Louis R. Avallone

Category: Economy

  • Last Best Hope

    Last Best Hope

    It was the highest voter turnout in Great Britain in almost 25 years. In fact, more than 30 million British voters went to the polls last month and voted on whether Great Britain should withdraw from the European Union (or “EU”).

    What is the EU? Well, I’m glad you asked, because it wasn’t exactly what I thought it was, either. For starters, the EU is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. The idea began after World War II on the premise that countries that trade with one another are less like to war with one another. It then developed into a single market, and by 1999, 11 of the EU countries even adopted their own currency, the “Euro”.

    You see, even though Europe does not have a common language, culture, or value system, the “EU” nonetheless has its own, single parliament system of government, and sets rules for its member countries on everything from the environment, transport, and consumer rights.

    The trouble is, most Europeans don’t really know how it all works, or who’s in charge, and there’s no real sovereignty for these countries, as members of the EU. For example, under EU law, Great Britain cannot prevent anyone from any other EU member state from coming to live in their country. Their border is completely open, as result. And because the EU makes the laws – the voters in Great Britain don’t have much of a say so, at all.

    This is one of the many reasons that almost 72% of the British turned out to vote on the issue of withdrawing from the EU. Some see it as these voters wanting to “take back” their country, or restore their national identity. And if so, we would do well in the United States to do the same.

    After all, a nation is a group of people who share a destiny, and with that destiny, an identity. But this national identity needs pride, and a sense of affection that is expressed to the exclusion of any other allegiance. But because there is no common language, culture, or value system in Europe, is it really any surprise that the British saw the foundation of their nation eroding away – and wanted to do something about it?

    Did you know that only 54% of us here in the U.S. are very proud to be Americans? Compare that with only 33% of people in Germany, France, and Italy (all EU members) that say the same about their own country. These are countries who are clearly losing their national identities – and quickly. The result is utter failure.

    Just look at France or Spain or Greece: these nations are replete with worker protests, and are facing mounting financial difficulties, and unchecked immigration of unassimilated migrant workers, many who are openly hostile to their own host nation, demanding continued entitlement to unsustainable, state-funded social programs, and threatening the peace and stability of that nation.

    Margaret Thatcher once said that Europe is “a classic Utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a program whose inevitable destiny is failure: Only the scale of the final damage is in doubt.” Indeed, she was right.

    But none of this is new. Back in 2011, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted, “We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him.”

    Former British Prime Minister James Cameron said essentially the same in 2011, “(W)e have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.”

    Does this sound familiar? And while America’s shores once assimilated different cultures and religions into “one nation under God,” today the “great melting pot” in the U.S. means that traditionalists get thrown into the boiling kettle of liberal diversity. Before long, our own nation’s identity will begin to erode precipitously, just as those European countries are witnessing now for themselves.

    And similar to errors of those European countries, such as France and Great Britain, President Obama continues to express indifference, regarding our open border with Mexico, which continues to be plagued by cartel violence, drugs, and other forms of illegal smuggling, as well as illegal immigration and terrorism. In fact, the authority of state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law has been diminished under the Obama administration, as the federal government now largely abandons the prosecution of non-criminal illegal immigrants and allows them to remain in the U.S.

    Even dyed-in-the-wool liberals must see the parallels here with the European nations and the consequences of unchecked, unassimilated immigrants to one’s nation. The proverbial handwriting is on the wall.

    Unlike the British, we cannot withdraw from any EU-like organization to save our country. We are everything that our country has protect its national identity – and we must act before it is too late. There is simply no place for us to go because, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth”.

  • Finding the Right Words

    It’s important to avoid “stinking thinking”, as motivational speaker Zig Ziglar often said, which is when we allow ourselves to be gripped by negative thoughts and emotions, making us feel defeated, discouraged, and depressed. And “stinking thinking” can do that, indeed. Have you ever heard of the adage, “We are…what we think about?”

    In fact, how we speak to ourselves can be self-motivating and encouraging, or self-defeating and pitying. This is generally when folks remind us that it’s not what happens to us that matters – it’s how we choose to respond. Of course, the Bible tells us this also, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7).

    Now, of course, we’ve all asked a friend on the phone, or just about anyone in passing, “How are you?” Maybe it’s the clerk at the grocery store, or the server at a restaurant.

    Some folks will say, “Not too bad, thanks.” You know right away that these are the proverbial “glass is half-empty” type of folks – and you know it by the words they use. “Not too bad” implies that there is always something to worry about, in their mind, or nothing is ever quite right.

