We need someone with GUTS to be the Republican party's Conservative leader. That is what is so infuriating, so frustrating, so deep down disturbing about the Party at this point. Look, we can see liberals all the time boldly standing up for the things they believe, regardless of how illogical they are..., but where is the boldness among Republicans? Where is that energy and drive and absolute commitment to purpose in a Conservative leader among Republicans? The liberal Democrats have the GUTS to do and say what they want. The Republicans lack GUTS, they lack COURAGE. Compared to the Democrats they're a bunch of flitting ballerinas tiptoeing and pirouetting around every controversial issue. And they're not even good at that. They're uncoordinated disjointed ballerinas. Maybe I'm just getting tired. Maybe it's just a fantasy and I'm being foolish to believe our country can produce another great thinker like Jefferson or Adams who knows what it takes to be an inspirational ideological leader among men. It seems like we throw opportunities away when they come to us. I was inspired about the possibility of a Palin VP possibly becoming a Palin presidency, but maybe..., maybe it was doomed to fail regardless. The longer we let liberalism seep into the fabric of our culture the harder it's going to be to find the Conservative who will take it all on and prove that our country's government can be restored to it's proper place and role as our founders intended.

We seem to have lost some former Conservative advocates like Gingrich, who want to take a moderate approach now... not be critical of Obama... etc..., and I think we should not try to pull them back in thier current state... because if they will throw away standing firm for Conservatism for the sake of appearing malleable and polite and gently concerned... basically be the New Tone Republicans ..., then we can't trust thier approach or thier dedication to Conservative ideology. We need someone with the GUTS to be a Conservative leader in political office. It's become plain that Conservatism is on par with the stance the Whigs of the Revolutionary War took against the Loyalists... a bunch of colonists who didn't want to upset the status, who felt that things would be better under the Monarchy. The colonial era Loyalists are like the Moderates of the Republican party today. This is a Revolutionary War of sorts, but instead of military battles we are fighting decay and rot within the Party leadership. Just like it took a General Washington to keep the fight going, to never give it up even under the harshest conditions, we need someone with that same grit to carry the Conservative banner high and be proud to do so. Conservatives... genuine Conservatives should be proud to defend the things we believe. We should be energized and motivated to bring the positive values of freedom and life to the table and have no fear of declaring those ideals openly and with strength. We can't fight a battle like this from a position of cowardice and soft tones. We can't rally people by expressing moderate views.

Henry Ford, inventor of the automobile assembly line, founder of what is today the Ford Motor Company, said the following; "You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.". In other words, results are what makes or breaks success. Henry ford is no longer with us, and it seems today that the ideals he brought to the manufacture and sales of cars has been lost with him. You can't succeed on a notion or an idea. You can't succeed by saying you will build hybrids and green cars, you have to have to build them and then be able to sell them. And if there's one thing manufacturers learn very quickly, it's that you can't sell what people don't want, no matter how you market it. People like lots of room in thier cars, they like to be able to carry more than three people comfortably in a big strong car that will survive a crash and can handle lots of luggage or groceries or camping equipment. They want big, powerful cars and trucks for thier businesses. And they like to get them at a reasonable price. For a brief time, when gas was over four dollars a gallon, sales of hybrid vehicles were on the rise and orders for them were big. But now sales of cars such as the Toyota Prius are way down from what they were six months ago. So, what has replaced those sales of the hybrid? Big flashy gas guzzling cars. It's what a lot of people want. There's still a niche market for the more expensive Hybrids but sales show they simply are not popular and not desirable unless gas prices force people to make that decision. With gas prices dropping every day, the market forces have returned to pre gasoline price shock consumption. If the federal government forces GM, Ford and Chrysler to change thier focus to the diminutive hybrids and green cars, sales will hit the bottom of the barrel for these companies faster than Barak Obama can say "change you can count on". If you worked in a private business ( and of course a lot of people do..), would you be embarrassed to take a gift of tax money to support your paycheck? I would. I would be embarrassed and ashamed and would never get up and demand that my neighbors pay my salary because I'm suffering, or because they "need" my services. When I hear the GM executives begging, it's embarrassing.  It's an embarrassment on a national scale that we have leaders of industry groveling before a bunch of self serving liberal socialists in congress. These men have no sense of honor, no sense of pride in themselves or the ingenuity that makes the country great. It is a comic tragedy when one of the most innovative industries our country has ever given rise to can not put their own brain trust into action to save themselves from themselves. These CEO's do not deserve to have the jobs they hold, and may God forbid that the youth of our nation look at these leaders of disaster as an example of anything worth becoming.  And when a union leader... or worse.. a typical UAW worker at GM or Ford or Chrysler whines to the media about how they're hurting financially and want the bailout to happen, it sickens me that they would want to play on the sympathies of others , play the violin and expect us all to cry for them, instead of getting themselves out and pulling double duty, extra jobs, whatever it takes to make the bill payments and , call me hard hearted if you want but no tax dollars should go to prop up the benefits and pensions that GM is on the verge of defaulting on. I don't paint them all with a sweeping brushstroke, but it's a sad commentary when an able-bodied person will become a beggar if they think they'll get tax money out of it. There are, of course, people who are genuinely disabled and can not fend for themselves, and we should always be ready to care for those people. But we are not a nation of sob stories, we're a nation of successes built on individual courage and the determination to make it happen. To see our government foster those who would be bums and beggars with promises of spare change in the form of bailouts is just disheartening. I support neither the auto executives nor the Autoworker's Union if that "support" is by way of tax money forcibly taken from me ... and given to them. But that's Obamaism in action. Taking money from those who produce and succeed and giving it to those who don't. If I want to support the auto industry then I will "support" them by purchasing the products they make if they make something I want. It's the government's constitutional duty to provide for the common defense, but it's not the government's duty to provide for failing domestic auto companies and don't bother trying to tell me that Ford, GM and Chrysler are a key part of our national security, you won't be able to sell that bridge here.
 
- Mike Silverman

Hey,...Secretary Paulson, Mr. President, and all you pundits and critics out there who are wringing your hands and declaring that this is the END OF DAYS for the US economy and so we need to have the 700+ billion dollar debacle created to bail out the big financial players on Wall Street.   One thing to keep in mind, don't under estimate "us" , the people who really make this country work. Don't under estimate the power of the constituency out here screaming at thier senators, thier representatives, "don't you dare do this!".  This is can be seen in one sense as a basic, back pocket issue that is not above the understanding of the masses.   Regular working class citizens look at this and see giant corporations possibly getting massive bailouts, while individuals who had to pay into that gargantuan pool of tax money are not getting bailed out of thier own personal financial problems at home. There is a visible disparity in this debate that is not lost on the average consumer. Talk of massive infusions of tax money to save companies from thier own bad business practices is something that festers in the public mind. Why should the individual at home, have to take responsibility for thier own bad financial decisions, but the big banks and insurance companies get off the hook? And of course, gall of Paulson and , sadly, of our sitting President in this matter, to insist that this is not a matter that can wait for open debate and to demand that our tax money go to this boondoggle this week to be overseen by one man like an Emperor on a golden throne, is simply outrageous.  This is a clear imbalance, and definitely not the American way. If you believe, as our founding fathers did, that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are moral issues, then you have to believe that tax is a moral issue as well since the level of taxation is a measure of the oppressive burden working against those founding moral principles. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of our congress, if you want to be on the side of  "the people" , send that 700+ billion back to the public in the form of an income tax rebate for individuals and small businesses all across the country. Then "We The People" will decide whether to bail out the banks by continuing to do business with them or not.
 
- Mike Silverman, Milford MA