Happy Anniversary!

We designated conservatives must be a light in the darkness, wherever we may be.

I live in a one-party neighborhood in a one-party community. All local elections are settled in the Democratic Party primary, not in the general election.  The last Republican to hold local elective office here was booted out more than 20 years ago.

Am I discouraged? No. I hold my candle of conservative values high. My Democrat friends and neighbors know what I believe, and respect me for them, because I share my beliefs in a respectful way. More importantly, the light of this candle in the darkness is reflected in the eyes of those of my neighbors who are still in-the-closet, afraid of what our liberal neighbors will say if they’re exposed as conservatives.

If we designated conservatives don’t stand up for our values, who will?

With those words and a “Welcome to the home of a designated conservative of the Republican Party” this blog was born one year ago today…

Michigan’s Scozzafava (R)-Lite Choice for Governor

UPDATE 3:

The Detroit News has weighed in on this topic with an article entitled, “Students’ Behavior at GOP Event Questioned.” Here’s an excerpt:

Questions continue to be raised about the behavior of college students at the state Republicans’ leadership conference on Mackinac Island with some asked to vow to vote for their candidates or risk losing their rooms and others charging that underage drinking was rampant.

Gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder has been accused of capturing the top spot in an exclusive Detroit News/WJR NewsTalk 760 AM straw poll during the Sept. 25-27 gathering by having students sign a letter vowing to vote for the Ann Arbor businessman in the poll or risk losing the free hotel rooms and island ferry rides.

Some of the hundreds of bright-green clad students who Snyder brought to the island were asked to sign a “contract” which reads, in part: “I have read the above and understand that my staying in a Rick for Michigan sponsored hotel room and traveling on a Rick for Michigan ferry is contingent upon voting for Rick Snyder in the straw poll.”

Snyder campaign spokesman Jake Suski said the form was created to help ferret out “infiltrators” from other campaigns who were trying to get a free trip and didn’t support Snyder.  He also noted the island was swarming with volunteers sent by other candidates, lobbying firms and the Republican Party.

“To come up with our group and not to support Rick or to support other candidates would have been…

An Example of Courage and Leadership…

In case you’ve forgotten that one person can change the world, the Designated Conservative offers the following fun clip from You Tube:

BVos – My First E-Critic

So the Designated Conservative leaves a comment on a state government blog because the title of the blog posting (“Downtown as a Collective“) caught my eye.  As an American who grew up during the height of the Cold War, terms like “collective” and “social and communal equity” raise Red Flags.  When such terms are applied by state employees to otherwise capitalistic enterprises like downtown businesses, I felt I needed to leave a comment.  

You can read the original post and my comments here.

What do I find in response?   This…

President Obama vs. Somali Pirates – Point to the Pirates

The real story of Obama’s decisionmaking with the hostages off Somalia

UPDATE:  …and our first confirmation of the accuracy of the excerpt below comes from Joseph Farah at WorldNetDaily.  Click here to read his story entitled “How Obama actually delayed pirate rescue:  SEAL team deployment stalled 36 hours, hampered by limited rules of engagement.”

ORIGINAL POSTING:

The following stuff came across this designated conservative’s RSS feed this morning, courtesy of Atlas Shrugs, floppingaces.net, something called baylorfans, and exlibhollywood.  

As with anything bubbling up from the blogosphere depths, take it for what it is….  

Unfortunately, our mainstream media is as curious as a dead cat to ferret out the details as to why it took 4 days to reduce the Somali pirates to room temperature and restore the Maersk Alabama Captain’s liberty.  The scenario outlined below seems more plausible to me than the one put forward by CNN/Obama Administration/MSNBC:

Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:

Reaganomics Redux 2010 – Newt’s Prosperity Plan

The Designated Conservative has been enjoying a little light bedtime reading this evening from Newt Gingrich:  

12 American Solutions for Jobs and Prosperity

Washington solutions of more money for more government, more power for politicians, more debt, and more bureaucrats will not lead to real growth in jobs and prosperity.

We need a clear and decisive alternative that creates jobs and rewards work, saving, and investment.

Payroll Tax Stimulus.

• With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
• A tax credit that offsets 50% of the payroll tax would put close to $1,500 in the pocket of the typical worker making $50,000, with the same amount going to the employer.

Real Middle-Income Tax Relief.

• Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
• Reducing the marginal tax rates for these middle-income earners would lead to income increases for middle-income workers, just as reducing excessive marginal tax rates for higher-income workers did, going all the way back to the Kennedy tax cuts of the 1960s.

Reduce the Business Tax Rate.

• Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.
• Owning or operating a business is hard and expensive. Our government should not make it harder and more expensive. Lowering the business tax rate would create and keep more jobs in America, instead of exporting them to other countries.

Homeowner’s Assistance.

• The housing crisis stems from the fact that there is an excess supply of housing. This abundance of houses on the market significantly decreased demand for housing and caused defaults to rise sharply.
• Reducing the existing supply of housing by providing a tax credit to responsible home buyers, reduces defaults by slowing price decline.

Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget.

• A government of the people, by the people, and for the people is one that is responsible with the people’s money.
• Restoring fiscal sanity and accountability to Washington also means eliminating wasteful pork-barrel spending. The budget process must be both honest and transparent, and spending should never be a result of insider connections in Washington.

No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud.

• The Government Accountability Office recently released a report that shows over 10 percent of Medicaid payments were improper in 2007, or $32.7 billion in one year. In just New York along, over $5 billion a year is wasted as a result of fraud.
• When government decides to spend our tax-dollars, we must demand honesty, transparency and accountability. Therefore, states must be required to adopt best practices, such as moving to electronic records, if they are to receive any taxpayer money.

More American Energy Now.

