Never Get Weary In Well Doing

America is at a crossroads like never before. In the next 31 to 77 days we as a nation will learn if we are going to be a nation of free men and women living in liberty as our founders created for us, or if we are going to trade freedom for so called security and "free" health care. This summer we have seen a groundswell of Americans standing up against the march toward Marxism under Obama and the democrats, and for that matter by too many republicans before them. However, it seems clear that Americans have awoken and are saying enough is enough.

Something that surely the democrats and Obama are counting on is that those same Americans who are mostly political rookies as activists will grow tired, and take their eyes off the ball during this last session of Congress this year. We must not allow that to happen, we are almost there. If you look at the Congressional calender you will see that the targeted date for adjourning Congress is October 30th this year. That is only 31 days from today, only 25 working days for the Congress and Senate to pass Government Health Care, Cap and Trade, Card Check, and Rockefeller's bill to strip of our right to free speech by allowing the White House to shut down our access to the Internet at will. That means we have to keep up the fight, and even push harder, for 31 more days. We need to reach out to others in our sphere of influence, friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, and strangers to alert them to what is going on, and what we can do about it.

We must also keep in mind that they may extend the adjournment deadline back. They can move it to the end of November, which means that it would be 62 days, or 43 working days. It could even go as late as December 15th making it 77 days or 54 working days, but I don't believe that it will go later than that. Those in D.C. are not known for their work ethic to stay too later into their breaks, the later it goes the less who will still be there to vote.

If we can hold them off on these bills through this 31-77 days, it will be over. The next session these bills would have to start all over. There is no way that any of these can pass in 2010 during an election year. No blue dog would vote for any of these next year, none who won in a district that McCain won in 2008 would vote for any of these next year. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the democrats know that their best chance to socialize America is this next 31-77 days, you can count on them pushing as hard as they can. This has been their dream for decades. However, the American Dream has been held for much longer, and in this next 31 to 77 days We The People can turn back this assault and preserve The American Dream, Freedom, and Liberty for not only ourselves, but our children and grandchildren.

Patriots, don't get weary in well doing, now is not the time to rest, but to fight as hard as we can. Only 31 to 77 days to go! We Can Do It, We Must Do It, We Will Do It!!!

David and Goliath

Many of us grew up listening to Bible stories like David and Goliath in Church, and Sunday school, sometimes though part of the message seemed to be missed. Years ago I heard Doug Wead tell this story and I had to run to my Bible to read it again because this wasn't the way I was taught. Hopefully it will help you break some old paradigms as well. It is in 1 Samuel 17.

David's story teaches us a great deal about faith, about how having a big God is more important than a big enemy, but it should also teach us the value of a big dream or vision for our lives.

Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version)"Where there is no vision, the people perish:"

David, the youngest son of Jessie's eight sons, was tending a flock of sheep. His three oldest brothers were in King Saul's army about to do battle with the Philistine Army in the Valley of Elah. The Philistine Army stood on the mountains on one side, and the Army of Israel on the mountains on the other side both looking over the valley. Every day, the Philistine Champion, Goliath, would go out and challenge Saul's Army. He was a huge and frightening figure nearly eight feet tall:

1 Samuel 17:

4 "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span."

5 "And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass."

6 "And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders."

7 "And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him."

Goliath would shout to the Army of Israel, "Am I not a Philistine? Why fight as an army, send out your best man to fight me, if he wins and kills me, we will be your servants and serve you. If I win and kill him, you will be our servants and serve us. I defy Israel today, give me a man that we may fight together." With this Saul and all his men were greatly afraid. This little dance happened every single day for forty days. Every day for those forty days Goliath would go out and challenge them, and every day for forty days Saul and his army did nothing but shrink in fear. I am sure that they were not feeling very good about themselves.

David who was at home tending his father's sheep was sent to the battlefield by his father Jessee to take food to his brothers, and to his brother's commander. While he was there both armies square off for battle, but Goliath came out once again with his daily challenge, and the army of Israel all ran away to the mountain once again. Now in Sunday School, I learned that all of the Israeli army ran away, but David shouted "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?" That isn't what happened, the Bible says ALL ran away, that would include David. Keep in mind how armies fought back then, they would line up and march into each other. The first few rows would most surely die, yet those who were lined up knowing in a battle that they would die, still ran in fear of Goliath. We all know the end of the story, but here is, what as Paul Harvey would have said, is the rest of the story.

When they were back at camp that night David hanging around talking with the soldiers. Keep in mind he was just a boy, this had to be very exciting to him, compared to tending the sheep. As David was walking around he overheard soldiers talking about the rewards that awaited the man who would fight and kill Goliath. He heard them say that whoever killed Goliath would be made wealthy, that he would ride upon a white horse, that he would marry the princess, and that he and his family would never again be required to pay taxes. David asked them again to repeat the reward for killing Goliath, and they did. It was then, after hearing the reward, that David said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that defies the army of the Living God?" In other words, it wasn't Goliath that turned David on, it was the Princess, and the prize that turned him on!

At this point David's oldest brother heard what was going on and chastised David making fun of him, "Where are your few sheep you should be tending?" Basically saying "kid you don't belong here with men, quit acting all high and mighty". Have any of you ever found that if you speak about your dreams around your own family and friends that they will put you down, "don't get above your raising" so to speak? That is what happened to David as well. What did he do, did he tuck his tail and go back to the sheep? No, he "turned from them unto another" and asked again "what does he who kills Goliath get as his reward?" He sought out the dream once again.

There were those who overheard this young man's claims and told King Saul about them. Saul called him to him. I am sure that David was surprised with this great offer of that reward that he was the only one standing in line to meet with King Saul to have the chance to fight Goliath. When David met with Saul he told him "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." However, Saul saw a boy standing in front of him and wasn't quite as convinced, remember if their "champion" would lose, they would become servants to the Philistines.

33 "And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."

34 "And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:"

35 "And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him."

36 "Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God."

37 "David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee."

King Saul put his own armor onto David, gave him his own shield and sword. However they were far too big for David, far too heavy, and far too unfamiliar. David said he wouldn't use them, he simply chose 5 smooth stones from a brook, put them in his shepard's bag, took his sling, and his staff.

When Goliath saw David he was furious, he was insulted that the Israel army sent a boy to fight him.

43 "And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods."

44 "And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field."

David understood that his God was bigger than was Goliath, he was fighting with faith.

45 "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

46 "This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."

47 "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands."

David said "This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand; and I will kill you, and take your head from you." He said that with only stones and a slingshot in his hand. He was counting on using Goliath's sword for the head removal! Talk about faith, and maybe stones. David did indeed kill Goliath when one of his stones found it's mark into Goliath's forehead. David then took Goliath's sword and cut off his head. Seeing Goliath killed the Philistines ran away in fear, Saul's army was emboldened and chased after them.

What do we learn here? First of all we learn that God doesn't mind, in fact encourages us to dream, that is how He made us. We are designed to be motivated by our vision and dreams. Too many of us somehow think it is not God's will for us to have a dream, nothing could be further from the truth. The next thing we learn is that when we have a dream, those closest to us might well be the ones who try the hardest to take it away from us, so we too must "turn from them unto another" and rebuild the dream in our hearts. Finally, we must learn that no matter how big our own giants, or obstacles are as we pursue our dreams and goals, that our God is bigger than any of them.

Slay your giants and chase your dreams!

8,000 Tax Credit, Will it Be Extended?

To extend or not to extend, that is the question. Is it nobler to extend the first time buyer tax credit, enlarge it to 15,000.00 for all, or to bring back down payment assistance programs instead?

It is late evening September 25th as this is written, leaving only 20 days until October 15th, the last reasonable day to apply for a mortgage and still be able to close by the November 30th deadline. Of course this is assuming that the home being purchased is completed and ready to move in. So, it is time that some decisions are made by Congress. Are they going to extend, enlarge, or not.

Senator Johnny Isakson R-GA, drafted a bill co-sponsored by Chris Dodd D-CT, that would expand this tax credit to anyone no matter what your homeowner status, and would have doubled it to 15,000.00. This bill has caught very little traction, in fact it was the first bill addressing the idea of this tax credit before the Stimulus Bill was even written by the Apollo Alliance. It was reduced to the 8,000.00and only for the first time buyers to punish Isakson for voting against an earlier Bail Out Bill. There is now another bill by Isakson that has been co-sponsored by Senator Harry Reid, D-NV the Senate Majority Leader, that would extend the 8,000.00 tax credit for first time buyers for six months.

This bill is being endorsed by John Howard, President of the National Association of Home Builders. He has said that it is critical to get the industry through the winter, with hopes that job improvement would have time to kick in by mid summer in 2010. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moody Economics.com believes that the credit will add nearly 400,000 sales throughout it's use. Zandi believes that it will cost American taxpayers somewhere between 15-17 billion dollars to extend the credit for 6 more months. Zandi believes that money would be very well spent. That math tells me that he believes it will generate somewhere near 2 million home sales across the country. That would equate to nearly 622 per county, if it truly was 2 million homes. Let's cut it in half to just 1 million, and 8 billion in tax payer funds, creating about 311 sales per county across America. If the 400,000 was more accurate it would be only about 125 per county, and cost around 3.2 billion. No matter how you look at it, it is effective and it is expensive.

