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Measure the Cost

Measure the Cost

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March 19th marked an unusual anniversary for me.

Eighteen years ago on that very day, I drank my last drop of alcohol.

Yes, it’s true.  I am a tee-totaller.  But before you declare me intolerant of those who drink, please hear my full story and how I came to the conviction of no longer drinking.

I never was a big drinker.  I really didn’t like to put any substances in my body which would have inhibited my intellect or athletic abilities.  I never tried any illegal drugs, and I especially abstained from alcohol when I was playing football.  (I played high school and college ball.)

However, in the off-season, even when it was not legal for me to do so, I would drink a beer or two.  Gin and tonics were my drink of choice in college.  As an adult, I acquired a taste for cheap champagne.  When I got married, I learned about the refreshing taste of Long Island Iced Tea, a mixed drink with five different shots of alcohol.  I “celebrated” my successful defense of my doctoral thesis by drinking two of these concoctions, but I don’t remember much of the “celebration.”

Still, I was not given to drunkenness very often when I was still drinking alcohol.  There were periodic lapses in judgment, in that regard, but I generally maintained my self-discipline.

I maintained such [...]

Measure the Cost

Reducing The Cost Of Health Care – For Real

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That title is not out of a fiction novel. It could happen right here in our time. A few weeks ago, both the Obama Administration and the US House made major moves to begin limiting the outlandish awards being handed out by some juries in medical malpractice cases. This area has long been a trial lawyers’ playground and each of us is paying the price. We may be making the right kind of progress now. The President included $250 million in his budget so that the Department of Justice could work with states to rewrite their medical malpractice laws and see real, effective change on this issue. The proposal provides some specific areas of relief by using judges with expertise in this area to decide cases instead of allowing juries to dole out unreasonable awards. Additional proposals might include creating reliable standards for doctors to operate under that would allow them to prove they were not negligent [...]
Measure the Cost

The Lost Art of Governing

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The world of modern American politics has often been described as “Hollywood for the ugly.” While this may or may not be true, politicians are indeed asking us to do what film directors do when we attend the movies—suspend disbelief. Removing reality and practicality certainly facilitates a good story and makes for fantastic special effects, but when these principles are used in running a government the results are, predictably, disastrous. Though you wouldn’t think you would have to inform our elected officials of such things, the sad truth is that every non-creative discipline is subject to cumbersome, but necessary confines. In other words—reality. This is true not only in the fields of engineering, architecture, aviation, music, and chemistry, but also in governing. The skill in any of these endeavors lies in achieving a desired result within the confines of a given discipline, and skill is precisely what is lacking in the vast majority of our Legislators. If you are an engineer or an architect you are constrained in your designs by pesky things such as physics, load bearing, and torque. In aviation you are constrained [...]

Wisconsin: Not Just Cheeseheads After All

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Who would have thought that the state with the first Socialist governor and subsequent Socialist Party candidate for President, Robert LaFollette, would be the first state to actively attempt to bring the public employee unions under control?  What’s next? ...
Measure the Cost

Time to Sow the Seeds of Competition

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The following is a guest piece by Stephen DeMaura, President of Americans for Job Security, a national conservative issue advocacy organization. For more than 10 years AJS has advocated for pro-growth, pro-jobs public policy to strengthen the American economy. -ed.

Make Room in the Market, Monsanto Monopoly

There’s a battle in agriculture that deserves a greater focus: The Seed Trait Wars. What our families, our nation and the world will eat in the future depends in large part on the future of a robust, competitive biotech seed sector. Farmers and independent seed companies will need seeds with the genetic traits to deliver higher yields from the same land no matter the conditions. To do that we’ll need more competition. It’s competition that drives innovation, better prices, and more choices, and competition that gives farmers the right seeds to grow what they need, where they need to grow it. WORLDWIDE NEED IS MOUNTING The world will need 70 percent more food in 2050 than it does today, according to the UN. Farmers will need the best seeds to grow the crops that will feed the increasing number of people that will populate this planet. And they’ll need [...]
Measure the Cost