• We have more energy resources than any country in the world, yet we are sending billions of dollars every year to foreign dictators to meet our energy needs. That is bad for both our economy and our national security.
• We can begin to solve this problem by drilling for more of our own oil and gas.
• By making the transition to clean coal technology, we can utilize our vast resources of coal (27 percent of the world’s reserves), dramatically reduce carbon emissions, and become a worldwide leader in green technology.
• A Manhattan project to stimulate advances in renewable fuels and alternative energies will allow us to eventually produce safe, clean, efficient and inexpensive fuels here at home.

Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains.

• Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
• The current tax on capital gains constitutes double taxation, to which no American should be subjected. Already taxed on income, if an individual decides to save or invest his or her money then the government taxes it again.

Protect the Rights of American Workers.

• We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.
• Workers have had the right to a secret ballot since 1935, to ensure that they would have a vote free of coercive pressure.

Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley.

• This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups.  Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
• It has been six years since Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after the devastating accounting irregularities of Enron and WorldCom. While the intent of the law was to prevent corporate fraud, there is growing evidence that it has done more harm than good, and is undermining the venture-capital industry in Silicon Valley.

Abolish the Death Tax.

• The “Death Tax” is an unfair double taxation that hurts working families. The assets that working Americans earn or produce over their lifetime have already been taxed once.
• Not only does the “Death Tax” undermine savings and investment needed for small business growth, these taxes undermine the promise that hard, honest work will be rewarded.

Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure.

• This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.
• Though we often take modern transportation systems for granted, the development of effective transportation technology and infrastructure is one of the prime factors behind our individual and national prosperity.

In the midst of the news cycle filled with Obamanation and Noovoodoo Obamanomics, I’m grateful for a buoyancy of experience moment from an experienced Washington politician – reminding us designated conservatives about what actually has worked and will work again for our economy.  If you need more sanity, click here or get it directly from Newt’s mouth below:

Need more? Click here to get access to all future updates from the Designated Conservative.

Related Posts:  NOOVOODOO OBAMANOMICS

Leadership Starts Here

Because of my career path, I have spent quite a bit of time in management and leadership training workshops, and reading books on leadership.  I am not a born leader, and what skills I have gained in this area have been hard won.

One of my favorite authors in this area is Mr. Max De Pree, former CEO of Herman Miller Inc., a manufacturer of office furniture headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan near the Lake Michigan shoreline.  Leadership is an Art and Leadership Jazz are two of his bestselling books, which look at leadership in the business world from a unique perspective.  I highly recommend both books. 

Some of us truly are “born leaders,” with an innate understanding of how to lead, inspire, and bring out the best in others.  However, I firmly believe that everyone has the ability to develop leadership skills, to grow their understanding of leadership, and to serve in leadership roles when called upon to do so.  Let’s call these people “prepared leaders.”  

Recently, I witnessed an excellent example of “prepared leadership” in action at church on Sunday morning.

Our church has a lay leadership.  What that means is that members of our “ward” (our local branch of the church) are “called” (invited/asked) by the leadership of the church to serve as leaders in various positions, including the ward Bishop, Relief Society President, and the leadership of auxiliaries for youth and children.  Such “callings” are extended by church leaders after much prayer and pondering by the church leader who extends the call, and are considered to be invitations to serve extended by the Lord.

I have served in leadership positions, and have also witnessed the growth and increase in wisdom, compassion, and understanding that can come to a man or woman who accepts such an invitation to serve.  Typically, members are called for periods of a few years, so most local congregations have a depth of trained and experienced leaders in their ranks.

However, despite the church’s penchant for organization, sometimes “things happen.”  One of those moments came on Sunday during a special Sunday School meeting taught by our Stake President.

A “stake” in our church is akin to a “diocese” in the Catholic Church – the “stake president” is the leader over a group of a dozen or so local congregations.  He, like the leaders of the local congregation, is an unpaid volunteer called to the position for a period of five to eight years or so.

The typical Sunday School meeting starts with the “Sunday School President” (another lay leader) or one of his two assistants opening the meeting, making announcements, inviting a member to give the opening prayer, and then turning the meeting over to the teacher.  Due to a miscommunication, none of the Sunday School leaders were in the room when the meeting was scheduled to start.  

Upon determining this, the Stake President simply turned to a member of the congregation and asked if he would step in as the “acting” Sunday School President for the meeting.  The person agreed, and promptly led the meeting smoothly, as if he had done so many times.  A quiet moment of “prepared leadership” if there ever was one.

Interestingly enough, this person also happens to be another designated conservative, a fact I just now recalled – and one that may or may not be pertinent to this story.  I will leave that for you, the reader, to decide for yourself.

For me, it was a reminder of something I read in former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s book, “Leadership” - 

“As my own career progressed, I realized that preparation…was the single most important key to success, no matter what the field.  Leaders may possess brilliance, extraordinary vision, fate, even luck.  Those help; but no one, no matter how gifted, can perform without careful preparation, thoughtful experiment, and determined follow through.”

“Creating reasons for those who work for you to establish their own culture of preparedness is part of being a good leader.”

Was this Sunday School experience any sort of mighty miracle? – No.  Was it even a minor miracle? – No.  It was an example of how a culture of leadership, stewardship, and service prepares people to be able to rise above themselves in the service of others.  This is the way Jesus Christ established His church in the Holy Land, and the way he called His apostles and prepared them to be leaders in the Kingdom.  

The person who stood up and served as the impromptu Sunday School leader had been prepared though past callings and church experiences to step up and lead that morning.  I am grateful to belong to a church that values this culture of leadership, stewardship, and service; and I try to bring that same spirit into my work.  

As managers and leaders in our organizations, we should always be on the lookout for opportunities to serve those around us – and to provide opportunities for those that work for us to lead.  Everyone in the organization benefits when we do these things.