Our Country's Integrity Gap

By Sebastian I Font

They say that profitability hides a multitude of sins. Yes, they have only recently started saying that; right after the economy crumbled. It can also be said that profitability hides a multitude of integrity gaps.

I have said many times that one of the most important qualities of a good leader is integrity. It can certainly be debated that the troubles with the current state of leadership in our country is rooted in a lack of integrity. Consider the newsworthy events over the last year or two that involved CEOs and elected officials. Those who were at the helm of our government and our corporations and institutions saw their reputations and credibility self-destruct.

Consider the following:

• We have seen issues with tainted lettuce, pet food, beef, peanut butter, and toys. City Mayors, state Governors, and US senators involved in ethics problems ranging from inappropriate campaign procedures to bribery and prostitution.
• The CEOs of the Big Three automakers flew to Washington in their separate Big Three luxury jets to beg for bailout money. This was a telling example of the entitlement that has pervaded this country's leaders. In the midst of all that, union leaders from the United Auto Workers vowed there would be no givebacks even while their ship was sinking. Many decades of poor practices now costing us dearly.
• We have seen record levels of pillaging and plundering by Somali pirates this year. But then again, we've also seen record levels of pillaging by the executives at Bear Stearns, Fannie-Mae, Freddie-Mac, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, and AIG. At least the Somali pirates ran a profitable enterprise and improved the economies of a few Somali villages. In contrast, the leaders of these fallen organizations were major contributors to the downfall of the global economy. Sadly, the incompetence of those leaders did not prevent them from collecting large bonuses or golden parachutes.
• The world record for pillaging and plundering must go to Bernie Madoff of course. And I tend to wonder if our leaders at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Ratings agencies who oversaw (overlooked) Madoff's dealings should share in that world record. Rather than stepping up for accountability, all of the overseers ran for cover.
• The leaders at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Treasure Department, and the Financial Ratings agencies, and all members of Congress and the Cabinet are falling all over themselves avoiding responsibility for the sub-prime mortgage mess, and for the Madoff mess as well. Not a single soul stepped up to assume accountability.

Many of our country's highly placed and trusted leaders fell short on integrity in a big way. The harm is deep enough that the American financial system and economy will be impacted forever. The same cannot be said for our political system, as that will probably continue in its current status quo. The public trust is not always a priority for our elected leaders unfortunately.

Yes, a booming economy indeed hides many sins. However, the boom is now behind us and now the sins are exposed and out in the open. The arrogance, entitlement, selfishness, and greed in the corporate and government cultures underscore the integrity issues. An ever widening integrity gap in our country undermines the public trust and the public morale. These times of crisis are when the real leaders step up and provide hope and optimism. We are in a desperate state for leaders with integrity, humility, and a selfless commitment to the greater good. The great leaders are out there. Please show yourselves.

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Attack on the Defence of Marriage Act

URGENT ALERT: DOMA Repeal Introduced in Congress!

September 15, 2009

Dear Friends,

The attack on DOMA has begun.

Today, Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) will introduce a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act-- the only federal law protecting the marriage statutes of 44 states. Reports indicate he has at least 69 co-sponsors in this effort to undercut state marriage laws.

We've known this day would come. President Obama has been advocating the repeal of DOMA since his first day in office. Gay marriage activists have debated the strategy and timing for pushing the bill in Congress.

And we're ready. Already, we are more than 500,000 strong as Americans from every walk of life have joined our ranks to stand firm against radical efforts to force same-sex marriage in every state. Our goal is 2 million Americans by the end of 2010. If each of us were to tell just three friends about TwoMillionforMarriage.com, we'd reach our goal in mere days.

Now it's time to speak truth to power! Gay marriage advocates are divided on DOMA -- evenRep. Barney Frank thinks the DOMA repeal bill is overreaching and has refused to support it. Now is our chance to send a clear message to Congress that will galvanize opposition to the DOMA repeal, and help sway those who are on the fence. The message is simple: Don't mess with marriage.

Just a few years ago, gay marriage advocates spoke of "state's rights" and a "gay marriage experiment" in a handful of states. Obviously, they didn't believe a word of it, and today they want to force same-sex marriage on every state in the nation, "like it or not."

Marriage isn't about inside-the-Beltway opportunism, or scoring political points. It's about honesty and integrity. Protecting children and religious liberty.

The need is urgent. I'm asking you to do three things right now:

1) Visit www.TwoMillionforMarriage.com and send a message to Washington. Use our online form to contact your Senators, Congressman, as well as congressional leadership, and tell them "Don't Mess with Marriage." Even if you've emailed before, let's flood the Capitol with phone calls and emails today, urging our congressmen to oppose Rep. Nadler's DOMA repeal bill.

2) Tell three friends about this new threat to DOMA, and ask them to join us atTwoMillionforMarriage.com today! Or just forward this email to people in your address book -- it's simple, fast, and amazingly effective. We're already 500,000 strong, and together we can stop this bill in its tracks!

3) Help support our TwoMillionforMarriage campaign today. Over the next six months, we need to raise another $1.5 million to fully fund our multi-faceted campaign to recruit 2 million Americans to join us in protecting DOMA. Using TV, radio, internet, telephone, email and direct mail efforts, we are identifying tens of thousands of new marriage activists who have never before been politically involved, but who care about marriage and are willing to do what it takes to stop courts and politicians from trampling the will of the American people. Your gift of $25, $50, or even $1000 if you're able, will help ensure that we reach our goal. Click here to make a secure online donation today.