What if instead of doing any of these, we just bring back Down Payment Assistance programs such as Nehemiah, and AmeriDream? What would the plus and minus be to that?
First of all, it wouldn't cost one dime of tax payer's money. Second, it would open the market to millions of people who have been shut out on the tax credit because they don't have the 3.5% down payment saved to put down. My question is would he credit be as effective during the extension as it has been? How deep has it penetrated the available market of first time buyers who have the down payment saved? There is a huge untapped group of qualified buyers who could buy if they had a down payment, because they have been on the outside looking in.

Do you hear what I hear? I am sure there is a chorus rising saying that "They need skin in the game!" I think this is a pretty lame argument, look at my past blogs on the DPA subject where I show the math disproving that argument. Beyond that I have heard of so many people, Realtors, and mortgage lenders telling buyers to get a gift from family to make their down payment and then pay it back when their tax credit comes in. In fact even Congress for about 4 hours passed a resolution to allow this, and them pulled it back the same day. Of course everyone who has suggested that realizes that they are recommending a felony by using a gift that is really a loan.

Let's make a worse case scenario, and say that the government would have to step in and use taxpayer money to prop up lenders if these DPA loans had higher foreclosures than those with the current tax credit would. There is no evidence that would happen, in fact there is no evidence that loans with DPA have any higher default than those without at any time before or after this current mortgage crisis we have just experienced. However, for arguments sake, let's assume that they are double the foreclosure rate and 5% more foreclose than just those with the tax credit would. If you say that 1 million homes sold because if DPAs return, then 5% foreclose that would be 50,000 multiply that by 150,000.00 and you would have a total of 7.5 billion dollars of loans, say that it cost taxpayers 20% of those loans to make lenders whole, that would cost us 1.5 billion, compared to the 8 billion that would automatically cost us to do that some million homes with the credit.

As a person who makes his living selling new homes, professionally I would love to see both the DPA returned as well as the tax credit extended not only to fist time buyers, but to all buyers. However as an American taxpayer, I really like the math of bringing back DPAs. All we have to do is get Congress to move HR-600 out of committee and pass it and we are up and running.

It is critical that one of these does happen, and happens quickly. I would like to add that when Congress makes a new bill that deals in an industry that they get more involvement from those in the industry to help them write it. Not just those who are in National Associations but those who are daily on the front lines. For instance, this tax credit has a major flaw in it. The language is not at all clear if someone can buy a new home to be built and use a construction to perm loan to do a front end close to qualify. If you go onto irs.gov you will see on the form you send in for your credit that the day you purchase according to the IRS is when you occupy it. However there is an FAQ on the same site where someone says he "bought in 2008, but home wasn't habitable until 2009, would he get the 2008 or 2009 credit?" The IRS answer was 2008 when you bought it. As I have tried to get an answer to this all the way to calling Congress, it is evident that no one I talked to has any idea what a Construction to Perm loan is.

Hopefully, we will hear that the credit has been extended soon. However, as a taxpayer, and someone who makes his living selling homes, I would much prefer the DPA.

7 Keys to Winning

Charles F. Kettering, a scientist and inventor, had a theory to remove failure from any situation was to create an environment where a person didn’t believe that they could fail. If they believed that they couldn’t fail, that they wouldn’t consider it an option. That we need to get it the very thought of failure out of our minds.

Dr. Kettering took a young man who worked at General Motors, and handed him a problem that GM needed a solution for. However, he didn’t give him access to any of the notes of the previous researchers who had documented. He didn’t want him to see that scientists, and researchers with much stronger résumé’s than this young man had actually logged in that this was a challenge that was impossible to solve. Since the young man didn’t know that, he went a head and solved it.

Paul, in 1st Corinthians, Chapter 9 has a tremendous key for winning.

“ Do you not know that everyone runs in a race but only one gets the prize? So Run, (run in that way) so that you may obtain it.”


You must live your life like your running a race, that only one gets the prize.
What is Paul saying? Since he was talking about Heaven, did he mean that we are all competing for one ticket in?

Why not compare it to a team sport? I think it was because he wanted us to think of what we are doing, or not doing. In team sports when we lose, we always tend to blame someone else. It is never your fault We love to pass the buck, we love laying blame, pointing fingers at others. Anything to get the focus off of us. Failure is a part of life, we all fail, make mistakes, errors.

We are going to offend people, and wish we could take back something we said. However, keep in mind we can no more take back something said, than we can un-fry an egg. Paul wants us to understand that if we don’t win, if we don’t get the prize, it is all on us, no one else.

The wonderful thing about commission sales, is if you succeed, you will get all the credit for it. However, if you fail you will get all the blame as well.

Hopefully, no one in here are depressed over that last statement. There are people who would hear that and groan “oh man, I can’t stand getting all the blame” HEY why so negative, why didn’t you hear the first part and hear that you will get all the credit? EXPECT TO WIN. Don’t look only at the possibility of failure.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “Well, with my luck..” If you ever hear anyone start to say that, SLAP THEM upside the head, they are about to say something stupid and embarrass themselves.

You need to look for success, not failure. Whatever you’re focused on is what your will produce. Focus on winning, not on failure. If only one is going to get the prize in this race, MAKE IT ME. I am the man or woman that is going to get it done!

If you took the best archer in the world and blindfolded him and spun him around, how good will he be? How can he hit a goal he can’t see? Probably every bit as easy as hitting a goal that you don’t have. You need a goal, it takes more than enthusiasm, we have to know where we are going.

There are 7 Keys to Winning to cover today

1. Destination.

You need to know where your headed.
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
By the end of this year?
By the end of this month?

2. Dream

Turn the destination into a Dream. As long as it is a Destination it is only something hypothetical, a maybe someday kind of thing.
To make it a dream, you need to put you in it. You have to see yourself doing whatever it is, living there, being it. You have to feel it, taste it, believe it.

In the 1984 Olympics, Mary Lou Rettin going for the vault, an event dominated by the eastern Europeans for years, she would when called stop, close her eyes, then open them and go and perform a flawless perfect 10. To prove it wasn’t a fluke she did the exact same thing again. When asked what she was doing when she closed her eyes by a reporter, she said she closed her eyes and watched herself do a flawless performance. Then when she opened her eyes she just would do what she had just seen herself do. What a lot of people didn’t know, is she had just had knee surgery a few weeks before those Olympics. She was able to shut even that out of her head while performing.

3. Deadline. By putting a deadline on your dream, you have just made it a goal.

Most people don’t want to commit a deadline and put a date on it, they don’t want to write it down, because it puts visual evidence that you had set it. It makes it tough to “change your mind” later, it is on paper. It makes wimping out tougher, THAT IS THE IDEA.

What if you set a date and miss it? I will bet you will be closer than if you never set it at all. You need to WRITE IT DOWN, join the top 3% of all Americans, and write it down.

In Habbaka Chapter 2, verse 2

“Write the vision, make it plain that he may run well that readeth it.”

4. Decision.

The Deadline requires a decision, but the BIGGIE, is the Decision that you need to make, that no matter what, I AM GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

5. Drive.

Stay motivated.

We have to fight the negative, a full 77% of everything we hear daily is negative, you have to purpose your heart to be positive or you won’t be. Paul was going to prison for the rest of his life, he was leaving behind his friends knowing he would never see any of them again.

Here is what he said.

Acts 20:24

“ For none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself that I may finish my course with Joy.”

Nehemiah
“The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.”

Why didn’t they say the Happiness is my strength?

Happiness is momentary, it comes and goes with situations in our lives by the moment, we are happy, then we aren’t. Have you ever known anyone who gets their strength from happiness, they are always on an emotional, and professional roller coaster. External circumstances knock them around like a toy boat in the water.

Joy is something deeper, it is knowing where your going. If you have your eye on the prize, and you know where you’re going, you can have joy in all situations, because you will realize that whatever is going on is temporary, what is permanent is where you’re going.

If they say No, so what, SWSWSW, Some will, some won’t, so what!
Their no can’t keep you from your goal, it is your goal, they didn’t reject you, but your opportunity you showed them. It is their loss, I always feel sorry when someone says no, they lose bigger than I did.

If you have achieved big goals, Congratulations, now set bigger ones and reach from Peak to Peak.

6. Discipline.

“I’m your constant companion,
I’m your greatest helper, or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward, or drag you down to failure.
I’m completely at your control.

Half the things you do, you might as just as well turn them over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I’m easily managed, you must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I’m the servant of all great men, and alas of all failures as well.

Those who are Great, I have made Great.
Those who are failures I have made failures.

I’m not a machine, but I work with all the precision of a machine, plus the intelligence of a man.

You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin, it makes no difference to me.

Train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I? I am Habit.

Discipline is the act of making good habits. Discipline is doing what you don’t “feel” like doing. You do it because you want the results. Football players don’t usually enjoy practice, what they enjoy is winning and they know that the discipline in practice creates the winning opportunity later. Successful people are merely average people who are willing to do what other people aren’t willing to do, so they can live later like others can’t.

Destination, and Dreams are nice, but without Discipline your just Dreaming, WAKE UP!

