I have thought for some period of time the GOP needed a leader who was clearly a person of integrity and principle – with real accomplishments to his credit in a non-political world where he had earned the respect of his peers.
Further, it seemed to me he needed to be a person who was not desperate to gain office, but would consent to serve if the country needed him. This was the way I felt about Mr. Reagan some 35 years ago. He had earned the respect of his peers in the entertainment labor unions, where he became a formidable leader.
So where does the country find such a person?
You see, most of those who emerge into national view are those who have set out from their college days to "do" politics as a career; they want the salary and benefits of office, and so they do whatever it takes to stay in office, hell or high water, and, frankly, principles be damned. Washington is a very seductive place in that way; that is why it is called "Potomac fever."
Experience demonstrates these guys make mediocre leaders at best.
But I have despaired the last few years about such a person emerging on the national scene.
Then somebody turns up.
Listen to this: “Let’s say somebody were (in the White House) and they wanted to destroy this nation. (How would they go about it?) I would create division among the people, encourage a culture of ridicule for basic morality and the principles that made and sustained the country, undermine the financial stability of the nation, and weaken and destroy the military. It appears coincidentally that those are the very things that are happening right now.”
The author of these views is Dr. Benjamin Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. (In case you are not aware, this is one of the very best research hospitals in this country, clearly a meritocracy. Only the very best, most competent people are on staff.
Dr. Carson obviously has earned the respect of his peers.) And – coincidentally – Dr. Carson is African-American.
Not coincidentally, he is conservative in his political views. He obviously appreciates this country, the opportunities it has afforded him, and that he – also obviously – has worked hard to use his opportunities to good advantage, earning his place in the sun.
He spoke recently at the CPAC conference in Washington – the words I quoted above – where he pointed out that our country needs "government of and by the people," and that only such a
government can right the disastrous course that the nation is following under the current administration.
He is a man worth watching.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
We are well-off in Enid; Sorry about the rest of the Nation!
Unemployment in Enid is now about 3 ½ percent. That is close to the bottom of the pool of available workers. Many of those remaining are effectively unemployable by any discerning employer – or simply don’t want to work.
Such full employment is a rare event in the U.S. right now, and it is worth commenting about. Our ag sector is healthy and busy in spite of the drouth; recent moisture makes prospects
look better as we approach spring and summer. Oil and gas exploration – or re-exploration, maybe – in the Mississippian fields all around Enid is very busy; original efforts focused to our north and west, in Grant and Alfalfa counties and into Kansas, driven by competition between Sand Ridge and Chesapeake for leases in those counties. But other players are busy, too; one significant one is in the process of moving into facilities in Enid and will be drilling horizontal wells in southern Garfield and Kingfisher counties. And our mayor recently estimated that Enid is growing, currently around 52,000+ in our city now.
This oil and gas "play" is different from that of 30 years ago in that the major leaseholders – who dictate the development pace – are medium-to-larger exploration companies rather than the smaller "go and blow" companies of the '70s and '80s. They move more methodically and carefully, but they can raise and invest the millions of dollars that it takes to drill horizontal wells. So less frenzy and craziness than before, but real economic activity and many good-paying jobs for our area. And the results achieved in the field so far are excellent, it seems, so it is real.
We need to realize that this is good fortune for Enid; it is wonderful that we have the geologic resources underlying our rich farm lands across northern Oklahoma. However, they have been there for millions of years, waiting for the right guy to come along who could figure out how to produce oil and gas from them. It took a special combination of techniques and vision to do it. And vision always comes from just one person: that guy was a Texan oilman named George Mitchell, who was so damned stubborn he would not give up, well after well, until he perfected the horizontal drilling techniques and fracking technological innovations that opened up these kind of production possibilities.
We have this play, this great economy, because of George Mitchell. Period.
Not because of the federal government. Not because of some university research. But because George Mitchell is so stubborn he wouldn’t give up until he could produce natural gas out of geological strata that nobody else had ever been able to produce (and many had tried!)!
Hooray for free enterprise! Hooray for George Mitchell!
Such full employment is a rare event in the U.S. right now, and it is worth commenting about. Our ag sector is healthy and busy in spite of the drouth; recent moisture makes prospects
look better as we approach spring and summer. Oil and gas exploration – or re-exploration, maybe – in the Mississippian fields all around Enid is very busy; original efforts focused to our north and west, in Grant and Alfalfa counties and into Kansas, driven by competition between Sand Ridge and Chesapeake for leases in those counties. But other players are busy, too; one significant one is in the process of moving into facilities in Enid and will be drilling horizontal wells in southern Garfield and Kingfisher counties. And our mayor recently estimated that Enid is growing, currently around 52,000+ in our city now.
This oil and gas "play" is different from that of 30 years ago in that the major leaseholders – who dictate the development pace – are medium-to-larger exploration companies rather than the smaller "go and blow" companies of the '70s and '80s. They move more methodically and carefully, but they can raise and invest the millions of dollars that it takes to drill horizontal wells. So less frenzy and craziness than before, but real economic activity and many good-paying jobs for our area. And the results achieved in the field so far are excellent, it seems, so it is real.
