Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - January 17, 2016
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
Capitalist Solutions
Here's something I believe rather strongly: Every public problem has a capitalist solution. That doesn't mean it's exclusive, but if we're not looking for the capitalist solution, then we're leaving some possibilities unexamined.
What makes this important is that I think a lot of people who are in elected office and elsewhere in influential places are missing the opportunity to explain how we could be using capitalist solutions to make people's lives better. And if we don't take credit for those solutions, don't look for them in hidden places, and don't turn to them first before we turn to big government interventions, then we can't be surprised when we see an avowed socialist making big waves as a candidate for President of the United States.
The next president needs to be a governor
Past or present; it doesn't matter. The experience is what matters. Governors have to execute legislation approved by others and reflecting the will of the majority. Senators are members of a vast debating society. Being a governor is no guarantee that one will become a good President, nor is being a Senator a sentence to failure. But taking a look at the shortcomings of some of the Senators-turned-President, it looks pretty clear that some time spent in the executive branch at the state level may have served as good training for the Oval Office. The road to the White House doesn't come with a simulator (though that would be an awesome idea), so the closest substitute we have is putting people through the same job at the next-lower level.
- Obama: Not a governor. Couldn't even get legislation past a Democratic House and Senate.
- Bush: Governor.
- Clinton: Governor. Stumbled at first, but made headway after reconciling himself to the reality of a Republican majority in the House.
- Bush: Not a governor. Had substantial previous executive experience as Vice President and CIA director. One term.
- Reagan: Governor.
- Carter: Governor. Weak nonetheless.
- Ford: Not a governor.
- Nixon: Not a governor. Previously Vice President.
- Johnson: Not a governor. Previously Vice President.
- Kennedy: Not a governor. Had to enlist LBJ as a Vice President in order to get anything past Congress and still didn't pass most of his legislative agenda until after his death.
- Eisenhower: Not a governor, but was Supreme Allied Commander.
Democratic debate tonight
Not a great deal to add to the analysis quite yet, since the debate is in progress as we're on the air.
Listen on-demand
- Podcast of this episode - segment 1 (why governors are preferable as Presidents, part 1)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 2 (why governors are preferable as Presidents, part 2)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 3 (capitalist solutions to modern problems, part 1)
- Podcast of this episode - segment 4 (capitalist solutions to modern problems, part 2)
- Official station page for this episode