    Well, what if they said, “I’m fantastic, thanks,” instead? Likewise, you’d know this was the “glass is half-full” type of person – again, simply by the words they chose – whether they really were really doing fantastic, or not. And by responding, “I’m fantastic,” it suggests this is someone who has a positive attitude and tends to look for the silver lining, even in difficult circumstances.

    So as we begin 2017, and a new administration in Washington begins to take its place, our national mood, and the words we use to describe ourselves, as a country, will necessarily change, as well.

    President-elect Trump’s “self-talk” is very different from President Obama’s. Trump uses positive words like “great”, “terrific”, “fortune”, “thriving”, and “huge.” He also says America will starting “winning again” and it will be “beyond anybody’s expectations” and, “we are going to win so much, you will get tired of winning!”

    He compliments those who are successful as “truly great leaders”, he talks about the “tremendous potential” of our country. The day after he was elected, he reminded us all that “America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.”

    He’s seems to always characterize whatever he is doing, thinking, or working on as the “finest”, “smartest”, and  “greatest”.  He talks about how we need the “smartest negotiators”, or how he has built the “best hotels”, or why he celebrates those who are excellent and “most highly sought after”, and why we need to build “the strongest military that we’ve ever had.”

    By contrast, though, President Obama’s favorite phrases over the past eight years seem to be those phrases that include the words “can’t” and “don’t,” and in particular, the word “frustrating.” He talked about how there is real anger and “frustration” in our country. And he often says how “frustrating” it is because he hasn’t achieved everything in his administration, exactly the way he had planned. He’s been “frustrated” with Republicans, with the Tea Party, as well as anyone in small towns who clings to “guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.”

    Instead of “thriving” in your job, President Obama believes “at a certain point, you’ve made enough money.” If you started a small business in your home, and grew it into a terrific company, he surprised you by saying, “You didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Instead of growing the private sector of our economy beyond anybody’s expectations, President Obama was satisfied with it being just “fine”, surrendering to the belief that factory jobs moving to Mexico (like Carrier’s), are “jobs of the past” and “are just not going to come back.”

    Instead of talking about the tremendous potential of our country and taking responsibility as a leader, he still blames “the previous administration” for the economy, and for “less than loving Christians” who do not care enough for others. He appealed to the worst within us, saying his unpopularity is because “there’s some folks who just really don’t like the idea of a black President,” and that America has provoked terrorism because we’ve “meddled” in other countries. Instead of cheerleading for America as the “best”, he apologizes for us, instead.

    The truth is that how we talk to ourselves as a country is the loudest and most influential voice that we will hear. It can work for us, or against us, depending on the messages we allow. It can inspire us, or depress us, and the words we use make all the difference.

    Sure, we all can be guilty of “stinking thinking” at times, and that’s why, from time to time, we all need a “check-up from the neck-up,” in the words of Zig Ziglar.

    And one thing’s for sure: the election last November was our nation’s appointment for a “check-up from the neck-up” and America made a choice between two (2) visions: “winning” (optimism) or continued “frustration” (pessimism). As Winston Churchill put it, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

    May this new year be filled with opportunities for you and your family in which the difficulties might not seem all that difficult – and may you always find the “words” to say so.

  • Recently…

    Recently…

    Would you rather “feel” better, or “do” better? Your answer will tell a great deal about you, and may even help predict who will be elected our next President in November.

    You see, our brain circuitry is such that emotion overrides reason, and much more easily than the other way around. And while many voters think they are casting their vote based on their logical analysis of the issues, many really aren’t – at least not today, in our non-stop streaming, round-the-clock, always on, television, radio, and Internet news cycles.

    Because of the amount of available information to us on the issues, and the speed at which it is dispatched to us, there simply isn’t enough time in the day to analyze every new development or alert. Suddenly, then, our country is moving away from a cautioned, logical analysis of the issues, to a quicker, knee-jerk, emotion-based decision making process, instead.

    And if you said you would rather “feel” better, than “do” better, perhaps that is an indication that you’ve thrown in the towel, so to speak. Maybe now you’ve decided you won’t try keeping up with the constant barrage of breaking news and will move towards rely more on how a candidate, or an issue, “feels” to you, instead.

    It’s just a basic human principle, really. We like things that make us feel good. We avoid stuff that feels bad. Here are some examples of how emotion-based decisions are dominating our nation’s most pressing issues:

    You want to improve national security, but don’t want to engage in profiling all Muslims, or to turn away refugees coming into our country from Syria.

    You support the Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment, but you feel that increased gun control legislation must be passed in order to “do something” about the rising gun violence in our communities.

