Dave Ramsey's Common Sense Economic Fix

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

   1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.

      a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.

      b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

   2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Crucified by Christians: Bitterness, Pain, and Forgiveness

My father has always been one of my heroes.  He was a man I looked up to, and in many ways, wanted to be like.  His sense of conviction, his perseverance in the face of adversity, and his unequivocal stand for what was right, inspired me and many others.  He holds multiple degrees from Florida State, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Oxford.  He has published 4 books, and written many others.  He has discipled hundreds.

God has used him to change the world as far as evangelizing Muslims goes.  Dallas Theological Seminary, Campus Crusade for Christ, Zwemer Institute for Muslim Studies, the US Center for World Missions, Open Doors, Operation Mobilization, YWAM, and on and on..., had their mission's philosophies and theologies challenged.  He also revolutionized the way many Western Christians think of Arabs and Jews.  In fact, many have changed the entire way they do Muslim ministry because of his work and teaching.  As the first known Druze convert to Christianity in 1954, his ministry has led to the conversion of many others, starting with many in our own family. 

He came from a privileged background with land, servants, and anything a child could want.  However, as a young boy, he watched as his father, Prosecutor General over Lebanon and northern Syria under the French Mandate rule, was assassinated.  His younger sister, an undiagnosed diabetic, died during my grandfather's week-long funeral procession from Syria to Lebanon.  His mother remarried and moved to Flint, Michigan, where she and her unborn child were murdered.  She was then cremated and her ashes were placed in an unmarked mausoleum drawer, not to be discovered until half a century later.

My father's uncles "appropriated" all of his and his 2 older siblings' inheritance and land and placed them in boarding schools.  He lived life as a scrapper, and eventually discovered his love for the arts.  He became a professional musician and actor in Lebanon and Egypt, and went on to befriend and discover a young lady named Nouhad Haddad.  He introduced her to a producer named Rihbani whom she eventually married.  No one knew that she would go on to become the best known Arabic singer of the 20th century.  The name everyone knows her by is Fairuz.  She is the 'Elvis' of the Middle East.

Once he immigrated to the US, he tried his hand at many things, bellboy at Mackinac Island, waiter, construction worker, driving instructor in Chicago, fencing instructor, etc...  Eventually, he rediscovered his love for music, which is where he settled.  

In the mid-50s, he lost his four best friends in a car accident.  They were driving from Missouri to Brooklyn for Christmas. He was in the front passenger seat of a 1949 Kaiser.  Their car went underneath an 18 wheeler.  All in the car were decapitated except him.  It is after that that Christ rescued him.

In 1964, at 36, he returned to Lebanon and married my mom - a 17 year old spitfire who was outgoing and full of life.  Their marriage was rocky from the beginning and remained so for the 36 years they stayed together as both brought a lot of baggage and immaturity into their relationship.

He had an illustrious teaching career until 1982, when he switched to the full-time ministry.  All went well until 1999.  It started with the daughter of Lance Ledford, one of my High School classmates.  The Ledford's 10 year old daughter was like a grandchild to my parents.  Over the course of about 3 years, she became a small part of our family.  Her parents had grown up "on the wrong side of the tracks" but had since come to faith in Christ, and even attended the same church as my parents - Evangelical Community Church in Jackson, TN.

My parents had just returned from a mission trip overseas.  Mom was out praying with one of her friends.  Dad was at home going through mail and phone messages when this young lady came over wanting to look through my sister's toys.  She didn't find anything that appealed to her so my dad hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, as was his usual custom.  Two hours later, 2 police officers arrested him for molestation.

Dad's case went to the Grand Jury after numerous interviews and polygraph tests which he passed with flying colors.  They chose to not indict as they found no fault.  However, the State insisted on prosecuting.  The judge downgraded the charge to a misdemeanor of simple assault and his case was expunged after a one year diversion.

The part that destroyed him was the reaction of the church and the elders.  Though he was well known and had discipled many in leadership, the pastor told the congregation that his name was not to be mentioned in church, he was not to be prayed for publicly, and he would be removed from the church rolls.  The elders refused to meet with him even once, though they met with the other family on several occasions.  This was all driven by a self-proclaimed and Reader's Digest educated "counselor" named Mary Ann who effectively ran the church.

Dad was essentially excommunicated and denied fellowship though he did nothing wrong.  He has spent the past decade trying to recover from this.  In the end, unfortunately, my mother unwittingly aided in his destruction by spreading many rumors about him.  Some were true, and some weren't.

Here was a man, falsely accused who need help, love, and understanding.  Instead he was met with hate and rejection.  These "Christians" still do not see anything wrong with their unscriptural reactions and believe themselves to be "righteous" when in fact, they were used by Satan himself to destroy and maim.

