January 11, 2011

Happy New Year 2011

by Steve Dana

Happy New Year Everyone! It is great to kick off a new year because 2010 really sucked. There is no doubt that 2010 will go down as one of the worst for my family. I expect the new year to be better, not just for us, but for everyone else as well.

I took a break from blogging and politics for most of 2010 while I worked to get things back on track for my family. I never lacked thoughts about what was happening in the political realm, but I just wasn’t able to either comment online or participate directly.

As the Tea Party overwhelmed the political scene and carried our country back to the right, I was cheering from the sidelines. I am guardedly optimistic about our chances in the coming election cycles. The ultimate outcome will be dependent upon our vigilance and dedication to the cause of preserving the America most of us will want to call home.

In my view, the stakes are really high as we work to reverse the course our country is on. Apathy on the part of the citizenry has allowed our government to put in place rules and regulations that don’t just threaten our property rights at a local level but work at every higher level to incrementally strip away our constitutional rights a little at a time to the point where we will all wake up one morning and find that our country will have been changed forever.

One factor I intend to investigate over the coming months is the relationship Christian faith or loss of faith with the advancement of the progressive movement.

I have to say at the outset that I was raised in a Christian family of the Methodist persuasion so I have the foundation of Christian upbringing. But as I got older, it became easier to rationalize why I made choices if I didn’t have to worry about my church holding me accountable.

I lived a reasonably honorable and ethical life, I just didn’t rely upon my faith to test or justify my every move. My brother has suggested that if I don’t get into heaven it will be because I don’t actively profess my faith in our Christian God and accept Jesus Christ as my savior.

All I can say at this time is that I am working on it.

I am certain that as our country has migrated away from our Christian roots our prospects as a country have been severely hampered.

My goal is to explore my normal beats in government and politics and comment on them as I do but I will also share my journey of rediscovery of my faith.

Oh and along the way, I will even mix in a word or two about conditions in the real estate and housing market since I am now an associate with Century 21 North Homes Realty in Snohomish.

So let’s get on with a great 2011.

Posted in Faith, Real Estate | Leave a Comment »

June 2, 2010

What is the Proper Regulatory Role for Government?

by Steve Dana

As a professed Republican, I have to admit that our party has been at times rabidly pro-business without articulating a proper regulatory role for government. The impression we leave is that we don’t either believe government has a role or that we don’t trust government to be fair.

Then we have a disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Like most right wingers, I listen to FOX News and I have say, their constant attack on President Obama suggests that his administration is responsible for the catastrophe. Their fervor is going way over the top. I am a little uncomfortable with the rhetoric.

I didn’t approve of the left wing attack on President Bush for his alleged failure in coming to the rescue of New Orleans and the surrounding area in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I believe there was a protocol for getting the federal government involved and mobilized to help in that emergency just like there is a “plan” in the FEMA handbook for the current one.

The problem is that the scope of an emergency is not always evident in the first days following an accident. Then, amassing the resources to remedy a problem takes additional time. The result in both disasters was the perception that the government failed to act in a timely manner.

There is no denying that I believe Obama is not a president that will be good for our country. His vision for our country is opposite my own in almost every instance.

But I am certain that every party involved in the Gulf oil well disaster (including President Obama) is doing everything they can to stop the carnage. This is not a partisan political disaster.

The attacks on the President need to stop!

Let’s solve the immediate problem first and stop the oil from gushing into the Gulf, then develop a plan to mitigate the damage while we sort out the blame. Finally, we can grade the participants on their performance.

The time for sniping will come, but this is not that time.

For me, the issue of “Regulatory Role for Government” is a huge one that needs the scrutiny of the Congress, state legislatures, the press and the pundits. The past two years have exposed the failure of regulators in too many sectors. We need to take the regulatory agencies to task for their failures and hold their feet to the fire. If anyone needs to have a “boot on their neck” it is the regulators charged with enforcing existing rules that have failed so miserably. Extending the metaphor, I wouldn’t advocate that regulators adopt that strategy with regard to their clients.

In light of the volume of existing government regulation, I doubt that we need more, but we should evaluate the efficacy of the current body and go from there.

The disaster in the Gulf may have started out as an accident, but the finger pointing in the aftermath exposed a failure of the government regulators to provide adequate oversight. We probably don’t need more regulations; we do need confidence that the ones in place are followed.

If folks want to be angry at the President for failing to adequately protect Americans, it’s clear that the Gulf oil disaster is just the tip of the ice berg. The question is whether we can raise the alarm before the next disaster so we can prevent it from happening rather than wringing our hands in the aftermath.

Let’s be proactive!

Posted in Partisan Politics, Political commentary | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ,
May 30, 2010

Dana Campaign Suspended!

by Steve Dana

On the occasion of the Memorial Day holiday, we reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans for Americans. We are somber in the realization that even though it was never their intent when they volunteered to serve, many gave their lives to preserve the freedom and liberty our country symbolizes for not just our own citizens, but for the world.

