Posted by Matt Keller at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Walter Reed: Of Problems and Patriots

For generations men and women have given their lives, their limbs and their souls to the defense of not just a nation but an idea. They give these sacrifices to the idea that humanity by the grace of God deserves to be free; free of fear, free of oppression and full of hope. It is hope that drives the character of our nation and our children to live in freedom and peace. Our soldiers willingly give up that peace to go to war when called. They heed that call knowing the weight such a duty of killing brings to their spirit. They heed that call knowing that changed they will ever be upon entering conflict in service to our nation. They heed that call knowing full well that they may well never return except into the earth in which they came; their shroud the flag of the country which they loved deeply. It is in the spirit of this love we owe them so much.

Our love for our soldiers does not start and end at their Ultimate Sacrifice. There are many who give not their lives but leave something just as valuable on the battlefield. Arlington may be a standing tribute to those who have fallen, but where is the monument to those who are broken in body and mind? That tribute in part lay with taking care of those who come back to us in the name of freedom but are not the same as when they left.

The problems at Walter Reed are just that, problems. They are a great challenge to the covenant our government enacts with our wounded. However while the buck stopped at Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman with his removal, the men and women of our Armed Services deserve more. They deserve solutions. A surgeon can place tourniquets and sutures to a wound, or even be replaced but if his technique is wrong the healing cannot truly begin. The healing our troops deserve lay not in proper care but in the proper approach to care.

Walter Reed while not part of the VA system, in part suffers the same problems of the VA system. It is a bloated government bureaucracy. Bureaucracy fails when there is lack of competition. Our wounded have no choice but to be sent to Walter Reed in which their care is provided. However one facility and the few others like it cannot possibly handle our wounded in the current state of war in which we live.

The failures of Walter Reed like that of Hurricane Katrina are from institutional failures as well as individual ones. Individual failure is the effect; institutional failure the cause. To prevent future failure we must change the institution not to more bureaucracy but from it. There is one man who can enact this change. He can enact this change because he knows deeply the importance of proper care. That man is Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich wishes to further the investment of Health Savings Accounts and create systems of competition for health care. He wishes to bring competitive markets to all Americans including our troops. These markets would stimulate competition in providing the best health care at the appropriate price.

The call we make to our soldiers should be echoed by the call we make to our politicians to take proper care of them. It is through the spirit of the free market in which our men and women fight for, that they should be rewarded by it.

- Matthew Brian Keller

Written in loving tribute and Memory to Matthew A. Webber who died serving his nation April 27th 2006.

Posted by Matt Keller at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Michiganders further their support for Newt

New column from Newt on how to watch his debate with Mario Cuomo>>

Michigan's own Joan Jackson is bringing Newt's NY debate to her hometown. You too can bring Newt to your community.

You can also get involved with furthering Newt's ideology here at American Solutions>>

Posted by Matt Keller at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

State of the Battleground State: Michigan

The state of the Michigan Republican Party is strong! Coming back from MRP Convention, I have witnessed just how electric and committed the members of our Grand Ol’ Party are. A party that Austin Blair would be proud of despite the party hardships we’ve endured nationally. I say this because out of all the state GOP parties nationwide, we have faced and continue to face rock bottom. We have become scrappers in the alleyways of politics, the trenches of grassroots. Through the battles of the 2006 election cycle we have become carved out of wood as tough as the great Michigan forests that came before us.

This strength lay in the victories achieved that other states did not. We kept all of our Congressional seats in Washington, including a seat which was incumbent in party orientation but not of candidate, that of Tim Walberg’s. We kept our State Senate by a count of around 400 votes, which went to Dr. Roger Kahn in a district that is over 50% registered Democrat. Lastly, in a campaign system where it is much harder than before to raise money due to McCain-Feingold, our state party came out of the election with absolutely no debt.

I mentioned earlier that Austin Blair – our Civil War Governor, a staunch abolitionist and a founding father of our Republican Party – would be proud of us if he saw us today. He would be proud because while other elements nationally have lost the Republican brand, we have never forgotten who we are and where we come from. It is this sense of history and the victories we have achieved that will cause us to be a beachhead in the coming Presidential War.

The 2008 election cycle will indeed be just that, a war. This is because in politics as in war, it is the policies and decisions of leaders which can irrevocably affect the lives of the people. It can be said that some politicians lose sight of this in the morass of campaign vote-getting politics. There is one politician nay, statesman who has not forgotten this: Newt Gingrich. Many have raised the question of whether or not Speaker Gingrich will run for President. This however is not the issue. The Speaker has something that will endure beyond a 4 or 8 year Presidency. He has ideology.

