Mitt Romney
No Apology
The Case for American Greatness Blinkist: Key insights from non-ďŹ ction books. Read only what matters at http://blinki.st
Read the key messages from Mitt Romney’s “No Apology” These questions are answered: § How can unique American values prevail? § How can the US maintain its global role? § How can the US remain a prosperous nation well into the future?
How to read the blinks: Each blink will start with a short key message, after which the reasoning behind it will be explained in a succinct text. By reading through all blinks you will quickly gain a solid understanding of the book and the thinking behind it. Please note that this document does not cover the entire book, merely the main messages conveyed in it as understood by us. We are not a political organization and our only goal is to help people get a handle on two books they would be very unlikely to read otherwise. Wishing you many happy reading moments and flashes of insight, Team Blinkist
Blinkist: Read only what matters. Discover more content and sign-up for our newsletter at http://blinki.st Introduction
America faces dire challenges, but can overcome them to maintain its position as a world leading nation. If history has taught us anything, it is that entrenched success is very vulnerable. All great empires have eventually collapsed: the Chinese dynasties, the Ottomans and most recently the British colonial empire. In this context, after over half a century as a superpower, Americans should be concerned about the challenges the US faces today. More promisingly though, history also tells of many fortuitous turnarounds followed by continued prosperity. By meeting today’s challenges head on, America can emerge even stronger than before and remain the world’s leading nation. Sadly, this view is apparently not shared by President Obama, who acts as if America is in an inevitable decline. His attitude was well represented by the “apology tour“ he began his presidency with: touring foreign audiences to apologize for American misdeeds, both real and imagined. Like kindling to a fire, this signalled to anti-American groups that their sentiments are justified, greatly undermining and weakening America’s position. While Obama wins high praise from many of America’s enemies, he has alienated its allies by courting rogue countries like North Korea and Iran. If continually snubbed, America’s allies may well conclude they cannot count on America to be strong, and will eventually be drawn into other, less democratic spheres of influence. America’s global objective should not be popularity, but strength. A strong America does not threaten world peace, it helps preserve it. Despite all its mistakes and faults, at its heart America is fundamentally a “good“ nation and has a vital global role to play. As president Lincoln put it, the United States are “the last, best hope for earth“. America faces dire challenges, but can overcome them to maintain its position as a world leading nation. Blink 1 of 10
Elected representatives must act in the long-term interests of the nation, not pander to polls or ďŹ nanciers. According to the founding fathers, the job of an elected representative is to look after the long-term interests of the nation rather than to be popular. Politicians should take this advice to the heart. Especially on the national level, career politicians all too often become slavish populists who put ratings before their job. While letting ratings dictate policy is a problem, the influence of campaign finance is an even bigger one. Although the old system was certainly not perfect either, the new opaque campaign finance system has in fact increased the influence of contributions on policy, not lessened it. The only difference is that now the power is wielded by those who raise the funds, not those who write the checks. The unions have become campaign heavyweights, amassing huge funds and spending them without restrictions. In fact, in some cities and states, union backing is a near-prerequisite to being elected. Similarly “independent expenditure committeesâ€? are allowed to receive unlimited donations and spend them as they see fit, effectively bypassing the individual contribution limit. President Obama spent $750 million on his campaign, breaking his promise to abide by the practice of accepting public funding and spending limits. Sadly, the example he set means money and campaign contributions will continue to play an increasing role in politics. Compared to the current system, it would be preferable simply to allow anyone to contribute an unlimited amount to the candidate they wish, as long as they posted that information publicly on the internet. The influence of populism and campaign finance can only be countered by strengthening the commitment to responsible citizenship and fundamental American values espoused by the founding fathers. Elected representatives must act in the long-term interests of the nation, not pander to polls or financiers. Blink 2 of 10
Traditional family settings and American values should be strengthened to provide the best opportunities for future generations. One of the most critical social problems that the US faces is the dramatic increase of children born out of wedlock: Over the past 50 years, the share of children born outside of marriage has increased from 7% to 40%. Compared to their peers, the children of single mothers are more likely to be abused, suffer from poverty, wind up in jail, use cocaine and perform in the bottom half of their class. The traditional family unit of a man and a woman raising children is unequivocally good for the economy and for future generations. Despite these facts, the government’s policies today often discourage marriage. A young couple falling in love and having a baby will receive significantly less money from the government if they marry than if they don’t. These marriage-penalizing policies must change. Another deeply divisive family-issue is abortion, because it pits two fundamental American values against each other: respect for life and love of personal liberty. While women considering abortion can face terrible pressures and fears, and should be helped in every way possible, the starting point must always be the innocence and vulnerability of the child waiting to be born. The Supreme Court wields tremendous power in many family issues, hence judges should be appointed who will uphold the traditional values of the Constitution, rather than trying to change America’s national character. Traditional family settings and American values should be strengthened to provide the best opportunities for future generations.
