Proverbs for Economic Sanity

Watching the current Debt Crisis debate is tortuous for any thoughtful person. Yes, there are real differences in how Democrats and Republican want to spend money - BUT there should be no differences on two goals - a balanced budget and a growing economy. What we have is political posturing, magical thinking and a contempt for Economics 101 and the good faith of the American people. In the tradition of King Solomon, considered the wisest man of his day (a claim I will not make!), I offer some proverbs to solve our current crisis:

Create a budget based on the real revenue of the previous year. If there is more money, decide ahead of time where it goes; if less, have the cuts ready.

We cannot be a warfare and welfare state. Declare victory, bring our troops home and have forces ready to strike at global terror threats from secure bases on land and sea.

Stop double and triple taxing the hard-earned wealth of Americans, here or abroad. No death taxes and lower the rate for foreign profits that have already been taxed overseas.

Begin a process of removing the thousands of agricultural subsidies that benefit huge agribusinesses and are no longer needed.

Eliminate the Department of Education.

Transform HUD and other agencies into efficient, decentralized catalysts for help and transformation instead of career paths for social science majors.

Cut defense spending and increase support for veterans. One less bomber means help for thousands of vets and less pork for Congress to give away.

Privatize all public pensions, with excellent regulations through the SEC and other agencies. Eliminate the special retirement benefits for elected federal officials and have them held to the same economic standards as all citizens.

Public employee unions should be able to bargain, but not hold taxpayers hostage to benefits they cannot afford. Bring all teachers and workers into Social Security and offer excellent private plans - just like the rest of the country.

Hold all government agencies accountable for best practices and have private-sector leaders offer insights on efficient methods and ethics.

Transform the IRS with a complete simplification of the tax code, and consider alternative ways of raising revenue.

Invigorate private/public partnerships for all kinds of infrastructure, with high standards, but honest bidding processes and a cap on "change orders" and lawsuits.

Stop sending tax dollars to colleges and universities for frivolous programs and lower the cost of education by demanding that teachers teach and students work.

Above all, create a balanced-budget process (with or without a Constitutional Amendment) that will unleash creativity and economic growth and allow us to start repaying our debt!

America's Founders and Today's Celebrities

On this Independence Day weekend we celebrate our freedom, remember a bit of history and eat wonderful food. All of this is good. Even the rather dour founder John Adams called for feasting and fireworks to mark the day the Declaration was ratified and signed by John Hancock (others would sign on August 2). As I consider the history, the contrasts between our founders and today's celebrity candidates are startling. Today's leaders have access to the finest information, excellent living conditions and communication organs undreamed of in the 18th century. Yet even a cursory comparison unveils the unparalleled genius of the founder's generation and the dearth of depth in our own. I am not deifying the founders - they were flawed and failed to confront the issue of slavery. They also struggled with hubris, image and vanity, warring constituents and competing agendas. But their breadth of learning - even among the unlettered - depth of thoughtfulness, humility before the Almighty and moral reflection stand in stark contrast to the narcissism and paucity of values characterizing much of our public discourse. Consider these contrasts:

James Madison is called the Father of the Constitution, examining 3000 years of sacred and secular history and adept in ancient and modern languages. Compare his irenic intellect with the sound bites of Carville or Gingrich.

Thomas Jefferson is the darling of the Left at times (excepting his ambiguities on slavery of course). But his most important work - our Declaration of Independence - reflects deep reverence for God, concern for natural rights, including personal and property rights, and economic liberty against the mercantile system. Compare this to the central planning economists and bureauocrats like Thomas Friedman who live in mansions while they dictate lifestyle to the American masses.

Many of the founders were clergy, but they defended the rights of others to dissent. Thomas Paine had little regard for traditional religion; however, he affirmed the important of personal responsibility and public virtue. Compare his Common Sense of 1776 with any writing of current Presidential candidates. Here is a freethinker unafraid of the world of ideas while today's Left cowers before Sharia-driven Islam and tries to remove all traces of the Judeo-Christian ethos from public life.

I am forever a hope-filled person. But I am finding it difficult to be hopeful about America's future with the current crop of candidates from both parties and the unreasonable posturing of our federal legislators. May I suggest that all in public life pause this weekend, read the Constitution, allowing the context of our founding to inspire courageous and creative action?

Where Have You Gone, Mr. O'Malley?

My beloved Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy today. Mismanagement and contentious divorce proceedings between the owner and his ex-wife have changed the team from a great icon of America's pastime to a sideshow unworthy of a Lifetime Network movie. This is a sad day for baseball and millions of fans.

This event by itself is a mere footnote compared to our budgetary, geopolitical and military crises. Billionaire owners and millionaire players live in a world detached for most of humankind, the majority of whom need more sustainable economies, housing, water and opportunities.

But this soap opera is more than a mere news item on ESPN or the E! Channel. It is a sign of our cultural disintegration and our loss of any sense of the common good. Let me add that I am not pining for "good ol' days" that never were, not am I making the former owners saints and the McCords the great sinners. The O'Malley family is still despised in parts of Brooklyn for moving the team to Los Angeles. The rich and powerful will always have drama surround them. What is lacking in current ownership is any sense of social ethic, any mooring that thinks of the fans or the game before themselves.

