For the entire hubbub over Mitt Romney's effective tax rate, I think the bigger issue was his comment that dismissed $374,000 as no money, or as my friend Ellis Henican called it, "chump change." You see, I think his comment points to a greater challenge for the nation that has led to the big stumble over the past several decades. Romney grew up with money. George Romney was chairman and CEO of American Motors then left for politics that saw him elected governor of Michigan for three terms. He later ran for the GOP nomination for president but came up short, dropping out early in the race and later joining the Nixon cabinet.

George Romney once turned down a $100,000 bonus back in 1960 and told his board that executives needed not to make more than $225,000, or $1.4 million in 2012 dollars. In fact according to a piece in yesterday's Washington Post, Romney turned down $268,000 over a five year period. Fast forward to this week, and his son dismisses $374,000 as not much money, even making it seem like it might have gotten stuck in the sofa. This does make him seem out of touch, but I think there is a different red flag that we should all pay attention to and be introspective about; taking our riches for granted and not being grateful to the point we are arrogant is certainly a red flag.

There is no way the world should be as competitive with America as it is right now, but it's because we became complacent and arrogant. We got to a point where we were so far ahead that the little things stopped mattering, and the urgency to stick to the game plan was ignored. We had it made. Even today "poor" Americans would qualify as the top 1% of world earners. But how do we achieve success and build upon the shoulders of those that came before us once we're in that rarified air? They say the sky is the limit, but what happens if you're born in the sky, or your country is at the highest altitude of any other country in the world?

It's easy to dismiss Mitt Romney as being out of touch, but it's not just rich people that look down their nose at "chump change" or "chump wages." A lot of supposedly poor people have the same kind of attitude. I know young people that have dropped out of high school yet look down their nose at a job at McDonalds. Yet these same young adults aspire to the things in life that cost a lot of money. Martin Luther King Jr called it the "drum major instinct," the idea of leading the parade or keeping up with the Joneses. Aspirations are great, but understanding them takes elbow grease, and commitment to be the drum major seems to be lost on so many.

I guess I got my swagger back
Truth: new watch alert, Hublot's
Or the big face Rollie
I got two of those
Jay Z & Kayne West

I grapple with this situation with my son. At 15 years old, he can spot a Hublot from a mile away and knows all the specs for the most expensive cars in the world. At his age, I simply wanted a car and had no clue about anything beyond the Caddy. As for watches, I loved my Timex that was a gift from a family friend. I like that my son wants the finer things in life, but I don't like that right now his work ethic isn't up to par with earning those things. He's a nice kid, and smart, but at this very moment, he doesn't have the internal engine needed to roar to the top of the heap. I guest a lot of that is my fault.

Things are different these days when it comes to getting your kids on track. It was never hard for my mother to get my mind right. I feel he's going to come around and be a world-beater, but he has to quicken the pace very soon. The fact is America has to quicken the pace and stop assuming great stuff is going fall into its lap and go out and earn and create great stuff. This is a serious challenge.

It's easy to say Mitt Romney is out of touch by dismissing a few hundred grand, but the more I think about it, the more in-touch he might actually be. And if that is the case, then we're all in a lot of trouble.

Keystone Politics

If you see Washington DC as nothing more than those old Keystone Kops follies, then yesterday's decision by the White House to skip the Keystone pipeline must have been hilarious. Sadly, it's not a laughing matter. By denying this project, which could knock out so many birds with a single stone, President Obama is saying he takes marching orders from environmentalists and not from unemployed welders, or even unions in this case. Last night on Payne Nation, Rayola Dougher, senior economic advisor at the American Petroleum Institute said President Obama was "genuflecting" to the "extreme elements" in his party.

Gasoline prices are up 85% since inauguration day, and most experts agree they will reach sustained record highs this year. I think it's crazy to force Canada to sell this oil to China. There is no environmental issue, but this is going to be a springboard to a greater campaign against fracking and horizontal drilling. For the record, Dougher reminded me that fracking has been around for 60 years while the horizontal part of it is relatively new. It's been a miracle allowing for cheaper natural gas and an avalanche of good-paying American jobs. Do we want to freeze progress and roll it backwards? I thought jobs were priority number one.

