Previous Administrations Comment on Corporate Power

"Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of
the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people’s
masters."— President Grover Cleveland

Cleveland was a limited-government Democrat when the Democracy following the Civil War sided with states'  rights and less federal intervention of the state. Unfortunately, part of the reason why the Democratic Party was "states' rights" was because of the "Solid South", which continued to advanced policies of white supremacy and de jure segregation.

"You know, the only trouble with capitalism is capitalists. They're too damn greedy. ― Herbert Hoover  

No, the real issue that corporate interests incorporate their greed with government greed, and both profit at the expense of the voters, the small businesses, and the country. Greed in a free market forces businesses to provide the best service at the best price in order to attract more customers. Without the profit motive, there would be no commerce in the first place. There would be no capitalism, and there would be no "greedy" capitalists, either.


The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the
growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than
their democratic state itself."
— Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only way that private power can become so powerful would be for the state to grant subsidies, exceptions, and favors to certain businesses at the expense of other firms which play fully by the rules of the free market.

"When I hear gentlemen say that politics
ought to let business alone, I feel like
inviting them to first consider whether
business is letting politics alone."
-- Woodrow Wilson

Wilson had no business slamming business interests for all that they were doing. As long as government refuses to upend the rules of the free market, then private firms will have no choice but to fail following the poor decisions and risky mistakes which they made.

If we want to keep business out of politics, then the voters have to limit the scope of politics in the first place. Progressives like Wilson, and before him Teddy Roosevelt, had no interest in keeping

"The selfish spirit of commerce ... knows no country, and feels no
passion or principle but that of gain."
-Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)



"Greed" has become a huge catch-all for anyone who wants to make money. At this rate, why not punish all of the government employees and unions which go on strike for higher wages and better benefits? Is that not a form of greed, as well?

Thomas Jefferson had no business criticizing gain, anyway. He owned a large plantation with slaves, workers whom he refused to pay - who was the one under the bondage of the "selfish spirit of commerce" indeed?

"Brahma" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
Far or forgot to me is near,
Shadow and sunlight are the same,
The vanished gods to me appear,
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

I have never been a big fan of the "Transcendentalist" impulse in poetry.

The ins and outs of Eastern Philosophy tend toward mere verbal sophistry than wisdom or powerful and unique images. "Cruel kindness" makes a slight impact after so many references.

Still, poet Ralph Waldo Emerson could draw out the interesting from the bland-contradictory, as he as done in "Brahma."

I cannot help but consider that Emerson wrote this bagatelle with a smirk in his face, with a chuckle buckled within.

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

I interpret this phrase with the damning faint praise of one who sees also this empty sophistry as that -- empty.

"Meek lover of the good" after over sixteen lines of impoverishing dichotomies, the poet laughs in the face of one who seeks "good", only to lose the very heaven that he seeks.

Yet good and evil were the tree that first parents Adam and Eve ate from, when the LORD had placed the Tree of Life in the midst.

Good and bad, slay and slain, shadow and sunlight, convey nothing to us without Life itself moving within us to appreciate these differences.

The Real Problem with Kenneth Copeland (and Kenneth Hagin)

"Word of Faith: is scriptural.

The preaching which teaches "You will have what you say" is based on Scripture:

Jesus made the point not once but twice in Scripture:

18Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21: 18-22)

Matthew wrote to the circumcision. Mark wrote to Gentiles:

"20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11: 20-26)

In Mark's account, Jesus first cursed the fig tree, then he cleared out the money changers and merchant who were selling in the Temple.

The first element in these two accounts -- the whither fig tree -- indicates that something has to be uprooted in our lives. The fig tree speaks of self-righteousness. After they ate the Forbidden Fruit, Adam and Eve covered their nakedness, their self-conscious shame, with fig leaves. Righteousness cannot be achieved by human effort; righteousness can only be received by God's grace, through the shedding of blood.

