Category Archives: management theory

by Barry Kelly | September 28, 2015 · 9:26 am

INSIGHTS 233 — WHO SHUTS DOWN THE GOVERNMENT?

The President went down to talk with the Advisor the day after the Speaker of the House announced his resignation. The Advisor asked, “Mr. President, do you believe the next speaker will be willing to shut the government down over the ‘Planned Parenthood’ issue?”

“That’s my decision, not the speaker’s. The Constitution gives the House the sole right to appropriate funds for the government. Early in my administration, the House forgot it had that power and did not use it. Power not used is power lost.

“For example, no one should blame the president for the current budget deficit. I can’t spend anything unless the bill originates in the House, is passed by the House and Senate, and sent to my desk. If the Republicans believe the budget should be balanced and the deficit reduced, why don’t they do it? The answer is simple, they just don’t have the political courage to make the hard choices. In the vacuum they created, I stepped in and am now governing as if I could appropriate funds.

“My base doesn’t want them to defund ‘Planned Parenthood’ so I said I would veto any bill that defunds ‘Planned Parenthood.’ Since they were planning to send the defunding issue up to me in the major budgeting bill, my veto of the bill would shut the government down. They are too dumb to change the messaging. It is not their fault I vetoed the budget bill. I vetoed the bill because it contained something neither I nor my base wanted. Ever since Speaker Newt Gingrich’s battle with President Clinton over spending issues resulted in a presidential veto and the shutdown of the government, all professional Republican politicians are in mortal fear of a presidential veto that results in a political shutdown of the government in the most painful way possible. I guarantee the pain part.

“Now I can control the legislature simply by threatening to shut the government down. In reality, taking $500 million out of a trillion-dollar budget would hardly be noticed. In this case they weren’t even cutting the funds, merely spreading the funds to other women’s health clinics. The government could go on as normal. The Republican Party members who fought so hard and successfully to win the House and Senate, now wonder what is the difference? The people we sent to Washington to represent us are not listening to us. In political fact, I now decide what to fund and the funding levels. I am Appropriator-in-Chief.”

“Will a new speaker be able to regain the Constitutional power to appropriate funds?”

“I doubt it. Maybe if the majority of the media supported the Republican Party, but I don’t think any of the contenders will have the courage to confront both me and the media. Rest assured, if I shut the government down over some funding bill I don’t like the media will blame it on the Republicans. Their own members and the conservative media will also automatically blame the Republican radicals for any shutdown. That is a strange but accurate view of the political scene in America. Senate and House leaders are playing the power game by traditionally cherished rules and procedures. I make my own rules and procedures. Therefore I win.”

Seeing the President check his watch, the Advisor said, “Mr. President, I fear you are needed back in the above-ground world. Thank you for the education. I don’t agree with your goals but you must be one of the most astute and aggressive presidents ever to play in the biggest of all power games.”

“I think that is a compliment. So thank you.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, Intelligence & Politics, management theory, Obama, political solutions, Progressives

Tagged as Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, current-events, government

by Barry Kelly | August 1, 2015 · 7:31 am

INSIGHTS 220 The Advisor and the President discuss the civil service

The President was back just two days after he had to leave in the middle of The Advisor’s question about the politicization of the Civil Service. The President lit his secret cigarette and said, “This is the only place in the White House I can smoke without getting hard looks or worse. And this is so far underground I’m not sure I’m still in the White House. Okay, you were asking me about my use of the Civil Service. Right?”

“Yes. I was wondering if you see how much you have politicized the Civil Service?”

“Of course. It is my Civil Service. Why should they not do what I want them to do? Notice I said want them to do, not what I tell them to do. That is the difference.”

“You make it sound as if by some magic all members of the service know what you would like them to do and they do it.”

“No magic involved. All Civil Service members take direction from appointed officials. I appoint them and I only appoint those who I know will follow my progressive ideology. Most Civil Service employees like their jobs and want to keep them. They also work hard to get good evaluations, earn promotions and bonuses, and to justify the size and scope of their unit. Their loyalty is to their units and to the Civil Service Union. No one has to tell them to follow the president’s lead. They have always acted the same way. I just have been more careful to make sure the leaders I appointed are doing their jobs.”

“You sound as if you have studied organizational structure and the behavior of workers in large organizations.”

“What’s to study? That’s the way I think. For example, I don’t have to tell civil employees to grow their organizations or to expand. The government doesn’t grow because some president wants it to. It grows unless some president works hard to control or stop the growth. In my case, I want the government to continue to grow. I need it to really transform the country.”

“Why then are you cutting the size of our military forces?”