    You believe that universal healthcare, controlled by the government, actually reduces access and increases medical costs for millions of Americans, but you don’t want to deny medical care to anyone, or for anyone not to be able to get the medicines they need to feel better.

    You know that the unemployment rate always increases whenever the minimum wage is increased, especially among the poorest Americans, but you feel like everyone is entitled to a living wage, and the dignity of supporting your family.

    You believe in the freedom of religion, but you don’t feel it’s right for any business owner to refuse service to a customer because of their sexual orientation.

    You know the poverty rate has remained unchanged over the past 50 years in our country, even after spending $22 trillion, but you don’t feel right about any legislation aimed to cut entitlement spending because the poorest among us deserve a “hand up.”

    We could go on and on here. All of these examples represent impossible choices for many voters, and the difference is between doing what we know is better, or doing what makes us “feel” better.

    It makes us “feel” better not to profile and to welcome refugees who are suffering, but according to the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), we could “do” better if we did profile. In fact, a former DHS employee testified that the San Bernardino terrorist attack could have been prevented if the Obama administration had not shut down his surveillance investigation on the grounds that he was profiling Islamic groups.

    You may “feel” better to support new gun control legislation because “something” must be done, but study after study has shown that nations with the strongest gun control laws have substantially higher murder rates than those that do not. Chicago has the toughest gun control laws in the country, for example, and they have the highest violent crime rates, as well.

    You may “feel” better to support universal healthcare coverage, but since Obamacare was enacted, there are 31 million Americans who still can’t afford medical care (and won’t for the foreseeable future).

    You might “feel” better advocating for a “living wage,” but the recent increased minimum wage law in Seattle resulted in the loss of 1,000 restaurant jobs within a month following that wage increase.

    Again, we could go on and on here, comparing how we may “feel” with the actual facts. The question is, “How much damage to our country, or lost opportunities to “do” better, is this shift to “feeling” better costing us?”

    How many more laws will the “feel” better crowd propose, that overrule our personal freedoms, from the freedom to worship to our right to bear arms? How much more of our national security will be compromised, because of political posturing? How long will we continue to remain silent, as hard work continues to be replaced with greater and greater entitlements by those who want to “feel” better? How much longer will we allow the government to run our lives based on what they “feel” is best for us, instead of us running them?

    No, good decisions don’t always “feel” good – not at first, at least – but that sure doesn’t stop them from being the best ones, either. Happy New Year to you all, and may God bless America.

  • National Identity

    When the folks in Washington begin talking about increasing the number of Syrian refugees in our country by over 250% from last year, or raising that number next year to as many as 100,000, many Americans wonder how we will be able to afford spending as much as $1.6 billion on these refugees annually, when we have not yet addressed the record number of American families already living below the poverty level in own country, and the historic unemployment levels that continue to weaken our communities.

    Yes, I know. I shouldn’t be concerned with that because of what it says in the Bible: “For I was hungry and you never gave me food, I was a stranger and you never made me welcome…” However, it also says, “Anyone who does not look after his own relations, especially if they are living with him, has rejected the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” In other words, are we taking good care of our neighbors who already call this country their home?

    And before you start saddling up to ride that high horse you are about to ride off into the sunset on, please remember that the U.S. contributed nearly $500 million for humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees, just this past September alone, and that is on top of the $1 billion contributed last year – more than any other country in the world.

    Even five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken NO Syrian refugees in at all, saying that doing so would open them up to an increasing risk of terrorism in THEIR country. Isn’t that what our own FBI and Department of Homeland Security is warning us, as well?

    But in light of the recent terrorism in France, the most stark danger for most Americans is that the profile of the great majority of Syrian refugees to this country do not (will not) meet the profile of the typical refugee family, as was revealed during testimony before a Congressional hearing last month. Instead of family members, more of these refugees are “young, single, males”. 

    And to add to that: The FBI director and the Homeland Security Secretary have admitted that there is not a system in place right now to properly screen and conduct background checks on these refugees, and soon we will have a whole new set of problems to deal with in our country, as a result.

    There have always been refugees, and the U.S. has always given them sanctuary. Times are different today, and at the root of this Syrian refugee matter is the erosion of national identities around the world, especially in Europe, where assimilation has been difficult.

    In fact, as early as 2011, French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted, “We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him.” British Prime Minister James Cameron said essentially the same, “(W)e have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.”

    And while America’s shores once assimilated different cultures and religions into “one nation under God,” today the “great melting pot” in the U.S. often means only more political correctness. Before long, our own nation’s identity will begin to erode precipitously, as well, just as those European countries are experiencing now for themselves.

