30 years ago it was the coming global ice age and 10 years ago it was global warming.  Today we use the non-descriptive term “climate change” just in case we can’t prove anything-every weather related event is proof of something.  You see-facts don’t matter, good policy doesn’t matter and the name ceretainly don’t matter.

When it’s only about control, the end game is all that matters.

You see, we all know the Earth’s climate is changing. The big question is to what extent anthropogenic interference (read: your fault) is causing or hastening that change and what can we do to stop it. Despite what the fear-mongers may say, we just don’t know.  However, it is always good politics to scare the whits out of the public if you want to take away their freedom, so here we are. The problem is their house of cards is crumbling around them.  Scientists are being outed for frauds, UN climate bodies are being outed as frauds, much of the supporting data is being outed as a fraud. And is it any wonder why those leading this effort are financially invested in the promulgation of this ruse? They stand to make millions of a carbon market.

Here’s the situation people.  Politicians who perpetuate the myth that “climate change” is settled science and demand a government “cap & tax” on greenhouse gasses want nothing more than to control the future of our economy.  This system would give them unbelievable amounts of power to dictate how our economy runs and who runs it. This plan would do three things:

1. It would destabilize and crush our current economic system.  Your individual energy costs (and everything that requires energy to be produced that you buy) would go up tremendously.  Energy intensive industries would be forced out of business or onto foreign shores.
2. Global pollution would actually increase by sizable margins.  If you thought industrial jobs were already leaving this country, just wait.  Forced out of here by these carbon caps, they would set up shop in countries in Asia and South America were their greenhouse gas output is barely regulated.  So we would be out of a job and pollution would actually rise.
3. Those in power (the ones who get to pick the winners of the government mandated economy) not only get control but they also profit from it by investing in government approved business and industry that trade back their allotment of “carbon credits.”  The  fairytale “green economy” hasn’t actually happened yet.  You don’t get to name an economic revolution before it happens.  Some government bureaucrat in the early 20th century did not just decide that western civilization would have an industrial revolution and then legislate it to happen.

Despite all that, I and most sensible business folks that I know and work with do have a lot of sympathy and understanding for environmental issues.   I am fortunate enough to work with folks who work in heavy industry, who employ thousands of blue collar Americans and who have first hand knowledge of what is really going on. It is about control and the abuse of power.  If it was about sound environmental and economic policy this whole world-ending hysteria wouldn’t be the M/O.

Businesses know that instituting new energy saving, efficient methods into their practices is simply good for business.  If a new process or material makes a better more efficient widget than it is in the best interest for that business to adjust.  Businesses should be concerned about what they are putting into the environment and entrepreneurs should be looking for new ways to do businesses with less waste.  It all makes good business sense. Being “green” has become fashionable and businesses are responding in-kind.

That’s legitimate market influences at work.

But here’s the rub and why cap & tax will be so devastating. Many of those energy intensive industries are operating at the limits of technology.  There is no way to enact better practices- yet.  So right out the gate energy companies, manufacturing and heavy industry takes the hit with no way to reduce their emissions. There is just no way in many sectors to improve beyond where they currently are. Additionally, we can’t explore for oil and natural gas, can’t refine shale we know exists, import Canadian oil from oil sands or build nuclear infrastructure.

If the government would take pro-active rather than punitive measures, things might get moving. If it were really about innovation and the environment they would encourage invention through tax-breaks for research and development. Give tax breaks for upgrading equipment and deregulate energy sectors that have long been off-limits.

Except they aren’t…and they won’t. And, despite what you think. Cap & Trade and the motivation behind it isn’t dead. You may think it is, but Washington is busy breaking up the bill into smaller “energy” bills, renewable energy portfolios and EPA regulations.

The lust for power never truly goes away-it only changes its presentation and vehicle of delivery. So be on guard, the names may change but the plot remains the same.

Everybody needs somebody to love.