The reason I chose to write about this now is because EVERYONE I run into that knows him, still treats him as though he has leprosy.  They are scared to even mention his name.  I am tired of having to feel as though he is at fault when in reality, it is everyone else who is at fault.  They act as if they are perfect and he is tainted.  They don't even want to associate with him lest they get dirty.  I thank God that His son Jesus Christ chose to get dirty on my behalf.  What is Christianity - really?  Is this a picture of Christ?  

I agree with my dad, if this is "Christianity", I want none of it.  However, I will never deny my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Faith of Barack Obama

Well, ok.  So maybe I wasn't as "back" as I thought; but here we go again making an effort to blog more consistently.  What better way to jump back in than to discuss fellow Nashvillian and CPA dad, Stephen Mansfield's new book "The Faith of Barack Obama".

A few weeks ago, Thomas Nelson Publishers made an offer of a free book to the first 100 bloggers who responded with a promise to write a blog report on Mansfield's work.  I was one of the fortunate few.

I wanted to wait until after the convention, and especially until after SEN Obama's acceptance speech to post my thoughts.  Not that it affected my review, but I wanted to gain a better appreciation for the man, the message, and the motivation behind his campaign.  I also wanted to ride the crest of the wave of excitement about the Democrats' inspiring and eloquent candidate.

Mansfield's is a rather short book as books go, and is easily readable in a single day.  Though he makes it clear on his blog that he will not be voting for SEN Obama, his treatise is well written and unbiased.

Since you can find a horde of other reviews of the book that pretty much analyze the entire book from a literary and technical standpoint, I want to take a different approach.  I want to address what the book says about what Obama's faith is and what it is not.  Actually, all I really want to do is answer one simple question - "Is Obama a Christian?"  

Last New Year's, I attended the Lader's Renaissance Weekend in Charleston, SC.  One of the panels I was asked to serve on was the panel on "Living our Faith".   There were several other distinguished guests on the panel - a couple of professors from Harvard and Yale, a couple of published authors, and others who were involved in the ministry in one capacity or another.  All claimed to be Christians save one who said he was an Athiest Jew (his rationale on acceptance of others in Christian love was incredibly compelling - I loved the way he thought.  In fact he was more of a Christian in how he lived his life than any of us were).  

When asked to speak, I tried to set the foundation on what I thought would be safe and basic ground - "What does it mean to be a Christian?".  I found out very quickly that very few agreed on what exactly a Christian is.  

Just to be clear, I firmly believe that Scripture leaves no room for debate about the five essentials of the Gospel - the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, Christ's literal death/burial/resurrection, the second coming of Christ, and the inspiration/inerrancy/infallibility of scripture.  Everything else is debatable (baptism, sacraments, gifts of the spirit, music, prophecy, etc...).  Without the essentials, one can say he or she is a Christian all they want, but that doesn't make it true.  It's sort of like a pig saying he's a horse - it just ain't so.

Back to Mansfield's book - Obama says, "The Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology.  On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites."  [She tried to embed in me] "a common set of beliefs about how you treat other people and how you aspire to act, not just for yourself, but also for the greater good."

Mansfield goes on to show that Obama believes that "Christianity is but one religious tree rooted in the common ethical soil of all human experience".  He believes that there are many paths to God (as do 57% of evangelicals according to a recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life).  He believes prayer is a way to check one's ego, take stock of oneself, and maintain one's moral compass.  Regarding a conversation he had with his daughter about the afterlife, Obama states, "I wasn't sure what happens when we die, anymore than I was sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang."  When asked about eternal punishment, he said, "I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell."

Though Obama says he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for his sins and rose again, belief is not enough.  His doubts about the exclusivity of Christ, original sin, eternal punishment and reward, inspiration and infallibility of scripture, ethical standards founded on the scripture,  etc... make us question the genuineness of his belief and faith.  The scriptures tell us that the devil believes - and trembles.  Belief must take root in faith which then reveals itself in fruit as both Christ and the apostle Paul tell us.

So, after analyzing Obama's beliefs and background, though he may say that he is a Christian (as do upwards of 70% of Americans), he is not a follower of Christ in all that Christ is and teaches.  He picks and chooses what he believes.  In fact, he has done what many in our day do - he has created God in his own image returning the favor of God creating us in His.  SEN Obama's belief system proves to be rather pluralistic and pragmatic.  In essence he is a humanist, but he is not truly a Christian.  I am not trying to judge his heart, but I am looking at his fruit and making a general assessment based on what he says and how he lives his life.  This is not saying he isn't a good man.  I believe he is a very good man (though with a depraved and dark heart like the rest of us).  I also believe he is a great leader with great vision.  However, his words and life indicate that he does not know the Creator of the universe, our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ.

How does this play out in his electablity?  You tell me.

Our Next President

I figured I'd better go ahead and post this before Super Tuesday, so it'll be more believable (just want to be able to say, "I told you so"). Since mid-December 2007, I have been predicting that the Republican nominee will be Mitt Romney and that he would probably choose John McCain as his Vice President, and that the Democratic nominee would be Barack Obama who would possibly choose John Edwards as his Vice Presidential candidate. I believe that in the end, the Obama/Edwards ticket squeaks by to win the White House.