    And similar to the errors of those European countries, such as France and Great Britain, Obama continues to express indifference, regarding our open border with Mexico, which continues to be plagued by cartel violence, drugs, and other forms of illegal smuggling, illegal immigration, and now, he wants to increase the number of refugees in this country by 250%.

    Even dyed-in-the-wool liberals must see the parallels here with the European nations and the consequences of unchecked, unassimilated immigrants to one’s nation. The proverbial handwriting is on the wall.

    You see, a nation is a group of people who share a destiny, and with that destiny, an identity. The truth is that this national identity needs pride, and a sense of affection that is expressed to the exclusion of any other allegiance. This is the foundation of nation building. As it erodes, so will the nation. This is why it is abhorrent that Obama is not interested in American pride, or in “America winning,” as he recently said.

    Mr. President, we believe that America is exceptional, but not because of what it does or what you have to say about our country.

    It’s exceptional because of what it believes. And that is why, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth”.

  • The Shepherd Tends His Flock

    The Shepherd Tends His Flock

    Pope Francis is only the fourth Pope to visit the United States. As he visits Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia, the crowds who come to see him stretch for as long as the eye can see. Many say that millions will crowd out one another to merely catch a glimpse of the Pope because our country, as well as across the world, are starving for spirituality. In fact, Mother Theresa once said that the poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty – one of spirituality, adding that “there’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”[br]

    After all, Jesus had said the same, saying, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty….” And it is perhaps this point that explains why so many millions, even those who are not of the Catholic faith, will get up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, or travel thousands of miles, if only to be in the presence of the Pope.[br]

    And as Catholics, we believe that whenever the Pope teaches a doctrine on faith or morals, and asserts his official authority as leader of the Church, he is to be held infallible, or otherwise incapable of error. But when the Pope makes statements about what many feel are political matters, and not of faith or morality, many say that the Pope is still infallible, and should not be questioned, especially by Catholics.[br]

    Recently, the Pope advocated for the U.S. to open its borders to refugees from around the world, saying, “When the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and the errors of the past.” Is this a truth? Or is that his opinion?[br]

    Surely he knows that 80% of our population growth is already from immigrants that are in our country, and we spend $113 billion on the effects from illegal immigration, and that we’ve even set-up sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants by immunizing them from the laws of our very own country.[br]

    And surely he knows that our country is nearly $20 trillion in debt, and that unchecked illegal immigration has continued to overcrowd our schools and made learning more difficult for our children, since we know that smaller schools tend to have higher attendance and graduation rates, less violence, higher grades, and test scores.[br]

    I’m sure he knows that continuing to allow illegal immigration to grow chaotically, without a plan, means that our nation’s ability to care for the sick, regardless of their citizenship, will continue to decline, as hundreds of hospitals are now closing or reducing treatment services because the uninsured number of illegal immigrants continues to grow. The average wait time in a California emergency room, for example, is now 4 hours (and growing).[br]

    When he blames the Syrian refugee crisis on the “the god of money” or on a “bad, unjust” socio-economic system, but doesn’t comment on the Islamic State that has now taken over half of Syria, a third of Iraq and is expanding out into Gaza, Libya and Afghanistan – is this a truth, or is that his opinion?[br]

    He has criticized global leaders for their failure to combat climate change. But is it his opinion that the earth is warming, or it is a truth? Surely he knows that in 2014 there was record ice in Antarctica, record snowfall, record cold, and that the oceans are rising much less than predicted (95% less). Surely he know that nature produces much more CO2 than man, and that 99% of scientists don’t believe in man-made global warming.[br]

    Despite this all, how can we question the Pope if he is infallible? This illustrates the common confusion between infallibility and imperfection. After all, there are many Popes that even disagree with one another. Infallibility does not make a Pope’s private, theological opinions become “truth”. He learns the “truth” as we all do – through careful study. His infallibility, according to the Catholic Church, applies to “solemn, official teachings on faith and morals.”[br]

    Whether you believe or not that the Pope is infallible on matters such as immigration or global warming, we simply cannot have it all. Life is a series of trade-offs. You can’t have all of the joys of having children, and then have lots of time for yourself, or your career. You can’t eat poorly, and then have good health. You can’t speak up and remain silent.[br]

    So when the Pope offers his comments, surely he also expects us to consider there are trade-offs to achieve the great works we are called by God to accomplish, such as extending mercy to those who are suffering and coming to our country, while making sure we have a sustainable system in place to transition them from pain to prosperity.[br]

    After all, we are not called to merely accept our circumstances, but to change the things we can change. As Pastor Joel Osteen wrote, “You were not created to just get by with an average, unrewarding, or unfulfilling life. God created you to leave your mark on this generation.”[br]

    And we can do that. The path we take to do so may be different than Pope Francis imagines today in his speeches, but I’m sure he won’t mind how we do it – not because it may reveal his infallibility – but because it reveals the teachings of Christ truly are.