Discipline can only happen after you decide on a destination, and set a deadline, those have to come first or there isn’t any discipline possible.

7. Determination.

Mustard Seed Faith

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Determination is the true test of character. Character is continuing to work toward your goals long after the emotion is gone from when they were set. It is setting your jaw and pressing forward toward the mark.

You Can Do It!

8 Step Pattern for Sales Success

When you are beginning a sales career, a new position with a new company, or starting over once again to get your business off the ground. Consider following this simple eight step pattern of success.

1. Find a Why.

Most of us today have never been trained in the art of either dreaming, or in the success that can be found in delayed gratification. Most of us have never been taught that buying what we want now causes us to lose the real power we can get out of our wants.

Dreams give us power, they inspire us to achieve our goals to reach them as rewards. A mentor of mine once, while counseling with his mentor, was tired of going to look at speed boats with him. One night when they were back looking at them again, he asked "Why don't you just buy it and get it over with?" The answer shocked him when his mentor told him that he "couldn't afford it" for he knew that if he desired his mentor could have bought the entire marina. The lesson he was taught came next, when his mentor said, "Do you know how hard it is for me to find something that I want? I have to milk all the want out of it I can." Wow! That is a very powerful statement.

Once I found a necktie that I wanted, and was standing in line to purchase. While standing there it dawned on me to milk the want out of it first. I put it back, and set it as my reward for achieving an activity goal that I had set before many times but had never achieved. The next week I bought it. I still have it, still one of my favorites because it isn't a tie to me, but a trophy. The wonderful thing about dreams/rewards they only have to motivate you, no one else.

One of my mentors favorite questions is "Are you chasing your dreams or working your business?" All the magic is found in the first, without that it is hamster wheel time.

2. Set a Goal:

The difference between a dream and a goal is the goal has a date on it. With goals you will need to figure out what you will have to accomplish to achieve your dreams. How many sales will it take? How many appointments will it take? How many calls will it take? You cannot control production completely, but you can control your activity goals.

3. Make a Commitment:

What are you willing to do? What are you willing to give up in other areas of your life to focus on your goals? Once you make the decision, commit to it, and make it happen.

4. Make a List:

Create a list of everyone you can think of. Everyone in your sphere of influence should be on it. Family, friends, past clients, bowling league, church, civic organization, those you knew in school, your kids schools, everywhere you know people. If you don't make a list of 200 people you haven't even begun. The average wedding has that many people.

When trying to make your list, don't prejudge anyone as if they might be a prospect or not just write them down. You can edit later, this first attempt it simply to get as many names as possible. Pull out your address books, your cell phone lists, your Christmas cards list, any list of groups you are involved with. When trying to think of people don't try to think of individual people, but think of places you know people. When you try to think of people you will go blank, but if you think who do I know at church faces pop into your head. Another really good trick to get your brain working is to pull out a Yellow Pages and go through it looking at professions. For instance, who do you know that is an accountant, an attorney, an auto dealer? By the time you get to Z you will probably have nearly 1,000 names. Remember you aren't prejudging them.

5. Contact your List:

The entire point of a list is to call them and take them off your list. Too many sales people find comfort in having a big list and fool themselves thinking that they have more going for them than they do. All a list really amounts to is potential, and remember the definition of potential is unused ability.

Once you have your list contact them, even if they are not prospects, even say your grandmother. You could call her and ask her who her attorney, insurance salesperson, doctor, whatever, ask if she would allow you to contact them and tell them she recommended you call them, if she says yes, add them to your list. This goes for anyone on your list who isn't interested in being your client, and again for each who chooses to be a client, be sure to ask them as well. If you will do this, you will never run out of your list.

6. Have a successful meeting:

When you contact your list, in most cases, you will not sell them over the phone. Your goal should be to make an appointment to meet with them. Most of us need to be face to face to sell our products and services. There is going to be a percentage of sales per appointments. Once you have been doing this for any period of time, you can predict how many appointments you will need to make to get a sale. When people buy from you, ask for referrals. If they don't buy, ask for referrals.

7. Follow Through:

Most of us will have to have more than one meeting to make the sale, especially if our product is higher end purchase. We should book the second appointment at the end of the previous one. If you can't make that appointment, or if you do but plans are changed you often find yourself playing phone tag, often by yourself. One of the easiest ways to make your follow through calls welcomed instead of being a pesky salesperson is to always have a reason that you are calling that you are giving them information that they have asked for. My personal goal is in every meeting or call that doesn't end with a sale, I try to end the call with a question the prospect asked that I "need to get back with them" on. I am looking for a question that I can "not know" and need to check and call them back. This way, my call is simply keeping my promise to them. I call it the Dracula approach. Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula said that vampires can't come in your home without an invitation. It keeps it light in my mind and helps me to remember it.

8. Get Mentored:

If you can find a mentor who has a level of success you would like to attain, who is not a competitor, and will be willing to coach you, do so. Keep in mind that in any coaching or mentoring situation, the student is the one responsible for getting with the mentor, not the other way around. When you find someone, find someone who will tell you like it is and not worry about your feelings. Write out your questions before you go and review your activities for each month. How did you do with your activity goals, productivity goals? Find someone who will hold you accountable. Most of us can skate and keep our jobs, but not if we want to be champions. Look for someone who will push you.

It is Time to Wake Up and Dream!

Just under one year ago we experienced a historic election, one where for the first time since 1928 that there was no incumbent president or vice president in the race, the first with an African American as a nominee, and the first with a female on the republican ticket and only the second woman in history. This during a time where we were fighting two wars, and were dealing with an economic collapse in our markets. With all this going on, what sticks out most is the deep divide we find in our populace. We are pushed further and further from each other ideologically, much like we were during the actual founding of this nation. The difference we see today that is most disturbing is that for the first time since our founding we seem to not be able to pull together on the matters of real importance, that we are all Americans first, and partisans second.

How have we lost the deep love and pride in our country? When did we part company in that no matter what else divides us that we have our passion for America as our glue to hold us together during trying times? Could it be that during the anger during the Vietnam War we lost trust in our government? Was it by happenstance, or was it a concerted effort to drive a wedge into us from our enemies working from outside in? Can we find this passion for being Americans again? How do we go about it? Where is the awe of this nation we live and for her symbols? We are seeing a renewed passion for patriotism coming out for tea parties, and town halls, I am thrilled to see this. Why are we also seeing the outrageous attacks on these patriots by their own elected officials, and their friends in the media?

Those who would willingly vote to trade their, and my, freedoms for the want of some government largess that they have been promised has never made sense to me. I don’t understand why anyone would want to settle for handouts, and in the process, give up the opportunities to have a limitless top to their potential. Why would any American not believe that they or their children can reach whatever dream they can dream, and have the courage and tenacity to chase? Why would they choose to allow the government to put a lid on their success for a small handout now? This concept has eluded me for years; I simply couldn’t grasp this thinking. Tonight I read this in “Democracy in America” from the 1830’s.

“There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which incites men to wish all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom. Not that those nations whose social condition is democratic naturally despise liberty; on the contrary, they have and instinctive love of it. But liberty is not the chief and constant object of their desires; equality is their idol; they make rapid and sudden efforts to obtain liberty, and, if they miss their aim, resign themselves to their disappointment; but nothing can satisfy them without equality, and they would rather perish than lose it.”

Alexis de Tocqueville from “Democracy in America.”

This aptly explains why the concept of class envy works so well in politics. It never made sense to me that the idea of “taxing the rich” was such a powerful persuasion on the voters. What I could never understand is how does punishing someone who has achieved greater things positively effect the voter who isn‘t taxed or receive a benefit anyway? Why does it make them happy to attack the achiever even if it makes no positive impact on them? Tocqueville says it is the perverted idea of dragging others to our level to be more equal with them, to be equal in our poverty is somehow better than holding those achievers up as examples for ourselves and our children to aspire to. This is the essence of that perversion. How did we get this way? What can we do to turn it around?

We need to resell Americans on America, and the American Dream. I believe the reason we see this perverted political ideology sell today is that we have way too many people who have given up on their ability to achieve the dream. A good portion of this could well be due to too many once well meaning groups, who derive their power by our dependence, teaching us that we can’t do it, we can’t make it, that the American Dream is no longer attainable, or not somehow for us.
Look at how labor unions have convinced millions of Americans that the only way that they can earn a decent wage is to join and let the union get it for you. That tells you that you can’t do on your own, you need help. When you look at how many of the so called Black leadership who has told people that if not for their help, people can’t get ahead, that the world is stacked up against them, and that they shouldn’t even try on their own.
The same can be said with politicians, and frankly how many have been told that “You can’t do it,” “What makes you think that you’re better than us and can do that? “Or “Don’t get above your raising.” We hear this kind of stuff every time we try to stick our heads up above the crowd, and chase after our own American Dream.

So what do we do? I believe we need to start teaching and inspiring dreams once again. We need to find heroes who have achieved great things, and instead of looking for their warts and imperfections, we embrace their achievements. We need to hold up those extraordinary people as examples for us all, we need to talk about them in our schools, we need to help the spark of dreams to ignite, and nourish them, instead of extinguishing them.

