We the People...

I used to fear that I would run out of things to talk about, regarding politics that is. I assumed that somehow cooler and more logical heads would prevail and refocus on what matters, leaving the silly drivel of mud-slinging and baseless propaganda behind, forcing pundits and charlatans alike to find better ground from which to mine our scandals—real and imagined. I no longer have that fear.

What frightens me now, is the reality that we have accomplished none of those things. A year—and an election—later, we have the same arguments. We hear the same ill-conceived and often flat out fabricated talking points. We find ourselves hoping magically for different results. We are a nation capable of great things. I never thought that redefining insanity, passing it off as governing and, holding our citizens hostage, was ever going to be on that list. Alas, again I was mistaken.

The events of the last 6 weeks have left me baffled and searching. Ever the optimist, even I am saddened at the horizon seeming to hold less hope than it did a year ago. In the optimistic haze of post-election 2012, it did not seem sophomoric to expect that the government might be able to govern. Then, set in the harsh reality of Congress by terrorism. The moral compass, I was sure directed our Congressional steps, seemingly for sale. The full faith, credit and reputation of our country, yet again, at the mercy of the hostage takers dressed in tailored suits, whose offices line the Capitol’s streets. It appears we have created and nurtured a culture that no longer understands the long game, but is willing to resort to extortion and masochism to assuage the latest fringe temper tantrum.

Depending on where you are reading, or watching, the victors – if there are any-- of the government shut down vary. From those who believe it was an appalling and egregious display of government dysfunction, to those who applaud the President for not backing down, to those who desperately cling to the romanticism of Tea Party rebellion, ever ready to pin the failure of leadership to the President. My finger, however, points in an entirely different direction. It points back to us, we the people of the United States…

There is an implicit contract most of us are unaware that we are party to, the one that by birth or naturalization, becomes our responsibility as citizens of our country. Part of the contract is electing qualified officials. Part is to hold responsible and accountable those we elect. It is expected that we do our due diligence and put those in power who are both able and willing to take the weight of governance seriously. Those willing to uphold, defend and protect our constitution, as well as to defend, protect and exert the will of the people and act in their best interest, not limited to the best interests of their people, all people.

The premise behind the Congress is representation, but I have wonder, who is it that they believe they are representing? Certainly, it is not millions of Americans who voted for the President. It could not be the countless soldiers with boots on the ground that they left in harm’s way, as they waxed poetic about the economic collapse that MIGHT ensue over the ACA, all the while almost certainly guaranteeing our financial ruin, when for the second time in 12 months they played chicken with the debt ceiling. It could not have been the families they locked out of commissaries around the world, the elderly they refused access to necessary care, the parents whose paychecks were held, or the students whose programs were suspended.

When it is all said and done, is it Congress with whom should we really be angry? After all, we voted for them, or failed to vote against them. We sent them to Washington with their murky agenda and our complicity. We left the House, figuratively and literally, to the children and then complained that they refused to behave like adults. WE, you and me, have a share in this, whether we choose to accept our culpability or not.

The brilliance of that revelation, is that as we were party to their meteoric rise, the power needed to drop them squarely on their contemptuous pomposity and be better for it, also rests with us. It is no longer enough to vote party line and expect that it still represents your values, ideals or what is in the best interest of our country’s wellbeing. Not when party, specifically the GOP, has replaced values with propaganda and sold its soul in the name of fundraising for midterm elections. It is time we ended our love affair of electing men and women we want to drink a beer with and expect our leaders to be better, to KNOW more, and DO more, than the average citizen. We need to end the assault on civility, common sense, and information. It is time we again embrace the fundamental ideas of meritocracy that made America a global superpower. We must divest ourselves from the chokehold of neo-aristocratic entitlement. A government for the people and by the people, must honor the will of the people, so whether the GOP likes it or not, the people have spoken. Government is not the nullification of their voice

The Closet Party...

 Over the last week, my Facebook news feed and my Twitter feed have been saturated with Tebow v’ Collins memes. For a person whose commentary is a marriage between religion, pop culture and politics you can imagine how odd a juxtaposition that creates. It also gives me grounds for pause. As more of Gay America enjoys the freedom of living their lives openly and out of the closet, it appears that more and more of Christian America has been sucked into the vacuum left behind. So I have to ask in all sincerity, when the smoke clears, will the only people who are living their lives in secret be Christian?

Listen I get it. The history of Christianity is not lost on my modernity. I know and understand that the explosion of Christianity as a legitimate religion was a result of the conversion of Constantine. The bacchanalian reveler who shortly before his death, heeded to the influence of his mother, gave up the paganism of the day, and converted by baptism. I am both a believer and a theologian. I am the ironic meeting of skeptic and saint. I am a student of history and a faithful lover of God. Well amend that, not just God, of Jesus and the Bible, as well. It is from that space that my questioning of this week’s events sits. Uneasy and tenuous, my mind mulling over the constant barrage of thoughts that has woken me up before sunrise on countless mornings.

I recognize that my advocacy of Gay rights and marriage equality is antithetical –to say the least—to my spiritual beliefs. It often leaves me torn. In our “not to offend anyone” society, the awkwardness of saying out loud “I believe homosexuality to be sin” has rendered many in the faith community ducking bigotry labels and silent --myself included. But, if we’re ever going to get to the place of love the Bible calls us to, we cannot afford to be silent any longer. So, here is my personal disclosure. I do believe it to be sin. I simply do not believe that I have the right to impose my beliefs on someone else. As a global citizen, I support the right of 2 consenting adults to marriage. As a woman committed to my faith, I support the right for a pastor, preacher or priest to refuse to participate in the ceremony.  I do not believe a judge or justice of the peace enjoys the same exclusions, their authority is legal not moral. I believe that marriage spiritually is a covenant before God. I believe it legally to be a contract that society must recognize or enforce. I am not an advocate of changing the spiritual covenant. I am an advocate of the legal rights of all citizens.

In our nation, it is perfectly legal for parents to allow a marriage between their underage daughter and a man old enough to be her grandfather, but illegal for 2 thirty-something women? It is perfectly legal for any atheist, Muslim, Jew, Humanist or Buddhist to get married, across religious lines –which the Bible expressly condemns-- but under the guise of Biblical validity, it is illegal if two people share the same gender? Suddenly the separation of Church and State seems profoundly important. My pastor said something brilliant the other day, it was something along the lines of, if it is not IN the Word of God, do not make it up and pass it off AS the Word of God.

