Category Archives: centralization

by | August 15, 2013 · 7:00 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSTIGHTS 69-ADVISOR

Safe in the Shadows

PROBLEMS

The Advisor sat slumped in his chair. For the first time in his life he felt inadequate.  His President and the nation needed help. There were so many problems, he wasn’t sure where to start or even if he should start.

Only one thing to do, he thought.  Pull out your journal and put down your problems. If you can’t help President Obama solve them, at least you can record them. The record may help another President and his Advisor.

He uncapped his Waterman fountain pen, dipped it in the open inkwell to get the flow started, and wrote in large printed letters at the top of a clean page, PROBLEMS. Wondering what to write next, he just started to write. The words flowed like they were pouring from a deep wound in the Nation’s body. 

Obamacare: Here’s an unpopular program that addresses a national need. Nearly everyone believes health care in America is broken and needs fixed. If this President could get over his revolutionary philosophy that pushes him to use every issue to destroy the opposition, it would be easy to pass a bipartisan bill that keeps the good parts of Obamacare and meets the nation’s needs without polarizing the populace. There is a constitutional process that could make this happen. President Obama has to take the lead. He shouldn’t worry about  the opposition. They are without leaders and nearly hopeless. Also the President and his Progressive supporters must accept constitutional limits on executive powers and the role of the states. This is not a hard problem. Ignoring it can lead to impeachment talk.

After health care, the sweeping ink trail took up the energy problem.

To start with, energy is too important to be left to spineless politicians and those progressives who believe humans can control climate and its worldwide effects. How can anyone trust politicians or executive department heads such as EPA who refuse to recognize that the world’s climate has and does change, almost constantly in historical terms? The changes are not caused by humans. Humans weren’t even present for many of the changes. How about the time when there were two miles of ice over the place now occupied by Chicago? How many emissions from cars and coal-fired plants did it take to warm up the Earth then?  Any objective person of science knows that minute changes in the Earth’s orbit, the energy put out by the sun, and the occasional meteorite might have been instrumental in changes in the world’s temperature.

Again, a bipartisan energy program would not be hard to accomplish if the President could bring himself to cast aside the misguided environmentalists and focus on an intelligent use of fossil fuels while investing modest sums in finding a cleaner form of energy in this century. In the meantime, I must help him recognize that the civilization we have today and may have tomorrow, is because of fossil fuel. Pipelines, drilling on- and off-shore for oil and natural gas and building refineries are good for the nation and cheap energy will bring manufacturing jobs back to America. Massive amounts of tax dollars, poured recklessly into solar cells and wind turbines, will not magically develop even ten percent of our energy requirements.

The Advisor liked to write and ponder problems by candlelight. The flickering light was a constant reminder of how close we are to the past. He felt we are much closer to the time of our founders than we are to the citizens of the next century. Of course, that is what history is all about. Knowing the past will help us get safely into the future. Maybe, that is the message I can get across to the President.

Even I have to get some sleep. I’ll leave National Security, overstepping of executive power, and the economy for another session. If the President comes back, I will have something for him.

By the author of the Jack Brandon novels. http://www.factsandfictions.com. The author has 27 years of Government service, including two years serving President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s as an advisor. Considering today’s volatile political situation, you are encouraged to pass on this blog or parts of it to your contacts and friends. Comments and dialogue are welcome and helpful.

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

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by | July 15, 2013 · 6:00 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 64 – THE ADVISOR

 Safe in the Shadows

The Advisor on Big Goverment                                    

“Good evening, Mr. President. Are you ready to hear my advice on the size and scope of government? Really, the same principles apply in some fashion to any very large organization. It’s not primarily dependent on which political party is in power. President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence, against the advice of my predecessor, two of the worst examples of growing the size of government to fix some problems.

“Conservatives grow the government’s bureaucratic  forces to provide security. Liberals grow the bureaucracy to make things equal or to provide welfare services. Both are misguided. All bureaucracies  are created to regulate and control the actions of people who actually produce goods and services. These people are the ones who built this nation and who have created the most productive and free society the world has ever seen. They are the substantive force in our civilization. They care little for regulation that makes production more costly or inefficient. They rely on the forces of a free market to guide the economy. The regulators are the process people who do not have creative skills or the individual skills to build or manage but are driven to control the process which means to control the means of productions and distribution. It would be foolish to believe regulation is not needed at times but only in the smallest amount.

“Left to themselves, the regulators will centralize and grow the size of government to the point no business can function efficiently. Today we are close to that point where the founders and leaders of industry have to pay more attention to the impact of government  regulations and taxes than to the worldwide forces of the market place.

