KEMP: A letter to grandchildren

Yeah, Jack, it's wonderful that a representative of the melting pot has become president. It's not so wonderful that a neo-socialist has won. It's not so wonderful that he took that position by virtue of unprecedented campaign spending from largely unidentified sources. It's not wonderful that he won the position strongly supported by a (biased) fawning media. The chickens will soon be coming home to roost. When the campaign rhetoric is swept away by reality I doubt we will be satisfied.

Nice article, Jack. And classy. But the comment by JDD is misplaced in that it neglects the relative important of implementation and consequences of Obama's 'socialist' vision versus the already fully developed crisis facing the nation and world at this moment in history: The present financial and economic catastrophe is the logical consequence of deregulation of the financial sector to such an extent that I can take out insurance on a bond I don't even hold (as a credit default swap). And it is all private, so nobody knows who holds what CDF, hence the freeze of interbank lending.

Thank you for this wonderful article. It displays the heart of a true American, and values which we can proudly bequeath to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Yes, let us work together to make America even better.

Thank you, Secretary Kemp, for a thought-provoking column on these historic times – a well-written history lesson in a nutshell. Those of us who are passionate about the Lincoln legacy also appreciate you using this forum to remind people of the ongoing events celebrating Lincoln's 200th birthday. I wish you all the best as you join the panel at Gettysburg on Friday. Thanks, too, for mentioning the Gettysburg Dedication Day Ceremony. For those of us who can’t be there in person, it’s nice to know we’ll be able to watch the ceremony on C-SPAN as part of their ongoing Lincoln programming. We appreciate your service to our county, your continuing contributions and your role in keeping the legacy of Lincoln alive. Ann

I'm with JDD. This is all very lovely, and I would welcome a minority President who was actually interested in promoting the welfare of my country (say -- Sarah Palin, or Michael Steele). Tanzkuchen is mistaken in saying that deregulation has cause the economic collapse. Dem meddling in the housing and financial sectors (CRA, Acorn, FM/FM) has created a crisis in confidence due to the high risk associated with securitized mortgage loans and credit card loans. Credit default swaps were a new trick investors thought would decrease the risk of these inherently risky investments -- they were wrong, of course. Deregulation is not the problem; it is the solution. OVERSIGHT is what was missing, thanks to Dodd, Pelosi, Schumer, Frank, and Obama. Reagan's Conservatism brought us a quarter century of prosperity, and it will bring us back from the meddling of Socialists like the Chairman Elect Obama.