Hmmm…. Sometimes I’m convinced that the issue of Gay rights, acceptance and marriage is not the issue at all. This is one of those times. It is a hard argument to make that we are all capable of loving the person and hating the sin. Ideally, we should all be spiritually mature enough to do that, but, if we were there would not be Westborough Baptist. As the lunatics get more air time, the rest of us go shrieking off into obscurity. We take solace in that love that allows me to want God’s best for you, without imposing my desires on your life, understanding clearly that until you know God for yourself all you have is me. Ultimately, leaving my words and actions to decide how you feel about God forever.

If we understood the real weight of that, our world would be a very different place. There is a passage in the Bible, written by Paul – a murderer, heretic, terrorist and liar—that says, (I paraphrase) win them first to you and then to God. Are we as Christians losing the battle because we do not understand what winning someone means? Are we forcing ourselves into the closet because we’re so busy telling the world how they should live instead of loving the world there? Would the word Christian illicit so much pain if the mission for God were bigger than our want to be seen as better? When we do not know how to win, how can we count how many we've lost?

People who are won do not give up on God. They do not quit their faith and walk away from what they believe. They wrestle, they hurt, they heal, they grow, and they love. They are imperfect, and their imperfections make them compassionate. Fear of hell fire has never won anyone. It may have converted a few, even kept a few, but, in the end only the won remain. It is not with flippancy that I write this. It is with the sincere longing for what separates us to be so much less significant than what connects us. I believe it is a distortion of our faith –those called Christians—to be used as an agent of anything other than empowerment of humanity. What power does anyone find in hearing they are going to burn in hell?

While I’m at it, what if homosexuality is genetic? What if like Down syndrome or eye color it is a product of how genes combine? Would we treat a blue eyed child differently because of their genetic fortune, or misfortune, dependent on your perspective? Sadly, the answer is yes, we would treat that child differently. We need not look further than a junior high classroom to see exactly how differently we treat each other because of phenotypic expression, genetic gifting or deficit. What if it is not genetic, what if it is spiritual? If it were spiritual, does that not further justify looking down on each other? To see someone as consumed by demons, or, as less mature, less committed, less loving of God, less than human...

The trick bag is more accurately described as a trap rather than trick. One where we get caught up in all the unimportant details and create our own gospels to satisfy what we believe God intended. Are we not all works in progress, guilty of a myriad of sins, many of which the Bible refers to as abominations. Yes, many, as in the Bible has a list of more than 20 references to abomination, only 2 on that list reference homosexuality. Four speak to heterosexual couples. But, the most popular reference-- to the tune of 11, speak to financial impropriety (cheating people out of money). So, the next time you lie about how much you donated to charity on your taxes, or you say something was more expensive than it was, or you make money off of the exploitation of other people in any way— sorry ardent unregulated capitalists, you too are abominable. Would we be so quick to condemn people to hell if we knew that most of us would qualify?

That is the thing about salvation. The whole purpose is that none of us qualifies. What if we stuck to that message? A perfect savior perfecting us from our imperfections, loving us beyond our actions and, guiding us toward what we are both purposed for and fulfilled by, would there be any we could not win? Did we learn nothing from Eve? Adding to God’s word that which is not His Word, ALWAYS lands you on the wrong end of winning. It also lands us in the closet. Where light cannot penetrate, and darkness abounds. The exact opposite of everything that we as Christians are called to be. It is why Jason Collins was celebrated for coming out and Tim Tebow was chastised for not keeping his religion to himself.

Christians (Believers), it is time for a coming out party. It is time to stop shaming our faith by enslaving the world to religion and setting people free with the LOVE of God. It is a tall order to stop looking for how we are better than and, start remembering that we personally are better because of one that was better than us. It was His willingness to do for us what we are prohibiting Him from doing for others that saves, sets free and is worth celebrating. Remembering that we are no better because of the sins we do not commit, instead that we are grateful for the ones from which He has freed us. It is said that people ignorant of their history are doomed to repeat it. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that, in our own history, there aren’t skeletons in the closet. Maybe it is time we stopped focusing on who is coming out of the closet and instead cleaned our closets out.

It's More Than Just a Green Card

As I see it, the problems with our immigration system are seemingly infinite. Often making what seems like common sense solutions anything but common sense. As the needs of the American Industrial complex change, the question of how we address 21st century problems -- using an outdated and ill-equipped 20th century apparatus -- is not only daunting, it is crippling to the growth of which we are capable. Somehow the idea of immigration finds itself awkwardly polarized. Either we’re discussing families torn apart by citizenship or the minutia of business. Be it workers and output, resource consumption, productivity and return on investment, as if they must be mutually exclusive and our immigration system could not address all needs.

Immigration is a story of people, but it is so much more. It is families-- like mine -- that can trace the roots of their American identity a single generation. It is millions with whom the notion of the American Dream still resonates powerfully. Like all Americans, they connect with it as a part of their hopes for the future and the future of their children. Unlike those of us who are born citizens, they are the millions whose lives hang on the tenuous threads of tattered policy, frayed by the partisanship of Congressional agendas. In this bicameral story, somewhere there is a workable solution; one that puts the priority of family where it should be and, supports it with means and access to opportunity and industry.

I learned at a very young age that being an American made you different. I was 7 the first time I traveled to my father’s native country. I had no idea what a Green card was, only that I was supposed to have one – or so the flight attendant on our returning flight kept demanding of me. My father, a then permanent resident, presented his and curtly explained that I was an American. They promptly whisked us off to a different line. The customs agents were friendlier, more dutiful, and more respectful, than the gruff man badgering me for a Green card I did not have. Though I lacked the words to vocalize it then, there was a lesson in that awkward encounter that stuck with me for life. Through that experience, I have understood much of what my father instilled in all of his children. The appreciation of opportunity, an understanding that talent maybe equally distributed but access was not and, there was an obligation to do something with what you were given.

I make no secret about my father’s story and the sense of pride I feel in telling and retelling it as often as I can. It is inspiring to me to know that a man who came to this country with a near genius IQ, a suitcase full of towels, slept on newspapers and, swept floors could become MY DAD! My Dad; who taught us that education was the best way to level the playing field. He not only modeled, but, embodied work ethic, diligence and, dedication. My Dad, who taught us that success is measured both in dollars and legacy. It is no wonder that, by the time, my father retired from one of the largest technology companies in the world, he was literally the only person who did his job on any shore. Nor does it shock me --when 28% of all new businesses that start in the US are by immigrants-- that all four of his children became business owners, each contributing in measurable and meaningful ways to our economy in tax dollars, jobs and, innovation.

