Print Sydney Williams Read Full Bio Thought of the Day: Leftist Intolerance The issue is much larger than gay rights. The L.A. Times quoted the Reverend Sarah Halverson of Fairview Community Church who said she respects Cathy’s right to speak, but couldn’t help herself, so called his comments “hate” speech. Her words are endemic with what’s wrong with the Left – intolerant illiberalism in the name of fairness and political correctness. 6 Aug 2012 Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire It is fair to assume that without the Fed’s intervention, interest rates today would be higher, but again we cannot know by how much. But the Treasury Secretary is being deceptive when he tells us that our low interest costs are due to the demand and faith of investors. If only that were the case. When he blithely calls on Congress for more stimuli, he risks raising the costs substantially for future generations, in order to satisfy his one short term goal – the reelection of his boss. 5 Aug 2012 The Moral Case for Capitalism To equate “fairness” with redistribution, as the President does, is unfair if one believes success should be rewarded, whether it is a student in class, a hedge fund manager, an Olympian in competition, or a candidate in a Presidential race. The decline in poverty over the past two hundred years – while not by any means complete – is the living manifestation of the virtues of capitalism and why its cessation would doom millions. 31 Jul 2012 The Olympics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Games provide a venue for the competition among individuals and teams; that is all, but it is a lot. The bad and the ugly of the Games should not distract from the enormous good they do. May those who are the swiftest, who can leap the highest and, with strength and determination, demonstrate the most grit win the Gold. 30 Jul 2012 Words Matter In February 2008, while campaigning in Wisconsin, then candidate Barack Obama spoke of how words matter. In a speech, applauded by many as his most eloquent to date, he quoted The Declaration of Independence, FDR and Jack Kennedy – none of whom used teleprompters. Unfortunately, when he signed the 2300 page Dodd-Frank bill, he predicted it would “lift our economy,” provide “certainty to everybody” and end “too-big-to-fail banks.” 27 Jul 2012 Violence and Tragedy in Aurora The cause was not the gun. The cause had to do with a demented personality whose insanity was not uncovered or acknowledged until too late. Did he have unreasonably easy access to weapons and ammunition? It seems to me that perhaps he did. But any stripping of or denial of individual rights, granted to each of us under our Constitution, must be considered with great care. Once gone, government will be very reluctant to return them. 24 Jul 2012 The LIBOR Scandal and Regulators Who Knew This is not rocket science; it’s common sense. The rules are simple. In a partnership, the partners have their capital at risk. In a public company, management has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders that own the company. And public employees, no matter where they work in government, have a responsibility to taxpayers to treat their money with respect and care. Before writing new regulation, check out the regulators and check out their Congressional sponsors. 16 Jul 2012 Gardenbrain: An Arcadian World of Make Believe These referenced authors, Eric Liu, a former speech writer for President Clinton, and Nick Hanauer, a billionaire venture capitalist, recently wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Why Rich People Paying More Taxes is Good for the Economy.” In that article, Mr. Hanauer stated his three principals for economic recovery: feed the government, strengthen unions and get tough with China. Together, Mr. Liu and Mr. Hanauer wrote “The Machine and the Garden,” which appeared in the July 10 issue of the New York Times. 13 Jul 2012 Evening in America? Mr. Obama has brought sad tidings to our country. Granted, he inherited a tough situation. Financial markets had come close to collapse and, while they were recovering, they were still fragile. The economy was in decline. The country was riven by unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet Mr. Obama chose to focus on “change.” He pushed his personal agenda with its culture of dependency, rather than repairing what was broken – the economy. 11 Jul 2012 The Euro: A Failed Experiment European leaders, in their desire to maintain the currency they fought so hard for and for so long, speak of its demise in dystopian terms. I am not so sure, but of this I feel certain – more of the same may promise hope, but nothing more. Let the Euro go. Defense of the indefensible is no defense. 28 Jun 2012 Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next
Thought of the Day: Leftist Intolerance The issue is much larger than gay rights. The L.A. Times quoted the Reverend Sarah Halverson of Fairview Community Church who said she respects Cathy’s right to speak, but couldn’t help herself, so called his comments “hate” speech. Her words are endemic with what’s wrong with the Left – intolerant illiberalism in the name of fairness and political correctness. 6 Aug 2012
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire It is fair to assume that without the Fed’s intervention, interest rates today would be higher, but again we cannot know by how much. But the Treasury Secretary is being deceptive when he tells us that our low interest costs are due to the demand and faith of investors. If only that were the case. When he blithely calls on Congress for more stimuli, he risks raising the costs substantially for future generations, in order to satisfy his one short term goal – the reelection of his boss. 5 Aug 2012
The Moral Case for Capitalism To equate “fairness” with redistribution, as the President does, is unfair if one believes success should be rewarded, whether it is a student in class, a hedge fund manager, an Olympian in competition, or a candidate in a Presidential race. The decline in poverty over the past two hundred years – while not by any means complete – is the living manifestation of the virtues of capitalism and why its cessation would doom millions. 31 Jul 2012
The Olympics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Games provide a venue for the competition among individuals and teams; that is all, but it is a lot. The bad and the ugly of the Games should not distract from the enormous good they do. May those who are the swiftest, who can leap the highest and, with strength and determination, demonstrate the most grit win the Gold. 30 Jul 2012
Words Matter In February 2008, while campaigning in Wisconsin, then candidate Barack Obama spoke of how words matter. In a speech, applauded by many as his most eloquent to date, he quoted The Declaration of Independence, FDR and Jack Kennedy – none of whom used teleprompters. Unfortunately, when he signed the 2300 page Dodd-Frank bill, he predicted it would “lift our economy,” provide “certainty to everybody” and end “too-big-to-fail banks.” 27 Jul 2012
Violence and Tragedy in Aurora The cause was not the gun. The cause had to do with a demented personality whose insanity was not uncovered or acknowledged until too late. Did he have unreasonably easy access to weapons and ammunition? It seems to me that perhaps he did. But any stripping of or denial of individual rights, granted to each of us under our Constitution, must be considered with great care. Once gone, government will be very reluctant to return them. 24 Jul 2012
The LIBOR Scandal and Regulators Who Knew This is not rocket science; it’s common sense. The rules are simple. In a partnership, the partners have their capital at risk. In a public company, management has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders that own the company. And public employees, no matter where they work in government, have a responsibility to taxpayers to treat their money with respect and care. Before writing new regulation, check out the regulators and check out their Congressional sponsors. 16 Jul 2012
Gardenbrain: An Arcadian World of Make Believe These referenced authors, Eric Liu, a former speech writer for President Clinton, and Nick Hanauer, a billionaire venture capitalist, recently wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Why Rich People Paying More Taxes is Good for the Economy.” In that article, Mr. Hanauer stated his three principals for economic recovery: feed the government, strengthen unions and get tough with China. Together, Mr. Liu and Mr. Hanauer wrote “The Machine and the Garden,” which appeared in the July 10 issue of the New York Times. 13 Jul 2012
Evening in America? Mr. Obama has brought sad tidings to our country. Granted, he inherited a tough situation. Financial markets had come close to collapse and, while they were recovering, they were still fragile. The economy was in decline. The country was riven by unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet Mr. Obama chose to focus on “change.” He pushed his personal agenda with its culture of dependency, rather than repairing what was broken – the economy. 11 Jul 2012
The Euro: A Failed Experiment European leaders, in their desire to maintain the currency they fought so hard for and for so long, speak of its demise in dystopian terms. I am not so sure, but of this I feel certain – more of the same may promise hope, but nothing more. Let the Euro go. Defense of the indefensible is no defense. 28 Jun 2012