Dec
19
By Katie Kieffer
Everyone wants a piece of 24-year-old Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Most people settle for a high-five or an autograph. Others ask him to surrender his values, like the young women who beg him for fan photos and then start stripping off their shirts—sending Tebow darting away.
Tebow has All-American character. He espouses capitalistic values that are foundational to America: Competitiveness, ownership, responsibility, hard work, optimism, faith and persistence.
Dec
12
By Katie Kieffer
I want a coal plant for Christmas, and not because I’m a naughty girl. I want lots of coal so I can power up the high-tech toys Santa is bringing me, including an electronic robot maid that cooks and cleans, a 32-meter-wide TV and a modern, coal-fired steam locomotive that allows me to bypass the TSA Grope Squad when I travel cross-country.
OK, so Santa probably won’t be sending a full-size, coal-fired train down my chimney. But, like many of you, I may be getting small electronics for Christmas (or Hanukkah). As millions of us ring in the New Year by adding new gadgets to the power grid, we need to make sure we have ample electricity to fire up our cutting-edge iPads, TVs, sound systems and smartphones.
Americans get almost half of their electricity from coal. I think coal is a wonderful source of energy and we need to continue producing it.
Dec
05
By Katie Kieffer
I have a slam-dunk plan for creating jobs: Frack, baby, frack. Move like Shaq. Let’s beat the buzzer, Shaq-style, and score points for the U.S. economy. Frack Attack!
Like basketball referees, ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch Ratings are signaling they may join Standard and Poor’s in calling a foul on the U.S. economy. The good news is that we can move toward recovery by fracking shale for gas and oil—producing energy and creating jobs simultaneously.
Nov
28
By Katie Kieffer
Like a bad lover, the EPA is a nagging, beguiling mooch. The EPA unconstitutionally barged into our lives and we need to break free from this destructive relationship; let’s give the EPA a two-letter title beginning with ‘E’ and ending with ‘X.’
President Nixon formed a group called the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization to help him sidestep Congress and mold public policy. On April 29, 1970, the Council wrote a memo advising Nixon to establish: “an Environmental Protection Administration, a new independent agency of the Executive Branch. … [and the] Executive Branch should be so structured that a high order of public interest is served in making policy, rather than a narrower advocacy position.”
Nov
21
By Katie Kieffer
Like a good neighbor, Canada is there—offering America tens of thousands of jobs, protection against soaring gas prices and up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day for Oklahoma and Gulf Coast refineries to process—if America accepts TransCanada’s proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta’s tar sands to the Gulf Coast.
Let’s say your neighbor invites you over to her holiday party and you respond: “No way, you’re an animal killer. Last year, you served meatballs at your party and I’m against animal cruelty.” Don’t expect your neighbor to ever talk to you again.
Nov
16
By Katie Kieffer
Baking is creative, festive and it taps into your entrepreneurial spirit. I hope you try making my cranberry crumble this Thanksgiving. You can top it with ice cream for a delicious dessert or serve it with bacon, coffee, tea and milk for a day-after-Thanksgiving brunch. It’s super easy to make and it adds a sweet and tangy punch to your holiday menu.
Nov
14
By Katie Kieffer
As children, we play “Follow the Leader.” As adults, we occasionally play “Follow the Playboy” because history shows us that imperfect men can lead.
Many pioneers in their field were brilliant men who made big mistakes. Alexander Hamilton—America’s founding father and first Secretary of the Treasury—had an affair with a married woman while he was married to the amiable mother of his eight children. King David—a biblical leader who received a special covenant from God—committed adultery with Bathsheba before he repented and passed his throne to Solomon. Tiger Woods—the Masters’ youngest winner and a 14-time major champion who inspired countless athletes for over three decades—lost Elin Nordegren through his adultery.
Nov
10
By Katie Kieffer
I love trying new food. I also love entrepreneurship. Combine the two and you get “Safari Express” – an exciting new fast-casual restaurant in Minneapolis run by Jamal Hashi.
Hashi is a friendly, energetic go-getter who immigrated to the United States from Africa. He quickly discovered that “Africa is a neglected market” and he set about starting a restaurant that would “introduce people to Africa.”
Nov
07
By Katie Kieffer
Steve Jobs was suspended from high school for playing a salacious prank on the graduating senior class. Biographer Walter Isaacson says Jobs and his friends tie-dyed a bedsheet with the school colors and enlisted one of their mothers to paint a large hand extending its middle finger across the sheet. Jobs hung the homespun banner from a school balcony and flipped off the seniors during their commencement procession.
It was as if the eventual college dropout and entrepreneurial billionaire wanted to say: “Eff formal education. I will learn and earn on my own terms.”
Today, President Obama is effectively giving college students and their parents his middle finger. Whereas Jobs’ prank was harmless and symbolic, the President’s plan to bail out student loans will derail the entrepreneurial dreams and financial security of countless young people.
Oct
31
By Katie Kieffer
I have tax reform guidelines, and they’re not for dummies. My guidelines are for smart people who think rationally. Irrational folks like Warren Buffet may need to eat a bag of Halloween candy before they’re alert enough to understand my conception of ethical taxation.
I think we need to ask ourselves a fundamental question: “Under what circumstances may our government rightfully seize and spend our money?”