“Even as the commander-in-chief, I don’t have the same power over the military as I do over the civilian workforce. I cannot put my people all through the uniformed military. Also their command structure is very tight. I have strategic influence but people loyal to me and my transformation goals are not in the day-to-day operational decision making. The military forces are not supporting my progressive goals. I am growing the power of the Civil Service for they are a willing ally in transforming America. I am cutting the size and power of the military because they are and have been an evil force used to project American power into less fortunate and smaller nations. To bring the military under control, I must reduce their size.”

“Then you say you are not breaking any laws by the way the IRS, the EPA, Justice, HHS, Veterans Affairs or Homeland Security have conducted their activities?”

“Right. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing; therefore, no crime.”

“What about the failure or unwillingness of the FBI to investigate the wrongdoing of the IRS and the failure of the Immigration Service to enforce the law?”

“You don’t seem to understand. The FBI has no charter or legal standing to investigate when there is no evidence a crime has been committed. Under my Justice Department, the FBI is not going out looking for things to investigate. They do work for the attorney general, and she works for the president.”

“What about the precedent of the Watergate affair and the erased tapes in the Nixon administration that led to his resignation?”

“Wouldn’t have happened under me. Nixon failed to understand how to use the law without being directly involved and the media did the investigating, not the FBI. Nixon and most Republicans have never understood how to use the media.”

Mr. President, I’m afraid I have exceeded my time.”

“No problem. I’m enjoying these sessions and I really think you are trying to understand me. Also, I want my record in your journal to be clear. See you next week but I don’t know when.”

With that, the President left with Chris who was patiently waiting in the dim passageway, and they retraced his steps to the above ground White House.

The Advisor opened his journal and began to record the last session. As he was writing in his journal, he thought, this man is delusional but very clever and dangerous.

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.

The author’s latest Jack Brandon novel, ISIS Quiet Justice, is available at your local book store and in ebook format from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Follow the author on Twitter at @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 219 — The Advisor and the President debate the rule of law

The Advisor was pacing in his underground suite, waiting for the President. He knew these sessions were becoming more critical. He simply had to get the President to tell future readers of the Advisor journals not so much what he did, but why. History was nearly always based on what was done. Seldom did any writer of history really know why and how the whats of history were accomplished. He wasn’t exactly setting a trap for the President but, rather, giving him an opportunity to explain himself.

The fragrance of the dark roast Sumatra coffee filled the room. He and the President were both addicted to the flavor of strong coffee. Both took it black. The Advisor never objected to the President lighting up during his meetings. He had once been an addicted smoker himself and still enjoyed the smell of good tobacco with his coffee or single malt scotch. He was alone, and lonely too much, to have the temptation of a bottle or two within reach.

The phone buzzed. It was Chris, the President’s Secret Service escort alerting him President was on his way down. The room was perfectly arranged the President liked, as the Advisor had gotten into the habit of leaving it in the hopes the President would visit. The Advisor poured two cups of coffee and walked to the door to greet the President.

As he walked down the dimly lit short underground passageway to the steel vault door with 150 years of a dark green patina surrounding the even older brass plaque on the door inscribed with the words, “EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS,” the President thought, I must be almost as nutty as that old black man inside. When I miss a couple of weeks, I miss the conversation. It is damned near like being on a couch with some learned nerd telling me what is wrong with me. Hell, I know what’s wrong with me. I’m a president trying to take a nation where it doesn’t want to go. I don’t have time to convince or educate them. I just have to drag them kicking and screaming into the world of the future where there is no inequality in nations or among nations. Call it socialism or communism or progressivism. I just don’t care. It is where we are going. Talking with this old man, who is smart as hell, helps me stay on course. I do wonder how he managed to fit this old steel door with the modern sensors that read my palm print on the brass plaque.

The Advisor greeted the President and led him over to the conference table. Once seated and the settled in with coffee and the President’s cigarette, the Advisor said, “Is it still my turn?”

“It’s a go. This maybe a short meeting. I may get called out.”

“You are trained in the law, but seemed not to have a reverence for the rule of law. It is more like you approach each problem in a very pragmatic way. Whatever works to help you get your way goes. You seem to have a distinct aversion to both the judicial and legislative branches. Is that right?”

“Close. I don’t follow the law. I use the law.”

“Mr. President, no offense, but do you realize some of your predecessors were impeached or threatened with impeachment? For example, the use of the IRS to discriminate against conservative groups applying for a tax-free status during an election period.”

“For a crime, especially an impeachable one, you must have evidence that can be presented in a court of law,” the President said, blowing out a puff of smoke. “No evidence, no crime, no attempts at impeachment. I don’t write things down or talk in front of my staff, except for a very few loyal and trusted ones, about what I want done if it is at all questionable in the law. If the Congressional Republicans can’t collect evidence, there is no crime. I don’t help or hinder their efforts to get emails or other information for their own political objectives. I can’t help what department heads do. The Civil Service is required to support the president. After all, they serve as my staff. I don’t need to tell them what to do, they know or they would not be employed.”