  • Trying Times

    Trying Times

    “THESE are the times that try men’s souls,” begins an essay by Thomas Paine, written back in 1776, as he sought to express in plain words a compelling vision for a new nation which believes that each of us are endowed by our Creator with “certain unalienable Rights”. He wrote this essay during a most challenging time for the Continental Army, which had suffered countless and mounting captures, and casualties, in the depths of winter, and under the merciless attack of the British war machine.

    We also seem to be living in merciless times today that “try men’s souls,” don’t we? Last month, for example, our state mourned the loss of three law enforcement officers who were all killed in the line of duty. Our nation has learned that the dismemberment of millions of unborn babies, and the sale of those pieces and parts is not only legal, but is publicly financed, as well. In Lafayette, we witnessed a man open fire in a movie theater, and kill 2 innocent people. In Tennessee, 4 marines were ambushed and murdered at a recruiting office simply because they were soldiers. In Virginia last month, we saw a disgruntled employee murder two of his co-workers, on live television, in wanton disregard for the value of human life.

    We’ve lost control over who is coming into our country, as the drug cartels and human traffickers flourish, and the number of illegal immigrants have grown to over 12 million, costing our country $113 billion per year. We’ve even established “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants, where federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel are prevented from enforcing federal immigration laws – often releasing violent criminals back into our communities.

    Our national debt has doubled since 2008 and there are more Americans receiving food stamps now, and more Americans unemployed, than at any time in our nation’s history.

    Terrorists are taking control of cities in Iraq and leaders in Iran chant “Death to America”, even as we capitulate in our opposition to Iran achieving nuclear capability.

    North Korea is building a nuclear arsenal, Russia has flexed its military muscle by invading the Republic of Georgia and Ukraine. China is modernizing its weapons with fighter jets, developing hypersonic missiles and building ballistic missile submarines.

    Yes, these are indeed “times that try men’s souls”. We have nearly 20 men and women campaigning right now to become President of the United States, promising to resolve many of these issues for us. Meanwhile, voters are wringing their hands, and wondering if it’s too late to turn our country around.

    But we’ve tried this before, haven’t we? In 2008, Americans believed in “hope and change”, and ended up with neither. At the time, Americans were yearning for someone to lead them, and many projected onto (then) Senator Obama all of their private hopes of what a President should be. When he was elected, he said we’d be able to “provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless”. He said it would be the moment when we “secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth”, and “when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.”

    None of this happened, of course. But rather than blame any person, or party, or the economy, or even bad luck, I say that there is no one to blame but ourselves, because until we change as a people, we can’t expect our country to change because we elect a handful of elected officials every 4 years with nothing more than good intentions on their resume.

    The famous Zig Ziglar once said, “Building a better you is the first step to building a better America.” And he was right.

    For example, when was the last time that you read a book? It’s often said that the difference between where you are today and where you’ll be five years from now will be found in the quality of books you’ve read. Where will we be in 5 years if 50% of U.S. adults today cannot read an 8th grade level book, and 1 out 3 Americans never even pick-up a book after they graduate highschool – or college.

    Instead of reading, we spend nearly 2 hours everyday on social media, and almost 6 hours per day in some form of leisure activity, such as watching television. It should be no surprise that nearly 75% of Americans can’t say why we fought the Cold War, or why 50% of us cannot name all 3 branches of government.

    And although we were founded as a Christian nation, a recent Gallup poll revealed that a majority of Americans consider “being faithful to my religion” as one of the two least important things that matter in their lives.

    To restore our nation to greatness, there is no time to waste, and further distance from God has only made things worse. There is no one from the government riding in on a “white horse” to save us. That’s been tried, many times. This time, you and I are it.

    In the words of Les Brown, “You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.” And unless we change as a people first (our habits, routines, etc.), then neither will our country. The question is, are you willing to change, grab life by the collar, gut this out, grow yourself, and turn our country around – or are you merely willing to complain about it?

     

  • Knowing Better

    Knowing Better

    Being informed today about current events is both easier, and more difficult, than perhaps at any time in our nation’s history. While our access to information from various sources is growing more expansive, we have increasingly less time available to give thoughtful consideration to any of it – not to mention discern fact from fiction.

