Small Business Owners Rebuild the Party

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Comment by Andrea Kosko on March 18, 2009 at 2:26pm

In Memory of Actor and Patiot, Ron Silver ... please see this op-ed piece from today's Wall Street Journal:

Ron Silver died on Sunday of cancer, at age 62, having starred in movies, theater and politics. As an actor, he won a Tony Award in 1988 for his performance in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow," and more recently he was better known for his role as a hard-bitten political consultant on "The West Wing" on television.

But Silver's most notable legacy was his real-life political activism. A self-described life-long liberal, Silver rallied to the defense of his country and his hometown, New York City, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Three years later, he spoke at the Republican National Convention in New York, reminding his audience that "This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war to which we had to respond." He had held similarly hawkish views during the Cold War, and he rebutted those who see America as little different than its enemies: "History shows that we are not imperialists."

By his own account, he suffered professionally for those convictions, but he sought no sympathy for whatever price he may have paid in Hollywood for his stand on the war on terror or his vocal criticism of the United Nations, about which he made a documentary in 2005. In "Broken Promises," Silver held the U.N. to account for its failure to live up to its stated ideals, even as his acting colleagues derided President Bush for using military force against tyrants. His brother, Mitchell Silver, told the New York Times that Silver's politics "were not shared by anyone he knew." His politics, in other words, were born of conviction, not convenience, which is one way to describe an honest patriot.

Comment by Andrea Kosko on January 24, 2009 at 9:32pm

Catherine - a very timely topic! My sister and I are the third generation in our family's retail business. Like you, we try to patronize small, independent businesses in our area. I have noticed recently that, while some large chain stores have fallen on hard times, we are experiencing steady, if slow, business. In my opinion, small businesses like yours and ours are actually poised to succeed in these difficult times. Because we are "minding the store" every single day, we know our customers and treat them better than the chain stores. Generally speaking, consumers will pay a little more for superior service. "Main Street" businesses will survive if they remember this.

Comment by Catherine Fay on January 24, 2009 at 11:35am

Having been in a small business since 1980, We (my husband and myself) have always tried to do business with the other local business owners. I am finding this to get harder and harder. I Shop the local small grocery store, but there seems to be nothing else left. In our case, we had an auto parts store. We sold it in 1998 because we couldn't give full service, and sell it cheap. We kept our machine shop, and have found a niche in rebuilding engines and doing valve jobs. This is how we have survived the past 29 years.
We used to not get political or give our opinions on politics because of business. Now it seems it doesn't matter. I am also noticing that the younger generation is not as liberal as the liberal press makes them out to be.
Any ideas' or solutions to how to keep the small business alive and on Main Street?

Comment by Andrea Kosko on January 8, 2009 at 11:01pm

To all my terrific Rebuild the Party friends - please join me at http://reagan2petition.ning.com/ and sign in. I promise you, you'll sleep better after you sign the petition to encourage our leaders to embrace Ronald Reagan's proven principles for economic recovery. Can you say "Tax Rate Cuts?"

Comment by Ron Wright on December 24, 2008 at 11:46am

Dear Santa - Please don’t deliver “card checking” Signed Tech Community

Tech Community lining up against the Unions:
http://www.goptechcouncil.com/issues-blog/

Comment by Artemio Temo Muniz on December 10, 2008 at 6:00pm

greetings!