Maybe we need to do a joint venture with successful people in the Amway/Quixtar business and other successful programs such as those. The best training that I have ever received was the years that I was building that business and working with some of the finest business leaders you will find anywhere. What we learned are people skills, goal setting, and any and every business training that you would find in any successful business, but we learned a deep appreciation for the dream, and the power that comes with it. As the Bible says, “Without a dream, my people perish.” One of my mentors would often admonish, “Are you building your business, or chasing your dream?” The answer you wanted was the latter, if you were chasing your dream, you were building your business, but often the other way simply caused you to be spinning your wheels since there was no “magic” in it. We learned to embrace our nation, our freedom, the free enterprise system, and learned to cherish that gift we had been given to live in the greatest nation on earth. Maybe we need some of these people teaching in our classrooms teaching the dream, teaching why America is great, and why anyone who dreams the dream can achieve that dream if they will overcome the struggle. Something that I have noticed is there are many successful families who were once involved but took their education into other businesses and succeeded, as did their children. They know that all success stories have three parts, the Dream, the Struggle, and the Victory.

If you ask anyone who has worked for me you will hear that when I had them set goals, they first had to tell me what their Dream was, or find one. Many were baby steps to learn the process. Most of us do things backwards; we want something so we buy it on easy payments instead of setting it as a dream and then building our goals and activities around achieving them. We have forgotten the magic of delayed gratification. If you buy now on credit, you will normally be long tired of the purchase before it is paid for; however, if you set it as a reward for a met goal, when you achieve it and buy it, it becomes a trophy as well and will be all the sweeter.

If we can reignite the passion of the American Dream across America, it might be the single most positive impact that anything can do to move America forward. JFK set a dream that we would put a man on the moon within 9 years; he set the dream and put a date on it clarifying the goal. We might still not have been to the moon had that dreamer not dreamt the dream and inspired a nation to dream it with him. We have not had a dreamer who could ignite a nation since Reagan. If we don’t have a dreamer at the top, we need to inspire from a grassroots level, we need to teach our children that if they can dream it that can do it, the Olympics shows us that every four years, but we must embrace it in all of our own lives. We are a nation spawned by dreamers; brave souls who left all they knew to come to America just for a chance to chase their dreams, this same drive pushed them west from sea to sea. Each great achievement in our society first started with a dream. If we can reignite a dream in the hearts of more and more Americans, we will see a renewed passion for the freedoms that America offers to allow those dreams to grow and become reality. It is the dreamless, those who don’t believe that they can ever be anything more than where they are who are willing to throw away their freedoms that they don’t feel that they are going to use anyway, for crumbs promised from the government now.

America it is time to WAKE UP, and DREAM.

The Battle of Fort McHenry

One hundred ninety five years and one week ago today Americans under the command of Lt. Col. George Armistead at Fort McHenry stood strong under a massive assault by the British. Fort McHenry, designed as a five pointed star, is positioned at Locus Point a peninsula at the opening of Baltimore Harbor. This was during the "forgotten war" of 1812.

The British had just burned the Capital building and White House in Washington D.C., and had come to Baltimore. September 13th 1814, the British led by Admiral Robert Ross landed North of Baltimore and started to advance on the city. They were met almost immediately by a garrison led by American General John Stricker with the battle of North Point. Stricker with his nearly 3,000 men were able to fight from behind fence rows and hidden in the trees was able to hold back the advance of Ross and his nearly 4,000 British soldiers. Ross decided to wait until the Naval bombardment was able to break down Fort McHenry before advancing further.

The British ships were unable to pass Fort McHenry and get into the Baltimore Harbor because fishermen had sunk their boats in the inlet, and Armistead had drug chains across and sunk clutter in the inlet to make it difficult for the heavy ships to come in without damaging their hulls. Along with Stricker's men, there were farmers, fishermen, and others from Baltimore who were fighting behind every rock and tree they could find keeping the British from advancing.

On September 12th, there was a contingency of peace makers who asked to meet with Admiral Ross about asking for the release of a prisoner Dr. William Beanes. Dr. Beanes who had extended his hospitality to General Ross as they were advancing, was then arrested by Ross. An attorney friend of Beanes was given permission from James Madison to lead a peace conference to get Beanes released, along with John Skinner. They were received by Ross and were able to win Beanes freedom after showing Ross letters written by many British soldiers who testified how Beanes had treated their wounds, however, they were then too aware of the British invasion plans and were not allowed to leave the ship until after the attack on Baltimore.

They watched the battle from their ship the Minden still flying the flag of truce. As they watched the bombardment throughout the night, they saw the British Congreve rockets (4'long rockets), cannon fire, and bombs (mortars) fired into the air. Through all of this attack they were able to see from the explosions a huge American flag. Col. Armistead, in an act of defiance, knowing the British were coming hired a local woman Mary Pickersgill to make a flag so large that the British will be able to see it for miles. He paid her 405.90 for this flag. On this flag there were 15 Bright stars that measured two feet across, and 15 two foot Broad stripes that in total measured 30' by 42 3/4'. It hangs today at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It was this flag, that inspired Francis Scott Key to write down a little poem as he watched it from over the ramparts or sides of his ship. That poem today is our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.

The next morning after 25 hours of nonstop bombardment the British realized that it would exact too high a price for them to take Baltimore and this fort, and left ending the battle. Hopefully, when you hear the words of the Star Spangled Banner next you will hear it differently than before.

"The Star Spangled Banner"

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKfw8nysLA&feature=related

What Can We Learn from Geese?

A good friend of mine, John Kahrs, and I went to the Indianapolis Speedway day to watch the cars practice before the 500. Being at the race track, I told him my favorite race story, leading him to tell me a story with a similar message at the end that I want to share with you today.

At the speedway in Clermont, IN, they have a 1/8 mile oval. I had a chance to go to one of those NASCAR driving schools there. If you have never done this, I recommend it highly. They started us out in a class teaching us about the cars, their handling, and the dynamics of racing them. We then had to sign releases, that if something happened we, or our heirs, would be responsible for the 2,000.00 deduction on their insurance on their cars, and that we or our heirs wouldn’t hold them liable for any damage done to us. They then brought in a couple ambulances that sat and waited in the infield that was somewhat disturbing. You realized quickly that this wasn't a ride at Disney World.

Our group was the last one of three groups to get into the cars, so we watched the others all day. The group before us was five people from some company outing. There were four men and a woman, she smoked these dudes. In a five lap race she actually lapped every one of the guys! That really amazed me, and I made a decision, I wanted to drive at least as fast as she did. Her lap time was 34 seconds.

So, now it was our turn. We got into the cars, and they had us follow the pace car around for 8 laps. They then brought us in and critiqued our driving. Then back out on the track for 8 more laps behind the pace car but now over 100 mph. When we came back in, once again we were mentored. We then got to go out one at a time to drive three laps as fast as we could, the best time would be our qualifying speed. Mine was 31 seconds, 3 seconds faster than that woman who smoked the guys! I figured out why they were so slow, the cars were set up to “push,” meaning that the front ends would slide as you went through corners. This created a creepy feeling as you felt the front end sliding toward the concrete wall, yet we had been told in the training meeting that you need to floor it at the vortex of the curve to maximize your laps. It felt wrong flooring it when you were sliding toward concrete. So, I just decided not to look at the concrete wall, I didn’t want to hit it so why focus on it. I would start looking at my braking point on the other end of the upcoming straight away as I was starting the turn, focusing on where I wanted to be, instead of where I didn’t want to be.

Now out of four in our race, there was me, my buddy Harvey, and two guys there for their 10th time. Even though I beat that gal by three seconds, I was 4th out of our four in qualifying speed. So off we go on our five lap race. No one could pass; I would get up along the door of the one in front, but couldn’t get in front before the turns. Once when the two cars fighting for 2nd place nearly touched and both bobbled I thought I would get around but they saved it and held on. This was an amazing time. Just writing this brings back the adrenaline rush.

When we came in at the end of the race, the guys who had been our teachers came running up to our cars and were very excited about our race. It turns out that each lap was faster than the one before, and all of them were faster than any of our qualifying speeds. The last lap we all were under 29 seconds!

What I think happened is two fold, we kept pushing each other by trying to pass on each lap. But also, I know I was emboldened when I was following through the corners, and the guys in front didn’t wreck going that hard, so I figured I could push it at least that hard as well.

Another story, John Kahrs told me. He and another college swimmer buddy were swimming in the ocean. They started swimming in a race to see who could go the farthest, fastest, whatever. As they just started John had something large brush against him, and really freaked him out. However, he looked up and Greg was swimming away. John thought, if he can do it so can I. So each time some sea creature would bump into him, he would look at Greg and keep going. They swam longer and farther than either had ever swum before, actually it was several miles when they stopped got out and called John’s mom to come pick them up.

Years later John was telling this story when Greg was in the conversation. John talked about how he had bumped into creepy things and wanted to get out of the water, but since Greg kept going, so did he. How when he got too tired to think he could keep going, he saw Greg swimming away and kept going.

Greg was amazed, he told John, I had weird things bumping into me and it freaked me out, all I wanted to do was get out of the water, but I looked up and saw you swimming and kept going. When I was too tired to hardly lift my arms I saw you swimming and thought I can go a little longer.