My families’ story is not remarkable among our immigrant population. Rather, it is quite the opposite. The unremarkable reality of what many share as their families’ history. As think tanks and pundits dissect and pontificate, the realities of the immigration debate are felt more acutely than ever. We are seeing the emergence of foreign markets as stronger competitors than they have ever been. We are watching the world shrink into a global economy fueled by new technology and radical solutions to existing challenges. We are losing those talents to markets where policy is reflective of economic priorities.

Too often is the debate over simplified; Low Skilled versus High Skilled immigrants*, H-1B visas and the hope of closing the skills gap. Trying to lessen the inequalities of immigration and shore up that the best and brightest talent is still looking to immigrate to the US, gets lost in percentages and pie charts. Confining the face of immigration to migrant workers or Latinos is misleading and, the idea that immigrants somehow take jobs from American workers could not be further from the truth. It makes for great fiction and pairs perfectly with pandering fear, but it is hardly reality. Reality is that with a working immigration policy, for low skilled, high skilled and even transitionally skilled populations, we increase overall productivity. We add vital components to our economic stability and countless dollars of valued added expansion, growth, revenue and build long term profitability.

It appears that our Congress is too busy reading demographic and pollster data to see the forest for the trees. My father’s story serves to illustrate how misleading those characterizations can be. Because my father had the opportunity to further his education, get married, have children, buy a home - legally, instead of returning to his native country -which was his original plan- he remained in the US. His one visa translated into millions of dollars flowing into the economy over his lifetime and those of my siblings and me.

Where the narrative is seemingly lacking, is where the heart of the immigration debate lies. It is not just raw data and pure numbers; it is the reminder of what that data means, how those numbers affect actual lives, not figurative examples. It is in the complexity of navigating a sea of people without them becoming faceless. It is upholding the Constitution and the legacy of Ellis Island and, understanding that in accomplishing that delicate balance is the hope for the revitalization of our economy and, the restoration of our economic security.

America is an immigrant nation fueled by the tangibility of attaining more than the previous generation. Refusing to address immigration or create a policy that pours new economic life into our nation, relegates us to celebrating the best of America as years gone by and not the promise of our future. Addressing the uncertainty of the future requires that we are willing to secure it. Securing the economic future of America is not in border control alone. It may very well rest in the hands of those who cross her borders determined to fulfill the promise and the dream.

*Please click on the link for additional information on how immigration
(low and high skilled) impacts the US economy.  

Is it time to pull the plug on the American Dream?

I’ve written about my parents numerous times. They are immigrants. I am grateful to be a first generation American and humbled by their story.

My father came here to attend college nearly 50 years ago. He was brilliant, poor, and proud. He came with a suit case full of towels. He was a teacher and towels were all that the parents of his students could afford to give him as a going away present. When my mother – an immigrant herself- met him on the yard at Howard University, he was sleeping on those towels in a tiny apartment. During the day he attended university, at night, he swept floors, worked in convenience stores and studied. My mother’s parents barely had elementary educations. Her mother cleaned houses until she was able to open a hair salon in the basement of the apartment building they saved to buy. When my mother went to college, she gave her the most valuable thing she had – her signature... My father graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, my mother with one in Economics. Eventually they both got very good jobs. They had kids. They saved. They bought our home.

I am a product of the American Dream fulfilled. I grew up understanding what it means to start with little and work like hell for your piece of the pie. However, as the economy stagnates, inflation cuts into the few remaining discretionary dollars families have, and income taxes return to their pre-TARP levels; our belts tighten our savings shrink and, the Dream deferred seems a lot more like Don Quixote’s impossible one. The American Dream has been on life support long enough for many to think that it’s time to pull the plug. Well, I don’t believe the Dream is dead, but, it certainly needs saving, and after I read the The SMART plan, not only was I sure of it, I knew I needed to share it.

From both sides of the aisle, we hear a lot of spend this, cut spending on that, but, little that will amount to either an economic boost or a real long term solution. As heads of households, we know what it means to have a budget. We also know what happens when we live outside of our means. The problem is that we do not understand how that thinking is dangerous for a country’s economy. Logic will say if you don’t have it then don’t spend it. It is what our grandparents did. It is how Americans survived the depression. Paradoxically, it is also what causes recession, adds to our national debt and, shrinks our GDP. According to the the SMART plan, there are straightforward solutions that can have definitive positive impact and, get our economy growing faster than throwing more good money (TARP) after bad.  

In a consumer driven economy that no longer functions on the exchange of durable goods, it’s easy to think that simple “family budget” style solutions will amount to the changes our nation needs to regain our economic stability. But, that simply is not true. When GDP was a direct reflection of the exchange of goods, that theory was workable, but, in today’s complex monetization of thoughts, ideas and services, it’s not that easy anymore. That does not mean that simple solutions can’t work, they just need to address the challenges we currently face. The Smart plan does just that.  

Speaking honestly, this country lives on credit. It is the backbone of our entire economy. That poses a lot of problems that consistently drive our economy backward not forward. Do me a favor. Pull out your last pay stub. Look at what you made- year to date, then think of how much your car costs, not the monthly payment, the actual cost. Likely, what you’ve made so far this year is nowhere near what you would need to purchase that vehicle in cash. Likely, what you made ALL of last year would barely purchase your vehicle and certainly would not even begin to pay for the home you live in if you are fortunate enough to be a homeowner. Without credit, much of what we believe the Dream to be is out of our reach, especially the core of the American Dream- Homeownership. Most of what we purchase would be so far outside of the earning capacity of most American families there would be no hope of ever buying a home, a vehicle, or even imagining a family vacation or sending your daughter to college.

Those are the major purchases, the foundation of the American Dream purchases, but what about the smaller ones that keep our stores open. What about buying that flat screen TV, the new cell phone, the laptop, the iPad, car repairs, tires, even groceries? Many of our citizens can only afford these items as a result of being heavily in debt and leveraging their future income. I understand that the natural response is again, “then you shouldn’t be buying that stuff”, but what if people did that. Only buy what they can afford. The effects of that would be catastrophic! Huge numbers of businesses would shut their doors leaving hundreds of thousands of people unemployed, pushing more and more Americans further from experiencing any part of the Dream.

