Allen West: "Military Can Teach Fiscal Discipline"

Asserts the military veteran and conservative Republican, who is running for Congress in Florida's 22nd Congressional District: "If there is anything in the halls of Congress that is truly bipartisan it is fiscal irresponsibility. We are witnessing an epic tragedy as our debt and deficit continues to grow. However, it was during my 22-years of active duty service where my skills were developed and refined in understanding fiscal responsibility. As an artillery captain, major and lieutenant colonel, I was responsible for hundreds of soldiers, vehicles, and the supervision and execution of large annual budgets. At every level it was my responsibility to ensure my unit had the resources to properly train, the equipment was adequately maintained and the quality of life of our soldiers and barracks were of the highest standards. Never in the execution of my duties did my unit ever overspend, always meeting our goals and objectives. It was due to prioritizing and conducting weekly budget reconciliations."

He continues his commentary: "A defining moment for me came as a young captain in the 1st Infantry Division completing my battery command tour debriefing with my brigade commander. I had successfully commanded for 20 months and part of the routine was a review of spending and accountability of all repair parts purchases during the command, close to $1 million. I was 29-years-old and it came down to my not being able to account for a $7.83 pneumatic hose repair part for a heavy equipment truck. The colonel grilled me and, finally, I took out my checkbook ready to pay, to which he laughed and remarked that he had never seen such detailed accounting. The Army taught me fiscal responsibility. It taught me that a good commander protects and guards the taxpayer resources provided to him from the American people. It is that simple life lesson from March 1990 that guides me in supporting a constitutional balanced budget amendment. Finally, the Army taught me that the most precious resource a commander is entrusted is our human capital, the sons and daughters of America."

Booker Rising response: Why am I not buying the military as a fiscally conservative enterprise? Oh wait, this story popped up in my head while reading Mr. West's piece. Now, folks know that I am pro-US-military, but let's keep it real: there is no government entity that is a penny pincher.

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Oil Reserves Have Been Discovered Offshore In Ghana. What Next? Bookerista Perspectives

Three years ago, Ghanaian officials announced with euphoria the finding of off shore oil and gas in commercial quantities. The taps should start flowing soon. If well managed, the oil revenues would increase Ghana's revenues and its economy, reduce Ghana’s dependence on foreign capital and its over-reliance on agricultural exports, and increase the country’s international leverage. However, the downside is increased corruption, and internal conflict in a nation that prides itself on rule of law. Will Ghana become the next Dubai....or the next Nigeria? Bookeristas weigh in on steering Ghana down the right path:

Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe Jr.: "Who Are These 'Parliamentarian Drivers?'"

The Ivory Coast is claiming a portion of Ghana's offshore oil region. The center-right board member of the Danquah Institute (Ghana) and English professor in USA is glad that the Ivory Coast is making a claim because it undermines the Ghanaian center-left's claims of Pan-Africanism: "I am glad that, finally, the Ivorians are beginning to assert their right of access and enjoyment of Ghana's purportedly new-found oil wealth. Perusing [center-left] President John Mills' second and latest 'State of the Nation Address' the other day, I couldn't help but wonder aloud why Ghanaians seem to be so morbidly afflicted with this kind of hysteria whereby the mere announcement of a potential windfall is deafeningly celebrated even while such 'natural' largesse squarely remains on the prospector's drawing board. It also didn't quite make a lot of sense to me that an oil find that lay so dangerously close to Ghana's border with Côte d'Ivoire would also have been so godlessly uncharitable as to neatly parcel itself out for the exclusive benefit and enjoyment of Ghanaians while the war-seasoned Ivorians continued to languish in penury."

He continues his commentary: "What is also wickedly fascinating is the sudden fit of alarm that seems to have gripped the hitherto light-headed Ghanaians. All of an auspicious sudden, it is beginning to home-in to these soft-headed, happy-go-lucky and good-natured 'N____s' that premature gloating over a pure gift of nature may yet turn out to be too good to be true. It was also rather fitfully amusing that some Ghanaians should already begin to be angrily chary of the Ivorians; and, indeed, the irony of it all is that these 'Angernistas' are largely what one may aptly term as diehard 'Nkrumacrats,' the fanatical disciples of modern Ghana's first [socialist] postcolonial premier. Dear reader, by now, it ought to be obvious to you what 'Sremu Sei Nana' (The King of the Savannah's Grandson) is getting at. And, of course, it is the stark fact that where 'Black Gold' is concerned, pan-Africanism is only the dream of a hopeless lunatic."

IMANI Center for Policy & Education: "What Our Oil Cannot Do For Us And What We Must Not Allow It To Do"

Kofi Bentil, Bright Simons, and Franklin Cudjoe of the libertarian think tank in Accra opine in a research paper that Ghanaians need to tamp down their expectations that oil is their savior: "As we see it, Ghana is not doing well with the management of expectations, from the previous [center-right] government to the current [center-left government], most statements have given the impression that oil will greatly improve national (and personal) revenues, generate huge employment and generally lead to an almost instant easing of economic and financial pressure on citizens. The effect is seen in various over optimistic utterances in the populace, and some people even taking up badly conceived 'courses' in the mushrooming 'oil industry schools' to qualify them to work in the oil industry."