In order for God's faith to flow in a believer, he must rest securely in the grace of God, that all of His sins have been put away through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Bible outlines this principle many times in Scripture:

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37: 4)

God the Father delights in mercy, in grace, and not in sacrifice, or the works which men do in order to establish a right standing with God:

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." (Psalm 40: 6 -- referenced in Hebrews 10: 5) Jesus is the body offered for us, and through His flesh the enmity between us and God the Father has been removed forever (Ephesians 2: 15)

and

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." (Micah 7: 18)

and of course:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6: 33)

Mark's Gospel is especially telling. Because Jesus shared those words before He died on the Cross, the told his disciples: "Forgive, or God will not forgive you." Because of Christ's death and resurrection on the Cross, we forgive  because we have been forgiven (Ephesians 4: 32). If forgiveness then is so completely manifested to a believer, then he should have no problem standing before God and asking for what he needs.

Man's greatest need, however, is righteousness, and this righteousness every believer keeps receiving as a gift (Romans 5: 17) of the Holy Spirit (Romans 14: 17).

Without righteousness, the perfect standing before God that all our sins are forgiven, then any other gift granted to us will inspire fears and suspicious instead of praise and worship.

When we are then freed from any temptation of trying to perfect ourselves or justify ourselves throughout our own actions, we then advanced boldly before throne of grace in time of need (Hebrews 4: 16), all of which is predicated on our resting in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ by grace through faith (Hebrews 4: 11; Ephesians 2: 4-8)

We need to know and believethe love of God before we can trust that He will come through for every need. The greatest gift that God ever gave humanity, His Son, cannot play second place to the needs and wants of man.

From my own experience, I Can share that all of the good things in my life seemed like ashes without the warm and eternal knowledge of God's love for me, in that He died for all my sins -- past, present, future -- and that He has my future covered and my past recovered. I need not fear that my sins will be uncovered, for in Christ they are blotted out and forgiven. This life is one of discovering all that good that is God.

Jesus first, last, and everything in between. Faith works through love (Galatians 5: 6) and this love is bound up in God, who has forever pardoned our sins and given us the life of His Son.

Rejoice in this wonderful gift, and indeed you will have what you say. In fact, He will give us beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3: 20)

In this sense, therefore, many prosperity preachers simply have not gone far enough in expounding the eternal, unsearchable riches of Christ. The more that we see Him, the greater our prosperity in this world:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

Questions from the Audience

One cannot fault the penetrating erudition of  the Beach City Republicans.

The questions which they offered to Kessler permitted us to reflect on the failures of 2012 and regroup for success in 2014.

One question posed whether Romney's Mormonism turned off voters and turned way his chances. Kessler dismissed that notion. The negative ads and the anti-wealth bias propounded in the media did more damage. The psychological distance between Romney voters hampered his influence, as well.

I asked for his insight on the widespread failure of conservative-centrist candidates in the South Bay and Long Beach. Gary DeLong, Bill Bloomfield, and Craig Huey faced diverse circumstances in their races to unseat incumbents or win new seats.

Bloomfield ran as an independent and outspent Henry Waxman by $6 million in the 33rd Congressional District race. The demographics were D-44, R-28, I-28. He lost 47-53.

Gary DeLong ran as a fiscal conservative, social moderate in the new 47th Congressional District, which included Long Beach and Northern Orange County. The demographics gave Dems an 11 point advantaged. DeLong lost 47-53.

Craig Huey, a Tea Party favorite, although he was not allied with the Tea Party, ran in a new swing Assembly District in the South Bay. He was fiscally and socially conservative. His opponent outspent him 4-to-1. The district had a mere 3 point advantage for Dems. Huey lost 47-53.

Money was not the issue. Social views were not the issue. What was the problem?

Kessler cut right to the core of the matter: the Republican Party is a bad brand.  A weak governor from 2003-2010, Arnold Schwarznegger did nothing about the spending problems. He refused to enact comprehensive solutions with a Democratic legislature.  Upon leaving office, he refused to endorse billionaire candidate Meg Whitman, whose business background did not engage voters. She spent millions of dollars, yet lost to Governor Jerry Brown by ten points.

Kessler pointed out that Republicans must advance experienced politicians for office. Businessmen are not faring well in California elections. Too many assumptions and not enough outreach is putting the Republican Party at a disadvantage in the state. I would add that Pete Wilson staunch anti-immigrant stance also hurt the California Republican Party, and therefore GOP operatives ought to reconsider soliciting his assistance in future elections.

Community leaders, not just private entrepreneurs, can spark a resurgence for the Republican Party in California, along with more outreach to minorities and women, along with a better appreciation for the financial hardships of struggling men and women in this country.