Sadly, the fact that our economy survives on credit, does not mean that it is a credit system that is functional or even productive. The system we have is designed to fail. Don’t believe me. Look at it this way. It takes you much of your life to establish a “good” credit history. Think back to when you first were establishing credit, how many times did you get turned down on the basis of not having enough past credit? The other side of the equation is even scarier. Good credit is extremely hard to build, as easy as co-signing the wrong loan for your college kid or forgetting what day it is to ruin and, impossible to fix. It's a house of cards. God help you if something bumps the table. But, what if it wasn’t? What if people could repair their credit? Instead of begging friends and family members to pay off debts that are going to haunt them for YEARS and still cause them to be unable to purchase; goods, homes, vehicles, or even get a job (20% of employers use credit as a basis for employment), what if people could fix the issues?

What if when a negatively reflecting account - like a collection, is paid in full, it is removed from your credit history? What if, on delinquent accounts, people had the ability to remove the late pays from their report? These straightforward measures would incentivize people paying off accounts, increase the revenues collectors are able to post and, give our economy a much needed economic driver as this population will continue to spend instead of being forced out of the consumer market. It is time to face the reality that wealthy Americans DO NOT drive our economy. Low to middle income and secondary credit purchasers do.

If we are serious about getting the Dream off life support and help it to thrive again, it is time to fix our immigration problem STAT! Immigration? Yes. Immigration!! With 20 million undocumented immigrants in our country, assuming that they are a drain on our economy is not only unfounded, but economically stupid. Giving law abiding undocumented immigrants citizenship is a substantial revenue boast for the government. Where else can we instantly add 20 million new tax payers? Though my parents came through legal channels, like my parents, our undocumented population is in search of providing a bright future for their children and, like my parents, they will be overwhelmingly successful at doing so. Work ethic is not just implied it is dogmatic to our immigrant families. They are not out for a free ride, and what they are able to assist us with in dollars only makes sense- pardon the terrible cliché. Many of these families are laborers, and though they are the backbone of farming and construction, they could also open a small business, spending on goods and services, employing more Americans, and growing our economy.

You would be amazed by what we can do with this new found market and revenue stream. We could bolster a failing housing market and reverse the tide of foreclosure. How, you ask? Substitution of collateral, no, I’m serious and, it will work. Follow me. Banks, bogged down with bad debt, write it off by the tons. These write-offs don’t just hurt their share holders they hurt all of us. Foreclosures drive down the value of communities. Foreclosed homes become eyesores and attract vagrant populations. The banks that are holding these toxic debts don’t just stop lending; they force consumers out of the market and, make them unemployable.

What if we took homeowners that could no longer afford their homes, switched them into houses (that stand to be foreclosed on) they could afford? It would keep them as homeowners, customers, and out of the renting market. We could substantially reduce both the amount of toxic debt and foreclosed homes, boosting the housing market and keeping the bank lending. Add the additional consumers in the market as a result of the changes to the credit system and immigration policy and we have a thriving economy. It may sound like magic, but, it’s just sound economics. Sound economics that ensure that the American Dream keeps home ownership fundamental to its achievement.

The American Dream has been an enduring message passed down from generation to generation. The Dream embodies the notion that everyone if they work hard enough, can accomplish more in life than their birth station designs. It is where our love of ambition marries our appreciation for hard work. It is the foundation of the freedoms that we believe in. It is the reason that America is the nexus of innovation. Like the Constitution the Dream is founded on it must be evolving and able to adjust to the times we face. The Dream doesn't need TARP or austerity, it needs a plan that addresses the ills causing undue peril for millions of hard working Americans. It is long overdue that the Dream be taken off life support and with enacting the SMART plan or one similar we can ensure that it doesn't die. Why pull the plug for the next generation when a transfusion can save its life?

The S.M.A.R.T. Plan

The

S.M.A.R.T PLAN

Stimulus thru Modification, Adjustment, Restoration & Transformation

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

(A humble perspective)

 by, Jarrette Brathwaite

As we continue to debate the merits and effectiveness of stimulus programs and the latest attempts at rejuvenating an ailing economy, the reality is these "Economic Stimulus" packages and programs, or more appropriately named ‘Economic Tourniquets’, will do little of what is truly intended - engender spending, boost hope, or bolster consumer confidence. It will, however, stem the bleeding, if only for a minute. Fundamentally we must increase the consumer base in order to increase consumption. We must turn non-viable buyers and consumers into viable ones to go along side the creation and influx of disposable income, i.e., various stimulus attempts and programs. Otherwise, we can do little more than watch the train as it leaves the tracks and heads for disaster… But even before we do this we have to restore one thing… "The American Dream".

The American Dream is what many of us have been born and bred to believe, and have passed on to generation after generation. It is the hope and belief that if you work hard, focus and, follow a few basic principles and rules you too can achieve the "American Dream". Today, however, that dream is fleeting at best. It has become the swan song for an economy suffering from distrust, disbelief and most importantly, a dead dream. We have to consider, and perish the thought, is there actually an "American Dream"… Can we still achieve it? And if so, what would that dream look like now… Simply put, in order to restore consumer confidence and engender spending, you must first restore the American Dream…

Here’s the million dollar question, the one no one on the hill wants to ask. What is the American Dream? Or more simply, if you polled one million Americans, what would they say the American Dream is, in its simplest form?

Stop guessing! … While there are a myriad of answers, each no more right or wrong than the other, you have to look at it from a generational perspective... It is simply … home ownership!!! Owning your piece of the pie! Owning your piece of America. Having your piece of the Dream!

The Problem …

It is not about the redistribution of wealth, the cry of the lower classes and sympathetic pundits. It is not which political party handles money better or has better fiscal policies than the other. It is about the circulation of wealth or simply, the circulation of money. If it is our intent to stimulate the economy, we cannot do so within the same body of spenders and consumers – they will only consume in ways that are familiar and comfortable to them, and historically speaking, not in ways that stimulate the economy.

Today, a minority of the population has perfect or unblemished credit, typically they are wealthy well-to-do consumers, predisposed to saving rather than consuming. The remaining majority, the ‘true’ consumers of the world are the ones that consume. They are comprised of entrepreneurs, small business owners, the self-employed and general laborers, a group and body that by their nature are those who typically and regularly consume or simply spend.

