E. A. Morris - Fellowship for Emerging Leaders

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

This announcement is so huge, it requires a weeklong televised special on ABC and for one congressman to read the one page rough outline before this blog can be signed into law.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you have waited for this historic moment ever since A.C. Slater, Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano teamed up for Mr. Tuttle’s class project to bring you Buddy Bands.

This is Rocky Norkum’s first ever E.A. Morris blog post!

Folks, I would like to discuss with you leadership being that this is a fellowship for emerging leaders program.  My question is simple but a little dark in nature and for this reason, I would like to begin by telling a joke.

Why is Russia a very fast country?  Because the people are always Russian.  Ta-da.

I digress.  At what point of personal liberty theft would you sacrifice your personal safety to confront the breaking of natural law?  There was a breaking point for our nation’s founders and have we surpassed their tolerance or do we deserve more coercion?  Is my premise false in regards to us losing liberty?

Liberty can be viewed in two contexts: individual liberty vs. social liberty (or order).  Sure, both are needed.  But when we choose to relinquish the responsibility of order to a government, it must always be viewed suspect.  George Washington said “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence.  It is a force.  And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

Government’s role is growing like a force and now, it is not just to protect but to make fair and call it keeping order.  Dangerous!

How do we trust a fire?  By building fire walls.  We shouldn’t play with fire and we shouldn’t play with government, either side.  It’s really that simple.  And just because it’s good to use fire for keeping warm, it is not good to use it for making a jean jacket that must be Bead-Dazzled before I wear it to my first day of school so the kids do not make fun of me for wearing my nonBead-Dazzled jean jacket.

But I digress again.  Do you believe “Give me liberty or give me death” by Patrick Henry a legitimate thing to say in our lifetimes?  Or is that just unnecessary in our times?

For the moderate moderators, please understand that this is just a question about history and not for the purpose of raising a militia through this platform.  I use bingo night at the senior center for that.  Be there next Tuesday for Jr. Frosty night.  Hooray!

What are some of the plans for Fellowship projects? What tools are you using to execute your plan? Does your project play to your core values…?

Ok – I am not really good at this blogging stuff but in the interest of making sure Ashley “gets excited”, I’ll give it a go.

Most of you by now have seen Rep. John Boehner’s health care reform map that was compiled by the Cato Institute.  If you haven’t; just try googling it — it’s worth it.  The map exemplifies everything that is wrong with a government takeover of health care.  At it basis government run anything is too big and too complicated.  Therefore it never serves those it is intended to serve very well at all.  Let’s think about some facts.

The spaghetti plate process map the Cato Institute created shows us how very complicated things get when the government gets involved.  Instead of what most Americans need and want, it creates a nightmarish scenario of waiting in line to get this document, so that you can wait in line to see this doctor, so that you can wait in line to get anther document, so that you can wait in line to file this, so that you can…. You get the picture.  Have Democrats thought about all the lost productivity that will affect Americans every time they need to go get a physical.  Maybe that’s their plan – pass health care reform, cripple productivity and then we won’t need Cap and Trade!  The point is that health care is already complicated enough without the government stepping in.  Anyone who’s ever had to file a medical claim or call their insurance company will confirm this.  What we need is a nice boring private system in which you can buy your own health insurance without having to go through your employer and then go see your doctor whenever you need.  Wow that was simple – kind of like a piece of white bread – uncomplicated and easy.  What most American’s want.

According to the Democrats, the number of uninsured is too high but we can easily see that this isn’t quite the case.  Depending on what source you look at the number of uninsured varies but most experts agree that it is no where near the often quoted 46 million.  Subtract the 10 million or so that are not US citizens; 17 million who live in households with incomes above $50k (and could therefore buy their own if necessary) you get the number down to 19 million Americans without health insurance.  Of these, some at least are young folks who choose not to buy health care.  Imagine that – being able to make your own choice – in America of all places.  Furthermore, another part of that 19 million are temporarily uninsured.  These are folks who loose their job with it their insurance.  Studies have shown that they mostly regain their insurance within a year to 18 months.[1]  So there you have it – no one knows how many are really uninsured.  But for the sake of argument let’s say 15 million people are chronically uninsured.  That’s $1 trillion for 15 million citizens.  $1 trillion and rising.  $1 trillion in more debt.