Kessler's Optimism -- Continued

The GOP can recover from the setbacks of 2012.

The Republican Party cannot assume that the United States is a "center-right" party. Townhall.com has documented that 40% of Americans consider them "conservative". That does not mean that they are registered Republicans. That does not mean that they will vote for the "more conservative" candidate if they believe that the two major candidates want to advance the power of the welfare state with minimal, non-committal guarantees of less spending and budget cuts.

Voters may be confused, liberalism is seductive, promising much, just like Obama 2008, but delivering very little, like the President during his first administration.

Republicans do not need to abandon their convictions. They should not relinquishing their stance on social issues just to win more votes from moderate-leaning constituencies. 59% of Americans are pro-life. A recent statistic also reports that abortions have declined by 5%. This trend is welcome needs, even though a dependency culture seems to be on the rise in the United States.

Because of the two crises of liberalism, Obama's political philosophy may collapse under the weight of its own successes. The incumbent has inherited his own problems: Afghanistan, budget deficits, rising national debt, domestic entitlement problems.

Conservatives do not have to change their views; they need to expand their outreach to Hispanics and blacks. Romney did better than expected with the youth vote in this country. There is room for improvement, not despair.

Minority issues are about class, not race. James Preston Allen, the alternative progressive editor of Random Lengths News, made the same argument in his latest editorial. Previous immigrant populations, like Italians, voted Democratic in previous generations. Now they are a  reliably Republican constituency.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Republicans have taken the reins of power in thirty states. The free-market reforms in these arenas will project the successes of limited government conservatism as a successful alternative to the federalized liberalism of Barack Obama. A rising crowd of GOP stars will run for President in 2012, with another open field among Democrats and Republicans for the White House. Republicans will have a string of prosperous outcomes compared to the sluggish economy and retarded recovery in the blue states. Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana, and even states with mixed leadership, like New Mexico, will promote Republicans of all colors and backgrounds.

The Crisis of Liberalism According to Kessler

In the middle of his talk with Beach City Republican, Kessler denoted the two crises which Liberalism will face in the near future:

1. Fiscal --  As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher quipped: "The problem with socialism is that it runs out of other people's money." The government can only transfer wealth, cannot create wealth. As the government gets larger, as the sources of revenue dwindle and the number of dependents increase. Liberal states in the United States are hemorrhaging under heavy debt and entitlement burdens. Red states which have advanced a polity of less government, lower taxes, and more local control are recovering more quickly.

The percentage of public spending has increased from 19% to 22% of the United States' GDP. With the spending spree that never ends, the ratio will increase to 25%, and transform this country into a European-like socialist state.

2. Philosophical -- Liberals have argued that right and wrong, truth and error, are relative. Kessler identified this core tendency in Obama's autobiography "Dreams From My Father." The President admitted at the beginning that he transformed specific individuals into hybrid accounts. He did not tell the truth about his life, exactly. Instead, he gave an idealized vision which would generate a glorious legacy for himself and his views. This loose relationship with the Truth should be enough to raise concerns with any prescient voter who expects an element of integrity from our leaders.

Obama was a confused young man, and he found some stability in the power to influence others. His community organizing days solidified his identity as a communicator who would stir up sentiment with lofty rhetoric, but no real policies.

As Liberalism under Obama advances its cause of expanding government, the state will have no justification beyond its own power. If there is no standard to legitimize the state, then what is "liberalism"? "Might makes right" is not a respectable political philosophy, but atavistic opportunism. Any self-respecting intellect who espouses such views will struggle with such an abominable result: Caliban looking in the mirror, and finding that the ugly truth of raw power fails as the source of security for man in a fallen world.

Charles Kessler's Cautious (not Cold) Comfort

November 15th, 2012

Charles Kessler, Professor of Political Science at Claremont-McKenna University, gave a cautiously optimistic appraisal of the 2012 Election aftermath for the Beach City Republicans.

In his brief introduction, Prof. Kessler shared that his major interests include the rise and fall of Liberalism in the United States. His new book "Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism" served as the focus for his discussion. Incorporating the basic tenets of Progressivism, its hostility to the Constitution, and the challenges it will face in the next few years, Kessler made a convincing case for Republicans and conservatives to restore the more permanent optimism of limited government, individual liberty, and free-market capitalism.