    Many of us are working longer hours to make ends meet and reading the news is less of a priority when children have their homework to finish, baths to take, and the checkbook still has to be balanced.

    So last Sunday, when I read Prentiss Smith’s column on this editorial page, where he attempted to simplify the thought process for black voters this fall by reminding them that voting for Republicans is analogous to voting for racists, I got angry.

    I got angry because it’s a lie, and because history is filled with examples of lies that have oppressed the human spirit, in an attempt to seize those rights that were granted unto us only by God – and not by government. But as Hitler’s propaganda minister understood, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” And this is the case when it comes to Democrats.

    Prentiss knows better that Republicans enacted the civil rights laws in the 1950’s and 1960’s, over the objection of Democrats. He knows that even though Democrats are considered more caring and sympathetic to the plight of the poor, it has been the Democrat-led welfare programs over the past 50 years, which have virtually destroyed the black family, and the black community.

    He’s aware that before these welfare programs began in 1965, only 22% of black children were born into single parent families, but that after these Democrat-led programs began, the illegitimacy rate in the black community tripled to almost 70%. He knows too this sent millions of black families into poverty, since the poverty rate for single-mother families is nearly five times more than the rate for married-couple families, not to mention that boys born to these single-mothers (especially who didn’t finish high school) are twice as likely to end up in prison, as well.

    He knows the statistics back then show that the unemployment rate among young black men was not only lower than it is today, before these welfare programs were enacted, but that it was nearly the same as the unemployment rate for whites.

    And he knows that today the race hustlers in the Democrat Party are still manipulating the black community, even as the unemployment rate for blacks continues to balloon under this administration – an unemployment rate that is twice as high as whites, and almost as much as the unemployment rate of Asians and Hispanics combined.

    And he knows that Washington is marginalizing the black community more each day by allowing more illegal immigrants to flood the market, reducing wages and employment opportunities in the black community (not to mention taking their votes for granted) because there are simply not enough low-skilled jobs to go around for both blacks and illegal immigrants.

    Despite these facts, the lie persists that Republicans are racist and therefore (according to Prentiss) need to find a way to broaden their appeal to blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc.

    I disagree. This pandering has gone on for too long now, and our nation has to only political correctness and trillions of dollars of debt to show for it. It has divided us as a country, and is one of the reasons that Americans are frustrated with our political party system in the first place, and are registering to vote as “no party” instead. Republicans sounding like Democrats will have the same destructive effect on the black community that Democrats have had all these years.

    So, no, the Republican Party does not need to talk to minorities as minorities – we ought to be talking to one another as Americans, demanding results, instead of more rhetoric, and planning for the long-run, instead of merely how to win elections.

  • The Fixer

    The Fixer

    We all know the “fixer”. That’s the person in almost everyone’s life who tries to make sure that everyone is happy – or that no one is disappointed. It’s the person in your life that intervenes whenever something is wrong, and tries to make peace wherever there is conflict. In fact, maybe you’re a “fixer”, yourself.

    We tend to vote for “fixers”, too. Our government is filled with them. These are the candidates that promise everything to everyone. The ones that promise to reduce our national debt, even as it has doubled since 2008. The ones that promise to decrease income inequality and poverty, even though there are more Americans receiving food stamps now, and more Americans unemployed, than at any time in our nation’s history.

    Most times, “fixers” are not bad people – just misinformed. They’re people pleasers. And people pleasers have been around a long time. In fact, Rome’s greatest orator, Marcus Cicero, received this campaign advice from his brother in 64 B.C: “Candidates should say whatever the crowd of the day wants to hear.” That advice is equivalent to our modern-day, quintessential political correctness.

    But the political correctness has gotten out of hand. You see, we can’t even ask someone from another country, “Where are you from?” these days for fear of them feeling you are calling them a “foreigner”. Or saying that “America is a melting pot” because that could be considered racist in that you are denying a person their own racial/ethnic experiences. Or expressing that you believe “the most qualified person should get the job”, because that might be taken that minorities are given extra, unfair advantages because of their race. Or saying that “Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough,” could be offensive to some because they might think you are saying the poor are lazy and/or incompetent, and just need to work harder.

    And it’s getting more ridiculous by the day. In New York City, Mayor de Blasio just signed a law that will prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal record prior to any job offer. Of course, it is already illegal to not hire someone based solely on their criminal convictions (unless they pose a clear threat to persons or property), but under the new law in New York City, businesses can’t even ask any questions to assess that threat until AFTER they offer the applicant the job. Really?

