffered through the dehumanizing and debilitating effects of 40 radiation treatments, two bouts of poisonous chemotherapy, and recovery from more than one surgery. I am victorious and cancer-free for many reasons: the love and care from my family, friends and business colleagues, great new cancer treatment protocols to name a few. And prayer, yes, prayer to Almighty God for my healing.

But my victory is also very much due to the love of my work, my business, my aspirations to finish the unfinished, to make it perfect, and to take care of the people who depend on me. This is why small businesses and working class business owners are important to America. This too was the result of grace, but it was not grace itself.

.. he and several others might find one businessowner's (A CPA) and employer's point of view to be rather interesting on the subject of 'demonizing capitalism'. ...