“What you are describing is unique in American history and ….” the Advisor started.

The phone buzzed and Chris said, “Mr. President, you are needed upstairs.” The President said, “This was getting interesting. Let’s continue the next time.” He smiled, pushed his cup away and put out his cigarette before walking to the door. Over his shoulder, he said, “How do you stand it down here? You must have committed some awful crime.”

The Advisor thought, sometimes I wonder.

The above is a fictional account of a meeting that never took place, but it could have.

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Filed under Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, management theory

by Barry Kelly | November 3, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 170 — Writer’s Choice

With the publication of my second non-fiction book, “Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” I will have said most of what I believe about the dangers of -ISMs, progressivism in any form without repeating the same theme. “Stepping Stones to Tyranny” has been approved by CIA in manuscript form but they still need to approve the galley proofs before I can publish the book.

“Stepping Stones” is a follow to “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought for?” with new material. Both of these books were written to explain the ‘transformation process’ to all Americans regardless of political leanings. If we get the government we deserve, as many pundits have stated, we at least should understand what we voted for.

I will still write some blogs, but fewer and not all about politics. My keyboard is now occupied with my fifth novel in the Justice series using Jack Brandon and his team to keep us safe from terrorism, both foreign and home grown. I’m having fun again. I enjoy putting my characters in dangerous positions and watching them deal with the bad guys. I know these characters so well they take over the writing, or, at least, it seems they do. I now call my novel in progress “Quiet Justice.” Of course, my editor and publisher haven’t approved my title yet.

As a parting reminder: It doesn’t matter which party increases the size of government, it is the absolutely wrong thing for a free people to do. Without big government and the high taxes necessary to support it, tyranny doesn’t have much of a chance. Deciding when government is big enough to perform its constitutional duties and when its very size presents a danger to freedom should be the decision foremost in every politician’s head. For the conservatives the danger of big government is the lynch pin in their core beliefs. Nearly everything else is negotiable.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Books, Intelligence & Politics, management theory, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as Immigration, transformation

by Barry Kelly | December 24, 2013 · 8:01 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS-92 THE ADVISOR

TRUST OR NOT?

The Advisor was pacing in his small underground suite of rooms, lamenting that the President seldom came to see him anymore. It wasn’t that he was bored. He had plenty to do. But his main responsibility was to advise the President.

He wasn’t the first Advisor to have limited visits from the sitting President. Most Presidents were a bit thin skinned when it came to listening to criticism they knew was the honest opinion of the Advisor. President Obama ranked close to the top of all the Presidents, going back to President Washington, who established the Advisor institution, when it came to sensitivity to criticism. Presidential visits or not, the Advisor had to keep his journal current. The Advisor changed with Presidential changes and his successors needed an accurate record of the each President’s term. The Advisor before him had left a record of George W. Bush’s term that emphasized his war time decisions and his role in creating a much larger government than he inherited and a bigger national debt.

The Advisor sighed and opened his Journal to the next blank page and began to write.

Big Government is a danger in itself because when the capability of workers exceeds doing what is necessary and essential, honest and diligent workers don’t lobby to have the work force reduced, they invent more tasks that inevitably provide more regulations for the people they were hired to serve. When the natural drive for centralization and growth are accompanied by an Administration that uses the civil work force for their own political objectives, the freedom of all citizens is threatened. How can Americans be expected to trust their government when they have been lied to and seen the IRS be used to target conservative groups to prevent their growth and funding? Now the citizens are expected to believe the information collected by NSA is both necessary and not a threat to liberty.

The real issue is not what NSA collects, it is the use of the information collected. Most citizens will tolerate the NSA collecting what they write or say if it is stored in some secure area where only national security analysts can see the data. The danger to our liberty is that we have a current President that will use any information to benefit his power position. I don’t see how anyone can doubt that conclusion after the IRS was used to target conservative groups, the EPA to kill the coal industry, the Defense and Intelligence Agencies to cover up Ben Ghazi, the security leaks after Bin Laden and the Iranian centrifuges, the Democratic Senate blocking all legislation that doesn’t support his policies, packing the courts to protect the expansion of his executive power, concealing data from HHS that shows the true state of Obamacare … and the list could go on.

Other Presidents from either Party may do the same. If we cannot trust our civil servants to protect the data in their domain, how can we authorize the collectors? Maybe there is a way that a sincere bipartisan effort could find. The defense of liberty and freedom requires eternal vigilance. Without a willingness on the part of government to allow maximum transparency there can be no real vigilance. That is the problem.

This is a fictional account of an Advisor that doesn’t exist by the author of the Brandon novels. The author (pictured far right) has 27

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 (middle left) in the 1980s as an advisor. Considering today’s volatile political situation, you are encouraged to share this blog and to click the “like” button below. Comments and dialogue are welcome.