Healthcare - Compelled to Move Forward

February 21, 2022March 5, 2022

Inflation and Who’s to Blame?

As a conservative, particularly fiscally, and a student of economics for more decades than I’d like to count, witnessing the economic mistakes made by our federal government over the last 20 years, and the hardships they have wrought upon us, has been downright painful. Given the surge in inflation the last few months and our tendency to want to blame somebody, perhaps it would be helpful to take a step back and consider what caused the recent spike before locking onto who’s to blame.

October 24, 2021December 11, 2021

DUPLICITY AND ITS DESTRUCTIVE CONSEQUENCES

While visiting Yale with my son 15 years ago, our tour guide said something that has challenged me since. Near the end of the tour, I inquired about on-campus church services. Our tour guide half-jokingly replied, “Oh yea, if you’re one of those hate-mongering Christians, we have several church services here on campus”. While our tour guide tried to take back his words, churning inside my brain was the question: “How could such an extraordinarily intelligent, perceptive and otherwise gracious young man, call Christians “hate-mongering”? “Hate-mongering!” It didn’t take more than a moment to recall news a few days earlier of Christians protesting outside the funeral of a fallen soldier returned from the war in Iraq. Against the backdrop of a grieving family was a small group of protesters, oblivious not only to their own callousness, but the far-reaching consequences of their hypocrisy. Hypocrisy and its consequences have always been with us, but far more troubling lately is the scope of disinformation and duplicity spewing from the mouths of political “leaders”. Few things are more dangerous and destructive than lies masquerading as truth, and the wholesaling of incongruent beliefs by shrewd and powerful people.

December 2, 2020July 12, 2021

ALWAYS BUILD DIGNITY

Early in my career, a mentor provided me with a piece of wise counsel: “Always build dignity”. Over the last 40 years, those words have challenged me often. Given the ease with which we can spout critical words, particularly within the tattered fabric of our country, perhaps those three little words, can provide a meaningful balm to what ails us. A conscious effort to building dignity, I submit, is a most worthy goal in both our personal lives and as well in the governance of our country.

November 30, 2020December 30, 2020

MACHIAVELLIAN TO THE CORE

In 1513 Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a short book titled The Prince. In it he counsels a young prince who unexpectedly ascends to the throne on how to handle himself and the affairs of state. The essence of Machiavelli’s counsel is do whatever you must to accumulate power, stay in power, and no matter how dastardly your plans and deeds, always try to look virtuous. Tragically, a wealth of evidence suggests that President Trump has been Machiavellian to the core. He has masterfully employed deception, manipulation and deceit to appear virtuous and have the best interest of the American people at heart, while acting in his own self-interest.

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020

TAKING A BROAD PROLIFE PERSPECTIVE WITH US TO THE POLLS

For those of us who want to significantly reduce abortions and find the conduct of many traditionally ProLife candidates antithetical to our Biblical values, let me suggest a way forward out of the voting conundrum we now face. As a conservative and a Republican for over 40 years, I submit that being ProLife means not only protecting unborn children but protecting and building up the lives of those already born. If we believe in this broader definition of being ProLife, our concern for protecting life should extend beyond reducing abortions, to enabling healthy and fruitful lives for all children. Valuing the life of innocent children should therefore include supporting policies that provide all children with healthcare, a quality education, protection from harmful pollutants, keeping them with their parents, reducing racial tensions, and keeping them out poverty.

August 23, 2020August 23, 2020

A PROLIFE VOTING ALTERNATIVE

For those of us who are ProLife and find some candidates who purport to be “ProLife” but behave in ways contrary to our Biblical values, let me suggest a way out of the voting conundrum we now face. As a conservative and a Republican for over 40 years, instead of voting for an incumbent whose conduct we find appalling, let me suggest we withhold supporting them and focus on living out our faith by providing additional support to programs that have been successful at reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

August 20, 2020August 20, 2020

FALSE CHOICES AND LABELING

One aspect of American culture that has often surprised me is our tendency to put people into camps. You either believe in creation or evolution. You believe in a women’s right to choose or the right to life. You believe wearing a mask is imperative or it doesn’t matter. You either support Trump or you’re a “Trump-hater”. You predominantly support black lives matter or blue lives matter. You believe we must focus on growing the economy or protecting the environment. You believe “taking a knee” is a fit means of protesting police brutality or it’s disrespectful of our flag and country. You’re either part of the radical left or the far-right. This tendency to label and place others in camps has clearly grown with the rise of social media, news programming and divisive political rhetoric. Let me suggest that if we genuinely want to make meaningful progress on issues of faith, race, income inequality, healthcare, abortion, our environment, and education, it is imperative that we become purposeful in turning away from false choices and all the labels flying about, and look in earnest for just, pragmatic and compassionate solutions.

April 28, 2020April 30, 2020

LESSONS FROM MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

Amid these challenging times, it strikes me how lessons learned climbing mountains over 14,000 feet might be applicable to getting through this pandemic. Mountain climbing, like this pandemic, is a long, hard and often lonely slog, with much that is out of our control.

When I first began climbing mountains over 14,000 feet nearly 25 years ago, I quickly learned three things mountain climbers do frequently and almost by instinct.

January 27, 2020January 30, 2020

IS THE ECONOMY REALLY DOING “GREAT”?

While many news outlets and the Trump Administration have been quick to repeatedly tell us the US economy is doing “Great”, data on what is undergirding the economy, and how most Americans are really doing, indicate that the economy really isn’t doing so “Great” after all. Sure GDP growth is doing pretty well, jobs are being created, and wealth is growing through gains in the stock and real estate markets, but the facts are that Trump and Republicans in Congress have spiked the punch bowl with $1 trillion per year of deficit spending, the Federal Reserve has been injecting roughly $120 billion per month into the banking system to keep interest rates from rising, and all while a great many people remain financially insecure and struggling.

November 7, 2019November 18, 2019

COMPASSION IN GOVERNANCE?

I’ve never been one of the sharper pencils in the box, but something that has perplexed me over the last three years is the support so many friends and colleagues have extended to Donald Trump and his policies. The Trump supporters I speak of are intelligent people of good will, whom I respect. And yet, one question continually confounds me: If you saw a man abusing women and children or an elderly person somewhere in public, would you not step in and do your utmost to stop it? I’m confident everyone I know would. And yet, for reasons apparently beyond me, people continue to support Trump despite a wealth of speech and conduct that runs counter to the values they espouse, and clear evidence that he drives policies that hurt millions of innocent people. Here are a few examples for your consideration.