Project 21: New Visions

ObamaCare proponents are getting exactly what they wanted. As more becomes known about what was actually in the bill, it's clear the majority of Americans were the losers. Supporters of the governmental takeover of health care declared victory because there has been a decrease in costs. What they fail to mention is the reason for the decrease was that people can't afford to use their insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs of their ObamaCare policies. It is imperative to remember that many — if not all — of the lawmakers who voted for this disaster didn't read it. Remember ...
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There is a certain idiom in American culture that starts with the phrase "Money talks." While providing the phrase's conclusion — which references something walking — is inappropriate for this page, it seems fitting when considering the actions of Warren Buffett over the years. Recently, Buffett's firm, Berkshire Hathaway, put up $3 billion to finance Burger King's purchase of Tim Hortons coffee shops. Through the deal, a Burger King-Tim Hortons holding company would reside in Canada while Burger King's operations would still run out of Miami, Florida. This is a corporate inversion. A company avoids high American corporate taxes through ...
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People often congratulate me for starting my own firm, Caldwell Strategic Consulting, at the ripe young age of 26. I often thank them, and sometimes add that I had no choice. Of course, I had a choice. I could have done lots of things, but lobbying and consulting is my passion and I really had no choice but to follow my passion. This is an entrepreneur's story. One benefit of the economic downturn was an expansion in entrepreneurship. Millennials who were unemployed yet had vision began their own businesses. Pushing for a dream unseen by most can be an insurmountable ...
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Today's public schools are the subject of a lot of debate and controversy all across America. There is a great deal that does need fixing, but the problems are not, as some may proclaim, solely due to a lack of funding. I am a product of a 1950s and 1960s public school system, and I believe that I received a very good education. The public school system in the '50s, '60s and '70s received a lot less funding than today relative to the times, yet it seemed to turn out a higher percentage of well-educated students. And many of these ...
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September is usually exciting for the National Football League, its players and its fans. It's the start of the new season. Old favorites are back on the gridiron and new players will be tested. Everyone wonders if this season will see his team in the Super Bowl. This year, however, September presented a series of unusual and unexpected problems for the League. One of its stars, Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, was indicted in March for aggravated assault of his then-fiancée (now his wife). After some press conferences, an investigation by the League's front office and a two-game suspension, ...
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Rather than waiting until specifics about the Michael Brown case are known — such as autopsy results, detailed officer reports, toxicology or other details regarding his death — some Ferguson residents, Brown supporters and various hangers-on decided to act. Learning nothing from the Trayvon Martin case, people took to the street with demands for "justice" and homemade protest signs. They were aided by a media seemingly excited about exploiting the narrative that Brown's death was at the hands of a brutal and possibly racist cop in a militarized police force that cares little about black residents. Ensuing nights after the ...
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Ask young boys what they want to be when they grow up, and the answer might be "police officer." It's common to want to protect the innocent, have authority and be the hero. For me, it wasn't any different. I wanted to put on a uniform and badge so I could protect and serve. As I was growing up, my parents were adamant that I have a healthy respect for men and women in uniform. It's a respect that never left me. At the age of 17, I found myself working at the Dallas Country Juvenile Court, where I worked for ...
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It's as if the NAACP hasn't done enough to dishonor its legacy and completely ruin its reputation as a civil rights organization. Grasping for political relevancy, the so-called civil rights group's Arizona chapter, with the help of the ACLU, is suing the state of Arizona for what can only be called greater access to race- and sex-based abortion. Arizona's "Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act" makes abortions based on the race of the mother or preborn child illegal. It also criminalizes anyone who knowingly performs an abortion based on race or gender issues. Lastly, it criminalizes anyone ...
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Troubling facts concerning health risks related to the wave of illegal immigrants who are crossing our southern border are coming to light despite efforts by the government to keep Americans in the dark. The usual tactics of crying racism and implying those wanting answers are selfish and lack compassion have been used to silence those who have questions. Yet questions must be asked and answered because the health of the American people is potentially at risk. Proponents of accommodating this newest influx of foreigners try to say this immigration wave is no different from those in the past. They are ...
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Eighteen year-old Michael Brown was finally laid to rest, but issues surrounding this tragic killing have not been.  The facts surrounding the police shooting of the teenager remain largely unknown, with a grand jury hearing testimony and at least three other investigations underway. This lack of facts, however, did not prevent violence and gratuitous looting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri as well as racial agendas, runaway rumors and media leaks from driving debates and discussions.  Converging black leaders and demonstrators are united in one demand: "Justice for Mike Brown." This only means one thing:  The arrest and prosecution of ...
