James Michael Pratt

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” – James Madison, Federalist Papers (more)

Reading the tea leaves offers both danger and hope: (more)

I have a home in Utah, come from the city boasting the Reagan Presidential Library – Simi Valley, Calif. – and have an office near Nashville, Tenn., which serves as a second home. I love the people in these areas; they are the salt of the earth. Could be that I’m comfortable around conservatives and people of faith, or maybe it’s just the water I drink. But one thing I know; after armchair monitoring of political events for forty years, I can read political tea leaves. (more)

Americans are truth seekers. And Tea Party voices are not just run-of-the-mill seekers, but mature graying veterans of real life. We can add, subtract, have fought in wars against Marxist and totalitarian regimes, know the failure of socialism from real life experience, have built businesses, enjoyed credit, understand how it works, raised children, and appreciate simple concepts like deficits, debt, and responsible fiscal management. (more)

Read my face. I am told that I’m a racist bigot for my political views on the state of the national economy and my voiced concerns regarding a “new kind of capitalism” being imposed by one party rule in Washington. (more)

1980 Malaise & Decline: The media described the 39^th U.S. president’s effect upon America’s economy with one word—“malaise.” Jimmy Carter’s austerity and regulatory policies had promoted state-run economic anemia. Carter-led foreign policy emboldened America’s enemies. Viewed as a minor league player from a peanut farm in Georgia, America’s adversaries welcomed with derision their opponent as if he were captain of the USS Spineless. (more)