Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - March 2, 2014

Brian Gongol


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I like being able to fire people

Remember how Mitt Romney was mocked for saying "I like being able to fire people"?

The recently-departed Harold Ramis wrote it perhaps more artfully when he wrote the words voiced by Dan Akroyd in "Ghostbusters": "You don't know what it's like out there. I've worked in the private sector. They expect results!"

But the truth remains: In the private sector, we have the liberty to fire people. If the government of the United States were responsive to the same pressures as the private sector, a lot of people would be getting fired right now.

What's our plan for the Ukraine? Are we ready to get into a shooting war with Russia? If not, are we OK with tolerating an invasion-happy government there? If the EU remains weak both economically and politically, are we there to back them up? And have we any idea what's going on in Venezuela or anywhere else in South America? How about in Africa?

The problem isn't that we're facing challenges -- there are always challenges. But it's the sense that we just don't have a plan for anything...only a vague sense of hoping for the best. And that's like running foreign policy the way the Chicago Cubs ran the team for a century (until hiring Theo Epstein)...just vaguely hope for the best, but don't have a plan.

And that's not acceptable. You can't expect good results if you can't describe the path ahead. Nor is it a problem just for foreign policy. I defy anyone to tell us what the path ahead is for getting people out of poverty? We keep on trying "spray and pray" with everything from hiking the minimum wage to expanding the Medicaid rolls.

Here's a path:

This week:


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