Sufficed to say, a President Gingrich would be in the best position to fully cultivate his ideology; if he did not run he would not simply go gently into the night. But one must ask, is it a candidate that convinces us to vote for him, or is it we the people who convince a candidate to run for us, on our behalf? What is it about Newt Gingrich that would be cause for such a response from the people, especially the people of Michigan?

In a recent speech Speaker Gingrich spoke of three key developmental points to the ideology he is trying to foster from now until he decides whether or not to run for President. The first is to re-examine how we approach politics in that of putting the personal first, the historic second and the political last concerning aspects of a problem. We are to also meet that problem with a solution in the same manner. The greatest problem facing Michigan right now is it’s failing economy and epic job loss. This is a problem which must be treated in Newtonian manner. Every single job lost affects us personally, because that job is that of a friend’s, a family member’s or our own. It is historic because for a long time Michigan has been the backbone of manufacturing culture in America. It has also been one of the core places of the American Dream. Our state was where an American regardless of class, possessed of little education and hope could get a job on the line, earn a sustainable wage, raise their family in comfort and pride and give their children the opportunities they never had. This is an intrinsic part of our state identity and for it to stop is historic and it is personal. The political comes down to the root of Ronald Reagan’s words, “are you better off now than you were four years ago?” These words define the cornerstone of what democracy stands for; the ability to remove those in government to whom we lend power.

The second point to Newt Gingrich’s ideology is to prepare America for the future. This includes absorbing four to seven times as much science and technology than we do now. The important fact is that we are not alone in this endeavor, as China and India are competing with us. Where does Michigan stand concerning this ideological point? Despite the darkness of job loss in manufacturing, Michigan does possess a shining beacon which lay in Grand Rapids. Medical industry has been flourishing there, not only in health care but in research. It is finding these new industries for Michigan – in Grand Rapids and statewide – that can nourish the American Dream that all Michiganders strive for. Michiganders are hard working people and can deal with the changes the future demands. It is in this that Newt’s second principle finds its roots.

The last theme to Newt’s ideology is something Michiganders know well. It is the core of Midwest values and the heart of America. This last point is for Republicans to be with the majority of America. The conservative culture is the natural culture of our country. America is right-leaning, its people are people of faith, and they speak English. This culture is based in better life for the people and not better life for the government and its programs. This is not social conservatism but the natural society of our country. It is what Newt wants to bring the Republican Party back to.

These three principles demand change from the current system and no fight for change is ever easy. But some of the framework is already there. It lay in the people, the people whose ideals and romanticism demand change. This is not only change to reassert our Americanism, but also of healing and self-discovery. To bring us back to One Nation under God Indivisible. It is in this that the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness becomes meaningful again. This meaning is why we the people of Michigan should demand Newt Gingrich as our 44th President of the United States of America, and I hope you join me in this struggle for faith, family and country. Goodnight and God Bless.

-Matthew Brian Keller

Posted by Matt Keller at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DraftNewt.org Michigan Blogger Embeds in the Political War in the Pleasant Peninsula

Within the next week and a half I will be preparing a State of the Battleground State report. Though the number of electors used to be 19 in Michigan, the Wolverine State is not yet out of the major battleground category with its 17 electoral votes. The presidential race here will be nasty and brutish with two candidate factions deeply entrenched. With more candidates entering the bid for Commander-in-Chief every day it seems, the positioning for a slice of Michigan’s 9.9 million residents to form a base camp dwindles.

On the Republican side most noticeably is the brewing storm of McCain vs. Romney. Mitt Romney the former Mass. Governor owes his familial roots to Michigan. He was born in Detroit, and his father was the Governor of Michigan 1969 – 1973. Elements of Romney’s family still live in the state as well.

McCain on the other hand has had a strong following ever since he ran for POTUS in elements of Western Michigan, namely Ottawa and Kent Counties. The Kent County Republicans are arguably the 3rd largest county republican organization in the nation. The Michigan National Republican Committeeman/woman both are on McCain’s exploratory committee. And they have weight with Republican Michiganders.

Despite these two powerhouse figures, Newt Gingrich’s posturing is not necessarily endangered. Republican State convention is this upcoming February 9th and 10th, in which I will be attending as a delegate. Sam Brownback and Mitt Romney will both be speaking, while McCain is still unconfirmed. Once I return from this convention, I will deliver thoughts on strategy for Newtonian Infiltration. Keep your eyes out for more.

Posted by Matt Keller at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)