To this point, those that are wealthy who are arguably the only ones left who can comfortably consume will not consume at all. In many instances, they already have much of what needs to be consumed; homes, cars and other ‘big-ticket’ items. But those; the entrepreneurs, the self-employed, the now credit blemished, whom many argue have lacked control and are the cause of much of this – which I believe to be debatable, are the ones who when given the opportunity to consume will consume and thusly, create economic stimulation and consumption.

Continuing to pump money into an economy, through banks, in the ‘hope’ that banks will loan the money and consumers will actually spend it, effectively recycles money through the same numbers of consumers. It is a fifty-fifty proposition at best and has thus far proven to be an ill conceived gamble. Banks did not make any additional loans. Consumers either saved the money they got through the stimulus check or simply paid a bill. In both cases, the possibility of that money getting circulated within the economy was effectively eliminated.

You must give not only the incentive, but the ability to those predisposed to consume, spend or lend, to do so. To do anything else is to continue to depend upon those who, historically and characteristically tighten and/or constrict their spending when faced with these types of economic situations. In essence, we’re hoping that they will do something outside of their character, and practice.

Fundamental Flaws

A society based upon credit has as a fundamentally flawed foundation: credit. Credit is one of the most valuable things in life. As a debtor’s nation, we have put tremendous importance on – one’s credit; is hard to build, even harder to maintain, impossible to fix or repair, but most importantly, and what speaks to the current situation we are in as a nation – is easy to destroy!!! The system is inherently flawed!! It is a system designed to break and eventually collapse – which is where we find ourselves in today’s current financial situation. It has no failsafe. Worst of all, it has ramifications that cause lasting damage that no one is looking at, or better yet, even considered before it was designed and put into action.

To give someone additional monies in the form of disposable income; the premise and idea behind giving individuals a stimulus check and pumping money into the economy, you must first by definition give them income to begin with – in other words a job.

With more than 20% of jobs requiring a ‘credit check’ and rising, our ‘flawed’ system has created the inability for tens of thousands of individuals, to obtain those jobs whether or not they have the acumen, experience or expertise in those fields. You have in effect, helped to maintain unemployment numbers at levels unseen in decades. We have as a nation by our own doing, perpetuated a flaw, and it has manifested itself in ways that we did not foresee.

The Solution(s)…

The solution – increase the number of consumers that can spend and consume. Allow individuals and businesses alike to fix and repair their credit – making them more credit worthy. This results in additional buyers in the market that can actively and effectively consume. New credit worthy customers/consumers can buy homes, cars, electronics and other big ticket items that have a tremendous bearing on our economy. The government must create incentive for not only people but businesses to spend money. They must go beyond the limited thought, and perspective of just creating additional disposable income, they must create – HOPE!!! They must bolster consumer confidence by allowing people and businesses to fix and or repair their credit, therefore, allowing them to become viable consumers within the market place, resulting in; an increased consumer base, job creation, consumption, and economic stimulation. In these days and times, it’s HOPE manifesting itself in the form of real economic stimulation.

In short, creating new credit worthy customers that can now consume in today’s market under guidelines and programs more specifically designed to make sure they consume properly – according to their ‘actual’ where-with-all, not an inflated or leveraged one.

Allowing people to correct their credit eliminates the sense of entitlement, and the ‘free-ride’ mentality that permeates today’s economy with stimulus packages and bailout programs. It gives those that have struggled to maintain reason to feel better about helping those that have not been able to do so. It demonstrates a true sense of ownership and responsibility. It rewards those that have; learned from their mistakes, chosen to walk a different path and have become diligent in their fiscal management. It provides reason, chance and opportunity for everyone to be credit worthy and financially upstanding. Most of all, it unifies us in what we as a nation can collectively agree upon when doling out financial help.

Two - Make it against the law to hold one’s credit file, record and standing against them in order to obtain a job. With few exceptions, one’s credit file is not indicative of how they will perform in a job. Nor in most cases, does it directly relate to how they will handle money matters at a job. If a good credit person lost their job, resulting in a loss of income and subsequently a loss of their credit standing by no direct means of their own, why should that be held against them, and impede them from getting another job, and adding stability to their lives. This perpetuates a flaw in our system that forces people to remain at lower economic levels.

What we are allowing to happen is to ensure that millions of people will not be able to right the ship, or improve their respective lives because of a mismanaged concept and ill-placed ideology. Not all people wrecked their credit by intention, so why should that affect their ability to obtain a job and improve their lives (fiscally speaking).

Three - Legalizing immigrants – I realize this brings up a number of questions and issues, and poses a number of challenges, but, consider the millions of hard-working Latinos that would happily pay taxes and become major consumers if allowed to work legally. Millions do so anyway, through various methods, yet we as a country, from a revenue, economic and tax basis, see no benefit or reward, and they do not get to share the wonderful right to pay taxes… Legalizing immigrants would increase the consumer base by millions of individuals and hundreds of millions of taxable, spendable dollars. It would, in more than a philosophical sense, create an opportunity to take advantage of the ‘American’ dream - its economic benefit, increased expenditure relative to durable goods, housing and, medical expenses to name a few while increasing deposits and transactional banking. Although it has been shown that Latinos for the most part do not believe in banks, and have little faith in the banking system, but, as legalized Americans and consumers, many of their eventual big ticket item purchases will require and necessitate that they become part of the banking system.

Benefits:

•Immediately add to the consumer base

• Increase taxable dollars (revenue)

• Increase large purchases; homes, cars, big-ticket items and durable goods sales

•Most would not draw Social Security, very few ever retire or intend to retire here, thus eliminating the draw but increasing social security deposits

• Contribute hundreds of millions to GDP and durable goods spending

Negatives:

• Increased infrastructural costs such as; a medical expense and general coverage

• Political backlash (although, should be secondary to the good it may do)

Mortgage Plan (Fixing the housing debacle) Restoring the "American Dream"

Foreclosures DO NOT BENEFIT ANYONE!!! They are in some instances and under some circumstances, unavoidable. However, there is a better methodology and solution to the processes and policies banks and lending institutions currently follow. Foreclosed homes offer little if anything to the neighborhood, the economy, and even less to the lender. They are homes that are often abandoned, unoccupied, and in a state of disrepair. Historically, foreclosed homes are harder to sell than occupied homes, and have greater market price discrepancies than their occupied counterparts. They, invariably, lower the value of all its surrounding homes, and the neighborhood itself. They are a complete drain on the economy and offer no redemptive value. Yet, the banking and lending system, runs towards this process as if the results were even remotely with merit.