My feeling was that Thompson was done from the beginning because he was essentially disinterested, Huckabee would lag because of his strong religious values and the lack of a presidential "look", and Guliani would just flame out because of way too much baggage. I also felt that Edwards is just too smooth and untrustworthy, and Clinton has way too many negatives.

Unfortunately, the first time I actually published this on the Internet, to some scepticism I might add, was on December 31, 2007 on Ned Williams' WisdomIsVindicated blog, and on January 4, 2008 on Newscoma's blog. However, it is interesting to see how things are developing.

Thompson has dropped out, and Guliani is sure to follow shortly. McCain and Romney are neck and neck, but ultimately, I believe it will be Romney who will take the lead because of perceived strength of leadership and age.

On the "progressives" side - though Clinton is still ahead as far as delegates are concerned, Obama is moving up quickly and will surpass her. The excitement he creates with his message, youth, and honesty resonates well with a populace that is tired, confused, angry, and seeking hope and change. She is definitely in defensive mode and feels that she is quickly losing her grip on the nomination as has been evidenced over the past few days.

Though I am not ready to vote for a Democrat, I've got to be honest, Obama does inspire and excite something deep inside me. Let's see what happens. What do you think?

The Bhutto Assassination and Pakistan as an Ally

As one whose family has been intimately involved with international politics involving the US, the UN, Lebanon, and France (1 ambassador, 2 Parliamentary members, 1 national level minister and cabinet member, 1 Chief Justice, 2 assassinations, 1 attempted assassination, etc…), and as a 10 year US Army Special Forces combat veteran, I have maintained more than a keen interest in international relations and foreign policy.

Though I agree with Senator Bob Corker, Congressman Jim Cooper, and Mr. Kevin Doherty on many points, I must respectfully and strongly disagree with several of their statements and positions.

President Musharraf is dangerous and ultimately untrustworthy. Make no mistake, he is a dictator, is hostile to US interests, and has little support within his own country. Regardless of what we are told by our government, he is at most an ally of convenience and necessity in the most dangerous country in the world as far as US foreign policy is concerned.

As our State Department knows well, he is at high risk of being assassinated in the near future. Pakistan will then be run by Islamic extremists who are sympathetic to Al Queda and Taliban proponents who will have control over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. We are one man away from a very serious problem unlike any we have ever seen. Should he be assassinated, we will be forced to ally with Iran in order to try to keep Pakistan in check as we try to prevent a hostile nuclear Pakistan from falling into terrorist hands. Russia is ahead of us here, and is likewise very concerned.

Just 3 weeks ago I spoke with Gail Sheehy who was the last journalist granted an interview with Benazir Bhutto just before she was assassinated (published in this month’s Parade magazine). Bhutto told her “I am what the terrorists most fear”. She was a force for democratic reform; however, though better than Musharraf, even she was tainted with corruption, impropriety, and less than ideal US values.

Contrary to Mr. Cooper’s opinion, we do have many Arabists - and very good ones. The problem is that this administration does not truly listen to them. Focus groups meet, people take notes, experts are consulted; but ultimately, their advice goes unheeded as we instead arrogantly proceed with our Americanized worldview devoid of other cultural paradigms and perspectives. We seem to want to colonize instead of convince by winning hearts and minds.

I agree we do need a fresh new approach that includes Palestinian autonomy (the real reason behind the Iraq war and much of the worldwide tension we now see). However, complete military disengagement “from the entire region” is a very foolish choice. It goes without saying, we do not need a “one country solution”, but need a deliberate, intentional, well thought out approach to how we interact on a global scale. Military intervention is a tool, and a powerful one – when used appropriately. We have recklessly abused it and are paying the price.

I'm Back!!

Well, as you've undoubtedly noticed, I haven't been blogging for a while. I've been awfully busy over the past few months as I transitioned out of my job at HCA into a new job at Pfizer, prepared for Christmas, attended Renaissance Weekend, went to NYC twice, and on and on.

But now I'm back. I've got a ton to blog about and am very excited to get started with some great topics - a fresh view on the REAL reason we are in Iraq; the broken healthcare system and what we must do to fix it; the upcoming summer war in Lebanon/Syria/Israel; the assasination of Benazir Buhtto and what that means for Musharraf, the US, Iran, and the entire Central Asia and MidEast regions; the United Nations and its influence on world affairs; my predictions on who will win each party's nomination and who will eventually win the Presidency; HCA's evil empire and why it's bad for the future of true healthcare reform; President Bush's legacy; religion in America and how we can live in unity while maintaining our Christian heritage; living a healthy and prosperous life; eight steps to effective evangelism and giving our lives away; expanding and focusing our worldview; etc...

Please come back - I'm interested in what you have to say.