Have you ever watched the wild geese fly over in their v formations? Have you wondered why they fly in v’s?
The geese draft off of each other, they can fly many times faster and longer in this pattern. The lead goose, leads for a while, and then rotates back toward the back and a new lead goose takes over, until each has their turn. The lead goose has the most resistance to their flying and will tire, that is why they rotate.

The geese honk encouragement from behind, cheering on the leaders to keep flying. If a goose gets injured or sick, another goose flies down and stays with them until they are dead or healthy enough to continue, then the two will join another flock and fly with them.

So, if we have the sense that God gave a goose, we will work together, to push each other, to cheer each other on, to believe in ourselves and each other, what can’t we do?

The Problem is not the Problem.

When it comes to not reaching your goals the problem is not the problem, never has been, and never will be. What do I mean? What I mean is that we like to find something, or someone, to blame when we miss our goals. Often we choose not to set goals because too often we have been disappointed by not reaching them in past attempts. So, those "obstacles" we want to believe are our "problems" that keep us from reaching our objectives. Are they really the problem or are they excuses? Or is there something else that is the true "problem" that we have never before identified, to they seem to be the problem?

The truth is that those things can't possibly be the true problem. If they were there would never be anyone who has accomplished similar goals with similar situations. We may say "I'm too young, or too old, too educated, or not educated enough, too this or too that." It might be "If I had more money, more supportive parents, a better spouse, better health", you name it there are at least as many excuses as there are people. So if others have accomplished such goals and dreams with such obstacles, how can those obstacles actually be "the problem?"

It was explained to me in this way in a, let's say we're sitting at a diner and we take a salt shaker and a sugar dispenser and separate them with a napkin holder, (think old school stuff.) Now say you are the salt shaker and your dream or goal is the sugar dispenser but you are too short to see it over the napkin holder, if you can't see it, how can you focus on it? What I am saying is that your dream isn't big enough to keep you focused on it. You need to find something that moves you, something that excites you, and makes your passion come alive. What you need is a big enough dream or goal to be able to "see" it over the obstacles. Your focus needs to be on that dream, and not on the obstacles or problems. They are always going to be there, but what you focus on, you will get more of. If the dream is big enough, the facts simply don't matter.

Consider this, if you are standing at one end of an auditorium full of tables, chairs, and other obstacles, and your goal was a flag at the other end, and all the lights are out, but there is a spot shining on the flag. If you just keep focused on that flag and walk toward it you will run into tables, and chairs, step on conference attendees, maybe even fall down. However, if you never take your eyes off that flag you know that you will reach it. How many times have you heard of stories of people climbing mountains who came just short of the peak, or swimmers swimming the English Channel, because they "couldn't go on" when fog set in? They lost sight of their goal or dream and couldn't go further.

Let me tell you a story of a friend of mine who changed my life forever. Paul Ramsey and I were in a MLM business together in early 80's. Paul had worked his entire life in a factory, but had a dream to own his own business. He was having modest success, but something happened to galvanize his dream into his very being. Paul was diagnosed with a very rapid spreading terminal cancer. He then decided that not only would he fight it, but he would fight to build his business to a level that would take care of his family after he would be gone. This was not an easy goal to reach, night after night his wife Peg would drive them to another meeting where they would share the dream with another couple, or group of people. Many nights Paul would be so sick from chemo that he had to lay in the back of the car, holding his head out the window to vomit so she could keep driving to meet their time deadlines. Once they arrived he would clean up in a gas station, the go in and get in front of those living rooms full of people and speak for an hour or so, meet and greet after, help people set their goals and work with them. He would encourage them through their own obstacles that they thought were stopping them, without scolding them with what he had to consider as trivial problems. Then back into the car, Peg behind the wheel, as he collapsed in back once again.

There is a night and image in my mind that will never leave me. It was the night at a convention where Paul and Peg were recognized at the level that he set as his goal. When Paul came up to speak. I can still see how his skin was nearly the same color as was his gray suit and wig that hung on his skeletal body. I was standing next to his oncologist who had to see this speech himself, he too fell in love with Paul's passion and drive. The doctor stood there with tears streaming down his face, as they were on mine, and told me that there was really no way that Paul should be standing there. He told me that Paul had too little muscle left to stand, walk, or even hold his head up, but seemed to be doing so out of his steely will. Paul reached his dream, his goal, he spoke to all of us lucky enough to know him that night. Who could ever make an excuse after knowing and watching a man like Paul fight through something most of us, thank God, could never fully understand? Paul went to be with the Lord before the weekend ended. I miss him, but he will forever be with me, speaking from that stage.

Remember, The Problem isn't the Problem. The Problem is that you are focusing on the obstacles not the dream. Focus on your Dreams!

Keep Your Eyes on the Goal, and Press!

If you farm, or grew up on one, you know that keeping the rows in the field straight is critical to your success with your crop. If the rows are crooked it makes it all the more difficult to cultivate it later without damaging the plants. It also is a point of pride between farmers, even as kids we would give each other no end of ribbing when riding the school bus and seeing one of the fields you did that wasn't straight. How do you do it, how do you keep things straight, especially when there are no straight edges to the field? My Dad taught me how to do this when I was just a kid. You walk off the distance to set your furrow and then tie a rag on the fence, or tree. Then you go to the other side of the field walk it off and then line up the tractor to drive straight toward the flag. You have to focus on the goal on the other side of the field and drive toward it and you will be straight, looking back to see if you’re going straight will mess you up every time.

Luke 9:62
“ Jesus said to them, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Paul, wrote over half of the New Testament. He started out persecuting the Church, then did much to establish the Church, and then ended up being prosecuted for the Church. Frankly, his personality didn't change at the road to Damascus, his focus and goals did.

He said in

Philippians Chapter 3,
“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are past, and reaching forth for those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize.”

The key to his success is sandwiched in that statement in two words, “I Press”.

Most people don’t press. Most people you meet in life don’t press, they meander, they drift, they go with the flow, they float, they don’t press. People who press are rare. You need to become the person who will Press.

Life was not designed to make you a success.
You’re not going to succeed just because you live and breath, that is called welfare.

You’re going to succeed because you press, because you push back against the flow.
Life was designed at best to push you down. Even to just stay even, you have to push back. To succeed you have to push back with everything that is in you. You have to fight against the odds, you have to buck the system. You have to make a decision, a choice that you will not be put down, that you have a dream, a goal, a purpose, that you will have, and that you are pressing toward that mark! That is the only way you will ever succeed. You will never succeed by drifting along.

Most people don’t press, and here is why….. They don’t know where they’re heading.
Think about it, why would you press if you have no destination, no dream, no goal, and no passion? How many people live their lives with a passion? How many get up each morning knowing exactly where they are headed? How many people wake up each morning saying “I’m one step closer to my destination that I have set for myself”.

Most people don’t press, most people just want to get through their days, weeks, months, years and life. Most are more running away from something that they don’t want, bankruptcy, debts, bills, whatever. Most are just trying to barely make it through life. Anyone who is trying to just make it doesn’t have the first clue about success. Did you know that most people wake up each morning in neutral? They just go out into the world and wait for something or someone to point them in the direction that they are supposed to go.

START YOUR DAY IN GEAR!

You need to know where you’re headed, where you’re going, a destination, a dream, a goal, a plan, something that gives you a burn that no matter what comes you’re going to take one step closer toward that Prize!

You have to do that.

Look at what Paul said: “I Press toward the Prize.” If you don’t have a Prize that gives you a burn on the inside you aren’t going to press. Whenever you don’t press, you need a bigger prize! Have something worth pressing for, find something that will give you that passion! Get a prize out front of you that makes it worth doing. That makes the sacrifices worth it all. Most people don’t have a big enough dream, or prize. Find something that excites you.

Paul said:
“This one thing I do.”

Let’s count them:
1. Forgetting those things which are behind.
1. And reaching for those things which are before.
1. I press toward the mark.

ONE

Let’s look at the verbs: Forgetting, Reaching, and Pressing. Did you know that you can’t do one without the other? If you’re going to Reach, you have to Forget. You can not hang onto the past and to the future at the same time.

What does this have to do with success in sales? Everything, I have seen people who couldn’t succeed because they were eaten up with bitterness on the inside. Nobody wants to be around someone who is bitter. A friend of mine has been having a serial challenge in dating, I set her up on a blind date with another friend of mine. The date was a disaster according to him. He called me the next day and told me within minutes he started hearing how awful her ex-husband was and learned all about it throughout the entire date. Her bitterness was still poisoning her.

You can’t hold onto the past and reach for the future at the same time. If you hang onto every negative thing that happened to you, you will never get onto the future because you’re stuck in the past. You have to let go! However, human nature, we want to hang on to them, because we were wronged… they promised me! Has anyone ever promised something to you that they didn’t keep? We all have. What do we do with that, how do we handle it? It depends: Is your future more exciting than your past?
If your future is more exciting than your past, it doesn’t matter.

You can tell how big someone’s dream is by what gets them upset, what makes them lose their cool. If you have nothing going on, no place you’re excited about going, you have time to sit and deal with the negatives.