In the waning days of the recent Massachusetts special election, the impossible was quickly becoming probable – a Republican victory in the race to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Attempting to shift momentum, President Obama sent up a trial balloon in the press stating that he would be asking Congress to pass a new “fee” on the countries largest banks in light of what he saw as soaring profits and lavish executive bonuses.  The hope was not to correct an actual wrong but to tap into grassroots populist anger.  The President’s political advisers believed they could direct that anger at the financial industry while cornering the Republican candidate into defending “fat-cat” executives on Wall Street and in the banking sector.

The plan in Massachusetts did not work out the way the President and Congressional Democrats had hoped. It did galvanize their plan for the 2010 mid-term elections – mount a populist campaign to demonize America’s largest financial institutions and force Republicans to block their tax and regulation proposals thus driving a wedge between them and the middle-class.

From Politico:  “Obama to Propose New Bank Curbs”

“The Administration’s policy response isn’t based on facts or logic, it based on class warfare politics and fear,” said a financial industry executive. “If enacted, theses proposals will undermine the effectiveness and competitiveness of the U.S. financial sector, and therefore damage the growth and job-creating capacity of the U.S. economy.”

Obama seemed to welcome the industry’s opposition. “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m willing to have,” the president said. He also criticized the “soaring profits and obscene bonuses,” at financial firms that say they are still unable to make loans to American businesses. He warned the financial industry to “work with us and not against us.”

The Democrats are proposing the “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” as an attempt to exacerbate public mistrust toward the countries largest banks.  Because of the weakened economy, this strategy represents a golden opportunity to blame the banking industry and force Republicans into a potentially defensive posture when they oppose the “fee.”

It is not a new tactic, but left unchecked, it is a highly effective strategy that can seriously damage the private sector for pure political gain.  Like the insurance industry, oil companies, the fast food industry and even government affairs professionals, the banking industry will be the scapegoat this election cycle.  And, left undefended, their reputation could be irreparably damaged in the eyes of the American public.

Simply mounting a traditional lobbying campaign on Capital Hill to oppose the proposed legislation won’t work.  The goal here is not necessarily to enact the “fee.”  The goal is to have an enemy and a message that resonates at the grassroots level.  The campaign against the banks, like so many industries before it, will be waged in battleground states and in congressional districts across the country.  The banking industry must understand the nature of the fight.  They must be proactive in shaping public opinion about their industry by conducting their own grassroots campaign.  They must define themselves against attack and protect their ability to conduct the very business that will help bring the economy back to prosperity.

The fact is, every private sector industry in this country should be aware of the shifting political landscape beneath them.  Like so many previous examples, the private sector simply cannot afford to be caught off guard when public opinion turns or when politicians need a scapegoat.  In this day and age every business and industry that invests in lobbying, should be investing in grassroots-based communication and public relations strategies.

The playing field has shifted for the foreseeable future.  Politicians are being driven by what is happening in their districts and no longer by what happens in their Capital Hill offices.  If your business isn’t out in the field carrying your message, then you may be the next target of election year politics.

This post will be cross-posted to my firm’s “Government Affairs News Brief.”

How many trees must die before the MSM gets it right?

It seems that every day barrels of ink are wasted by journalists in an attempt to fit the TEA Party movement into the quintessential article.  One that encapsulates and codifies exactly who those people are and what their existence means to American politics.  In doing so, the completely and continually miss the mark.

Now, I am not referring to the stark-raving mad lunatics at MSNBC, who routinely rail against the TEA Party groups as racists and Nazis. They don’t want to get it, they want it to go away.  I am referring to the constant attempts by regular journalists to predict what candidates this group will support, what it means if that candidate loses, and what it means if those groups don’t actually all support the same candidate. Despite the pushing and pulling, they just won’t get that square peg into a round hole.  And in doing so they only serve to misstate reality, demonstrate their inability to think outside conventional political theory and ultimately they elevate those groups that we all know they really don’t like anyway.