We need to realize that this is good fortune for Enid; it is wonderful that we have the geologic resources underlying our rich farm lands across northern Oklahoma. However, they have been there for millions of years, waiting for the right guy to come along who could figure out how to produce oil and gas from them. It took a special combination of techniques and vision to do it. And vision always comes from just one person: that guy was a Texan oilman named George Mitchell, who was so damned stubborn he would not give up, well after well, until he perfected the horizontal drilling techniques and fracking technological innovations that opened up these kind of production possibilities.
We have this play, this great economy, because of George Mitchell. Period.
Not because of the federal government. Not because of some university research. But because George Mitchell is so stubborn he wouldn’t give up until he could produce natural gas out of geological strata that nobody else had ever been able to produce (and many had tried!)!
Hooray for free enterprise! Hooray for George Mitchell!
Monday, March 4, 2013
America's government shutting the door on returning business
Several years ago the Economist magazine pointed out costs of manufacturing in China were going up at such a rate American and British manufacturers were beginning to re-considering their "offshoring" decisions of previous years. The editors suggested a "re-shoring" movement was in the offing.
There is now evidence this is happening. In a recent issue, they talk about both outsourcing and offshoring movements over the last several decades, as globalization was charging forward, with companies closing down their own plants, moving abroad or sending work out to subcontractors. Either way, it meant a loss of jobs for many communities. Good jobs, manufacturing jobs – not burger flipping.
But now the trend lines are moving against outsourcing – it seems it actually costs more that first meets the eye. Responsive customer service and good quality control were early casualties. Offshoring is barely favorable currently, since labor costs in the Far East have soared.
Thus cheap labor costs, plus transportation, plus having massive amounts of money tied up in cargo boxes as they are transported, plus aggravation of nagging quality problems, plus having trade secrets and techniques of production ripped off by the sub-contractors ... All these problems are faced by western makers having work done in the Far East. Perhaps the unkindest cut of all: Many of their former offshore or outsource competitors have come to market with knock-off products of their own.
So companies are now bringing production home and re-establishing factories in the States.
Caterpillar has a new plant in Texas, General Electric is once again building appliances in Kentucky, Lenovo is making computers in North Carolina, and so on.
A consulting group surveyed firms of $1 billion or more in annual sales to find out their intentions and 37 percent of them said they were moving or considering moving facility from China to the U.S. That is a significant trend in the making.
One would think this would be in the front page news every day ... but, no, it isn’t there. One would think somebody in Washington would be excited about this; after all, look at our unemployment numbers ... But, no, they don’t seem to be.
I wonder why? Manufacturing jobs are very desirable, primary employment, and they are coming home. That’s very good news!
Perhaps it is because this Obama administration doesn’t like business very much! A Harvard Business School study cited by the Economist points out “ ... firms are now ready to reconsider offshoring. They realize ... they overdid it, and are discovering hidden costs in moving production a long way from home. But, the authors argue, America’s government is not making the country’s business environment attractive enough for companies to want to come back.”
Did you get that? I’ll repeat: … AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT IS NOT MAKING THE COUNTRY’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH FOR COMPANIES TO WANT TO COME BACK.
Sheesh!! What’s wrong with them? One wonders why we did throw these bums out of office when we had the chance
There is now evidence this is happening. In a recent issue, they talk about both outsourcing and offshoring movements over the last several decades, as globalization was charging forward, with companies closing down their own plants, moving abroad or sending work out to subcontractors. Either way, it meant a loss of jobs for many communities. Good jobs, manufacturing jobs – not burger flipping.
But now the trend lines are moving against outsourcing – it seems it actually costs more that first meets the eye. Responsive customer service and good quality control were early casualties. Offshoring is barely favorable currently, since labor costs in the Far East have soared.
Thus cheap labor costs, plus transportation, plus having massive amounts of money tied up in cargo boxes as they are transported, plus aggravation of nagging quality problems, plus having trade secrets and techniques of production ripped off by the sub-contractors ... All these problems are faced by western makers having work done in the Far East. Perhaps the unkindest cut of all: Many of their former offshore or outsource competitors have come to market with knock-off products of their own.
So companies are now bringing production home and re-establishing factories in the States.
Caterpillar has a new plant in Texas, General Electric is once again building appliances in Kentucky, Lenovo is making computers in North Carolina, and so on.
A consulting group surveyed firms of $1 billion or more in annual sales to find out their intentions and 37 percent of them said they were moving or considering moving facility from China to the U.S. That is a significant trend in the making.
One would think this would be in the front page news every day ... but, no, it isn’t there. One would think somebody in Washington would be excited about this; after all, look at our unemployment numbers ... But, no, they don’t seem to be.
I wonder why? Manufacturing jobs are very desirable, primary employment, and they are coming home. That’s very good news!
Perhaps it is because this Obama administration doesn’t like business very much! A Harvard Business School study cited by the Economist points out “ ... firms are now ready to reconsider offshoring. They realize ... they overdid it, and are discovering hidden costs in moving production a long way from home. But, the authors argue, America’s government is not making the country’s business environment attractive enough for companies to want to come back.”
Did you get that? I’ll repeat: … AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT IS NOT MAKING THE COUNTRY’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH FOR COMPANIES TO WANT TO COME BACK.
Sheesh!! What’s wrong with them? One wonders why we did throw these bums out of office when we had the chance
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