The One That Got Away: The Story of the $8.2 Trillion Vote

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A study of the National debt over the last thirty years proves that our Representatives are not responsible enough to continuing governing without the rules of the game being changed. Though much belabored, it bears repeating that the National Debt did not break the one trillion dollar threshold until the year 1982 and not until the fiscal year 2002 did it break six trillion. From 2002 to 2010 it more than doubled from $6.25 trillion to over $13 trillion dollars. Changing the rules of the game in this case means the passing of some form of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. This is far from a new idea and most people, especially newcomers to the world of politics, would be shocked at how close we have come, even recently, to achieving it. In the 90s alone constitutional amendments involving balancing the budget came to serious Congressional votes at least once in six different years—1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997. In ‘92, ‘94, and ‘97 the Balanced Budget Amendment came up only a handful of votes short of achieving the two-thirds majority needed in both Houses. Without getting too much into the weeds it is significant to note that the amendment in 1992 was sponsored by a Democrat—Charles Stenholm of Texas. In the House it [...]
Measure the Cost

Expanded Coverage On TCR

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If you've followed The Conservative Reader at all over the past few years, you've undoubtedly noticed that 2009 and 2010 were a bit light in content.  Although we had started ramping up in 2009, we also got engaged in work with the Polk County Republican Party in Iowa.  That work, along with other priorities, made it very difficult to provide timely commentary and updates on key topics.  Since my term of office has concluded with the party, there is time to provide more frequent updates. 2011 will likely include a number of changes, all for the better I hope.  The first change you should notice right away, especially if you are interested in Iowa politics.  We've added a few new sections, and have links to those sections in our sidebar.  They are: As we receive updates in these [...]
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Violence Can’t Solve America’s Problems

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The shooting in at a Tucson political meeting Saturday was abhorrent.  We are praying for the injured and the families of those who died. And for the young man who thought this was somehow an answer to our nation's problems. Gabrielle Giffords did nothing to deserve this or any violent attack.  I don't know a lot about the Arizona congresswoman, but in briefly reviewing her web site, I'm struck by the fact that she has been driving a campaign for fiscal restraint, including reducing Congressional pay.  At the moment, I see her as one of the good guys.  But even people like Barney Frank and Charlie Rangel do not deserve to be attacked violently. It seems that the shooter is possibly a deranged conspiracy theorist.  Unfortunately, there are times when the lines blur between some of these folks and legitimate political advocates.  Although I've heard that there are some that are already pointing fingers at conservative organizations as if they are [...]
Measure the Cost

A New Year, A New Congress

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Out with the old, in with the new, goes the standard cliche every year about this time.  No, this is not a reference to Nancy Pelosi's age, although incoming House Speaker John Boehner is 9 years younger.  Speaker Boehner does represent a new attitude and the resulting optimism is being reflected in the markets and the broader economy. Consider:
  • Retail sales, Christmas sales, were up significantly over 2009
  • Consumer and business confidence for November and December have inched higher
  • Jobless numbers are moving downward, evidenced by today's ADP employment report that suggested 297,000 new private sector jobs were created in December (this is a big number!)
This is not a coincidence.  This is, however a [...]
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Steve Scheffler: It’s Time To Replace Steele

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Steve SchefflerSteve Scheffler is Iowa's National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee and serves along with Kim Lehman, Iowa's National Committeewoman, in representing Iowa Republicans on the National Committee. Steve provided the following update regarding his thoughts about the upcoming RNC Chair election about a week and a half ago. I had hoped to get it posted earlier, but the holidays have been too enjoyable to focus on other things.

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As your Republican National Committeeman for Iowa, I wanted to give you an update on the race for Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The election will be held on January 14, 2011 and we will be electing a chairman for a 2-year term. I had the privilege of attending a candidate forum on December 1st and then also a candidate interview process on December 2nd. All the announced or potential candidates for chairman appeared at the interview session except for the current chairman, Michael Steele. Each candidate was given an ample period of time to make their case to be the chairman. Each of these individual interview sessions was followed by a 30 minute Q & A time. The candidates who [...]
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