Add to that, in this current state of the economy, the consumers propensity to walk away from over-valued and under-water homes – the new blithe on society no one thought would happen, let alone, even considered occurring. But yet, here we are... Instead of putting consumers out of their homes there is another option, which helps homeowners, the economy and most important, the lender.

The Option (Substitution of Collateral): Rather than try and modify a mortgage, a practice that has proven to be less than successful and has less than a 10% success rate, why not consider a practice more commonly associated with automobiles and automobile lenders than mortgage holders; a practice called  ‘substitution of collateral’. It is a variation, but, the premise is somewhat the same, and the benefits are numerous.

Under this program, banks would take homeowners with higher than affordable homes and mortgage payments - a typical foreclosure candidate, and place them in homes already on their books or potentially hitting their books as pre-foreclosures, foreclosures and/or defaulted loans (properties), that would offer the borrower and homeowner a lower payment and greater affordability. In other words, substitute the collateral by switching homeowners out of unaffordable homes, into affordable homes -changing the collateral and loan, without losing the customer, or having to foreclose on the house. The result could be more than a 30 – 40 % reduction in banking inventory and the aggregate number of foreclosures.

Ex: Homeowner 1 - $1,000,000 home going into foreclosure

Homeowner 2 - $650,000 home going into foreclosure

Homeowner 3 - $350,000 home going into foreclosure

To demonstrate, let's use a real-life scenario. Assume the homeowners have lost their respective sources of income, has had to change careers or jobs and, take substantial pay-cuts. Instead of foreclosing on three homes and forcing each homeowner into a rental situation (more-than-likely), which is what is happening now, the bank uses the ‘substitution of collateral’ method. This places HO#1 into HO#2’s house; the reduction in HO#1’s income has been substantial, but his new job still allows for him to afford and very nice home and quite a bit more than the average, i.e., HO#2’s home. Then take HO#2 and place him into HO#3’s house - same basic circumstance as HO#1, just a different financial level.

Under this program, the bank/lender would re-write two possibly three mortgages, end up with only one bad asset on the books, instead of three (3). Both the lender and the homeowner can avoid lengthy foreclosure proceedings, substantial collection and attorney fees, significant loss of principal and capital. The lender helps maintain a consumer base by not destroying the credit of at least two consumers in the marketplace, which is one of the fundamental problems we have today. We are destroying the consumer base, which in turn, is destroying the ability of people to consume and stimulate the economy. Under this scenario, you have maintained two potential and future consumers and, have reduced the possibility of the bank’s foreclosed asset and non-performing loan base going up. Most of all, we have significantly reduced the aggregate dollar amount the government would have to pay to purchase troubled assets and ‘rescue’ homeowners who are facing foreclosures from banks and other lenders.

Assuming no workout or other viable option exists for the current mortgage, this would allow people who are currently facing or are already in foreclosure to select from the bank's other non-performing mortgage assets. They choose a home that they can afford and would prefer to be in, given their current financial situation. Each homeowner selects a home of lesser value to; avoid foreclosure, damage to their credit and, embarrassment. Preserving their homeownership and their ability to recover would be preferable and enough of an incentive to move a substantial amount of non-performing loans (assets) off a banks’ books while maintaining a viable consumer and customer base.

This program would:

• Improve a bank's cash flow and cash basis

• Improve deposits by maintaining a customer and their banking relationship

• Minimize legal expenses due to foreclosure or BK proceedings

• Require a significantly lesser cash infusion from the government to help stabilize or even save a bank

• Significantly reduce the glut of inventory (troubled assets) currently held on the bank's books or headed towards the bank's books.

Benefits:

• Reduce Inventory (macro) – overall market

• Reduce the likelihood that borrowers walk away from under-water houses

• Reduce losses, commissionable expenses from sales and disposal of foreclosed properties

• Continue a revenue stream from a homeowner

• Minimize real estate holdings and inventory on the books

• Helps to maintain property values in neighborhoods – avoids distress sales that de-values surrounding property

• Greatly reduces the number of foreclosed properties in one’s portfolio as well as on the market.

• Maintain property values within a given demographic

• Prevent additional foreclosures as a result of people walking away from negative equity situations born by foreclosures in their respective neighborhoods

• Improves the flow of money and its circulation

• Can help improve a consumer credit situation – allowing that consumer to remain a part of the buying and purchasing market for goods and services

• Maintain a consumer and customer base

• Improve consumer confidence

• Greatly reduce the cost of collections, judgments and lawsuits (foreclosures)

• Minimize in large part bankruptcies – many consumers file bankruptcy to save their homes – largely due to not being able to sell their own home in time or under the right circumstances that will allow them to purchase a new home given both their current financial and credit situation.

Credit Plan (Increasing the consumer & spending base)

Allow individuals and businesses to fix or repair their credit. The result is an immediate increase in the number of consumers that can consume a shot in the arm of consumer confidence, the bolstering of consumer spending, and a prevailing sense and feeling of hope. By allowing people to clean up and repair their credit, you would find that people would work more diligently than ever to get the monies associated with doing this. They would borrow money from family members that otherwise they would not be inclined to do. Family members would in turn, be more inclined to help if they knew it served a greater purpose, and allowed for a greater possibility of their family member paying them back. You would find that people would do much more in the way of repaying a debt, than they are inclined to do right now. At present, there exists little incentive to do so. I realize that some would argue that it would not serve the banks or financial institutions well, but I would argue this. How well does writing off billions of dollars of debt serve the bank, these financial institutions or the stock holders now?

Benefits:

• Considerably reduce unemployment

 •Greatly reduce the need to file bankruptcy (BK) and the number of BKs

• Free up the court system from having to deal with a record number of filings (reduce the bottleneck that BKs have created)

• Greatly reduce the governmental expense associated with adjudicating this record number of BKs

• Minimize bank need to increase loan-loss provisioning

• Minimize the expenses associated with chasing down debtors and debt

• Large phone bills (most collection departments are out-of-state)

• Employee time spent for future and more productive work

• Bolster, increase and, improve consumer confidence

• Encourage consumers to spend

• Stimulate the economy

• Reduce the losses taken on real estate and other short sales

• Give incentive for people to pay past debts, further reducing a bank overall losses

• Minimize and reduce the need for government bailouts and aid. (Consumers would spend money they have been holding on to just to weather the storm or salvage what would be left.)