Democrats though don’t want us to think about this though.  When confronted with the lower numbers of uninsured they instantly point to the rising costs of normal health care for everyday Americans.  They point out that we need to reform the system that we have because we are all apparently in imminent danger of falling off the cliff of uninsurance.  Most Americans would agree that health care costs are rising too fast, faster than most folk’s income.  So what is the solution when costs rise?  That’s right, it’s competition.  But that is not what Democrats want.  They don’t want Americans to actually be in control of our own health care.  They and President Obama want control.  If they can control our health care, they control the health care choices over our own bodies.  The founding fathers deemed it important enough to include Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the Declaration.  Your health and well being are the basis of your Life.  Let’s not let the Democrats take it away.

One system that has helped me manage all of the facets in my life is the Getting Things Done (GTD) method.

Plenty of people are familar with the philosophy pushed by the “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” where you look at your life from a high level and develop strategic items like mission statements and value assessments that will drive the actual tasks you need to do.  David Allen’s GTD method does that backward – get the stuff done and then free your mind to think about the higher level stuff.

GTD is a very popular approach among the Technorati – especially in Silicon Valley.  How to make it work has spawned a number of articles and software apps.  One of my favorite blogs – Lifehack.org – is doing a set of articles on how to restart this system for people who’ve fallen off the GTD wagon.  It’s an interesting read for someone who might be curious about what GTD is all about.

This week’s article is on the all-important Weekly Review:

More than anything else, though, a weekly review is a point of connection between you and your work. We live in a go-go-go society where work – any work – is expected of each of us, all the time. Americans, especially, work harder than just about anyone – not necessarily more efficiently or on more important things, but longer hours and with fewer breaks. It’s all too easy in all this rush of work for work’s sake to lose track of why we’re doing it and of what it has to do with us as people.

[READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE]

It was a bright and sunny afternoon in Chapel Hill, NC when I found out that the balance of power in our country had shifted. Without a special election, without an opportunity to campaign: in one fell swoop our government was given carte blanch to remake this country. I was immediately filled with a myriad of questions as I listened intently to the radio broadcast. How had this happened? Who was to blame? The answer was Sen. Arlen Specter.

Senator Arlen Specter. D-PA

I have to admit that I, along with much of the GOP establishment, have thought of him this way for some time. While he has been in name a member of the GOP, there are a number of skeletons in Specter’s proverbial Republican closet which should raise many questions for voters over the next 18 months.

Democratic/Republican Specter Voting Guide-

• Strong pro-war stance- Specter has voting for military action in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan. He has refused timelines and increased funding for defense. He voted to designate the Iranian National Guard as a terrorist organization. (That should tell you how old fashioned he is in his thinking. Back then they could use that word.) He even voted against investigating the contract abuses by private companies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cheney might even smile over that last one.
• Pro-Choice (?)- This one’s hard to call. The NARAL gives Specter a rating of 21% indicating a pro-life stance; but the NRLC gives him a zero rating which indicates a pro-choice voting record. He voted against parental consent, voting for human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, and co-sponsored Protecting the Reproductive Rights of Women. He voted against additional funding for education and contraception. It seems the only pro-life weapon in his arsenal is his vote against Partial Birth Abortions. Looks like an endorsement from Sebelius is out.
• Taxes- This is going to be a tough sale for Arlen. He has consistently voted in favor of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. He has voted against the marriage penalty, the death tax, the AMT, and voted to reduce the tax on capital gains and dividends. Sounds like President Bush had a friend in PA.

It is more than an impossible task to find any clear convictions within Specter’s voting record, a usual biproduct of following the polling numbers. Granted, the Senator has made no secret that he left the party because he saw that he probably wouldn’t be re-elected. Even with the help of the administration, I doubt he’ll fare much better as a democrat.

Personally, the situation reminds me of the adage of the frog in the pot of boiling water. Perhaps the socialists having absolute power to remake our country for a year and a half will be the needed wake up call to those citizens still not engaged in the political process. My only fear is that at that point it might already be too late.

Below is a blog post from Sherry Davis Ward from our (Class of 2009) facebook page.