Setting the stage for the presidential politics of today, Kessler submitted that "modern politics" began in 1896, the election between William McKinley and William Jennings Brian. McKinley did not actively campaign across the country. Running his race from his front porch (he was looking after his sick wife) McKinley carried the country. Bryan's progressive impulses frightened voters. The split between Democrats and Populists also assured a Republican victory. Bryan's policies of "Free Silver" and "Worker's Rights" would have hurt commerce and the working class. McKinley soared to easy victory against the same candidate in 1900, only to be assassinated by a crazed Polish anarchist the following year.

President Obama's reelection is only the second incumbent in history to receive fewer electoral and popular votes (Andrew Jackson is the first). He did not receive a mandate. Instead, the country set back the same gridlock for two more years. The Republicans kept the House, the Democrats made gains in the Senate.

One bright note in the midst of Republican soul-searching, the party has gained control of thirty governorships, the largest number since the 1920's. Those states will demonstrate the salience of conservative ideals, including budget cuts, tax reform, and economic recovery.

2014 will be President Obama's sixth year in office, and historical the party in power does terrible. If the historical trends remain constant, President Obama has another shellacking in his future.

Despite Romney's negative stats with minorities and women, the former Governor 5% more of the independent vote compared to Barack Obama. The enthusiasm bounce with Republicans were counting on did not show up to vote. A record number of Republicans and white voters did not show up this year/

The Republican brand needs to be retooled and sharpened. Romney's campaign was comparatively weak. Members of the Beach Cities Republicans shared a similar sentiment before Kessler began his talk.

The Democrats had hoped to accomplishment a comprehensive voter realignment, putting an end to "the Reagan detour" of conservatism which had taken hold of the country in 1980. On the other hand, Obama's victory may inject the much needed refocusing of the Republican Party toward their core values, many of which were heedlessly abandoned during the Bush Administration of the Naughts ('01-'09).

Progressivism emerged under the Roosevelt (TR) Administration of 1901-1909. At its core, progressives believe that human nature is perfectible. The believe in an expanded welfare state that can make people moral. The United States Constitution, and conservatism in general, recognizes that human nature is fixed and subject to failure. Conservatism wants to maintain a limited government of enumerated powers, while liberalism promotes more government to meet the needs of all citizens. "Reactionary" groups like the Tea Party Movement want the federal government to return to its Constitutional roots and restore the legacy of individual liberty and free markets.

Administrative "Reform" in Mexico

Following the expulsion of the French in the 1860’s, political elites established a nation which reflected the dynamic political culture of peace and prosperity in the United States. The division of power between the states and the central government was a good start, but a legacy of limited government, natural rights independent of race, culture, or religious creed was never implemented.

Currently, instead of deregulating businesses and decentralizing state authority, outgoing President Felipe Calderon wants to change the name of his country from “The United States of Mexico” to “Mexico”. This slight change is in reality a major shift toward perpetuating the status quo of chaos and corruption dominant south of the Rio Grande. Federalism is an essential element of a free society, one which produces security and liberty in a country, yet the political class in Mexico keeps trying to expand the state at the expense of the citizen. As a result, Latin American citizens have migrated north for a country based on the rule of law, an open press, and proper redress in court.

Many more of them are not just looking for a better life – they are seeking safety. Over 40,000 Mexican citizens have died because of the violent drug wars among different cartels. This horrific statistic rivals the number of deaths in Afghanistan under American military supervision.

Drug lords have fired upon police stations, intimidated police chiefs, and taken over entire cities.Instead of drafting more laws, consolidating more power in Mexico City, and hiring more police officers, who are more prone to corruption, the United States of Mexico (with assistance from the United States of America) must discuss and implement the rapid decriminalization of controlled substances. Remove the profitability from the lucrative yet fatal drug trade, and peace and prosperity will proliferate in Mexico once again.

School Corruption in the South

As a resident of the South Bay in Los Angeles County, I was not surprised to read about the culture of corruption in South Bay schools in San Diego County.

Poway Unified already informed property owners of debt-busting hyperinflation from voter-approved bond measures. Now district leaders in San Ysidro and Sweetwater Union High School District are under investigation for bribery in connection with construction contracts. The politicization of public school administration has created rampant opportunities for spoiling the public purse for private gain.

