2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #254 "HOW TO PROSPER? ASK GEORGE McGOVERN"

 George McGovern was quite a liberal US Senator from South Dakota and who was also the Democratic candidate for President in 1972 against Richard Nixon.  During most of his life he felt people could do much better or even thrive by relying upon the government.  However, after he purchased a hotel in Connecticut, he wrote a column that was published in the Wall Street Journal on October 21, 2012 entitled “A Politician’s Dream is a Businessman’s Nightmare” in which he showed he had been converted away from so much Government interference in the marketplace.  His words should be heard and understood by all voters – and politicians.  Particularly as the important elections in 2020 are fast approaching.  Here are direct quotes of what Senator McGovern said:

“I … wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S. senator and a more understanding presidential contender.

“Today we are much closer to a general acknowledgment that government must encourage business to expand and grow. We intuitively know that to create job opportunities we need entrepreneurs who will risk their capital against an expected payoff. Too often, however, public policy does not consider whether we are choking off those opportunities.

“My own business perspective has been limited to that small hotel and restaurant in Stratford, Conn., with an especially difficult lease and a severe recession. But my business associates and I also lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc.

“While I never have doubted the worthiness of any of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: ‘Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for the increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape?’

“It is a simple concern that is nonetheless often ignored by legislators. For example, the papers today are filled with stories about businesses dropping health coverage for employees. We provided a substantial package for our staff at the Stratford Inn. However, were we operating today, those costs would exceed $150,000 a year for health care on top of salaries and other benefits. There would have been no reasonable way for us to absorb or pass on these costs.”

To my knowledge, one of Senator McGovern’s last public quotes before he died in 2012 was “Far too often, public policy chokes off the opportunities businesses need to create jobs and grow.”  That comment alone shows me that, at the end, he agreed with Dr. Milton Friedman’s comment that “We should judge government programs by their results, not their good intentions.”  If someone like liberal Senator George McGovern could finally come to these realizations, maybe it’s not too late for that understanding to spread.  I’m trying to spread it, please join me.

Recently heard from a friend: “Day 2 of no sports on tv, and I saw a lady sitting on my couch at home who said she was my wife.  She seemed nice. . ”

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBETTY: #209 "A LESSON FROM DOGS"

 The old saying is that dogs love their owners more than they love themselves – and I believe it.  So let’s take a lesson from dogs.   They love us regardless of our heritage, race or economic status, or whether we are overweight or slim.  If we treat them well, they will give us tribute, security and wonderful companionship and affection.  What a great lesson for us all to learn, and also a particularly great lesson to use in mentoring our children!  In fact, this reminds me of the lyrics in the song “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” in the musical South Pacific, which ended with:

“You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!”

The most important thing in our relationships is that we are all brothers and sisters, and children of God.  All small children understand this reality, as seen by the fact that they will voluntarily play with any other child their age.  But they soon learn discrimination based upon artificial factors from us adults.  I think of it this way: We are all in the Service Business: Treat people well, and they will treat you the same way.  Similarly, successful employers know that if they treat their employees well, they will almost always treat the employers and their companies the same way. So say it how you will: “What Goes Around Comes Around;” “Reap as Ye Shall Sew;” or “Do unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You.”  These are the lessons that can be learned from Man’s Best Friend, and I wish more of us would take them to heart.  If we did, the world would be a more peaceful place, and everyone’s lives would be more fulfilling. 

Quote for the week: “Don’t just do something, stand there.”  Secretary of State Dean Rusk during a meeting in the Oval Office in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

Our brains are our strength - by Judge Jim Gray

During my recent trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia, I noticed that American goods and services were prominently available in each of those countries. This started me thinking that, with all of the poor economic news about our deficits, joblessness and trade imbalances, maybe we should focus more on those commercial areas where we still dominate the world and are at least fully competitive.

So, further being reminded of FDR’s comment that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” we should remember that we still have lasting economic strength in much of the world’s markets. Our outlook should reflect that reality. In other words, we still have cause for optimism.

Today, among other things, American companies are dominant in the overnight package delivery business with UPS and FedEx Corp.; the credit card business with VISA, MasterCard and American Express; the fast food industry with McDonald’s Corp., KFC and Burger King; the soft drink industry with Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc.; consumer electronics and software with Microsoft Corp., Oracle Systems Corp., Apple Computer Inc., and Google; and the entertainment industry with movies, television, news, sports coverage and popular music.

We are also highly competitive in the stock brokerage business, the hotel industry, world engineering and construction, the oil industry, the airplane industry, farm tractors and bulldozers, aircraft engines, the dental and eye care industry, and, sadly, the cigarette industry.

Furthermore, United States companies are among the leaders in the world in pharmaceuticals; heart valves, pacemakers, and hip and knee replacements; breakfast cereals and other packaged foods; aerospace, rocket control systems and business jets with companies; elevators; and venture capital.

And Nike Inc. is simply a world leader in sports shoes and wearing apparel. We also mostly lead the world with technology and inventory control with large retailers like Costco Wholesale Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co.

And don’t be misled: today General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are producing some of the world’s best automobiles, vans, SUVs and small trucks. For example, the new Cadillac recently beat the BMW 5 Series in many important performance tests. And these are just some samples that I know of where American companies are highly competitive — surely there are many more.

So let’s not get carried away about how bad things look for us economically, even in these hard times. Yes, Japan, Korea and China are much more competitive now. But Japan’s economy is still struggling, and the quality of many of China’s products is increasingly seen as questionable.

Furthermore, although India has benefited from much outsourcing business, we are beginning to see some companies like United Healthcare bringing their work back here because India’s quality control is often not seen as high as we can consistently provide here in America.

We must also, of course, realize that we will probably never again compete with countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, India and China in low-cost labor. We can compete with our brains, but not our brawn. This means that those people in our country without an education who used to be able to have a reasonably good lifestyle, by working in factories and in other unskilled jobs, now run the risk of being left behind. Thus we all must help everyone to focus upon the importance of getting an education so that they can be marketable.

And then there are our universities. Although there are many good universities today in China, India and much of Europe, the United States still dominates the world in this critical area. Of course, we are not supporting our public universities nearly as much as we once were, and their quality cannot help but suffer eventually as a result. For example, California only provides about 15% of the funding for UCLA. But so far our universities are mostly holding their own.

So where does all of this leave us? We must once again focus upon the reality that businesses, whether they be small, medium or large, create the jobs that make and keep our economy strong. Thus the more we can do, within reason, to make our environment business friendly, the better off everyone will be.

For example, Intel Corp. recently left California and opened up a new plant in Oregon, and other companies are doing the same in Arizona and Nevada. Why? Because those states are seen as much more business friendly. That does not mean that we must abandon our environmental or anti-trust laws, or regulations promoting things like safety in the workplace. But it does mean that our governments and our laws must become more friendly for businesses, or they will either fold or move.

All of us can help. Elections are fast approaching for federal, state and local officeholders. So we should educate ourselves about the backgrounds and positions of the candidates. Read their materials, listen to their presentations, and ask questions — and follow-up questions — about where they stand.

If candidates favor more government regulations and controls, consider supporting and voting for someone else. California is one of the least business-friendly venues in the western United States, and we have the loss of jobs to prove it. Turning this around will largely determine whether we can continue to be optimistic about our financial future.



JAMES P. GRAY is a retired judge of the Orange County Superior Court, the author of Wearing the Robe – the Art and Responsibilities of Judging in Today’s Courts (Square One Press, 2008), and can be contacted at jimpgray@sbcglobal.net or via his website at www.judgejimgray.com .