Take for instance the recent primaries in Texas, where current Governor Rick Perry overwhelmingly won a three-way contest. Granted, Perry utilized a TEA Party narrative (anti-Washington) to great effect against Senator Hutchinson, but he too was an incumbent. There was also a “true” outsider candidate in Debra Medina that the MSM had convinced themselves was THE nominee of TEA Partiers in the Lone Star State. In an article from Politico about the support given to Perry by the TEA Party, a sub headlined stood out in bold:

“Is the Tea Party movement a paper tiger?”

The answer is no.  It is also not a collective group-think and, to the chagrin of MSNBC, they are not all from the furthest reaches of the right-wing tin foil hat crowd.  You see, Medina turned out to be a nut job “truther” and TEA Party voters recognized that. They by-and-large decided to back a winning horse despite his long tenure.  Additionally, they voted for their incumbent Congressional delegation even though many had outsiders running against them.

What the The TEA Party is (and what journalists can seem to come to grips with), is a real  but nebulous grassroots movement based around a loose set of constitutional principles.  The influence “leaders” have only extend to the limits of individual chapters-if that. They are not fringe voters (although, as in any political group, they exist). Their ranks are filled with former and current Republican activists and they seem to be smart enough to balance their ideology with pragmatism enough to win elections.  The MSM will not be able to stuff it into a neat little box of predictability and it seems to be causing them fits.

I hope the movement continues to remain a coalition of individuals and like-minded groups that work together for a common purpose but otherwise have little formal structure. I fear that attempts to label, create one platform, nationalize or provide the media with one cookie-cutter narrative for the  movement will only serve to hasten the end to the uniqueness of what American conservative politics is experiencing.

Is that like having the best little whore-house in Texas?

That was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment on assuming the gavel back in 2006.  Now, New York Representative Charles Rangel is on the verge of giving up the most powerful chairmanship in the House of Representatives under a cloud of multiple ethical challenges ranging from tax evasion to corporate funded junkets to vacation destinations.  He hasn’t officially stepped down, but he will-tonight even.  It’s that or face a sure rebuke by his colleagues in the form of a resolution that every Republican and scores of Democrats will surely vote for.

This is just the icing on a cake filled with four years of cold hard cash stashing, back-room dealing, bribe taking and power grabbing by Democrats from coast to coast.  The thing is, it is not that the Democrats have a monopoly on corruption in power.  Far from it in fact.  The most disappointing (and telling frankly) thing is that Democrats don’t seem to ever call for their colleagues to step aside, feel shame, commit hari-kari…nothing!

Only now, faced with having to wear the sins of Charlie “the hustle” Rangel around their neck going into the mid-term elections have the Democrats begun to call for him to do the right thing.  The best part…it wasn’t Speaker Pelosi who called for this.  It was the poor, vulnerable Democrats who finally found the courage to speak up and tell him to do the honorable thing.  Even at the time of this post, she has resisted leading on the issue of rooting out corruption.

From Politico:

And when Pelosi was asked whether Rangel was resigning, she said “no comment.”

Let me be clear, Republicans have been scandal plagued many times over.  In fact, those scandals played heavily in the 2006 and 2008 elections.  The difference that I noticed is that by-and-large once a Republican was caught messing up, leadership quickly read the writing on the wall and that person was removed.

Corruption should not be a partisan issue.  I cannot imagine why Congress would tolerate it in their ranks.  I fully believe that if the Democrats were not already facing the cliff come November there would be no action on removing Rangel from his Chairmanship.  He would be coddled and wrapped in the protective circle all too common over the last four years.

Shame on all of them.

Oh, and my bet is its too late to avoid it being an issue in Congressional races across the country.

Photo credit: AP

It’s funny because it could be true…

This video “news” clip from The Onion was burning up the Twitter yesterday so I thought everyone who hasn’t seen it should take a look.  It is a knee-slapper.  I’ve been a fan of the fake news site for many years and if you aren’t familiar with their stuff, you should bookmark their site.

Like Now.

Obama Caught Lip-Syncing Speech

See, things are funny when they could be true.  If we ever begin to see the President giving speeches without his safety blanket TelePrompTer then we should all begin to wonder.