By the way, yesterday a Russian tanker finished unloading 296,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline and half of 580,000 gallons of diesel to Nome Alaska. Following a US Coast Guard icebreaker, the ship delivered the fuel to alleviate a situation that the commissioner for the Alaska Department of Environment stated "clearly jeopardize the residents" ability to heat their homes and survive late winter and spring conditions. This was a unique situation, but it illustrates how tenuous our energy situation is, and could become, if we try to kill this industry.

Message of the Market

In a nutshell, the message of the market is that this rally is real! I understand you're worried, and I even got an email from a guy that said my commentary about the war on business is right and that's why he's not going to get involved. Yes the war is real, but so too is the greatness of America. Last year the foundation of free markets and capitalism took a shot to the gut and didn't fall ... it stumbled for sure, but stood tall in the end. Even if this is a product of cyclical timing and proves short-lived, you should take advantage. The key for the next couple of days will be housing data and corporate earnings.

Comments

I feel it will be a very difficult task to get the country and our children's work ethic back on track. Our workforce is primarily foreigners. Tha administration has said this workforce majored in Economics, Math,IT, they are more educated in the fields necessary to move the country forward. The young people hear this, what is their incentive? We need to stress to them, you have to work to live. I told my children, getting their education was their job. I called their back packs"briefcases". They were not rewarded for getting good grades because that was their job. I knew their strengths, so I made certain I had extra books, etc. To help them become the best. I stressed college but I also stressed working during college, part time. It would be difficult but it would prepare them for the workforce. Sometime its necessary to work 2 jobs to survive. This is how I succeeded with my children. Todays youth need to go to school, not drop out, it maybe an idea to have a 24/7, hotline for the youth to call to speak with experts, in all fields. The youth can ask questions or simply find out what is required to reach their career goal. Or maybe recorded messages can be a part of the hotline. This is my comment to today's question. DB Debbie Beech on 1/19/2012 10:17:16 AM

To get an entitlement such as food stamp, welfare ect you MUST work, doing things like clean restrooms at rest stops, assist the custodial staff at schools where they are stretched too thin, clean parks, many jobs where the paid employee staff is too small the entitlemet receiver can assist for 25 - 30 hours a week, the other remaining hours in a 40 hour work week can be used to look for a JOB!! c on 1/19/2012 10:26:05 AM

put a limit to the amount of weeks a person can receive unemployment benefits with out working. @ 12 weeks require the person to do 10 hours a week of public service, cleaning parks, or working on park trails. Then at 20 weeks require that they work 20 hours a week, with metrics provided to ensure that they are working. There are many public service projects that could be done in addition to parks, picking up litter, removing graffiti etc. There should be no free ride, ever. If the person does not want to work, then no benefits. the Tibetans are the most communal people, the community owns the land, houses and fields. When a person works in the field he get a mark in the accountants book for that day. at the end of the harvest he gets a percentage of the harvest based upon his work participation, so no work, no part of the harvest. Those that cannot work in the fields clean the communal areas, watch the children etc, there are no slackers, if they slack the do not receive. David Huber on 1/19/2012 10:44:14 AM

Part of your commentary about Mitt is wrong. Mitt did not accept any compensation while he was governor of Massachusetts. I'm not sure if he simply did not take it or went directly to a charity. In either case he did not take the money. So you can say in that regard he is his father's son. Regarding getting kids into a work ethic, I watched Juan Williams interview with Bill O'Reilly. He stated that if jobs were available kids of every background would have a line around the corner to get that job. Please understand I don't have a prejudice bone in my body. A little story. In 1988 I went through financial hard times and my oldest daughter just started college at North Adams State College. Because of the family situation it was an absolute necessity that she had to provide a substantial part of her tuition. On the college bulletin board was a job opening as a dormitory worker. She was told the job was set aside for minorities and was refused. The job stayed open for over a month until a minority took the job. She came home every weekend , an 80 mile drive so she could work as a waitress. So Juan was completely wrong and until minorities own up, that unfortunately they have been misguided with government a heavy contributor they are never going to get ahead. It's not the kids fault, we have gone down the wrong path as a society. By the way my daughter is doing very well. Married, 4 kids, and is chief editor for a major publisher. Thanks, Lou Lou Amelia on 1/19/2012 10:45:55 AM