I'm simply in awe at the outpouring of encouragement and new supporters we keep seeing every day. To those of you who have been with us for a long time -- thank you! And keep up the good work. Together we're getting the message out and making a difference all across the country. And for those of you new to our efforts -- Welcome! We're so glad you've joined us, and look forward to working together in this fight for marriage.

The threat is real, and increasingly urgent. Please take action right now. Don't put it off. Let's make sure Congress gets our message loud and clear today.

Blessings,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

©2009 National Organization for Marriage.

Media Wars Continue Along Political Party Lines

What you can and cannot say is constantly changing, and I am not referring to the laws, although they too are changing due to the introduction of "hate speech" rules. When we talk about what you can and cannot say, we generally mean political correctness, and with a constantly changing society it is amazing how far things can swing. Currently, you do not dare criticize President Obama, but just a year ago it was in Vogue to call President Bush just about anything under the son, with bloggers carrying on for 1,000 word posts.

Well, now things are drastically lopsided or so, conservative talk show hosts say, as they find their dialogue, sponsorship, advertisers, and FCC looking over their shoulder constantly. Perhaps, rather than explain all this to you, it might be better to recommend a very good book that gives credible evidence to this reality, the book is:

"Censorship: The Threat to Silence Conservative Talk Radio; The Fairness Doctrine Exposed" by Brian Jennings; 2009.

The book discusses how Senator Jeff Bingaman wanted all talk radio to be balanced, of course, what he was really saying is that it is not right to allow a conservative talk show host to spout off without an equally powerful advocate of the liberal agenda to counter each and every topic. President Obama said he wants more diverse viewpoints on the radio, and now that he is President, he says that would only be fair.

The directive, FCC regulation, or Congressional Bill might end having the FCC sets up permanent advisory boards to insure that fairness is complied with, or so is one of the plans being floated. The author contends this is a Trojan Horse because, once they start scrutinizing it will ultimately have a chilling effect on free speech.

Further, it is asserted that Liberal Radio has failed in the past and cannot seem to compete with the audiences of conservative radio. And since there are few liberal radio personalities the politics are trying to level the playing field with regulation, something many who think about cringe. I think you might very much like this book.

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Amazing, History Really Does Repeat Itself

It seems the country has lost it way, people just can’t decide who they hate more the democrats or the republicans. The country has lost the spirit of independence it held in the days of the expansion westward. And an era of unprecedented wealth has made the electorate lazy and ignorant. Is it your political future? http://www.pippoproducts.com

Health Care Economics

If nothing else, the political process in this country is exciting when it gets heated up. I haven't seen such commotion since I don't know when. Congressmen and senators are having town hall meetings across country attempting to sell a healthcare bill that isn't quite fully written, several versions of which are in excess of 1000 pages and written in a legalese that would make any laymen's head spin. It is enough to make anybody anxious about the future of our health care system.

President Obama tells us that if we don't do something now, the current system will implode. Politicians are calling citizens who disagree with them "Nazis," and the democrats say that all those people that show up at the demonstrations and town hall meetings have been put up to it by the Republican Party. The press and the comedians are as divided as the parties as is hyperbole that comes with any emotionally charged discussion.

So with that said, I would like to take a more simplistic and logical view of the health care issue in the context of our current economic situation. Our current situation appears to be this:

1. 85% of the people have health insurance and are satisfied with the policy they have;

2. The country is currently 7 trillion dollars in debt, (approximately $23,000 of debt for every man, women and child in the county), and that debt is projected to go to 9 trillion dollars over the next ten years.

3. The latest count of illegal aliens currently in the United States is approximately 12 million. When these people visit our hospitals and clinics more often than not they cannot afford to pay the bill.

4. Hospitals by law cannot refuse treatment because of inability to pay. A double edged sword in that, we are showing our generosity to those less fortunate, but the hospitals pass their costs for this unreimbursed mandated care on to the patients who can pay, again raising medical costs and insurance rates. This law turns out to be a mandated subsidy for the poor paid for by the responsible paying patrons of the hospitals.

5. This country is lawsuit crazy. Medical malpractices suits, both frivolous and justified, contribute once again to increasing medical costs and medical insurance costs not only because of the cost of the suits and the large and often time excessive awards, but also through the extreme defensive medical practices that doctors and hospitals employ in order to avoid law suits and avoid loosing law suits.

6. Projections are that both Medicare and Social Security will be paying out more money than they take in a few years. (This item alone should give one pause when considering the resolution of the problem through government programs).

7. The unemployment rate in the country is currently 9.6%.

When considering the above items, why would anyone want a government run health care system? It would be just more bureaucratic waste and inefficiency. The healthcare bills currently in Congress are a smoke screen for the government's failure to control our boarders, provide meaningful tort reform, control wasteful spending and represent its citizens honestly. As it looks now, if anything passes. it will more than likely deal a catastrophic blow to the economy when implemented.

I believe we need to focus on the cause of the problem, not on the symptoms.

• Let's fix the tort system.
• Let's enforce the borders and remove all illegal aliens from the country.
• Let's cut corporate taxes so that corporations find it profitable to have their companies in the United States.
• Let's implement health saving accounts for standard medical care and have insurance for the big ticket items.
• Let's take insurance away from employers and put it in the hands of consumers.
• Let's put America back to work so that more people can have health insurance.

If we do these things I believe, medical services and medical insurance costs will come down, that in turn will help the economy to recover, and that will get more people covered.

Joseph L. Conigliaro

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Fred Thompson Interviews Betsy McCaughey on Congressional Health Care Bill

Benjamin Franklin's Epitaph

"The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, Its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author." Benjamin Franklin -- Epitaph on Himself [Composed in 1728] From Bartlett's Familar Quotations