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Having studied and taught history, I tend to look at things with a slightly longer view and in a broader context than most people. Most people tend to view the political world map as always having looked the way it does, but that clearly is not the case. The fact is that every couple of generations the geopolitical divisions change in a fairly dramatic way. Most of these geopolitical changes, obviously, occur as a result of war or some armed conflict. ISIS has vowed to be the precipitating force for the next major geopolitical changes on the world map. ISIS ...
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What's a firewall? It's an impenetrable barrier meant to stop an undesirable action. In politics, consider the example of the 1988 United States presidential race.  After several embarrassing defeats in early primaries, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush's campaign manager announced to staff and supporters that South Carolina and its influential primary would be the firewall for the Bush campaign. With workers and volunteers focused and dug in, working harder than ever so their candidate would prevail, the firewall succeeded and Bush handily defeated his challengers.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Bush went on to win his party's nomination ...
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Because of the hypersensitivity to which our world has succumbed, race is a frightening or taboo subject for many. Nonetheless, we should all talk about it. It's really hard to label anyone an expert on race. Many of us have been exposed to various cultural practices and living conditions, but there is a world out there that transcends our experiences or academic knowledge. We should discuss race for the simple matter of being educated. All of us are unlearned in some area of life. It would do us good to step outside our comfort level and become aware of the ...
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There are plenty of veterans such as myself who see President Obama's public reaction to the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs as both political theater and a desperate attempt to cover his posterior. First of all, his reaction time to reports of poor service and long wait times at VA facilities was lacking, considering that the allegations slowly rolled out over months and were cited by veterans organizations. It was already far too late when the President finally acknowledged the problem and dispatched a political deputy to fix the problems. What makes matters worse is that the Bush ...
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A common criticism of liberals is that their solution to every problem is to throw money at it. Why not? Government has a lot of money and can tax the people and businesses to get more of it. It’s a seemingly easy solution to messy and uncomfortable situations. Here’s why not — there can be an infinite number of problems but only a finite amount of resources. Throwing money at everything inevitably means that money will someday run out at perhaps the most unlikely and unwanted moment. For proof, look at what’s going on right now in Egypt. While the ...
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Lobbyists have a bad reputation because it's said they are in it for themselves. It's said lobbyists will do anything to make a dollar and that special interest lobbyists are ruining America. But what is a lobbyist? Are they all the same? Do lobbyists contribute anything positive to society? Almost everyone has lobbied for something. Have you ever, for example, asked an elected official not to support a bill because it would raise taxes? You've lobbied. Lobbying, in the simplest definition, is advocating for a cause. Federal lobbyists are often attacked for supporting special interest groups. What exactly is a ...
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Between July 3rd and July 7th, 82 people were wounded and 16 killed by gunfire. If you think I'm talking about violence in Iraq, you're wrong. I'm talking about happenings in "Chiraq," a new nickname for Chicago — my hometown. This violence is an unfortunate way of life for many Chicagoans. Victims ranged from as young as a 14-year-old boy to a 64-year-old woman. Professionals and non-professionals alike were affected. Not even a candidate running for public office escaped the violence in Chicago that recent holiday weekend. Lawless violence mirroring a certain country across the planet is how the Windy ...
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The Obama PC police strike again. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled trademark registrations for the Washington Redskins football team. The federal agency made this rare move deeming the team's name offensive to Native Americans. To be clear, I absolutely care about the concerns many Native Americans have about the term "redskin" being offensive. I know that, for centuries, black Americans were coined in all kinds of negative ways that were accepted by popular culture. For blacks, the press and the mainstream society used names such as "free blacks," "freedman" and "colored" since our coming to America during the ...
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Sean Bergin is the latest casualty in the progressive War on Truth. Bergin, a reporter for News 12, a regional television station in New York and New Jersey, interviewed the widow of a criminal shot and killed by police. Lawrence Campbell, who was black, stabbed and stole a gun from a Walgreens security guard that he then used to murder a rookie Jersey City police officer, Melvin Santiago. The shooter's widow was unrepentant, wishing on camera that "he had taken more cops with him." She later apologized. After Bergin reported the station was "besieged" with complaints from angry police officers ...
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Recently, as I waited in line at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, my eyes drifted to a sample license plate on the wall that said "Education Begins At Home." It made me think: "Not if they continue with Common Core and these new SAT standards." If they do, public school education will be reduced to "teaching to the test," with limited choices and options for parents to find alternatives for their children. As I am the mother of two school-aged children, the Common Core discussion is near and dear to me. There is nothing more important to me than ...
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