• Eliminate and wipe out credit repair scam companies that account for hundreds of millions of dollars a year of consumer monies. Some of which try to, fraudulently, get rid of data and debt they may have actually created. The same millions that could go to the financial institutions that made the loans in the first place.

• Eliminate debt collection agencies, a multi-million dollar a year business. Reducing the overall losses an institution took if this were all left in-house, because of the consumers ‘new’ incentive to pay the debt back and off.

Without the ability to fix or repair credit –

• Unemployment will continue to rise or remain constant

• Banks become inundated with non-performing assets they cannot sell (no additional consumers to purchase homes/properties/goods)

• Foreclosures will continue to rise, and property values will continue to fall

• Retail sales will continue to fall and falter

• Automotive sales will continue to drop

• Consumer confidence will continue to drop

General Correction outline:

For charged off accounts, allow the consumer to pay the ‘principal’ balance in full, and the item is completely removed from their credit file. If there are late payments, then the borrower/consumer has two options:

1) He or she can choose to pay a flat fee as determined by banking regulators or the government, for each late payment they have on file. Once paid, late payments are removed. 2) The borrower/consumer can pay 3 consecutive months on time and for each 3-month period a late payment is removed from their file starting with the worst & oldest ones first, i.e.., 90-day late-pays, then 60, then 30 respectively. 3) Some combination of both, with the understanding that gauging the consumer incrementally, will not serve the other premise or purpose of this program.

There are numerous benefits to both the consumer and the bank using either of these methods, especially the later. From a banking perspective, lost revenue from non-timely payments coupled with the ‘cost of capital’ can be negated and ultimately turned into a more profitable revenue stream by allowing the borrower/consumer to pay a fee to remove blemishes. It might be the first banking fee people are willing to pay. Note: A detailed breakdown is available. A summary of such has been listed for the purpose of explanation.

Government Bank Formation (the nationalizing of a bank)

If the government is to buy stock and take a position in banks, why not just in some sense, become a bank altogether. The government could purchase a bank and establish a federally funded national bank whose mandate is to make loans to small businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals and the like in order to create jobs and help stimulate the economy.

The government can hire the appropriate people and personnel and, make it their job to make loans to businesses, business owners and, individuals that have been viable contributors and consumers to our economy. If the government is going to guarantee loans anyway, why not handle the whole process and insure that the money is applied to the purposes intended.

By moving all federally funded and guaranteed loans and lending programs into a nationally chartered bank, for troubled assets and SBA lending, for example, the government can become a direct lender instead of an indirect lender. Thereby performing the function they ask the banks to perform that has yet to be performed – lending monies to customers and businesses to help stimulate and stabilize the economy. It can eliminate the pass-thru position traditional banks hold now, minimize origination and guarantee fees, and move with a more direct and expedited manner.

This newly formed national bank --so-to-speak-- would handle only these types of programs and transactions and would leave the standard day-to-day banking to the traditional banks.

Duty, Family, Country

For many of us, they are the men and, sometimes women, holding our flag in a picture taken in a distant land. Dressed in BDUs (battle dress uniforms); full Kevlar, boots laced tightly, M-16 at their side, Oakley’s on their faces, and a tank somewhere in the background. I can shut my eyes and see any number of those pictures. Sometimes they are posted on Facebook, and they go viral. We all click “like”, share them, and salute them. We call them heroes, wear yellow ribbons, even pray for them as they deploy; as they return, as what is left comes home. They are soldiers. They are our soldiers and, as they come back different from the men they were when they shipped out, they are greeted with the amazing profundity of duty, family, and country.

We can always find a soldier when we need one, one to fight a war, to talk about service and country, to discuss the current gun debate. We wax poetic and sanctimoniously talk about what it means to be part of our military. They are the first thing we think of when we say “hero” and they are, heroes that is. Not for killing or war or sacrifice alone, but for doing what I cannot and having the courage to come home when so many of their friends will not when it’s over.

It is hard for me to imagine what it would be like to know that I had served that I defended, even killed in the name of a country where I cannot get not just a decent one, but any job. For many of our Veterans, that’s not something that they have to imagine. Where I live, there are men and women everywhere you turn in BDU’s and class A’s. We salute them, thank them, and appreciate their service. However, I’m jarred by the stark reality of what life is for too many of our Vets when they return stateside. Is all that gratitude just lip service? Can we say that we are a country committed to our Veterans when thousands are jobless, homeless and or in need of serious care and we neglect them?

I had the nerve to ask that question. Not as a Veteran, not even on behalf of Veterans, but, rather in the human ability to empathize. For lots of Americans how we treat Veterans is an issue of sympathy. For me, it is not nearly that easy. My husband left the service exactly 7 months before the United States declared war in the Middle East. 7 months and I would have been one of thousands of spouses relying on God, Government and, my husband’s fellow soldiers, to bring him home alive or bring home his dog tags and a folded flag.

Knowing the values of our Servicemen and Women, knowing that they are the thankless arbiters of the invaluable commodity of freedom, I know that sharing their stories with me was both an act of trust and humility. It is not easy to be a hero and be perceived as asking for help. I was not expecting the number of emails I received. By the third, I was entirely in tears. I know their point was not pity and be assured it wasn’t pity that I felt. It was gratitude. The immense boundless thankfulness for what they have sacrificed, what their families have sacrificed. Though we have all seen the pictures, pictures do not tell their stories. Only they can do that and, they did, tell them, to me.

One sentence in one of the first emails I read struck me. “I don’t ask for sympathy because other Vets have it way worse.” Thoughts like that are common amongst Veterans. The inability to put themselves first, it’s always about someone else, it’s shocking how clear that is for them, how difficult it seems to be for us, our Congress, our leadership. He went on to say that he “didn’t want a free pass because he is a Vet….” As if asking for a free pass would be unconscionable, the audacity of him expecting something in return for what he gave. The level of self sacrifice is inspiring.

He gave 7 years of his life including 2 combat tours in Iraq. He has 2 collapsed tendons in his ankles, and 2 degenerated discs in his back. He jumps every time he hears an explosion and has PTSD. He simply asks that his benefits go through in a timely manner and for a VA hospital that is in better shape. He spoke little of the children he left behind when he deployed, or the wife he divorced. I understand why he did not, the war cost him his family. He would never say those words. I did. I wish that story was unique. It is not. There were over a half a dozen just like his in my Inbox.