Socialism is a disease that kills initiative and stunts individual growth. For decades we have allowed politicians, through soaring rhetoric and promises of a brighter future, to slowly steal what was once the heart and soul of America...the "can do" spirit that opened the doors to opportunity and success...the spirit that allowed ordinary people to aspire to and achieve things that now seem impossible. Through our apathy we allowed government to slowly replace the American "can do" spirit with what we have today, an entitlement society where what was once a safety net has now become a hammock. Apathy was the key that unlocked the door to socialism. Apathy caused the "can do" spirit to be replaced with a SUTTOG (suck on the tit of government) mentality. Once we know what the problem is (socialism), what caused it (apathy) and what it resulted in (children who expect rather than respect), fixing the problem seems rather straight forward. Use the ballot box to elect zebras of a different stripe but, of course, that will require climbing out of your hammock. George on 1/19/2012 12:07:12 PM

I think part of the problem was brought out in the last Republican debate: Contrast this commentary with the last Republican debate where Juan Williams basically said that it is an “insult” to poor black children to ask them to work!!! Dean Greer on 1/19/2012 12:48:37 PM

The age of Iphones, Ipods, Ipads etc has created a sense of entitlement in this country. Folks, the only thing your are entitled too is a swift swat on the butt when you are born! Everything else you EARN. America became great because of OPPORTUNITY.....not ENTITLEMENTS. The sooner we get back to that ethic.....the sooner we return to greatness. The Colonel on 1/19/2012 12:50:12 PM

I'm afraid the only teacher is reality in our case. A resounding failure is the lesson plan that seems to work. At least that was the only lesson I've ever paid attention to. What that means for a nation is frightening to imagine. I'm not sure there will be an arena left standing for us to pick ourselves up in if we allow ourselves to fail as a culture, a nation. Art on 1/19/2012 1:06:02 PM

Most kids have lost that sense of desire something you cannot teach. One would think that growing up with the wonderful things money can buy that kids would have that same yearning as did their parents who provided them. But unfortunately the sense of entitlement takes hold. These kids including my own are in for a rude awakening and it's coming soon. Michael on 1/19/2012 1:12:31 PM

In regards to the raising and education of children: Provide them with the basics - food, shelter, clothing, games that challenge their intellect and lots of love. Make them work for anything extra that they want - doing chores at home and working part time when they get into high school. Once a child is 16 they have to do 1 of 2 things after school: Participate in a sport or school activity or get a job. No more sitting around the house texting, playing games, and watching TV. My 35 year and 39 year old children were raised this way and both own their own businesses today. (In high school, lots of lawns were mowed to make money). College was not optional - it was a parental expectation. As for education: Get back to basics and high expectations. Don't reward for 'participating', but for excellence. We need to re-instill the competitive spirit in our children. (This applies to sports, too). Marilyn on 1/19/2012 2:17:59 PM

Thank you for this article. Julie Beenblossom on 1/19/2012 2:30:17 PM

We start like any professional football team which is blocking and tackling. We start with the basics in our education system, reading, writing and math. We stop with the 99 weeks of unemployment insurance. We start with requiring individuals on welfare to work, and that means not to breakup the family but with keeping the family together. We could even start a two years of national service (if not the military this service could be either City, County, State or Federal). Bob Medkeff on 1/19/2012 5:39:19 PM

Romney's inability to connect with ordinary folks is a fatal flaw. The only rich guys who won the presidency on their own -- FDR and JFK -- both had it. Bill Clinton had the common touch, too, but barely made it with the help of Ross Perot. Obama could fake it, but you can only do that for so long. Politicians, like stock analysts, need to know what's going on in the living rooms and kitchens all over America. Gingrich, with all his faults, has it, and so does Santorum at his best. It amazed me how easily the pundits crowned Romney coming right out of the gate. Money can't buy the love of the American people. The GOP establishment has a tin ear on that. If they want to win, it's time to get real. Dennis Howard on 1/20/2012 9:44:28 AM

this is an older question concerning getting our children to work, a few years ago when was young, got called to go fill in on Sunday, My mother drove around town to find me and rell me to go to work !!! i did. I had three jobs till I started taking collage courses at night. Our children had saving accounts whrn they were 5 years old, they all worked during high school(if they wanted gas for the car), played sports band etc. During Collage they worked at various jobs and labs to get their food and room money, 9mom and dad paid the tuition)today 2 - md's and 1- phd it all starts with the values when they are young david on 2/7/2012 3:18:14 PM

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