November 7-8 -- “The End of the Beginning” Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I begin this weekend’s show by remembering the atrocity committed this week by Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas.  Hasan reportedly opened fire with two hand guns on Thursday afternoon, killing 12 soldiers and 1 civilian.  He left 30 other individuals wounded.  Survivors of the rampage have reported that Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire.  I am grateful for the brave and heroic actions of civilian police officer, Sergeant Kimberly Munley who, in spite of suffering multiple gun shot wounds herself, was able to shoot Hasan, taking him down and ending his rampage.  As I write this entry, Sergeant Munley remains in stable condition.  Please remember this heroine, her family, and the families of all the victims of this terrible event in your thoughts and prayers this week.  My wife and I have five children of our own.  I just cannot even imagine the anguish and pain that the mothers and fathers of the dead and wounded must feel right now as a result of this senseless act of aggression and violence on a United States military base.  Please keep these Moms, Dads and their children in your thoughts and prayers.

Although it pales in comparison with the Fort Hood atrocity, we also learned this week that the unemployment rate now stands at 10.2%.  We learned in late October that the recession is finally ending with growth in the 3^rd quarter of 3.5%.  As I discussed last week, there are powerful cyclical forces (inventory effects, low energy prices, increased money supply, expansion in Asia, etc) that are causing the short term rebound.  However, many economists are forecasting a weak recovery compared to historic recoveries because of the negative direction of government policy.  The economic weakness from poor government policy (tax increases, stimulus spending, massive government debt, and the threats of Obamacare, Cap and Trade, Union Card Check, etc.) is showing up in the fact that 3.2 million Americans have now lost their jobs since President Obama passed his misguided stimulus plan.  President Obama promised that his stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising above 7.9%.  HE WAS WRONG!  Politicians and government bureaucrats simply do not spend money wisely.  Here are some examples from President Obama’s stimulus plan.

• $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies

• $11 million so Microsoft could build a bridge connecting its two headquarters campuses in Redmond, Washington

• $300 to $4,000 a piece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money

• $200 million more for a new transit tunnel in Pittsburgh which few which will ever use and which will require ongoing, multi million dollar tax payer subsidies just to operate.

Each one of us makes much better decisions with our own money.  The government should not tax us more and put us and our children further into debt so that it can waste money on tunnels, ball parks, bridges and even basket weaving programs (yes, President Obama’s stimulus paid for a basket weaving program in Maine).  This does not create jobs and grow the economy.  To the contrary, it destroys value and shrinks the economy.

Keynesian government stimulus spending did not work in the 1930s.  It did not work in the 1970s.  It is not working now and it will never work.  John Maynard Keynes was a socialist and he was wrong.  President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other Democratic Party leaders should learn some history and economics.  If they did, they would learn that you cannot grow an economy by taking money away from those who earned it so that politicians and bureaucrats can spend it.  Yes, government has some essential roles and some taxes are necessary to pay for the proper handling of these roles.  But history has demonstrated that two critical ingredients of individual liberty and overall economic success are limited government and limited taxation.  Unfortunately, President Obama and his Democratic Party are taking us in exactly the wrong direction.

Despite all of the pain of this week, I am pleased to report what you already know.  On Tuesday, regular people across America stood up and opposed the Democratic Party’s tax, borrow, and spend policies-by voting to elect conservative candidates in Tuesday’s elections.  Voters handed the Democrats astonishing defeats in Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Craig Hymowitz, a Philadelphia Attorney and Vice President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Federalist Society joined me on the program this week to discuss Pennsylvania’s election results in more detail.  A recent survey of Pennsylvania voters found that 77% want justices to “interpret and apply the law as it is written and not take into account their own viewpoints and experiences.”  The fact is, Pennsylvanians want judges to exercise restraint.  They do not believe judges should be legislating from the bench, and this fact was evident in Pennsylvania’s election results.  The vast majority of justices that were elected ran campaigns that promoted a strict constructionist judicial philosophy, including Judge Joan Orie Melvin who was elected to the State Supreme Court.  Six of the seven justices that were elected this week are Republicans.  The seventh judge will be determined after a recount is completed next week.  These are stunningly good results!

Jerry Bowyer, economist, syndicated columnist and CNBC contributor also joined me on the program this weekend.  Jerry and I discussed a broad range of topics, including the liberal’s healthcare nationalization agenda.  The Wall Street Journal called H.R. 3962 (Nancy Pelosi’s latest version of Obamacare) the “worst bill ever.”  It increases tax rates, makes enrollment mandatory, increases current healthcare premiums, provides tax-payer money to fund abortions, and includes the so-called “government option” that will quickly become the only healthcare option.  If passed, this bill will fundamentally change the economic profile of the United States.  10% unemployment will be considered normal (remember Spain is now at almost 20% unemployment) and people will be a lot poorer.  Jerry is optimistic that we can stop this particular bill from passing because of the national results in Tuesday’s elections.  By voting against Democrats, regular middle-class citizens stood up and said “No” to the liberal agenda of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and President Barack Obama.  If our Congressional leaders wish to keep their jobs in 2010, they will vote to defeat “ObamaCare.”

This year on Veterans Day-Wednesday, November 11-I will be speaking at a “Veterans Appreciation Celebration” in Indiana County Pennsylvania at the Indiana County Fairgrounds Grandstand.  The event will take place between 6 and 8 pm EST.  I will be talking about the courage of American soldiers from Pennsylvania, and there will be food, music, entertainment, and fireworks after the event.   The event is free, but organizers are asking for non-perishable food donations for the local Indiana County Community Action Program.

Despite pain from the atrocity in Texas and rising unemployment, this week’s elections demonstrated that the majority of Americans want freedom and growth.  It was therefore a successful political week for conservatives.  But we need to stay focused on our goals and on our principles.  When we re-take the Congress, the Presidency, the Pennsylvania legislature and Governorship, our leaders must adhere to conservative principles and educate people in history and economics so that a lasting majority of Americans will support individual liberty and limited government.  We can do this, but we must understand that a critical part of successful conservative leadership is effective communication and education.  Like Ronald Reagan, our leaders must be teachers.

By the beginning of the summer of 1942, America and our Allies faced a situation similar to what conservatives face politically today.  Victories had been won in critical early battles (the Battles of Britain, Midway and Stalingrad) and as a result momentum had shifted.  It was clear that eventual victory over the evils of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan would be achieved.  However, a very long and bloody war lay ahead.  To quote Winston Churchill, “This is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”  This describes our political situation well.  We have won an early victory and momentum has shifted.  The majority of Americans want individual liberty, limited government and a free market economy, and this majority will eventually prevail.  However, we must fight many long hard battles ahead and the only way to achieve an enduring victory is by teaching liberty one person at a time.  We must build strong majorities that will defend individual liberty.

Stay strong and confident and let’s take back our future!