The battle for freedom and liberty rages on many fronts. Certainly our armed forces carry on the fight when they take up guns and march off to war, but in the modern age, the external forces aligned against freedom and liberty are matched by the insidious “evils” of liberal progressivism that attack our national values from within.

It is absolutely imperative that Americans who value our heritage step up to counter those evils by serving in any capacity, in any position that will offer a more desirable option than the left leaning drivel that steadily strips our property rights and our will and ability to defend our freedom from excessive government.

I have been a participant in that effort for more than twenty years through service to my community. I have been an elected official and a volunteer in my city. I have been a candidate for County Council and until today, I was a candidate for the House of Representatives running with Shahram Hadian against Hans Dunshee.

Circumstances in my life have changed recently and after substantial consideration, I have determined that I cannot continue with a campaign while taking care of my family obligations. To that end, I am compelled to abandon this legislative campaign.

Hopefully, by making the decision at this point in the campaign calendar, it will allow others to get into the race or for supporters to get behind Shahram. There is no doubt that replacing Hans Dunshee should be a high priority for voters in the 44th district and to the degree that I can, I will campaign to achieve that end.

It has been an honor to serve in the past and if it is meant to be, I will again. I am grateful for the support I have received and the confidence shown by so many that have offered to help in the campaign. I appreciate the efforts of Whitney Roulstone in particular who has served as my campaign manager.

I look forward to working to elect Republicans that will actually follow conservative principles. Too many talk the talk without substance. We need to demonstrate to voters that Republicans are more than cheap conversation through proactively articulating our plan. Elected officials need to be accountable for the regulatory failures that plague our country. If we insist on passing laws, we need to enforce them or repeal them.

Thank you for allowing me to be your advocate.

Posted in House of Representatives, Legislature, Partisan Politics, Political commentary, Steve Dana Issues | Leave a Comment »

May 27, 2010

Vigilance and Dedication

by Steve Dana

This election year marks the first time in recent history where mainstream Americans have actually felt the sense of urgency to change government many of us have had for many years.  Loss of homes, jobs and savings will do that. 

Federal bail-outs for fat cats at the expense of mainstream Americans highlight the corruptness of a system out of control.  The failure of either political party to demonstrate restraint in spending has eroded confidence that they are capable of doing so.  Americans have seen their government collecting and spending record levels of tax dollars with no end in sight with little consideration to the return on our investment.

“Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.” –  Edmund Burke

Failure to follow the Constitution is even more discouraging.

The fact that citizens had faith that their elected officials shared their values lulled them into a false sense of security.  Inattention allowed the government to steadily erode our liberty and our property rights, but more importantly government has been undermined by questionable ethics and morality and certainly a lack of religious faith.

The idea that the government can solve all our problems has conned us into allowing government to take over our lives.  The “welfare state” is on the threshold of enslaving our country.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”  –  Alexis de Tocqueville

Bureaucracies have mushroomed at every level of government in the name of progress.  At the same time, you have to wonder what contribution those bureaucracies make to the quality of service or product delivered.  What contribution does the Department of Education make to the quality of education?  How does the Department of Health and Human Services improve your health?  How about the Departments of Energy, Interior or Agriculture?  The list goes on and on.  The bureaucracies consume billions and billions of our tax dollars without actually delivering a quantifiable service to any of us.  Certainly these federal agencies are guilty, but state versions are no less so.

“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”  –  Alexis de Tocqueville

The downturn in the economy has been devastating to many, but in spite of the damage done the resultant exposure of flaws in government systems, policies and laws may turn out to be a rare opportunity to redefine government priorities both at a national and state level.  We can re-establish public policy based upon Conservative values widely shared by most Americans rather than liberal progressive values that are bankrupting our country stripping away our American identity.  In this case the lesson we must learn is that without vigilance and dedication to preserving our liberty on an everyday basis, our liberty is at risk.

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”  –  Edmund Burke

We need to have elected officials who are proud to be Americans and are willing to fight for the Constitution of the United States.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”  –  Ronald Reagan

We have the opportunity in this election cycle to change our representatives to more accurately reflect the values of most Americans; values like smaller government and lowering the federal deficit, but more importantly values of a moral and ethical government guided by our faith in God regardless of religion. 

“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”  –  Alexis de Tocqueville

Separation of church and state does not mean elimination of faith as a driving force of our government.

“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.”  –  Ronald Reagan

At the end of the day, Vigilance by every citizen will be the only protection for the American way of life as visualized by the founders. 

“All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”  –  Edmund Burke

Posted in Partisan Politics, Political commentary, Snohomish County Political Commentary, Steve Dana Issues | Leave a Comment »

Tags:
« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »