Both of these skills require a person to have many of the same attributes such as the ability to communicate ideas clearly, the ability to sell these same ideas to other people and the ability to shepherd these ideas into actionable tasks. However there are many areas where the roles differ and sometimes people get confused as to why political leaders don't always follow the actions of Corporate leaders when confronting issues or implementing policies. You see Corporate leaders have one large advantage over political leaders and that is the fact that they have the power to terminate a person's employment whereas a politician cannot. At the most they can influence your job positively or negatively but rarely can they apply capital punishment to those that don't fall in line. Therefore a political leader has to be able to influence the emotions of his audience and to garner their trust if he/ she is to be successful with their agenda. To get your attention and your vote they must stimulate your passion by raising issues nearest and dearest to your heart. For instance to most people the issue of security for them and their families is always uppermost in their minds so attacking crime and punishment or the lack thereof is always a winner in politics. Taxation in all its forms has always been a negative aspect in our society regardless of your political persuasion so this subject can always raise the hair on someone's neck. Once the politician has tapped the emotions they must now garner trust. A past history with examples of "doing what you say you will do" is a powerful tool that will help convince people to get on your side. If you don't have that then kissing babies, trotting out your family for photo ops and general schmoozing will help get people comfortable with you and your political ideology. Back to the Corporate leader who will find it helpful to garner trust but not a necessary thing required to push through his/her agenda. Both of them can mislead people with vague statements, exaggerations and downright lies to facilitate their agenda so they are Bobbsey twins in this area for sure. So let's look at the results side of the board whereby both leaders have successfully pushed their agendas into actions using their own techniques and now must view the fruit of their labors. The Corporate Leader must be successful or he will face a boot out of his job for failing to satisfy his shareholders. So even though he started with more power and an easier route to implementing his policies and programs he faces capital punishment if he fails. The politician on the other hand finds herself in a very different position if she fails. She may have lied or mislead people to get herself elected and her programs implemented but what is to be done? The job is secure until the next election and by then most will have forgotten the untruths and the failure. In fact with good political spin doctors today they can turn failure into victory through the media (particularly if you are Liberal) and voila' you are ready for another run for the golden ring. So if you are searching for truth and integrity in leadership let me tell you it is very very rare. The last leader in my opinion that held these values was Ronald Reagan. He was truly a unique man and a honest politician ( which is almost an oxymoron) that has not been matched for the years before or since. Sarah Palin has the base talent to be another Reagan but the question remains, does she have the strength and confidence that are required to withstand the pressures that come with "principled" political leadership? It would definitely be something to see.

The elite Liberal brain trust truly believe that the masses of people, ie regular Janes & Joes, in the middle class are incapable of taking care of themselves. The hard line Union bosses and Socialists also have no doubt that their followers are stupid and must be protected from themselves. I can give you example after example of laws and rules that are passed to prevent we minions from making decisions that are not seen as proper by the almighty Liberals that sit in Government. For instance the pension laws and the Life Income Retirement Account are set up to prevent individuals from accessing their own money regardless of their choice in the matter. If your retirement money is in a pension fund you have access only to the predetermined payment calculated when you retired. You cannot get your hands on any more of it regardless of the situation. In fact after you and your spouse die your family will see nothing of the money that is left as it goes directly back into the fund. With the LIRA the Government had much the same rules until recently when it changed and now allows the owners of the money to remove up to 50% of the lump sum in the fund. It also (after tax) allows your family to receive the balance on your demise. These rules were put in place to keep people from their own money in case they may blow it on vacations, and travel after their retirement thus eliminating their nest egg. They assume nobody has the commonsense to manage their own finances during this time of life not considering of course you have managed to get yourself to this point without bankrupting your family. This is an arrogant and condescending attitude but it is the Liberal mindset. Look at our Food Protection Agency that was set up to inspect and insure that the food mass distributed across the Country was safe to consume. Considering some of the food poisoning catastrophes over the past several years they haven’t done a stellar job but they don’t stop there. Now these gurus want to tell us what we can and can’t eat. Based on the latest scientific craze about this particular food or that trans fat they want to enact laws banning these goods.Providing information to the Public isn’t good enough because once again they feel we are incapable of making good decisions for ourselves. Therefore these same people that told us no to eat butter years ago are actually banning foods.
The last example is Health Care where Liberals feel that the problem with Health Care in the USA is the spiralling cost which prohibits lower income people from attaining insurance. So rather than attacking the cost through the free market system by lifting the State by State ban on insurance Companies and allow them to compete across the Country they choose to control the system because they can make better decisions for the regular folk and drive costs down that way. Or to look at “tort reform” and discontinue these “lottery type” malpractice suit awards which have driven Doctor's insurance costs out into space. No no, mustn’t upset the lawyers.
All of the above are just a few of the ways these “well meaning people" want to run our lives but I for one am sick of “the pat on the head and the tsk tsk you don’t understand, this is for your own good” demeaning type answers. Maybe most people don’t mind being led around by the hand but look out because these people are not your friends, you see you are not smart enough.

Let me say that I sympathize with the terrible situation in Haiti and I believe we, around the world need to do whatever is necessary to help them through this catastrophic period. After saying that however, where do the politicians get the right to arbitrarily decide to send millions to Haiti beyond what our Government has set aside for foreign aid. This statement was made during the fundraising event for the embattled island the other night “The Government will match any funds that are raised for Haiti through this charitable venture.” It turned out to be around 9 million dollars and my question is “What gives you the right?” to do this. People are giving out of the goodness of their hearts which is what charity is all about. The world’s governments are also providing financial help as well assistance “on the ground” and these acts are a cultural norm in the western nations (primarily USA and Canada). So why does some politician who feels charitable or who wants to score points feel they have the right to dish out taxpayer money on their own accord. Did they ever think that maybe just, maybe some citizens of Canada don’t want to give any more money away? Did it ever occur to these elitist snobs that what they want to do may not coincide with what other taxpayers would like to do? And yet people do not seem to care about these reckless spenders who throw our money around like planting grass seed. Now this morning just after dedicating millions and millions of dollars to Haiti I read a column in the newspaper that suggest that we need to raise taxes in order to balance the books. This is the only solution in his mind that makes any sense. WHAT ABOUT CUTTING SPENDING!!!!!! I believe there is so much wasteful spending in every level of Government that if we were to eliminate just 50% of this waste we could balance the books in one year. The problem of course is that there are too many sacred cows in the current welfare state system and if any of their funding was cut the loud and constant squealing noise would scare the politicians to death. As we move closer and closer toward the Nanny State in both the USA and Canada (who is much farther down the road) the balance between those that pay tax and those that don’t is shifting toward 50%-50%. Once those that receive from the Government become the majority we will be lost because we will never be able to elect any fiscal conservatives to bring our finances under control. Based on the recent elections in Massachusetts it appears that the Americans are waking up to this fact and don’t like what they see happening to their Country. I wish we could get Canadians as fired up on this subject but at the moment there is no leader to carry the standard into battle. I keep looking but the only candidates appear to be in the west so it may take a awhile to bring their message here. Ahh Mr. Harper we had such dreams.............................

The recent elections in Massachusetts once again brought out the infamous left “destruction by lies” tactics as they tried to demean the right wing candidate Scott Brown. One of the lies had to do with a Bill he voted for which allows a hospital which, may not prefer to complete an abortion to transfer a patient wanting an abortion to another hospital that will as long as everyone including the patient concurs. Seems simple enough but the attack ad that was put up by the loons on the left read as follows, “ Brown voted to for a bill that would turn away 15 year rape victims from hospital doors”. A stretch to say the least but with even a hint of a connection they build a lie to smear someone. Unfortunately these negative ads (lies) do work if given enough time but in this case it was too little too late. Another good example of the Left and their love of the “LIE” is the recent “fessing” up of John Edwards who finally agreed to accept the title of father for the little girl he begat with a campaign consultant while he was running for VP during the 2004 presidential elections. These people truly believe that the ends justify the means so lying, to them is just another tool in their bag of tricks. The entire left wing platoon in the White House chose to continually lie throughout the campaign about how they, if elected, would govern from the center and usher in a new era of “transparency” in Government. Once in power they dropped all pretences and moved to the far left by spending their way into an oblivion of debt, exercising socialistic control over GM and the Banks through large financial injections of cash and finally the passing of the so-called stimulus package that hasn’t really accomplished anything at all. They have rammed a Health Care Bill, which nobody wants, through Congress by way of secret partisan sessions. No one truly understands what’s in the Bill because the development of it has not been transparent as was promised.
It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is in their private lives or professional lives these folks have no sense of honour. In fact they usually look on this transgression as a strength as opposed to a weakness because the development of a good sustainable lie requires intellect and to most of these elitists being seen as “smart” is more important than being honourable. Years ago before our society shifted so far to the left a man’s honour and integrity were of utmost importance and any attempt to demean or damage these would be met with serious consequences. Today, honour and integrity are tossed out the window in pursuit of power and personal gain. Sadly, the only place where these old traditions and attributes can be found in the political spectrum are far right of center.

Over the past year or more I have been alerting people to the dangers of big government and the slow process of change that is taking us towards Socialism and maybe on to Communism,who knows? So to you naysayers (not mentioning any names “B”) here’s some facts that clearly illustrate what I am talking about. Over 30 years ago I would always tell my sons that the “Private Sector” was the place to get a job and plan a career. Working for the Government was not a very secure job and the pay was not as much as in the Private Sector. Every time the recession cycle came around the government had to tighten its belt and layoff’s generally occurred. The upside was that you didn’t have to work very hard and the benefits were good, not great, but good. Even people just out of high school who chose not to go to University or College had the opportunity to get general labour jobs in the market that paid very well. If you were fortunate to land a position at one of the “Manufacturing Plants” in Ontario you would be able to maintain a reasonable lifestyle while raising a few kids. Then it started to change as Liberal Government after Liberal Government both Federally and Provincially began to spend more and more money to bring in larger entitlement plans as well as projects that weren’t necessary. Of course in order to pay for these giveaways and boondoggles taxes had to be raised on everyone through many different ways. Sales taxes, Value added taxes, health taxes, employment taxes, and gas taxes and on and on were introduced in order to pay for the indulgent and high spending politician’s programs and pet projects. As the everyday “Joe” lost more and more of his paycheque, guess who had to go to work to supplement the family income?Boom a wave of women hit the job market and guess what, jobs became more difficult to get and when there are more people than jobs the hiring folks are in the driver’s seat. Next came the assault on industry as tons of red tape and taxes were hoisted onto business driving down their revenue and profit. Because of the low value of the Canadian dollar the Canadian manufacturing sector managed to survive for awhile by exporting more to the States (thanks to NAFTA). Once the dollar began to rise then this edge was lost and Company after Company either failed or moved out of the Country. Thousands upon thousands of jobs were lost and never replaced. The average of 3% or 4% unemployed rose to the new norm of 8%. Now here we are today and I am telling my sons, “ stay in the Public Sector because these are the jobs that are secure, well paid and have enormous benefits." You will make on average $20,000 more per year than the average Joe in the Private sector and you won’t have to worry about being laid off because now during a recession the Government just keeps on spending and hiring. It reminds me of the USSR in the late 80’s when I went there on business. At the manufacturing plant I visited the parking lot had many BMW’s and Volvo’s that were driven by the Boss’s and the Communist Government overseers. Right next to these were some Lada’s and then mostly horse and wagons that were used by the employees. If we don’t get common sense Government leadership or the people don’t revolt I submit our workplaces will look the same. Check the stats in both the USA and Canada and you will see the same trend. Unfortunately for Canada we have too many sheep and not enough bulls so it will more difficult to stem the tide, but not impossible.

The Liberal minded folks in the US Government have finally gone over the edge in a politically motivated exercise that will no doubt backfire on them somewhere down the road. The decision to bring these self admitted terrorists to New York City and put them on trial for their crimes is an attempt to provide a forum for the Dem’s to show they can be tough while also being fair. The idea is to show the American electorate that they can trust the Democrats with National Security while providing the rest of the world with evidence that the USA under the current Government is compassionate and civilized. The first wall you have to hurdle is to call the World Trade Center bombings a “crime” versus an “act of war”. With everything that has happened prior to 9/11 and for sure directly after, it is almost inconceivable that anyone could leap to this conclusion. Secondly by taking this step they are providing war criminals with all of the protections in the Constitution of the United States which should be reserved for US citizens only. Even if you argue that the crime was committed on US soil these guys were certainly not in North America and in fact were captured as Prisoners of War on foreign soil. Third is the fact that the other POW’s in Gitmo either will or have been tried by military tribunals. It is then obvious why the Libs want the high profile guys handled in New York (PUBLICITY!). To the first point it is ludicrous to think that the enemies of the USA will think any better of them because they put these guys on trial. If you look closely at these people and any of the Countries that sympathize with them, you will see that their method of doling out punishment is far more severe and undemocratic than anything seen in the western world. Do you honestly think taking this step will change their thinking? The other western nations (primarily Europe) are almost impotent in terms of their ability to deal with terrorists so why should anyone care what they think? In fact the publicity of these trials will play right into the terrorist’ hands as they will have a national stage to berate the USA which will provide a strong recruiting tool for young Jihadists to help their cause. To the second point can you imagine the life that a judge and jury would have after the trial of these radical Muslims? Does the name Salmon Rushdie conjure up any images? For the last point I have to take you back to WWII and the Nuremburg trials that saw the German leaders who developed and executed the atrocities of that war. They were tried in a World Court under Military rules of procedure. The soldiers were kept in prison camps until the end of the hostilities and then set free to return home. What is wrong with this model? It doesn’t work for the Libs because they see the terrorists as misguided souls that will suddenly wake up and embrace the United States and the Western world when they find out how nice we are. They want to convert the world to our democratic style of life. While that is a nice objective I thought our Country’s first priority was to protect its citizens, and not to save the world? God bless the unfortunate families that lost friends and family in the World Trade Center tragedy. They will have to put up with these arrogant !@#$%$%% standing up on TV every day thumping their chests and berating the United States of America along with their loved ones. I say shame on the political opportunists.

Like all things that start out as good ideas coming out of government that eventually turn into boondoggles, the Workers Compensation system is a gigantic fiasco. While on the face of it one might ask, “how can helping workers injured on the job be a bad thing? For those legitimately hurt while at work it is a good thing for sure and I am solidly behind the program if these were the only people that benefited from it. However this is not the case as it is with just about all of the so-called government entitlement programs. Even though there have been some improvements over the years it is still a system full of loop holes that allow workers to unjustly claim benefits for non existent ailments. The CAW in Canada and the UAW in the USA have been the worst offenders over the years but definitely not the only Unions that have turned a blind eye to this type of thievery and it is theft. It was designed as insurance for workers who incurred an injury on the job that left them unable to pursue their regular job directly after the accident. Yet once in place an amazing thing happened, all of a sudden occurrences of back injuries in factories and other work places tripled and beyond, because this type of ailment is so hard to verify. Employees looking for a couple of extra weeks off would stop and hold their back at work and complain of pain. Next is the trip to the Doctor who is ready and willing to sign a note saying the patient needs two weeks of rest, wait lets make it three that’ll make sure the ailment has healed. Bingo, two or three weeks of extra vacation at the cottage where no one can see the ailing worker lift his boat into the water and hoist the 50 Evinrude onto the transom. In some cases Companies have hired private investigators to watch these habitual cheaters perform tasks much more difficult than their regular job duties. The video tapes are then used to argue the merits of their claim with the Board or Commission and most times this route is successful in denying any compensation. Rarely though are these people fired or charged with fraud, which of course, is what they have committed. Unfortunately following this process can be very costly and sometimes is more costly than the claim itself so Company’s use the tactic sparingly. The real downside to this fraud is in the spiraling costs to the Employer who must factor them in with all of the other rising expenses that eventually become their downfall ala GM, Chrysler etc. This is another example of government screwing up the free market and driving jobs out of the Country. I still believe that Unions have an important purpose but they must address the crooks and the slackers in their midst before they will be a true partner with business. Until then bye bye jobs hello welfare cheques.

The second part of Mr. Netanyahu's speech at the UN last week.

Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews. You're wrong. History has shown us time and again that what starts with attacks on the Jews eventually ends up engulfing many others.

This Iranian regime is fueled by an extreme fundamentalism that burst onto the world scene three decades ago after lying dormant for centuries.

In the past thirty years, this fanaticism has swept the globe with a murderous violence and cold-blooded impartiality in its choice of victims. It has callously slaughtered Moslems and Christians, Jews and Hindus, and many others. Though it is comprised of different offshoots, the adherents of this unforgiving creed seek to return humanity to medieval times. Wherever they can, they impose a backward regimented society where women, minorities, gays or anyone not deemed to be a true believer is brutally subjugated.

The struggle against this fanaticism does not pit faith against faith nor civilization against civilization. It pits civilization against barbarism, the 21st century against the 9th century, those who sanctify life against those who glorify death. The primitivism of the 9th century ought to be no match for the progress of the 21st century. The allure of freedom, the power of technology, the reach of communications should surely win the day.

Ultimately, the past cannot triumph over the future. And the future offers all nations magnificent bounties of hope. The pace of progress is growing exponentially. It took us centuries to get from the printing press to the telephone, decades to get from the telephone to the personal computer, and only a few years to get from the personal computer to the internet.

What seemed impossible a few years ago is already outdated, and we can scarcely fathom the changes that are yet to come.

We will crack the genetic code. We will cure the incurable. We will lengthen our lives. We will find a cheap alternative to fossil fuels and clean up the planet.

I am proud that my country Israel is at the forefront of these advances – by leading innovations in science and technology, medicine and biology, agriculture and water, energy and the environment. These innovations the world over offer humanity a sunlit future of unimagined promise.

But if the most primitive fanaticism can acquire the most deadly weapons, the march of history could be reversed for a time. And like the belated victory over the Nazis, the forces of progress and freedom will prevail only after a horrific toll of blood and fortune has been exacted from mankind.

That is why the greatest threat facing the world today is the marriage between religious fanaticism and the weapons of mass destruction, and the most urgent challenge facing this body is to prevent the tyrants of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Are the member states of the United Nations up to that challenge? Will the international community confront a despotism that terrorizes its own people as they bravely stand up for freedom?

Will it take action against the dictators who stole an election in broad daylight and gunned down Iranian protesters who died in the streets choking in their own blood?

Will the international community thwart the world's most pernicious sponsors and practitioners of terrorism?

Above all, will the international community stop the terrorist regime of Iran from developing atomic weapons, thereby endangering the peace of the entire world?

The history of racism in the USA dates back before the birth of the Country and obviously is rooted in the evil practice of slavery. This is a well known fact and is not in dispute. During the time between the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation up to and including the 1960’s (Martin Luther King) racism, particularly in the South, was alive and well. But in the years following Mr. King’s peaceful revolution it hasn’t been racism creating barriers for the Black race in the USA it has been the Liberal Democrats and their failed policies.
Consider the following statistic’s… while 74% of US population are white, 70% of prisoners in the US are non-whites. (For more info see “incarceration in the USA”). Consider the makeup of the Most Dangerous Cities in America:
1) Detroit-81% black, 10% white
2) St. Louis-51% black, 42% white
3)Flint-53% black, 40% white
4)Oakland-35% black, 23% white
5)Camden-53% black, 7% white
6) Birmingham-73% black, 23% white
7)North Charleston-49% black, 43% white
8) Memphis-61% black, 33% white
9) Richmond, Ca.- 36% black, 21% white
10) Cleveland- 51% black, 38% white (See the “Color of crime New Century Foundation”)
Are we supposed to believe these stats developed because of white racism? I would submit it is the opposite and black racism supported and nurtured by the left has created the situation we are in today. As mentioned above consider the major left wing programs implemented over the last 50 years. The “War on Poverty”, “The New Deal”, “Affirmative Action” and countless other State and Local entitlement programs have left Black Youth with basically only three options in life. One is to become a ward of the State, two if the talent is present become a pro athlete or three go into crime to create a revenue stream for your basic needs. They head in these directions because they are told by everyone around them from day one that they are victims and are treated unfairly. Thus as victims someone (whites) owes you and if you keep voting for Democrats you will receive your just rewards. Black racism has become a large industry with the likes of Louis Farrakon, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as the CEO’s of Handouts and Anger Incorporated. Over the decades there have been many other cases of so-called racism when groups were assimilating into the American mainstream like the Irish who everyone hated. Are there any special programs for them? Of course not because they persevered and became part of the US society. The potential that lies within the black race has basically been untapped because of the welfare state and the religion of victimhood. Look at the brilliance of Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Walter Williams, Bill Cosby and on and on. I’m afraid until we can dump the white man’s guilt from the 1800’s and break down this left wing political correctness barrier, no one of any stature will say and do what is needed to end this cycle. Some people thought that Obama would be the catalyst but he seems to be moving the Country backward in this regard. I believe hope springs eternal so maybe the next high profile leader will be the one to lead the nation away from racism through inclusive measures that are fair to all rather than putting up walls around select groups of people.

Taxes originally were a small amount of dollars taken from everyone in order to keep an infrastructure intact that services the community with things such as roads, garbage pickup and policing. Now it has risen to the absurd! Almost 50% of every working person’s wages goes to some tax or another. Whether it is income tax, health tax, gas tax, PST or GST it all flows into the government coffers to be doled out to others in some program or another. When is it ever going to stop? Unfortunately there is not a political party in Canada or the USA that will step up to the plate to put a stop to this lunacy. Redistribution of wealth is the cornerstone of every Liberal/Socialist/Communist/Fascist manifesto and we have a ton of these people in our governments. In order to accomplish their goals they have to tax their constituents that have money in order to get the funds to give to somebody else. It is all in the interests of compassion and taking care of those that can’t do for themselves. Bull shit (excuse the language) but this notion that there are an enormous amount of people that cannot look after their own welfare is a complete sham. These exorbitant tax grabs are more for the growth of government and the power it wields to control its citizens than it is for any other reason. Forget about accountability and responsibility for one’s own self as these are things of the past. Today you must worship at the altar of the almighty Government who controls your daily life from the time you get up in the morning (decided by the government by way of no more freeways) to the place where you live (gas taxes and municipal taxes). Just consider tobacco. You better quit smoking or you’ll be taxed to death instead of dying of lung cancer. If the Government and its politicians were honest about the dangers of smoking why wouldn’t they just ban it altogether? Because it’s all about health care costs. People are going to smoke if they want to regardless of bans etc,so to offset the costs of health care for lung cancer patients they tax all smokers to the extreme. The problem with this logic is that not all smokers get lung cancer so whether you agree or not the Government says you must pay. Sooner or later this tactic usually defeats itself because all legitimate sellers of tobacco products go out of business and in comes the black market and voila’ you have smokers and no taxes. The reality is that the more money you leave in a person’s pocket the more he or she will spend thus driving the economy and creating trade and wealth. This has been proven time and time again throughout history and yet every time a Liberal thinker gets into power they want to revisit the failed tax and spend ideologies of the past. It must be the Devil behind this thinking and he must be laughing hysterically at the fools that follow his path.