When you hold a grudge, you don’t hurt the person you’re angry with, you hurt you.
When your future is more exciting than your past, you don’t have time for that.

There was a medical study trying to figure out what common things were in the lives of those people who lived over 100 years. The interviewer had a list of questions for each one, on diet, exercise, smoking, habits, etc. None of those things were common. One 101 year old lady was asked about if she smoked and her reply was at 95 she had heard it was bad for her so she quit. The one common thread was: Don’t ever forget this. They didn’t take life too seriously. They didn’t take themselves too seriously. They never held grudges. They learned to leave the past in the past.

Paul said:
“forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth toward those things which are before, I press.”

You can’t reach for something, unless you have something to reach for. I’m convinced that any human being who makes a decision, a choice can succeed. You might think that you can’t because of something that your parents said, your teacher said, your spouse said. Let me ask you something, what are you telling your self? That is what makes the difference is what we tell ourselves.

A very successful friend of mine told me something once. He said, “The other guy might be smarter than me, he might be more talented than me, but he won’t be able to outwork me. When he is asleep, I will still be working.”

If you have a dream, a plan, a purpose you’re headed for, if you make it big enough in your mind, what is in the past won’t matter. Those little negatives, or even big ones are still going to come, every day, week and year.

When you look at successful people it is tempting to minimize any challenges that they have faced and make ourselves feel better because they had it easy. It is never easy, for anyone. One of the things I have heard that we should always remember if we all put our troubles into a hat and passed them around trading with each other, most of us would want our own back. It’s about how do you handle the negatives.
Get so excited about your future that you can stay on top of them. Don’t get “under the circumstances”.

Many of you have people in your life are telling you right now that you’re not going to make it. Turn on the news they are sure telling us so.

I ask you, what are you telling yourself.

If you make the decision to do this one thing, you will make it.

What is this one thing?

Forget, Reach, and Press, and You Can Do It.

Third Party A Guarantee of Failure.

The more I watch the conservative movement, the more I am convinced that our biggest enemy is ourselves in the conservative movement. As Pogo once said, " We have met the enemy and he is us." Why do I say this? Especially after the glorious conservative march on Washington, seeing ACORN finally come under fire, and Van Jones demoted? It is because, unlike the left, we seem to not be able to stand together when it counts.

We make fun of all the special interest groups on the left, however, when it comes to election time they put their differences aside and elect the candidate on the left. Once done they go back to fighting among themselves. Those on the right side of the aisle are too sold out to their own special interests to come together to make sure that the candidate who more closely fits their beliefs is elected. We are too proud of our righteous virtue to our causes, so we vote for the guy or gal who fits that narrow scope and in so doing not only waste our vote on someone who will be luck to get double digit percentages of the vote, we assure that the candidate most against our principles is elected. This happened twice with Clinton due to Perot's third party candidacy. The left must be laughing themselves silly as they keep advancing their agendas.

Today, we find a strong grassroots movement against the corruption, the out of touch, and out of control government in Washington. We have momentum that should keep building to give us the opportunity to take back the reigns of power in 2010 and 2012. However, the most sure way of losing that power, and that momentum is if we decide to back a third party candidate. That would be assuring more power to Obama, Reid, and Pelosi.

This is going to not sit well with my Libertarian friends, but the only way that they will ever have power is to join and force the GOP into a new direction. That is very doable now if we will unite and make it happen. Our best chance, our only chance is within one of the two parties. Of those two the GOP is our best chance, we have a lot of people in it now who want to push it back to Conservative Constitutional values and principles. We need to unite and push it together.

I have heard a lot recently that "I will never be a part of either major party again!" All I can say is that is very foolish, it may feel good to say such things in pride, but it dooms you to being out of power forever. It is then all about you, and not about what is best for your country, in other words, it is the very definition of selfishness.

The Libertarians are screaming at me now, I think I can hear them. They are saying that they are the answer to fill the void. Historically there is nothing to make us believe that but blind faith in fantasy. There is going to be the ever present "proof" of a successful third party candidate in pointing out that "Lincoln was the third party candidate as the Republican." That sounds like a great, and convincing argument, it is just not true. However, since very few people know history it sounds very good and holds up until you find someone who does know.

In the 1860 presidential election, the Republicans were a new party. They were the new party after the Whigs imploded a few years earlier, they were also the party of the anti-slave democrats, and the by then defunct Free Soilers. Lincoln was his parties candidate, but keep in mind this new party that was only six years old, had already won a major governorship two years before and had momentum. The Democrats were split into two candidates one from the Northern Democrats Stephen Douglas and one from the Southern Democrats John Breckenridge. John Bell was the "third party" candidate for the Constitutional Union party. Lincoln won with 39.8%, to Douglas's 29.5%, Breckenridge's 18.1%, and Bell's 12.6%.

The Libertarians formed in December of 1971, soon to be celebrating their 38th anniversary without winning anything but low level offices at township or county levels, and never gaining more than about 5% of the vote Nationally. There are many things that those of us in the conservative wing of the Republican party and those in the Libertarian party agree, it is time we forge an alliance and take our country to our Constitutional principles. Our nation today is in critical condition, I heard it described the other day that we are in triage now, we can worry about cosmetic differences later. Now we must save the patient. My favorite way of looking at this is too often we are fighting among ourselves about what color to paint the dining room all the while our house is burning down around us. Let's get together, put the fire out, then argue about paint colors, okay?

The More They Were Oppressed, the More They Grew!

"But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread" Exodus 1:12

We learned in the Bible in Exodus that God heard the cries of his people the Israelites who were enslaved to the oppressive government of Egypt. How did they get there in the first place? Joseph was sold into slavery to Egypt by his brothers because they were jealous of him. He was eventually wrongly imprisoned where his gift for understanding dreams was noticed by someone who later turned the Pharaoh onto him for a dream that was bothering him. When Joseph was brought to Pharaoh he was told that in this dream there were seven fat cows, and seven fat heads of grain that were eaten by seven starving cows and seven withered heads of grain. Joseph told the Pharaoh that it meant that there was going to be seven years of robust harvests followed by seven years of famine, and that they should store grain and food from the first seven for the next. The Pharaoh put Joseph in charge, he raised taxes on everyone and filled the storehouses with grain, built new storehouses and filled them as well. When the seven years of plenty ended, the people of Egypt came to the government to buy food. When they ran out of money they sold their animals to the government for food, then their land, until the government of Pharaoh owned everything. The people of Israel too came to buy food, and eventually over time traded their very freedom to Pharaoh for "security." This caused the children of Israel to be enslaved for 430 years. The first Pharaoh invited them in as guests, but with time and new Pharaohs there was no relationship with Joseph to see them as guests, but as slaves.

This is sounding a lot like how those in Washington seem to have forgotten that they are in our employ, not our rulers. It started in the 20s and has grown nearly unabated since. It really took off in The Great Depression, those seven years of famine where Americans traded much of their freedoms for "Social Security." It accelerated in the 60's with "The Great Society," and "The War on Poverty." Today, we see another massive push to finish the job of moving Americans from liberty to slavery to their version of Pharaoh today.

When the Israelites cried out and prayed for deliverance, God sent for Moses, and unlikely hero. When Moses answered the burning bush he didn't see himself as a leader, or definitely not the answer to the people enslaved. In fact when God told Moses what he wanted him to do, Moses gave him three excuses why he couldn't do it.

1. I don't have time, man I am busy, got a family, a flock to take care of, too much on my plate right now.
2. Who am I to go, I have no credibility, I left running away from doing murder in the night.
3. Look if I have to get up in front of people and speak I could never do that.
(The quote was buy behold your servant is of slow and stuttering tongue.)

God told him not to worry about it, to use God's credibility not his own, and if he really was to worried about public speaking take your brother Aaron and let him talk for you. Of course this is all somewhat paraphrased.

Who is going to lead this movement we are seeing build right now? Is it one of those 56 people that Glenn Beck is asking to come forth and lead to fight on corruption in both parties and throughout the government system? Is it an ex-governor from up North? Is it Mike Pence? Is it someone who we haven't met as of yet?Is it you? Beck has said if you are one of those 56 he is calling for, if you have committed a crime, or something that keeps you under control of the political machine to hide from the consequences. That is exactly what Moses was doing as well, hiding in the desert before accepting the challenge.

If we follow this analogy further that means it is going to get worse before it gets better. Every victory that Moses had through God against Pharaoh, the more hardened Pharaoh's heart became, and the more he oppressed the Israelites. Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words."

Those in power today, will not give it up willingly without a fight. For every victory we bring, when we make them recoil with ferreting out their corruption for everyone to see. When we topple their friends from power, they will fight back.
Look at how they have acted with the people showing up for tea parties and for town halls. They have made fun, called them names, and tried to scare them off. However, the more the oppressed them the more they multiplied and grew. Look at the million plus people who showed up on 9/12. Who knows what they will do next to discourage you, to scare you, to silence you. Just know it is coming.

