ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS EVER

One of the best investments we can ever make is not some great stock or real estate opportunity, but investing in preschool for our children and the children in our community. While investing in preschools probably sounds rather mundane, sometimes it’s the not so impressive or grand opportunities right under our noses that produce the sweetest and most lasting fruit.  Research from distinguished universities not only confirm what we’d intuitively believe about how quality preschool experiences help children during their school years, they underscore benefits far beyond what most of us might imagine.

Continue reading “ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS EVER”

EDUCATION IS THE KEY

Freedom, a cornerstone of our heritage, who we are as people, and how we live out our lives, provides us with not only the blessing of being able to choose our religion and speak our mind, it also opens up before us the frequently daunting challenge of choosing where to invest our time, talent and treasure.  As our homes, cars and other things beg our attention and beckon us to invest in them, let me suggest that we continue to keep the opportunity to invest in the education of the young people in our community foremost in our minds. Daily we witness on TV, and read about, stories of racial tensions, drug abuse, crime, under-employment, income inequality, poverty, and poor health care, and are tempted to despairingly ask: “When is this going to end?” Let me suggest that there is a key capable of substantially turning around all of these and that is investing in education.  While our “leaders” in Washington remain engrossed in their ongoing political brawls, locally we can meaningfully brighten the future of the children of our community and our community at large by supporting education in any and every way we can.

Continue reading “EDUCATION IS THE KEY”

REPUBLICAN TAX REFORM

As a conservative and a Republican for over 40 years, I’m compelled to testify, without political motive, and with the best interest of our country and people at heart, that the current Republican tax plan is extremely disappointing. It is disappointing because while it purports to reform the tax code, stimulate economic growth, and help the American people, it does little more than provide a handout to those that are already wealthy. It is a Trump led con, supported by Republican “leaders” desperately seeking a “win”, who have forgotten their compassionate conservative roots and given in to enriching wealthy friends and maintaining a narrow base they’ve conned into believing their pitch.  This tax bill will add to the deficit, stoke inflation, raise interest rates, result in 13 million people losing their health insurance, put additional upward pressure on health insurance premiums for the rest of us, and ignore the very real constraints to the economy and the long term needs of our country.

Continue reading “REPUBLICAN TAX REFORM”

REPUBLICAN SUCCESS IN HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION

Kudos to President Trump and House Republicans who had the tenacity to push thru healthcare legislation to the detriment of the vast majority of the American people.  Kudos to our President and House Republicans who were able to turn a blind eye to the healthcare needs of the people, stayed focused on their political war with Democrats, and lend an extra helping handout to the very rich and the bottom line of businesses. Kudos to Trump and House Republicans who successfully exercised their loathing of Obamacare to not only undermine it, but merrily applauded their success in approving a plan that will kick tens of millions of people off their healthcare insurance and diminish the healthcare policies of the rest of us.  Kudos to “leaders” who managed to muster the callousness to vote for the House healthcare bill knowing that it will substantially raise premiums for the vast majority of older people as well as push those with serious pre-existing conditions into health insurance pools that won’t be financially viable.

Continue reading “REPUBLICAN SUCCESS IN HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION”

“AMERICA FIRST”

President Trump, during his inaugural speech, reiterated with great confidence the underlying themes of his campaign: “Make America Great Again” and “America First!”  While these apparently made for an appealing campaign pitch and many voters seem to believe this is how America ought to be governed, they immediately struck me as some of the most troubling and dangerous things a now sitting President could say, let alone say so stridently.  “Make America Great Again” and “America First” are troubling and dangerous foundations for policy because they are backward looking, selfish, counter-productive, and demonstrate a withdrawal from the moral, economic and military leadership role America has in the world.

Continue reading ““AMERICA FIRST””