Something about falling off a horse or wagon-which ever floats your boat.

It makes me sick to see blogs launch then die as quickly as they came-yet here I am .

So it has been a couple of months since I kept up my blog, but I am not without good reason.  First, I suppose I should say that I am back, fully planning on keeping up my posting regularly.  I never intended for this to be a daily event, at least not at this juncture.  I figure 3 or 4 post a week would have been good.  However, what i came to understand when I began writing for a personal web site was that I  have been writing all along-constantly.

The problem has been that I write for so many other things going on in my life that I barely have time for personal writing.  I write for clients, I write for my firm, I write proposals for future clients and I write just to keep it all straight.  It really is hard to make this venture worth the while by providing a consistent flow of original thought.  Add to that a healthy concern for my personal politics interfering with my livelihood  and we quickly find ourselves with an untended web site.

I’ve gotten a lot of those things worked out now.  I understand that a lot of what I write for work can be cross-posted here.  In fact, a lot of what I work on are the same topics that I would write about anyway so why not advocate for those positions in this space.  Finally, while it may take some thought on how to word things to ensure I don’t piss off overly sensitive political types with whom I have to work; I can surely walk that delicate line and still be engaging and honest.

So, I hope those of you who have my RSS feed in your reader and those of you who click through when you see my Twitter and Facebook notifications, thanks for coming back and I look forward to keeping it up.

If you are part of an organization that has interests in government, now is the time to be in the grassroots.

If one were to look back to the news headlines from the aftermath of the 2008 elections and compare them to headlines from the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, they would be almost identical just by reversing the political fortunes of the Democrats and Republicans. Similarly, it is not the mood of the electorate that has changed so much as it is the target of their disdain. As the 2010 midterm election season draws near, one thing is for certain, the same winds of change that forced the GOP from power are still blowing strong. This time however, the 2010 the forecast calls for the Democrats to have that wind in their faces.

Taking into account recent polling and the results of the stunning elections that have happened over the course of the past year, it is becoming increasingly clear that the electorate is still hungry for a change in government and is willing to vote out the party in power to prove it. Approval numbers for Congressas a whole are stuck in the basement, and party identification is down on both sides of the aisle. The Republican brand has not made a resurgence from 2008, yet the generic ballot tests gives them their widest lead since 1994. Going into the 2010 election cycle, most analysts are predicting a number of seat pick-ups for the Republicans in the House (with another score being viewed as toss-ups) and at least a three-seat pick-up in the Senate.

The American public fundamentally distrusts its government. And rather than focus on the economy, deficit spending and other kitchen table issues, the Democrats, buoyed by their vast majorities, have seemingly overreached their mandate and taken on unpopular issues like cap-and-trade, government-driven health care reform and big business bailouts. It seems the electorate is poised to once again teach the party in power a stiff lesson. The American public didn’t elect them because they wanted the Democrats’ most left-leaning policies; they were elected because the previous party in power abused the trust of the people.

Now the shoe is on the other foot and the Republicans stand a chance of being swept back into power on the same winds of change, but the lesson remains the same. The public is not necessarily clamoring for Republicans. They are clamoring for an open and honest government that does not overreach; one that addresses the issues that are pertinent to everyday lives. If the Republicans can’t produce a campaign platform based on that premise and deliver on time, then the electorate will continue to keep shopping.

If one spends time working at the grassroots level as our team regularly does, it is easy to see that an increasing number of voters are acutely aware of what is going on in government. Unlike any time in recent memory, the general public is actively engaged on the issues and is taking note of what their representatives are doing. It should be a clear signal to elected officials, advocacy groups, and other grassroots organizations that the public is paying attention and is a powerful force for change. If they would take the time to educate those individuals and deliver on their promises, a chance to truly shape the public conversation is real. This emerging grassroots force may spell trouble for entrenched politicians; it also presents a golden opportunity for businesses and organzations that have an interest in communicating with the public.  This election cycle represents a prefect time for those groups with issues that intersect between the government and the people to speak and work directly at the grassroots level.  The public is listening and is motivated to act if they are engaged properly.  Using the right strategy and mesage is key to success this year.