“The introduction was a bit long and you must want your cup filled and a cigarette. May I pour you some coffee? You’ll find your brand of cigarettes on the table. Any questions so far?”

” Yes, I’m ready, please pour. Although I’m beginning to doubt my sanity. I already think you must be a timeless relic from some faraway ancient civilization and wonder what beyond curiosity brings me back to your cave?  Do you ever leave here?”

“Mr. President, the first eight decades of my life were spent above ground. It is much easier underground. We all eventually get here. But we can’t spend too much time talking about me. My past years are of no significance. Advising the President of the United States is a full-time job, especially when we don’t agree on a common set of facts.”

“Second question. Yes. I’ve been here several times now and I still don’t know what I should call you.”

“You may call me anything. I am and have been many things. I’m old enough to have learned names and titles are of little importance compared to the impact a man or woman makes in improving and protecting our world.”

“Maybe I should call you a professor. You know I was one once.”

“Mr. President, I was once a professor but do not prefer that title and you shouldn’t, either.”

“Why not?”

“Well, to start with your academic grades are not good and you were an instructor, not an assistant professor, an associate professor nor a professor. Your current title far surpasses your academic credentials. But let’s get started before you get up and leave. Remember, down here we must have honesty. All pretensions and embellishments must be left at the door. You can pick them up when you leave.

“My worry  about big government is the embedded drive in humans to continue the process of centralization. Defined as combining segments of government, business, or religion into fewer and larger segments where fewer and fewer people make decisions. This process expands the scope of control beyond the ability of anyone to be an effective manager and steward of public funds. It is all part of the desire to make things better. Watch, when things go ‘wrong’ the cry is, ‘put someone in charge. Make someone responsible.’ 9/11 gave us that opportunity. Something was wrong. How else could such blow strike our homeland? A conservative government, under President Bush, moved to fix the problem by, of course, putting pieces of government together under a central control. To start with the pieces of government in their separateness, were not well managed. Many of them were already too large. Today Homeland Security is an example of centralizing management until you reach numbing inefficiency. Another example is the DNI organization. The Director of National Intelligence is about the worst fix anyone could have made to improve the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence. I defy anyone to prove money is being saved or that the product produced has been improved. Top managers of such over-centralized organizations don’t have a clue to what is happening in the trenches. Their main concern is often getting enough reporting from the far reaches of their commands to make them look credible, especially when briefing the President or appearing before an aggressive group of journalists or legislators.

“Unfortunately, both our main political parties are vulnerable to the drive to fix things by centralization. National Health Care or Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, over reaches of OPA and the Department of Energy are other examples of good intentions leading to disastrous unforeseen consequences. While some centralization is necessary, decentralization is the sure path to renewed growth and vitality in both business and government. Good people in charge of manageable organizations can fix problems. Over centralization cannot. Creating a larger population of civil unionized workers is not a good thing even in the short run. To start with, U.S. Government employees should not be members of any union. Who or what does unionization protect them against? They are hired by the people, work for the people and are the people.

“You don’t need anymore union powers lobbying your presidency. Nearly every political  pundit comes to realize that the growth in government beyond that which is absolutely necessary, threatens individual freedom and the overall freedom to create and produce new goods and products. Look at all the cases in history where freedom has been lost or eroded by governments grown beyond the need. The growth of government is always pushed by people who have good intentions and a poor understanding of history and management principles.  Don’t let your presidency be the one that pushes growth of government beyond need and endangers freedom and economic growth.”

“I’m not sure I believe any of that but I will think on it.”

“Mr. President, thank you. You must make the final decisions. Not all advice is good. Maybe I am not 100% right all the time. But I have no personal or organizational agenda. What do want to cover at our next meeting?”

“You decide. I must go now. It’s a good thing you serve the best coffee and I have the freedom to smoke without anyone giving me disapproving looks. That alone makes me come back.”

 

 

The author of the Jack Brandon novels is a Korean War veteran and served in the Vietnam War as a CIA agent who has 27

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

 years of government service, including two years serving President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s as an advisor. Considering today’s volatile political situation, you are encouraged to pass on this blog or parts of it to your contacts and friends. Comments and dialogue are welcome and helpful. www.factsandfictions.com.

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Eight Decades of Insights 32 (factsandfictions.com)
The High Cost Of Maintaining ‘Homeland Security’ (warnewsupdates.blogspot.com)

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by | June 17, 2013 · 8:19 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 57

OVERSIGHT?