The article regarding Arlen Specter’s change from Republican to Democrat was quite interesting. People change parties all the time. Yes, this change could have a significant impact on future decisions, but it’s just the swing of the pendulum for the moment. History has shown us that change is inevitable, therefore, very little remains constant. Are there motives behind this decision? Probably so, but so are the decisions made by most politicians. Condemn this man for expressing his "freedom of choice"? I think not…….. One person shouldn’t make a difference unless it’s a fragile house of cards that could fall at any moment anyway. Let’s recall a very primary lesson from the three little pigs and the big bad wolf that holds true even for this situation……..make sure to build things with a strong foundation and the best materials that you can find. Then, when the winds start to blow little can shake you.

Although I did not have a chance to attend a tax day protest, I was able to catch some news coverage of the event. From what I caught on TV, I was impressed by both the number and the diversity of the protestors. It was sincerely refreshing to see everyday Americans, many of whom feel ignored and silenced by their government, using their right to express their discontent with the leadership of the current adminstration and the current Congress. I hope that these protests left many Americans at least intrigued if not inspired.

Because I believe strongly in the right and benefits of free speech, I naturally support any peaceful demonstration led by the people. What I found troubling is that certain media outlets tended to belittle and downplay the protests as if they were minimal and strictly part of a right-wing fringe conspiracy. For instance, a reporter from CNN stated that “I think you get the general tenor of this…it’s anti-government, anti-CNN, since this is highly promoted by the right wing conservative network FOX.” On MSNBC, the protestors were described as ”secessionists” and “militia-type.”

I do agree with many of the protestors that the bail-outs seem excessive and irresponsible (as well as ignorant of American history)  yet I must argue that those who oppose higher taxes typically fail to make mention to where they want their taxes going and for what purposes. Often people state what they are against but they do not clearly articulate what they actually support. Few would disagree that taxes can be and are beneficial to this nation (i.e. military protection and infrastructure). Yet, unfortunately, this fact was lost at the tea parties and the protestors have been wrongly accused of being unpatriotic. On the contrary, their actions revealed great patriotism. To maintain the purity of democracy and to bring about a greater dialogue among citizens, I hope that the peaceful protests continue.

Yesterday on April 15, Tax Day, I had the privilege to accompany Dr. Karen Palasek to Tax Day Tea Parties in Morehead City and New Bern, North Carolina.

The purpose of the Tea Parties were to protest the excess government spending that has resulted in higher taxes. With hand made signs like ‘Freedom not Socialism,’ the cause was clear, and the movement- forceful. In New Bern we felt the energy from the people. They came to the tea party, not as one-time guests, but to bare witness to a monumental call to action to keep the tea party ball rolling. It was evident that the unnecessary spending by the government is hitting home for Americans from all walks of life- including various age groups and racial identities. Aside from the visible distinctions among the passionate protesters, a more inspiring difference surfaced. These tea parties recognized no political lines, religious affiliations, or specific residency. Lockwood Phillips, a local talk radio host in the Morehead City area, held a live broadcast from the tea party and made it a point to speak to many of these individuals who united together in one afternoon to stand against the constraint of government spending. Among his guests? A marine stationed in North Carolina, a New Yorker, a Californian, and even a Democrat. No matter their background, when the masses united in chants of ‘No more pork-ulous! and Don’t Tread on Me!’, it was a feeling that can’t be encapsulated in words. It seems the Tea Parties are a start to a more informed voter and potentially- some real change?

Today’s guest columnist in John Hood’s Daily Journal is our very own Karen Palasek. She writes on the topic of leaders believing what they say…. insightful perspectives given our leadership conversations during the Selection Weekend and Retreat 1. Enjoy! Below is the article  link

http://www.carolinajournal.com/jhdailyjournal/index.html

On the last Thursday of the month, the Civitas Institute holds a monthly luncheon featuring the results of the DecisionMaker poll. Grassroots activists, legislators, public policy experts and concerned citizens come from around the state to hear the most recent opinion research — all on issues facing North Carolina. What do North Carolinians think about upcoming elections? Healthcare? State government?

Poll luncheons begin at 11:45 a.m. at the Clarion Hotel in downtown Raleigh (Hillsborough Street).

http://www.nccivitas.org/events/registration-area/