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Showing posts from May, 2013

Dole, Nixon, Obama And Memorial Day

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During World War II our leaders and soldiers did not consider failing as an option. Bob Dole served our country well as did Ronald Reagan. The Dole's and Reagan's were men who thought first what was best for the country and then thought about how they could win an election. They were politicians who recognized that compromise was not a dirty word and they could not get everything they wanted.  They knew that their party was comprised of mere mortals and if someone was a Democrat they too were capable of good ideas. If it was not for Watergate Nixon would be remembered as the President who got us out of Viet Nam and rekindled our relationship with China. Compare these men to those in the Republican primary this past election; Gingrich, Romney, Paul, Cain, Bachmann, Santorum, Huntsman and Perry. No wonder we lost. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are talked about as candidates for 2016. If this is the type of candidate we have in 2016 we will lose again and we should. The Republic

Detroit Needs Consolidation

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A long term plan for the city of Detroit must include recognizing the city has far too much housing and vacant lots to expect all will be filled by future new residents. This large of an influx will not happen for decades if ever. A good illustration of this problem is comparing Detroit to the combined areas of San Francisco, Boston and Manhattan. This graphic below was created by Mapping Solutions and is based on the population numbers for the year 2009. Detroit's population in 2009 was 845,000 with an area of 139 square miles.The population per square mile was 6,079. At its peak, Detroit had a population of approximately 14,388 per square mile. In the long term plan created during the Bing Administration called Detroit Future City they say,  "Detroit is not too big, its economy is too small." I disagree. It is going to take too long to grow the economy to the point where it will attract enough residents to double its size. The combined population in 200

Benghazi Revisited

Here are the issues related to Benghazi. Something that is not discussed enough is our election process, which effectively means every politician in Washington is given a 10 to 12 month paid sabbatical to look for another job. Their reelection, contributed to the breakdown of security in Benghazi.. This must change so our enemies don't take advantage of us again. The U.S. should have had better security for its Embassy in Libya and we need to be determined how much was caused by congressional budget cuts. The question is who is at fault and does it reasonable to put much of the blame on Clinton or Obama. This is not so clear. Per the organization chart of the Department of State the SOS has seventeen individuals reporting directly to her. These individuals must have the ability to work without much supervision. If they cannot, they do not belong in their position. The SOS is a diplomat and lacks sufficient time to manage this number of subordinates. Clinton cannot be blamed