The 2010 election cycle is already shaping up to be historical on many fronts, the first of which will be the power of the independent-thinking grassroots movements already shaping the political landscape.

This post is cross posted at my firm’s monthly government affairs brief

We are in what has to be one of the most modern hostels ever right in downtown Melbourne.  The whole dive trip and experience on the Northern coast in Queensland was amazing and worth the effort to get down here.  I screwed up and forgot my camera last night, otherwise I would have been able to treat everyone to some cool street theatre-fire dancers.  Complete with flaming batons and maces, they earn their money down here!

From shark diving to the continent wide crack down on out-of-control drinking (not inspired by our presence), here are a few pictorial updates:

White Tip Reef Shark

Me and the Sydney Opera House on Harbour Tour

Me salty after a few dives on the Barrier Reef

Clown Anemone fish or Nemo

Me and Nemo have some face time.  They really have a lot of personality.

Dive Boat that was our home for three days.

Me and Giant Fan.

Nemo!

You don’t have to go to the ends of the Earth, but it helps.

The whole video blogging hasn’t worked out like I had hoped.  It’s not because we didn’t shoot any, it’s that I haven’t been able to get a strong enough signal or time to upload even a 60 second video.  However, I am sitting in the galley of our ship miles off the coast of northern Australia and the darn thing has WiFi.  Sweet!

Thus far, the trip has been nothing short of amazing.  After a total of 20 hours in the air and a leap through the space/time continuum (Monday the 7th never existed) we made it to Australia.  The folks are very cool and Australia is something to behold.  We spent the first night having drinks with a couple of regular blokes we happened across, and besides being a riot, they are very up on our politics and engaging with Yanks.  I’d gather most blue-collar Aussies are common sense type conservatives.  Very reassuring to find.

So today was the first day of three living aboard a boat with 25 or so divers from around the world.  We have Aussies, Brits, Danes, Fins, Indians, Germans, Hollanders and of course us Yanks.  Not surprisingly they re all skipping out on on the cold European winter.  The diving and the people are just amazing and it has been exactly what I needed to refocus my self.  No, I am not thinking about work or politics while I’m down under, but when you take on new adventures and take the time to get far away from your everyday life; things have a way of getting put back in order.  It is worth every expense.

So enough of all that, I really just wanted to put up a couple of snapshots for everyone to check out.  I’ll try again with the video tomorrow.

Oh, and we got to see the Southern Cross, a constellation only visible in the Southern Hemisphere (also depicted in the Aussie flag pictured above).

Do the toilets really flush backward down under?

So I’m sitting on quite a bumpy flight from Washington to Los Angeles for the first leg of a little vacation trip to Australia. I’m really pretty excited about this one and I am going to do my best to post pictures and things as we go along our trip.

As I mentioned in my very first post and in the “about me” page of the site, I love to travel abroad and do things that are just a little bit risky. I would be remiss if I didn’t give a lot of credit to one of my best friends, Troy McCurry (guy sleeping next to me), for planning most of these crazy adventures. I have a lot of good friends but it seems they all look at me a little sideways when I talk about taking these dangerous trips.

Not Troy!

Despite being a brilliant election attorney with the Republican National Committee, he seems to have enough screws loose to enjoy hitching planes rides to foreign lands, risking injury for some cool photos and even better memories. From sketchy hostels on the beach in Costa Rica and “skiing” down the Swiss Alps, to running with the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain we always have a great time and seem to make it back safely.

The highlights of this year’s trip will be climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, diving on the Great Barrier Reef, wrestling Koalas and hugging Crocodiles. I’ll be attempting to shoot some short videos to post when possible so stay tuned. We also will be taking a ton of pictures both above and below sea level. All in all, I am very excited. I wanted to do some diving with Great White sharks, but they are in southern Australia this time of year and it was a bit too cost prohibitive to. Who want s to pay that much to be shark food?

Guess that’ll be next vacation…