They continue: "Point is, the current structure (and youth) of Ghana's oil makes it unlikely to generate huge employment, or even improve personal revenues significantly at least in the short term. Even in the medium to long term, it is most likely to generate little direct employment, or even improve state revenue (because of the expensive setup costs, and the nature of agreements we signed, which is normal in the oil industry). Indeed it will improve our lot somewhat, but that is if we take steps to ensure wee sign good contracts and subsequently maximize production and revenue whilst the oil price is high, by exporting as much crude as we can, and then optimize our use of the revenues in a way that support economic growth in other sectors (through infrastructure development). This is mainly because the decline of the oil industry and the collapse of oil prices in the near future is a possibility. This also rules out (at least in the short term) our dreams of developing refineries and a downstream oil and gas industry."

The three men then discuss what Ghana shouldn't allow oil to do: (1) collapse existing sectors; (2) inflate the cedi [Ghana's currency] and make exports expensive; (3) civil unrest and injustice; (4) pollution; (5) heightened political tension; and (6) wasteful expenditures.

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Rama Yade: "Bonjour, Bookeristas! It Looks Like I Lost In France's Regional Elections. But It Ain't Over Just Yet"

Yesterday, Round 1 of regional elections were held in France. Things don't look good for Rama Yade, the French Secretary of State for Sport and moderate-conservative who was running to be a regional adviser in Hauts-de-Seine. Le Post (France) writes (article in French): "Among the very bad news for the regional UMP [center-right party], Rama Yade has failed to transform her insolence into a popularity vote [by performing less well than expected]. In 2008, she was a [successful] candidate in municipal elections in Colombes, but the mayorship went from UMP to the Socialist Party. For regional elections, she convinced the UMP to give her the No. 2 spot on the list for Hauts-de-Seine area because of her local presence in Colombes. Her poll results were therefore awaited with great hope. It is ultimately less in Colombes (27.57%) than [UMP regional party leader] Valerie Pecresse got regionally (27.76%). And even seven points below the average of the UMP plural majority in the Hauts-de-Seine (34.57%), the president's home turf!"

It continues: "A comparison is particularly apt: initially, the UMP wanted Rama Yade to stand for election in Val d'Oise [poor, mostly Arab & black immigrant area where she is not from, vs. the affluent Hauts-de-Seine area where she grew up]. She would've have been against [controversial, ex-con candidate] Ali Soumare, head of the Socialist Party's list. Ali Soumare, in his city, Villiers-le-Bel, got 48% of the vote! It becomes obvious that Rama Yade is one of those politicos which, though popular, have never been able to convert their popularity into electoral victories. Les Rocard, Kouchner…poll Olympians but who still lose on Election Day."

Things haven't turned out well for the UMP in general, as the Socialist Party has made inroads in center-right stronghold Hauts-de-Seine. There is still a second round on March 21, but the trend favors left-wing parties so it ain't looking good for our girl Rama.

However, our girl Rama sees hope for the second round (op-ed in French): "Indeed, while Colombes has shifted to the left in the past 2 years, the very significant rise of the right and center in our city is clear since we arrived at the top of the first round with 27.5% (vs. 22% in 2004 without the centrists), or 1.5% more than the Socialist Party (at 26% vs. 33% in 2004). In half of the 44 polling stations, right and center together, dramatically, got a score above 30%."

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Sen. Donald Oliver: "Cross Burning In Canada Must Stop! End Racial Hatred Today"

The Canadian moderate-conservative and Conservative Party member pens an op-ed for The Hill Times (Canada), responding to two brothers charged with hate crimes after a cross was burned in the yard of an interracial couple in Nova Scotia province. It's a subscriber-only piece, but Sen. Oliver - who represents Nova Scotia province - argues that Canadians must challenge the lie that racism is not an issue anymore, and that deliberate acts of racial hatred are more than simply symbolic: "Building a cross that will burn is not an act undertaken in the heat of the moment. Rather, it takes deliberate forethought, time and effort. You must soak the wood in kerosene or coal oil for hours, if not days. You have to nail the boards together and then carve a point at one end to drive the cross into the ground. To build a cross that will burn, you must think about it, plan it, and work at it."

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Jonetta Rose Barras: "Del. Norton Ignores Constituents"

The moderate columnist in D.C. accuses Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) - Washington, D.C.'s non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives - of tone-deafness bordering on hypocrisy: "The political maneuvering of District congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton can be breathtaking. She's been known to brush aside her constituents' desires, favoring her own or those of her beloved Democratic Party. Last week, for example, she proudly announced her victory in pushing back efforts in the Senate to mandate a public vote on same-sex marriage. Yet, the majority of District residents -- proponents and opponents -- believe the issue should be placed on the ballot, according to a poll released earlier this year."

Ms. Barras continues her commentary about Del. Norton: "Norton also held up for attention her $5 million request for 2011 to President Obama's administration. She wants the money to help District children who were closed out of the federally funded Opportunity Scholarship Program after initially being accepted. Those children would have received up to $7,500 a year to attend any private or parochial school of their choice. But they won't get that subsidy because the program is being phased out. 'I cannot imagine sending a child to a school everybody knows is terrible,' Norton told me. Get out of here! Norton knows she and other Democrats are the reason the program has yet to be reauthorized, after its initial five-year funding expired. When her party gained control of the House, it was on Dems' top 10 list of things to kill. The Obama administration agreed to fund the scholarships for only two more years -- despite the fact hundreds of low-income black and Hispanic children accepted for 2010 would be turned away and other young people already in the program might not be able to finish."

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