The Exodus has begun, it is the Exodus of We the People shedding the chains of slavery that they call security, shedding he yoke of an oppressive government who has been riding our backs and will keep adding weight to our burden. Now is the time to keep fighting, keep speaking out, keep marching, keep up our resolve no matter what they may throw at us. If might be safer to go back to your homes and not fight, but if you do, wouldn't you later in life trade all those days from now to then for a chance at your FREEDOM, for you, for your children, and for your country!

Fight On!

You Can Be Mighty!

What will be in your dash? you have surely heard the story about the dash between your birthdate and the day you die on your headstone. It is up to each of us what will fill that dash. Let's look at a great lesson for each of us.

Every October all of the world’s media turns its attention to Stockholm, Sweden as they wait to hear the recipients of the Nobel prizes. When you hear the word “Nobel” what do you think of….. Peace.

What you might not know is how it started. Several years before his death, at the death of his brother, Alfred Nobel opened the paper to read his brother’s obituary. He wanted to make sure that the paper had done it correctly. What he saw to his horror wasn’t his brother’s obituary at all, but his own! The obituary of Alfred Nobel, the paper had the wrong brother dying. As he read it, he was further shocked to realize how they were summing up his life. They described him, accurately, as one of the inventors of Dynamite. However, they outlined all of the death and destruction that had come from the misuse of Dynamite. It dawned on him that if he died right then, he would be forever remembered as a man of destruction. So, he decided that he had a rare opportunity, a chance to rewrite his own obituary. He made a decision, if it was the last thing he did, he was going to change how he would be remembered.

He did it, who thinks of Dynamite when they hear Nobel? We think peace don’t we?
He arranged that at his death in 1900, his fortune, most of which came from Dynamite would start a foundation for the sole purpose of rewarding and recognizing people from all over the world who had worked diligently promoting world peace.

Most of us will never have the opportunity to rewrite our own obituaries, so the question is, “how do you want to be remembered?” Think about it, if you don’t think it is important, you must realize that we don’t think one way about people when they are living and a totally different way after they are gone. It does matter how we are thought of by our family, how do you want your family to remember you? Your friends? Your business associates? I want to live the kind of life that people will miss me.

My grandmother, Lacy, will always be remembered by me with a smile and laugh. She was so funny. She would call me whenever she had heard a new joke just to tell me. I did the same for her, she would then put my grandfather on so I could tell him, and often it was all we talked about on that call. Every time I hear the word diarrhea it makes me laugh, her favorite joke, one that she told often, was a very long routine and one of the lines was “the princess is in bed with diarrhea, and the King said is that Greek B----- still hanging around?” We told each other jokes so often, it was such a part of our relationship, when I was preaching at my grandfather’s funeral, I told a couple jokes that I would have told him that week had he been alive. One was about what you call a blonde with two brain cells… pregnant.

What a wonderful way to be remembered… with laughter.. How are you going to be remembered?

In the Bible there were stories about a group of men, there were 37 men and they were known as David’s Mighty Men. They were not known as David’s Men, because David had thousands of men serving him. These are known as David’s Mighty Men. Always by those three words.

They will be forever remembered as Mighty; wouldn’t it be wonderful to be thought of as Mighty? I said it before, but it bears repeating, you will be remembered as people think of you now.

Let me tell you how mighty they were. I won’t bore you with their names; I really can’t pronounce them anyway. One of them killed 800 men by himself, sounds pretty mighty to me.
Another in a battle once with the Philistines fought so long, and so hard that even though his army got scared and ran away, he stayed and defeated the enemy army by himself. The Bible says that the muscles of his hand froze to his sword and had to be pried off. His own army did come back and help him pick through the pockets of the dead enemy though.
Another one fought off an entire army to defend his field of beans. I love this guy, he stood on principle, “they’re my beans and you aren’t getting any of them.”
Another went into a pit and killed a lion. It says he went into the pit, not that he fell in. So that would mean that he decided today is a good day to fight a lion, and did.

One story about these men, David was sitting feeling homesick, and was talking to himself about how much he missed the taste of the water from the well in Bethlehem, and how he wished he could only taste it again. Three of his Mighty Men decided to get him that water and went through the enemy lines to get him some and brought it back again through the enemy lines. When they returned David was stunned, “You risked your lives to get me this water… you could have all been killed… this isn’t water it is your blood because you could have died getting it for me, I can never drink what you could have died for.” But, how cool, these men were mighty indeed.

I can hear some people now saying (whiney) “Yeah, but you don’t know what my background is, you don’t know what I came from… how things went for me…you don’t know man, I didn’t have a head start… you gotta give me a break man.”

Listen to what I am about to say to you. These men didn’t start out mighty. When you read the obituaries you see that a salesman died, a congresswoman died, a doctor died, a construction worker died. However, when you look at the birth announcements you never read that a saleswoman was born, or a dentist, or anything else but a baby girl or boy.

No one is born mighty. You’re born a bundle of potential; it is up to you how you end up. When I was around 21 a mentor of mine once taught me a lesson on potential I will never forget. He told me that he saw more potential in me than most anyone he knew... I could feel my chest expanding with this "compliment." He then told me that I should know what potential is before getting too proud, he went on to say "potential is unused ability." Talk about a wake up call.

You are a product of two things; I defy anyone to prove otherwise.
1. The circumstances you encounter.
2. The choices you make.
There are people who can’t wait to tell you all about all the circumstances that have befallen them. They want to regale you with tales of every reason for why they aren’t as successful as they think they should be.

The only reason people tell you their circumstances is because they don’t want to admit their choices. You never hear people talking about their circumstances when they are being interviewed about winning a gold medal. When they talk about winning, they talk about “I made a decision to do this, to do whatever it took.”

The only people who need excuses are people who didn’t do what they were supposed to do, people who failed. The only people who need to talk about their circumstances are those who need to justify their choices with their circumstances. And there are those who say “I didn’t have a choice.” You always, always, always have a choice. You always have options. If you say, “I didn’t have a choice” what you are truly saying is that you allowed your circumstances to choose for you, but you chose to allow that.

You always have a choice!

1st Samuel 22:
1: David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
2: And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

Read that again!

Everyone who was bankrupt upset, frustrated, mad at the world found David while he was in hiding, running for his life from King Saul. Here is David running for his life, feeling like he has nothing to live for, when these guys all start showing up. As they told him their stories he becomes more encouraged about his own situation.
I guess misery loves company.

All of these 37 men, who eventually became mighty men, started out in debt, angry, humiliated, along with the rest of the 400, to the only place they felt comfortable in the company of outcast man being hunted for his life.

The point is, it doesn’t matter where you start out, it is where you end up that counts!
Even though they started out distressed, and discontented they are remembered as David’s Mighty Men. Thank God we are remembered for how we end up, not how we started.
The whole idea is to become Mighty!

There was a time, when I was about 16, where I had raised a crop of calves. I was one of the first people in Indiana to have cattle with Simmental blood in Central Indiana. There was a man who was trying to buy one of my young bulls, and he and I were having a fussing match. He kept telling me that I was nuts for what I was asking for him. We were not getting anywhere. Then my dad came home and caught up with the conversation. He and this guy only were talking about 5 minutes when this ol’ boy started acting like he and dad were old army buddies or something. He bought that bull, for my price, and was full of smiles and pats on the back for me. After we loaded the bull and he pulled away, I asked dad, “What in the world just happened? He wouldn’t listen to me; he kept fighting about what I was asking.” I have no idea why he wouldn’t listen to a 16 year old. What dad said changed my life. He said, “ When I found out that he wanted that bull to help his son do better at the 4-H fair with next years calf crop from his farm. He wanted to breed this Simmental bull, that at 5 months old was already taller than his Herefords, to help his son win for the first time. Dad said,” when I found out what was important to him, and made a big deal out of what was a big deal to him, that was all he needed.”

I knew right then, if Dad could do it, I could learn to do it. I decided right then and there that I would learn to become skilled with words. I was going to learn to become convincing with words, I didn’t learn by accident, I decided to.

It is all about a choice. It all starts right here; it is a decision to be mighty! It all starts with the decision.

A couple years ago when my daughter started selling Girl Scout Cookies. By the way, I won’t sell for my kids it is up to them. Anyway, she was nervous about calling people on the phone to try to sell cookies, so I told her to change.. Take five minutes.. She looked at me horrified, her little 8 year old sweet face like “are you kidding?” What I told her is Honey you won’t change and not be nervous anymore in five minutes, but you can decide to do what scares you until it doesn’t scare you anymore. (Wouldn’t you love to be one of my kids?) She is fearless today! Last month this little 12 year old, while working on her Silver Award for Girl Scouts (similar to Eagle Scout for Boy Scout,) she taught a class of 35 adult girl scout leaders on something that they were to go back and teach their troops.

Everything starts with a decision, a choice!

What is M.I.G.H.T.Y.

Mentored: “It is wise man who knows that he is not that wise.” You will never be mentored if you think you know it all. Everyone should have a mentor or mentors to help them to keep growing.

I have mentors for different parts of my life, some help in many areas, others for just one that they really know. I have people inside and outside the industry that I go to learn, to bounce off ideas, to get council. You might say that I have learned the value of gray hair. You can learn from anyone if you just ask and listen.

“There is safety in the multitude of councilors.”

