Monday – February 7, 2011

WWJD?

I am sure you have heard this question before – WWJD? What would Jesus Do? Some have made this acronym into something else they would ask. Such as WWRD - What would Reagan Do?

As I researched more about Reagan, I became more impressed by the stories I have come across and by the history that this man was part of and created, I can’t help but ask the question: What would Reagan Do - today? Don’t get me wrong, I am not elevating him to the stature of Jesus, but I do think his personal constitution is what made him great!

Reagan seized the moment of greatness when he asked the question in a Presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” This was a moment in history that we as a nation must never forget. This simple question made millions of voters think for the first time as to what is necessary in a leader.

Reagan made us proud as a nation and as a people and he made us think big. He was able to translate emotion into words and words into emotion that brought change. Political adversaries then were not political enemies then.

The question today is how can we learn from past history and past greatness to help guide us through the events we find ourselves in today? There is a story that typifies how politics have changed in this country. Reagan had a Democratic Congress to deal with. Reagan’s nature didn’t permit him to complain about it, he embraced it and was able to win the debate based on ideas and not on political one-upmanship. Reagan and Tip O’Neal (Democratic Speaker of the House) were political adversaries during the day, but at night they would meet and share stories and friendship. Unfortunately, this is not possible today, nor is it permitted any longer. The polarity that now exists in government and our society prohibits the nation from being great and thinking big.

If you look back in our history and ask the questions as to who were our best, biggest and brightest leaders, you will see that most of them didn’t come from the ranks of government. Many of our leaders came from humble beginnings and served, because their greatness was recognized and because of their deeds and big ideas. The place in history also has a bearing on how greatness is recognized and greatness is born.

Just because you want to be great doesn’t necessarily mean that you are or will be. I cannot think of one person today who could begin to fill the shoes of the great man who occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the 80’s. There was no disconnecting between what Reagan wanted and what Reagan pursued. A big part of greatness comes from knowing who you are and how you bring others into rethinking their position and how their position can help or hinder a plan.

Our President today says that he strongly relates to Ronald Reagan. I cannot accept this nor do I even begin to believe it. In his first year, our President had identified himself with FDR and the New Deal. You can see where it has gotten us today. In his second year, our President identified himself with Lincoln. Who has this president really freed from the chains of government’s reach into our lives? Our president now claims to have a similarity to Reagan because he is a transformational president. Our President is now reaching out to business like Reagan. However, a President cannot ask business to invest or open their pocket books to hire people like the president did last week. Business has to feel confident and must be able to hire people for expansion and profit. Business cannot hire for the plans of government alone, especially when those plans would hinder profit and expansion.

Last week, the new job creation numbers for January were announced. Only 36,000 new jobs were added. The unemployment rate went down to 9%. The reason why the new number of unemployment went down is that the government does not take into account the people who have just stooped looking for work and those who are now off the unemployment roles. We need at least 125,000 jobs created per month just to keep up with population growth and the creation of another 200,000 jobs a month to sustain strong economic growth. This is where the figure of 325,000 jobs created per month is needed for an economy that is growing and sustainable, 36,000 jobs just doesn’t do it.

I ask the question, what would Reagan do today? Better yet, what would he say? He said on January 20, 1981 – in his first Inaugural Address:

“Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.
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But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
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You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?
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We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act, beginning today.
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The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.
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In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.”

Today our leaders have told us and have acted in a way that Government is the cure to our ills. In all of our history has government ever been the cure? Today I ask the question: What would Reagan do? We know what he would say, because he said it thirty years ago. This is what Reagan knew and this was part of the principles that Reagan left in a legacy that we can again enjoy and still duplicate if we have the will. Reagan would have us do the things that would have us live up to our potential rather than being the servants of what government’s potential is.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: Reagan told us about “a time for choosing” and our “rendezvous with destiny” these are big dreams that only Ronald Reagan could realize and then make us feel that it is our time to choose because of our destiny as a great nation. No doubt this is what Reagan would do again today!