    Apparently, our court system wants in on the “fixing” of things too because last month the U.S. Supreme Court “fixed” Obamacare (for a second time) by allowing federal subsidies in all 50 states, even in states that did not set-up health insurance exchanges – and even as Obamacare is failing. The Congressional Budget Office now expects that 10 million workers will lose their employer-based coverage by 2021 and that there will be 31 million uninsured under Obamacare, up from its 23 million forecast made in 2011. Unbelievable.

    Another recent example of our government “fixing” something are the new proposed rules from the Department of Labor (introduced last month), affecting “exempt” workers and overtime pay. According to the Department of Labor’s website, the new rules are intended to “transfer income from employers to employees in the form of higher earnings”. This “fix” could not come at a worse time for businesses in our country, since businesses are shutting down at a higher rate today than they are being opened up, which is the first time this has happened in over 35 years, shuttering future job growth now, as well.

    We could go on and on, but the bottom line is that our government cannot “fix” all things for us. Government cannot make us content, make us feel respected or accepted, confer achievement, build our self-esteem, or eliminate life’s inevitable ups and down.

    Despite how much politicians may care about others, they cannot keep anyone from experiencing tough times, mainly because our happiness (or unhappiness) depends on our own actions, and not the hopes or wishes of any government, regardless of how many laws they pass to step in and “fix” this or that – or to make sure everyone is happy.

    “Fixing” our problems by being politically correct, or being all things to all people, has not worked, and perhaps if we stopped trying to “fix” everyone’s problems, we could solve our most important ones for good.

  • All In The Family

    All In The Family

    He was well-intentioned enough, in his explanation, as this well-known member of our community called me Thursday evening before the vote to discuss the election. “We must pass this tax renewal for the Caddo Parish school system,” he urged, “to make a difference for the children and the future of our community,” he added, as the passion in his voice grew more palpable with each syllable he spoke. He believed that spending an additional $108 million in tax dollars, to improve the physical conditions of our school buildings and the teaching environment would lead to improved educational outcomes, especially for disadvantaged students, who need it the most.

    But the facts don’t seem to bear that out because even when schools of disadvantaged children are well-financed with new facilities, it’s the conditions outside of the classroom (i.e parenting, poverty, homelessness, etc.), which consistently produce the widest disparities we routinely see in educational outcomes. For example: only 2 out 3 Caddo Parish high school seniors graduated in 2014, in a school system that spared little expense to educate them – spending $480 million last year, or $12,000 per student.

    But just as we have spent billions of dollars on food stamps and welfare, Medicaid, Head Start – you name it – without any change in the poverty rate over the past 50 years, our spending more money on education will not change the quality of our children’s education unless, and until, we change the quality of our children’s parents first.

    That’s a tough one, though, I know. For some, it seems an impossible task, since it’s much easier to talk about increasing teacher salaries in order to attract better teachers, or to reduce class sizes, or to supply the children with new technology. It’s easier to blame the school administrators for not holding teachers accountable for poor test scores and below-average graduation rates, than to address the 800 lbs. gorilla in the room: parenting.

    That’s tough also, though, because we have an epidemic of children being born to unwed mothers (40% and rising). Aside from that, the poverty rate for these single-mother families is nearly 5 times more than the rate for married-couple families. And boys born to single-mothers (who didn’t finish high school) are twice as likely to end up in prison, as well.

    You see, poverty is the most significant predictor of academic success, bottom-line (although it wasn’t so much so prior to the 1960s, but that’s another story for another day).

    You see, spending $108 million, or $800 bazillion, on new schools won’t improve a single child’s education whose parents’ least concern is a designated homework time because they are homeless (there are more than 1 million public school students in the U.S. that are homeless). What if you are part of the 33% of children in the U.S. that live without the presence of a father? Children achieve higher education levels with an involved father early on. Or if you don’t have a designated dinner time because you don’t know where your next meal is coming from (more than 1 out of every 4 children in the U.S. is enrolled in the food stamp program now, which is more than ever before).

    Or if there is no structure at home and you’re shuffled from place to place, because your mom is on crack, and your dad has disappeared or is in jail (research shows for every 2 moves in a school year, a child essentially loses that year of learning altogether).

    Or if there’s no one to read to you at night, and build your vocabulary by sounding out the sounds that words make (many children who enter kindergarten without pre-reading skills in place simply never catch up).

    How can a child be expected to perform academically as well as other children who don’t face those challenges? It’s tough.

    The federal government, though, is responding by funding public boarding schools, in selected cities, at a cost of $35,000 per student, per year. These at-risk children live at school for 5 days a week, and they get to go home to their parents on the weekends. Certainly, that’s one way to “fix” the conditions outside the classroom that plague academic performance, and turn it around.