The moment the McCords could not reconcile their marriage, they should have invited Major League Baseball and potential owners to the table and worked on a transition plan that served the team. Instead, they have taken one of the most profitable franchises and made it a laughingstock. Chavez Ravine has gone from the most beautiful spot to watch a game to a dangerous place for opposing fans. Shame on you, McCord family. This is your doing and you cannot blame others. Greed wins the day and television watchers and ticket-holders who sustain the enterprise are left with little but vague hopes that Mark Cuban or another wealthy persona can come in and right the ship.

I am a proponent of free markets, natural pricing and a strong juridical system that will help enterprise be ethical while minimizing unneeded bureaucracy. This said, it is tragic to watch billionaires hold cities hostage while they squeeze tax money our of working voters for stadiums that many will never enter due to the high prices. I am apoplectic when I see players "re-negotiating" millions into more millions well before contract expiration. Yes, one should angle for the best deal; however, once signed, a contract should be honored and the player owes the fans and team her or his best. The unabashed narcissism is sociologically self-destructive as "each person does what is right in his own eyes."

We need you, Mr. O'Malley. We need leaders with business sense, an eye for opportunity and a heart for the community and customers. Owners, your risk deserves reward, but much of the reward of team ownership is offering fans great moments of athletic prowess, positive team spirit and a focus on developing players. Lost in all the Dodger drama is the game itself. I share with George Will the firm belief that baseball is America's game and the innumerable possibilities emerging from a single crack of the bat make it both cerebral and visceral in its delights.

Changing/Unchanging

Change is unsettling. Even in our hectic, global-internet world, we want some things to be stable. We hope we can keep our marriages and our friends, our church and community connections and perhaps our favorite barista! We enjoy hearing from fellow high school and college alumni and when we drive past old neighborhoods we instinctively look for landmarks of our history.

But changes come. Buildings are built and torn down. Institutions die and others rise. Friends move and drift away from our inner circles. Our elementary schools are now condos or parks. Even our faith communities change leaders and liturgies. By the time we have unwrapped our new computer or iPad, it is obsolete to those in the know.

Some other changes have far-reaching effects we can miss if we are not paying attention. Changing laws and regulations, soaring government (read:us) debt-loads and military adventures all point to a world in transition - and not all the changes are salutary.

Rather than lament today's changes, I want to encourage us that there are some things that last forever and are worth nurturing in all circumstances.

Authentic, humble and sincere faith in the Almighty will fortify us body, mind and spirit and help us be a source of stability for the displaced. Let's take time to be intelligent followers of our Lord and allow the the precepts of our tradition to become living practices.

Our marriages and family relationships are always worth nurturing and our openness to new friendships will not keep us from deepening old ones. Growing our businesses, churches and communities comes down to a simple query, "Do we have room in our hearts for a new friend?"

Our service to God and the world will reverberate long after we have left the a particular geography, job or even our earthy tabernacles. Encouraging and empowering others, opening doors for their success and partnering to change a situation for the better will last far longer than ambition, legacy-protection and self-promotion.

Faith, friendship and future blessing will endure after all the speeches are done and the systems change. In fact, focusing on the eternal will have maximum influence today.

Why Not?

"That's impossible! Never happen. Not is a million years. OK, not in my lifetime."

These phrases are uttered daily by well-meaning people. Change is hard. Changing long-held conscious and unconscious thinking is even harder. There are a few people temperamentally wired for change; however even these initiators of innovation have some habits that are hard to break.

If we are going to solve some of the economic, political and social problems of our era, we must welcome change, as long as the proposed ideas and actions are rooted in well-established values. We often confuse morality with modality, or purpose and method. Within ethical boundaries, there are multiple sound ways to achieve noble ends.

Here are some reasons change is vital right now:

• As most Americans see more than 30% of their earnings going to taxes, there is something wrong with GE paying no taxes.


• As Congress cries poverty as they manage social programs, perhaps they need to shed some perks and join the rest of the citizens in paying for health care and pensions.


• Colleges and universities need to rediscover the mission of professors and students learning together. Let's try to graduate more students debt-free instead of multiplying irrelevant courses.


• A good society takes care of those in need; however, most citizens in such a commonweal do not believe such help is a "right."


• A death tax on monies already taxed is foolish. Far better to give incentives for investing.


• We can drill judiciously and have private-public partnerships developing alternative energy sources. Look how far batteries have come in just a decade.


• Reformation of systems begins with reformation of self. A republic is only as strong as the virtues of its citizens.


• We can be honest and humble about history and hope without denigrating the achievements of our past and indoctrinating earnest minds with politically-correct but empirically untested formulae.


• Change is hard. There is, however, no virtue in stubbornness born of fixation on old methods.


• Unregulated capitalism and bureaucratic socialism achieve the same end: a few are enriched at the expense of most.

Why not change how we do things? From government services to business ethics; from education to social welfare - we can do better if we keep the good of all in mind. Why not? The only limiters are our fear and pride.