Our Constitution, most state constitutions, judicial procedures and corporation bylaws, all contain checks and balances.  All aspects of our republic purposely contain a system of checks and balances. The premise behind the need for such restraints is that people can be corrupt and power breeds corruption. Corruption in government and unchecked power can and will destroy individual liberty. It doesn’t matter which political party is in power, the motivation to use the full and unchecked power of government for ideological supremacy is always there. Our system of checks and balances relies on another principle for its effectiveness. The protector of viability of checks and balances  is Congressional and Judicial  oversight and an aggressive questioning press, which is the third, very important leg of oversight.

079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993

079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993 (Photo credit: David Holt London)

In our federal government structure, the Congress and the Courts provide the arms of oversight of the Executive. It is the Executive branch of our government whose management of the nation’s business contains the power to encroach on individual freedom in the name of security or in  misguided attempts to destroy opposition to changing or transforming the American nation. Up until the last ten years the check and balance process has worked well  with effective oversight.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the Executive often struggled to maintain its position of prominence in running the affairs of government. At times it seemed to those of us working in the Executive branch that Congress believed oversight meant management. Congressional staff members and reporters made their bones by ferreting out real and imagined overreaches and inefficiencies of the Executive. There was a constant stream of officers from various agencies marching up to testify in front of various committees. One Director of the CIA often commented, “That while CIA is an executive agency under the command of the President, CIA works equally for the Congress.” (This is not an exact quote but it is very close and was accurate at the time.)

The power and effectiveness of the oversight process has been steadily degraded. Four things are primarily responsible for the weakening of the oversight process.

First: The Executive Branch of Government has grown much larger, starting with President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama. The Congressional and Judicial Branches have not kept up.

Secondly: The media has become politically one-sided and ignores covering events that might be critical of President Obama. In doing so they have abrogated their historical position as a key element of the oversight process.

Thirdly: Only the Executive Branch has keep up with the technology necessary to improve the management and control of their branch of government.

Lastly: No one in the Legislative or Judicial Branches anticipated that a political party would so openly and ruthlessly use the power of the executive to destroy political opposition groups. There is scarcely a piece of the executive that has not stepped over traditional lines to seize and expand political power. A few examples of the most egregious are the IRS, EPA, the State Department, the Justice Department, ranking military officers, DEA, Immigrations, HHS, Department of Labor and others that will emerge if oversight regains its footing. How can we expect Congress to oversee the collection and use of information on U.S. Citizens if it cannot even provide oversight of  the the IRS, one of the most bureaucratic  and pervasive of all agencies?  This is not over. Watch the Congressional hearing.

By the author of the Jack Brandon novels.         http://www.factsandfictions.com

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by | May 17, 2013 · 10:25 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 51

King George III, by Sir William Beechey (died ...

King George III, by Sir William Beechey (died 1839). See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

FREEDOM

Stop where you are and look around. If you are anywhere in America, everyone you see who has grown up here has never known anything except freedom.  Even those who have had the misfortune to be temporarily in prison know what freedom is and  believe it is the natural state of being. It isn’t.

Freedom as we know it is an anomaly in the course of history. Where, except here in America, has it ever been the normal condition? Where else do people grow up with individual freedom, which  is the only freedom? If individuals are not free to act out their lives, including making mistakes and bad choices, there is no freedom.

Why have we been so blessed? We are a nation of immigrants who all had first-hand experience with tyranny, either from governments, religious organizations, or from their employers or owners. Only black Americans who spent decades as slaves, and a few others, did not escape tyranny by living in America. And, they too, knew what freedom was. They also knew they didn’t have it. Our founders also knew that they did not have the freedom they believed should be theirs as long as King George III made the laws that governed in America.

They knew only under a limited government elected by the people was freedom possible. A reading of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, The Federalist Papers, and the Articles of Confederation clearly shows a strong push to limit the powers of government. They knew intuitively that government could not grant freedom but it could diminish or abolish freedom. The stronger and larger the government becomes the greater danger it becomes to  curtailing individual freedom.

Big government, bigger than it could be and still provide necessary services, is the only threat to freedom in America. Governments are not inherently evil. They, if allowed,  just slowly and inexorably absorb functions and rights reserved to the states and individuals in the name of dealing with some issue. There is no other threat to our freedom, beyond foreign military invasions. We must keep government to its necessary functions and size  commensurate with its responsibilities.

The dual process of centralization and distribution of wealth, under the well meaning intentions of elitist political groups, to make a better life for allis always a threat to freedom. The current mayor of New York and the nanny state he wants is a perfect example of well meaning intentions limiting individual freedoms. Give a government of progressives ten or fifteen years of uninterrupted growth in size and power and the freedom so many of us have fought for will be gone.