As a cold consolation for San Diego residents, the same construction-corruption frenzy has swept Los Angeles-South Bay.

Beyond their suspect improvement of test scores (they banish struggling students into lackluster continuations schools) and retaliation against good teachers who speak up, Centinela Valley Union High School District appropriates millions of bond dollars toward a construction company whose campaign donations practically bought the election of the approving school board members. Local leaders have complained in the press and in court that the school district has arbitrarily knocked down historical landmarks in order to funnel a construction boomlet at Leuzinger High School.

Lennox School District put one assistant superintendent on leave for allegations of misappropriate funds. To the possible credit of the district, the assistant superintendent is a well-regarded member of the community who has worked in Lennox for decades. The head of the teachers' union suggested that he, like also every administrator in public education, was wearing too many hats. With all the rules and regulations that come with public appropriations, no wonder that many districts find themselves inevitably slipping into allegations of misuse. How can anyone keep track of all the paperwork?

Inglewood Unified has entered state receivership because of the corruption which has bled the district bankrupt. Like Centinela Valley, Inglewood Unified is synonymous with corruption, from superintendents who practically rule the district like dictators in a failed state, to the teachers who command little respect and even less authority over their classrooms, to the students who routinely return home with missing grades on their report cards because  half the teachers are long-term substitute teachers.

When will the voters, the press, and our leaders in California stop being surprised by the vagrant waves of corruption wiping out our schools?  Beyond the waste of taxpayer dollars and published allegations of crime, Government schools are hardly “public”. Local leaders have sporadic access to public records. Conscientious school board members cannot research district expenditures  

More charter schools, a voucher program, and fewer restrictions on homeschooling, plus the gradual demise of school boards and teachers unions, will end the vagrant corruption of the public trust in public education. At least federal authorities are investigating the corruption in South Bay San Diego, but only reforms which focus on expanding the power of choice for parents and students will ensure that school districts use their finances properly. Not the privatization of schools necessarily, but competition among schools will force districts to attract students.

With the breakdown of budgeting in Sacramento, with the ongoing financial hardships menacing school districts, public institutions will have no choice but to implement "free-market" reforms, or face further financial deprivation. All the legislating and state force cannot bring forth the necessary revenue, and corruption rampant will only expose and explode the problems exacerbating our schools.

Response to Liberman Letter in the Santa Monica Daily Press

In his letter to the Santa Monica Daily Press just after Thanksgiving Day, Mr. Andy K. Liberman chose to blame the victim once again for the ongoing, never-ending Middle East crisis: Israel.

I am deeply troubled that an apparently intelligent reader would indict the state of Israel's defensive military efforts as a "genocide of the Palestinian people."

The terrorist group Hamas, the same organization which the residents of Gaza democratically elected to be their leadership, have to this day enshrined in their charter the eradication of the Jewish state. They want to push Israel into the sea, kill all the Jews, then impose Sharia law on the whole earth. Those elected Islamic radicals in Gaza are the true purveyors of "Genocide", a virulent, violent government policy which indicates a systematic extermination of an entire people. It is a travesty for anyone to bandy around the turn "genocide" when describing the unfortunate deaths of innocents caught in the crossfire between a liberal democracy that wishes to defend itself versus a terrorist thuggocracy which is willing to destroy itself in order to destroy the other country.

Contrary to Liberman's unkind assertion, the Jewish state has reached out time and again not just to say but also to offer "Shalom" to the hostile Arab states in the region. In 2005, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon foolishly gave Gaza to the Palestinians as a goodwill gesture of "Shalom". Today, the Israeli citizens gaze at a terrorist state with kiyusha missiles aimed at them every day. Over and over, the terrorist groups, the same organizations which the residents of Gaza elected, continue to demand nothing less than the eradication of the Jewish State.

"All this havoc" which Liberman disdains is indeed about Israel's self defense and security, for the Gaza terrorists have fired the first missile first every time, and they should be blamed for the "droves of children dying." It is appalling that anyone would indict the Jewish state as an instigators of genocide, especially since Israel and the growing aliyah of Jewish people to the region is a result of the most dramatic and unspeakable genocide in history: the Holocaust.

One can only cry at such moral ambivalence.