    But with 16.4 million children in the U.S. living in poverty, paying for this “fix” and enrolling them all in public boarding schools would be cost prohibitive ($574 billion per year). So, how about we just fix the real issue, and find a way to make better parents, instead, and then make a better school system, in the process?

    I believe voters really said “no” earlier this month to spending $108 million for new school construction because they realize we don’t have a general education crisis in our country, or a revenue issue here in Caddo Parish. Instead, we have a parenting crisis that is at the root of our education system and that spending money on new classrooms, carpet, and fresh paint simply won’t fix any of that – not at all.

    If we want to improve education system and the future of our community, we must somehow start at the beginning, and with something that money cannot buy: the family. After all, in the words Frederick Douglas, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

  • Running From Office

    Running From Office

    The dictionary is of no real help when looking to define “public servant”. Jesus Christ was a public servant and it was through humility, personal sacrifice, taking risks, and maintaining a vision, that he served others best. It’s a style of leadership based on giving without the need for recognition. And it may be disappearing altogether.

    Consider the service of Judge Charles Scott to our community since 1973, when he first served as an assistant city attorney and special assistant district attorney for 7 years, and then 26 years on the bench as a city judge and Caddo Parish district judge, and 7 years of service as district attorney. His loss is a devastating one for our community, and there are hardly any words that can express this sadness for the generations of this community he has served.

    It is fitting, to call to mind the saying, “They don’t make men like him anymore”. And they don’t. In fact, a recent study of 18-29 year olds by Harvard University showed not only are young people disgusted with politics, and are skeptical of its usefulness to make meaningful change, there is also now a reluctance of good candidates to run for public office.

    This is especially prevalent among young people, where only 1 out of 3 believe running for public office is honorable, and even fewer feel that the idea of working in some form of public service is appealing to them – and the numbers show it. In 2012, for example, nearly half of state legislative districts in our country did not have any competition from both major political parties, marking the lowest level of competition in over 10 years.

    So, from where will the next generation of public servants be inspired to serve our communities, when only 1 in 3 believe running for public office is honorable?

    That’s hard to say because our electorate increasingly is more interested in whether Kim Kardashian and Kanye West flew coach on a recent trip to Armenia, than they are to learn more about politics, since that requires a substantial investment time and energy, and yet offers few immediate benefits – particularly to the voter who is both disgusted by politics and believes their vote is unlikely to affect the outcome anyway.

    For example, did you know that only 2 in 10 Americans know that there are 100 Senators in the U.S. Senate? Or that only 4 in 10 of us know that there are 3 branches of government (and also can name each of them)? Or that 21% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth? How about that more than two-thirds of Americans don’t know the issue involved in Roe v. Wade? Or that 25% of Americans can’t name the country that American fought and won its independence from?

    It was Thomas Jefferson who explained that, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be”.

    That’s because knowledge is freedom in a democracy, and for our communities to attract the brightest talent to public service, we must have a more informed electorate. Fewer engaged voters will eventually reduce the pool of talented candidates to a handful of those barely worth keeping in office at all.

    Consider the election coming up on May 2, regarding a bond initiative that would increase the debt of the Caddo Parish School System by $108 million to over $250 million, and which also renews a tax on property owners that generates $3 million in annual revenue for the Biomedical Research Foundation.

    Now there’s no doubt that folks are busy these days, and working longer hours to make ends meet. In those cases, especially, it’s hard to become well-informed on property taxes or government spending. It’s just not a priority when the children have their homework to finish, baths to take, and checkbook needs to be balanced.

    But we can’t just show up and check the box, without the same level of careful preparation and practice that a musician requires to play a musical instrument well, or a pilot needs to fly an airplane, or doctor acquires before performing a surgery. But unlike the unprepared pilot or doctor, being in the voting booth, and unprepared (or not informed enough) to vote, can have far more tragic consequences.

    While it may be true that how any one of us votes may not matter much, it is how WE vote together, though, that has consequences. Our votes can encourage businesses to relocate to our community, or cause them to leave, through the taxes we vote for or the quality of candidates we elect. We can improve the education of our children, and increase the quality of our workforce, or we can spend millions of dollars on policies and programs that will do anything but that.

    We can overregulate in some areas, and underrepresent those who need representation the most. We can allow special interests to exploit the least among us, or we can protect liberty and justice for all. It’s still “we the people”.

    No, they may not be making men or women exactly like Judge Scott any longer, but we can grow folks more like him to serve the public as he did, through developing a more informed electorate – or, through our apathy, we can simply watch more good men and women run from office, instead.