Freedom is won quickly and slowly lost. Freedom demands eternal vigilance for it is vulnerable to citizen demands for goods and services and the human drive to continue the growth and centralizing of government.The dual watchdogs of the free press and dedicated citizens are needed to keep us free from the abuses of Government.

By the author of the Jack Brandon Thriller series.           http://www.factsandfictions.com
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by | February 13, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 34

WHY YOU CAN’T BELIEVE

THE STATE OF THE UNION IS NOT GOOD.  The Obama presidency is a clear danger to the American way of life. Now, be honest, you don’t believe his administration is dangerous. You don’t believe because every politician you have ever known  cared about issues. They ran on how they would handle the issues facing their voters. You and the media evaluated those office holders on how well they handled the issues important to you. You may not have liked their methods or the exact results, but they talked about your issues and worked on solutions.

President Barack Obama speaks with White House...

President Barack Obama speaks with White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod in the staff work room April 4, 2009, in Strasbourg, France. (Wikipedia)

Western thought is based on working on the parts or pieces of things and then bringing them together. Republicans and Democrats believe putting America back to work requires serious work  on a tax overhaul, reduced and prioritized spending, resource development, size of government, a retrained workforce, and increased exports to come together.  Granted, there is plenty of room here for disagreement, but that is our system and a solution will emerge. That is what we are used to. It’s how and why we chose our candidates. We expect work on the issues, vigorous debates, and a workable solutions.

We have elected a president who does not work to solve issues or to reach agreement through compromise. He uses issues to achieve one end, the transformation or socialization of America. Issues are the tools he uses to destroy opposition, in this case the Republican party, Congress, Wall Street, Big Oil, and the courts. He will and has taken shifting sides on most all issues according to his faithful following of the Alinsky plan, “The issue is never the issue.” The only issue for President Obama and his progressive left following is the acquisition of total power, a one-party political system with only ceremonial roles for Congress, the states, and the courts. Any means to achieve socialism in America he believes is justified. Lying, misrepresentation, switching sides, demonizing the opposition, and the constant use of class warfare rhetoric are there for you to see. But you must be willing to look. For you will not see any detailed proposals or plans or budgets from the Obama presidency. Written plans are a no-no. They make it too easy for the opposition to point out shifting positions, falsehoods, and deceptions. Even the media would jump on inconsistent or shifting plans. So no detailed written plans. Instead, an in-your-face series of speeches and sham press conferences. Even the State of the Union report to the nation is childish in its petulance finger pointing at everyone but the president. The Supreme Leader does not recognize his own mistakes.

Obama’s State of the Union address covered a number of issues he and his co-president, David Axelrod, plan to use to destroy Congress and the Republican Party. Don’t expect any real moves to solve issues. Take immigration: It is to most Americans a very important issue. Hispanics, how do you feel being pushed aside for Obamacare?  As long as you vote for him, he doesn’t care if you are unhappy. Remember the “issue is not the issue.” Immigration is a tool to use in the socialization of America.   To progressives/socialists, controlling the medical industry is more important than dealing with immigration. We need the border controlled and a path to residency, in many cases citizenship, for the Hispanics now here. We need them. Welcome! Mr. President, where is your leadership?

To President Obama: Immigrants are not people needing help. Just a way to embarrass and demonize the Republicans. He will take care of them after the transformation is completed. Just like the socialists/progressives took care of the people in  Cuba, Russia, China, Iran, and Germany. Do we have an all-of-the-above energy policy? If you think we do, stop drinking Obama kool-aid. What’s wrong with the Canadian pipe line through Nebraska? It would bring lower energy prices, give funds to a friendly nation, and create jobs. The private sector unions are even in favor. No real help here. Only words. It is easier to sell socialism to a jobless hurting population than to a economically thriving nation. Create a national crisis then use it against the opposition.

Another issue, the U.S. military. They are an obstacle to a socialist dictatorship. Weaken them by sending an incompetent former senator, who is anti-military, to manage our security. Why would any president do that? How about the nomination of a politicized former CIA officer to run CIA? Where was this champion of national security when all the monumental leaks of highly classified information occurred? Where was he during the national disgrace of Benghazi and the aftermath? I can’t think of a single issue where President Obama took the lead and solved an important issue. He blames the Republicans. Hell, they don’t even know what’s happening.  Are gun and climate control critical issues?

The issue is never the issue. Apply that principle to every issue of the last four years. Maybe it will help you believe we are in dangerous times.

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