I have been able to mentor others both in and out of this business. Recently, a gentleman who asked me to mentor him called me and greeted me as his mentor. In the beginning of our conversation I asked him which of the books that I had recommended to him he had started reading.. He replied he hadn’t started any yet, my response was obviously I wasn’t his mentor. He kind of recoiled, but then made the commitment to get on with it, and has. So now are mentor relationship is back. I learned from working with my mentors that it is the student that seeks the teacher, not the other way around. And if the lessons are not followed the relationship ends. It may sound tough, but that is really the only way it can work.

If you’re going to be Mighty you will need council.

The Bible says, ““There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”( Book of Proverbs)”

When you cease to be teachable you will stop growing.

Integrity: Be a person of Integrity, be a person of your word. If you say you will do something or will be somewhere, do it!

Be someone who when people here your name that know it will be okay to be a part of it, because of your integrity.

Generosity:

Whatever, you plant you will harvest. The law of sowing and reaping will always work.

You always get more back at the harvest than the seed you planted.

Be generous with you time. Be a giver.

2nd Corinthians Chapter 9:
“You will be made rich in every way, so you can be generous in every occasion.”

Be sure to put how much you want to give away on your dream and goal list as well.

Humility: You have to be humble.

Most people think that to be humble means to put themselves down. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Humility is just being honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. You can’t be mighty unless you are honest with yourself.

When Jesus knew that all power had been given into His hands, he put a towel about him and started washing his disciple’s feet. Some people can figuratively wash others feet, but don’t feel worthy of having someone wash theirs. Others, have no problem having someone wash theirs, but wouldn’t be caught dead washing someone else’s.

It is all about the self image that they have. If you have a healthy self image you can serve, or be served. When you know who you are, it doesn’t matter what your title is. When we were in the marketing company, we were able to host some very cool people, because we didn‘t have a problem serving. Hosting required taking care of any need that speaker might have so that they could focus on giving their best when their time on stage came. It might mean ironing their shirt, polishing their shoes, being their full time concierge more or less. I loved doing this; it put us in some very good situations. I was able to host Zig Ziglar, Dennis Waitley, Mike Murdock, and many other entertainers and speakers over the years.

We taught this to our kids, our son Mike has used this same process to get in on the inside of the political world. Too many people can’t humble themselves to serve anyone else, because they don’t know who they are. If they are shining someone’s shoes they feel that they are shoeshine boys. They can’t realize that they are who they are no matter what they are doing at the time.

I remember a couple times we went into restaurants late after big meetings and overwhelmed their staff. They were going to turn us away, when I and a couple of my buddies offered to be their wait staff. The manager let us do it, we had a ball, and so did the customers in Denny’s and Steak and Shake. We were making coffee, taking orders and filling them. It was a blast. Everyone in the place got caught up in the spirit. For years after that, when I would walk into either of these places the managers and staff treated us like royalty.

Tenacity: Don’t know the meaning of the word quit! Don’t know what it means to stop!
Quitting is not an option. Don’t give up, go get it! You will have to plow through so much negative to reach your goals. It’s not over until you win!

Yielded:

Prepare to Change.
You will probably have to change to get to new levels; you never solve problems with the same level of thinking that got you into them.

You will all come to a place where you want to say, I have changed enough, I don’t want to anymore. If you ever feel like you have finally arrived, then you should just lie down and be buried. Anything that lives changes.

Find a passion for Excellence; if excellence is one of the options why settle for less?

My son, Matt, was mowing the grass and when I went out I saw strips here and there that he missed. I talked to him about it and he said “what difference does it make, it is in the backyard?” That is a death sentence, not from me, but from life. He mowed the yard three more times that day. Today, in his photography business, his work is very popular because good isn't good enough for him now.

You will never be mighty without excellence.


Excellence

Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise.
Risking more than others think is safe.
Dreaming more than others think is practical.
Expecting more than others think is possible.


You will probably only have one obituary, how will you be remembered?

Do like Alfred Nobel that you will decide how it is that you will be remembered.

I believe that each one of you can be Mighty!

Open Letter to President Obama.

Mr. President,

It is time We The People had an open discussion with you on a topic that has too long festered without resolution. You sir, are uniquely positioned to answer these questions, and to actually do something about it if you would be willing to do so.

The topic is that of ACORN. You sir, with your history of working for them personally as both their Chief trainer in Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" to their current generation of leadership, along with your experience working for them as their attorney, you know them inside out like few others. You know who the real power player are, and who are simply the disposable stooges, the "useful idiots" in your training vernacular.

More recently you have hired ACORN through one of their affiliates, to help your presidential campaign paying them at least 1 million dollars from your campaign. What exactly did you get for that?

This organization has been proven to be corrupt from the top down. Starting with the Rathke brothers Wade and Dale. Dale had to step down when he was caught embezzling nearly one million dollars from ACORN and their affiliates. However, no charges were filed, "they handled it from within." Now Dale is the head of one of their sister organizations that functions as the bank for all of ACORN affiliates, what a great gig for an embezzler. Wade, is also the founder of the Service Employee's International Union, SEIU, that famous group of purple shirted thugs who have been terrorizing small businesses, their employees, tea party, and town hall attendees all over this country. Interesting connection there as well, isn't that the same organization that would take over all of the health care industry under your Obamacare?

Currently ACORN is under indictment in 14 states for voter fraud. There have been over 50 individual indictments, and another new 11 in Florida last week. Of those fifty, thirty pleaded guilty already. Was this something to do with that million dollars of campaign funds?

This information is disturbing enough, but when you consider that ACORN has been funded by the American taxpayers it becomes even more upsetting. Since 1994 at least 53 million dollars in federal taxpayer's money has been funneled into ACORN and their affiliates. In the "Stimulus Bill" enacted in February, it contains 3 Billion more for that "non-profit" activist group, and is will also receive another 5.5 Billion though that bloated budget you passed.

Representative Michelle Bachmann, R-MN, wanted to stop the flow of tax dollars to ACORN, but House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Franks, D-MA stood in her way. Her amendment would have blocked organizations that have been indicted for voter registration or vote fraud from receiving housing counseling grants and legal assistance, unfortunately it wouldn't have dealt with the Stimulus or Budget, just the Housing bail out bill. Barney Frank eviscerated her amendment by changing it from "under indictment" to "convicted."

ACORN was founded by weatherman Wade Rathke, who was subsequently on the board of the Tides Foundation, which funded and gave credence to the Apollo Alliance. SEIU’s current VP, Gerald Hudson, is on the Apollo Board. John Podesta, president of the Soros funded Center For American Progress, is on the Apollo Board. Phil Angelides, once treasury secretary for the bankrupt California government is on the Apollo Board. In fact, if one looks at the board members of the Apollo Alliance, it is peopled by radicals and change oriented activists who have functioned in leadership roles for activist groups. We have learned that the Apollo Alliance actually wrote the Stimulus Bill that the democrat controlled House and Senate passed, and you signed into law, and another founder of the Weathermen Underground Jeff Jones is the New York president of this organization. Isn't it interesting that this ex-fugitive for blowing up buildings and being a domestic terrorist leader in the 60s, is now not only writing our legislation, he is now also consulting with other left leaning organization on how to write their request to get that Stimulus money?

When we read that Obamacare bill we learn that not only will the SEIU be in charge of running the health care system if it passes, but that all medical personnel will be required by law to join the SEIU themselves, that gives us pause. At first it seemed that it was just the Card Check Bill that was going to be a pay off to SEIU where no longer would people be able to have a secret vote if they wanted to join or not allowing the SEIU to only step up their levels of intimidation that they already use to force people and businesses to join. Who knew they were getting to double and even triple dip in the taxpayer funded trough?

Mr. President, as we look at all this we see that there are far too many cozy arrangements with so many of your past radical SDS, Weathermen Underground, and other Marxist organization determined to use The Cloward-Pivan Strategy to overturn our American free enterprise system and replace it with their own Marxist Totalitarian dream. We need you to step up as president of ALL THE PEOPLE, not just the extreme left, to tell them to stop. To do as the Census Bureau did yesterday and put an end to ACORN's bid to do our national census next year. The Census Bureau became uncomfortable after not only the above indictments, but the two videos of ACORN employees teaching a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp and who admitted to being in the sex slave, illegal alien, and child exploitation business, on how to name their business, get a loan for a house to operate, and how to avoid taxes. Those four women caught on tape were fired, or so we are told, but they're just pawns. The evil and corruption starts at the top and filters down in these organizations.

When can we expect to hear you on one of your many televised speeches, disavowing yourself of these associations, and demanding a full federal investigation into all of them? My suggestion would be a special prosecutor looking into this, how about Rudy Giuliani? He did very well attacking organized crime in NY. Then push that we prosecute to the fullest extent all who are ferreted out. Of course while these organizations are under investigation, all federal funding would have to cease, and they would have to be removed from any position in or around your administration.

We can then look into repealing the Stimulus Bill since it was actually written by these people benefiting themselves. Of course we would have to stop the Health Care and Card Check bills immediately, and completely rewrite them, this time with elected officials doing the writing not these groups. If you do this, you will have gained my respect by actually doing the job your office calls for. Representing We the People over these parasite organizations.

We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jim Morgan
American.