There was one of a former Marine. His small family lives in Canada now, not by choice, but, because after his 4 years and 2 tours he couldn’t get a job anywhere, not Target, not Home Depot, not anywhere. Through frustration and depression he muddled his way through part time gigs that didn’t cover the bills. A 22 year old kid who once had an offer to the Secret Service, now scrapes by, anyway he knows how as a 31 year old man. Using the forged work ethic that our military embodies, that does whatever can be done to feed a beautiful baby girl and the girlfriend he loves. All he wants is the stability of being able to provide for his family and the pride of a consistent paycheck for a hard day’s work.

There was a time when this country knew that its middle class was founded on the backs of soldiers coming home. After WWII, the nation collectively joined the war effort. Soldiers came home to jobs and a GI Bill that gave them the opportunity to have their piece of the American dream. An America that believed in the Boys, in uniform, and had the growth rate and jobs numbers to prove it. It was a time when America still built things other than partisan rancor. A time when there would not have been hesitation in passing a Veterans’ jobs bill. A time when no one would call for defense spending cuts that would hurt the soldiers first. It was a time when taking care of each other was still the noblest of our values. For Servicemen and Women transitioning back into civilian roles, family and meaningful work are two of the most integral factors in their success.

The product of compassion and investment in our Veterans is a healthier nation, economy and society. Stories of Veterans coming home to fight to have a job, buy a home, get the care they deserve should collectively sicken us. There should not be partisanship when it comes to our Veterans; it is an insult to their service. We cannot in good conscious respond to their basic needs with political jockeying and contrived rhetoric.

The inauguration of our President is a celebration of democracy and, as we watch, understand the right to choose our own government, to complain about how it functions or whether or not it upholds our individual values were secured by the lives of countless soldiers. Soldiers who pledged their lives to ensure you the right to live yours. Next time you say thank you to a Veteran, or salute one, remember that there are no words that will every describe in accuracy what we are grateful for because we will never know the true scope of what we have asked of them. Know that the only way to say thank you for what they have done, is what we are willing to do for them when they return. The fact is simply that we can never repay what they have given. It can only be measured by our willingness to secure for them the benefits which they overwhelmingly deserve.

To every Serviceperson, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you have done, especially affording us all the opportunity to know freedom.

The Morning After...Pill not included.

The state of American politics is gravely disturbing. We talk of bipartisan rancor as commonplace. Report on the animus between the Administration and Congressional members of the opposing party. We cannot wait to see the verbal smack downs between political pundits replayed on the next cycle of the news, all of which says something about where we are as a culture. Reality TV, it appears, has permeated not just our television screens, but every aspect of our national identity.

The problem with operating from a premise like that is that it sounds Neo-Conservative. It sounds like the kind of thinking that in many ways has gotten us into this mess. The same thinking that blames all the ills of our country on something or someone other than those who should hold blame. It’s the liberal media. It’s the death of morality, and it’s the end of traditional values. It’s Gay marriage. It’s Feminism. It’s access to birth control. For a party that is so opposed to abortion and all “methods” of family planning, the irony of Speaker Boehner’s Plan B was out right hilarious. After the release of the voting results, admittedly I spent hours trying to figure out what he was thinking. Why was he exposing himself and his ostensible lack of leadership? Why was he conspiring with a few dozen petulant children disguised as Congressmen to railroad our Country?

For a culture that has taken a dismal turn away from personal or collective responsibility and dove headlong into monetizing the bad behavior of its citizens, there are still certain places where one expects a tad bit of comportment. Congress seems like it should be at the height of that list. But, this thing happened. They called it the Tea Party Revolution. What it amounted to was a pseudo-Congressional Circus Sideshow. One that no one, not even their constituents, was able to control. And, as fate would have it, they were elected for precisely that reason. We Americans willingly handed over our collective leadership to the undulating antics of Girls Gone Wild, 112th Congress edition. Talk about buyer’s remorse.

It was only through that lens that I was able to surmise what if anything positive could come out of the Plan B vote. Though I’m sure the embarrassment of the immediate failure of the measure to pass the House stung, perhaps, it was more the bee sting to show America that we’re allergic to this nonsense and less the political suicide I initially thought that it was. How else could he save face and for that matter the legacy of his leadership? This current buzz word climate is not going to allow him much leverage; it is after all the favorite right wing attack against the President. If I did not know better, I would believe that Boehner was a mole. But, in all seriousness, his only hope of preserving any part of his legacy was to allow our country to see how tragic things really are. The vote for Speaker only punctuated an already clear message.

They are holding us hostage. Fight after fight to redefine or obliterate everything this country has fought to become. If it’s not the cliff, which, by the way, raised EVERYONE'S taxes despite all of their groans against ever raising taxes – sorry Grover there was no spin that could have made that ---- shinny, then it is the looming debt ceiling or every other fiscal responsibility of the government. It is clear that these people –I use the term kindly- are determined to wage a by any means necessary, take no prisoners, so much for protecting women, kids and seniors, guerrilla politics war. Mr. Speaker I would have Plan B’d myself too.

When are we going to say enough? Will it be 2014, will we wait that long? Must they pin us to the mat and make us say uncle before we fire the lot of them and go back to running a Nation? If the twitterverse is any indication, hell will be an exceptionally cold place before we resolve this amicably. We were once a nation of political differences couched in civility. We have become the land of vitriol and name calling, and the louder one yells the crazy the more people seem to want to give them a microphone. It has to end. Politics has become better reality TV than reality TV.

There is no morning after pill for the people we elect. No quick fix to edit the people we trust to pass or reject laws on our behalf. We have a reasonable expectation of their ability to handle the duties of the position to which we elected them, but, more often than not, they fall woefully short. They in turn, have a fiduciary responsibility to govern, which somewhere along the line vacated Washington like the winter break.

I have never believed in one party rule. I think a world where one train of thought has full autonomy is an extremely dangerous world, but my God is it getting hard to justify bipartisanship these days. We must stop the shenanigans. Let’s stop the hot button divisiveness, mudslinging and radical partisanship. We have sold our soul to the Tea Party, and it is way past time to get it back. It is time to mute the Koch brothers and the Super PACs. Time to stop giving Palin, Beck and Coulter air time, time to stop trying to elect the Allen West’s of the world. It is time to bring a new generation of serious thinkers to Washington. It’s time We the People, started thinking for ourselves.

2014 cannot come soon enough.