Blink 3 of 10
The US must maintain its ability to project both hard and soft power abroad. The Cold War may be over, but there are still a number of global threats to American prosperity and the values it advocates: China’s rapidly expanding economy fuels military growth, allowing them to project power all across Eastern Asia. Worryingly, their development is focused on precisely those areas which cripple America’s ability to protect allies like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Meanwhile, Putin is rebuilding Russia into its former repressive, autocratic form while holding Europe in an energy stranglehold. And let’s not forget jihadists, who swear to destroy America while Iran and North Korea pose an ever increasing nuclear threat. To remain the world’s foremost military power in the face of these threats, the US must strive to invest a minimum of 4% of its GDP into the military, at least doubling Russia’s and China’s own targets, while also pushing its allies to strengthen their militaries. This will help keep America strong, and a strong America helps preserve world peace. Within defense spending, the priorities are clear: robust strategic nuclear defenses must be maintained as well as America’s control of the sea, air and space. At the same time, counterinsurgency operations must be developed and new, gamechanging technologies like Chinese cyber-warfare and anti-satellite weapons defended against. In addition to hard military power, America must learn to project soft power more effectively. For example, the US donates 12% of global foreign aid, far more than any other nation, yet is easily overshadowed in the public mind by other, more effectively branded and promoted aid programs. The US must maintain its ability to project both hard and soft power abroad.
Blink 4 of 10
Alternatives to foreign oil must be pursued while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. The most pressing matter in the US’ energy policy today is the jeopardized energy security situation. Since the 90s, America’s dependence on foreign oil has risen from 42% to 58% of total consumption, a trend which weakens its foreign policy options and leaves it vulnerable to cartels and price shocks. Although it accounts for 24% of the world’s oil consumption, the US only holds 2,4% of global reserves. This means it is absolutely vital to pursue a proactive energy policy. When discussing energy, climate change must be addressed as well: Climate change is happening, but the amount attributable to human actions is not clear, and hence the extremely costly measures proposed to curb it must be examined critically. Many argue that the money needed could save far more lives if invested in e.g. AIDS research or micronutrient malnutrition. Also, despite even extreme efforts, the US and other developed countries alone cannot halt global warming: China, India and other developing countries are producing more and more greenhouse gases every day, projected to contribute 80% of global emissions by 2030. In light of these facts, lower greenhouse gas emissions should be pursued at home only when it also increases the energy security of the US. At the same time, the US should work internationally to lessen global emissions. Nuclear power is beneficial from both the energy security and the emissions perspective, as is natural gas, solar and wind power, hence they should all be aggressively pursued as domestic energy sources. The legacy of future American generations must not be an unhealthy earth or an America dependent on others for its primary fuel. Alternatives to foreign oil must be pursued while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. Blink 5 of 10
Free trade, innovation and increased productivity are the keys to getting the economy back on track. The economic crisis is now firmly in the spotlight of the nation. Rather than focusing on solving it, President Obama has used it as a tool to pursue his liberal agenda: trade-promoting agreements have been stalled, healthcare is heading into the federal government’s control and funds meant to save the financial system have been used for bailouts instead. The only way to put the economy back on track is by improving productivity and innovating new ideas and products. This process will be bittersweet, as the former may result in lost jobs, but the latter will always create new ones. The government must not interfere, as the process is part of the natural cycle of the free market, but everything possible should be done to help those who have lost their jobs adjust and move to new rising industries. Rather than interfere, what the government can do instead is ensure the availability of people and capital to businesses through increasing the number of highly educated people in the country, both American and immigrant, and maintaining low inflation rates and a properly functioning financial system. As a rule, the government should also not interfere with free trade to protect domestic companies from foreign competition. This is a misguided effort. Although it is always painful to see American jobs lost, restricting trade only prolongs the pain of restructuring if the industry is uncompetitive. As always, the economy will eventually right itself, and the credit will belong to free enterprise and trade, not enterprising government. Free trade, innovation and increased productivity are the keys to getting the economy back on track.
Blink 6 of 10
To help businesses be proďŹ table, the burdens of overregulation and complex taxation should be lifted. On the campaign trail, Republicans are often accused of putting profits before people. In the recent crisis though, people have seen for themselves what happens when companies are not profitable: they falter, lay people off and go bankrupt, whereas profitable companies grow and create new jobs. Profits are for people, not before them, and hence we should help companies, both big and small be profitable. Laws and regulations are essential for a prosperous nation and can often help the economy. Good examples of this are the labor regulations which ensure equal opportunities for all. On the other hand, outdated or overly burdensome regulations can stifle industries and small business. What are needed are dynamic regulations, which are forward-looking, up-to-date and consistently applied. It is a well-known fact that heavy government taxation discourages entrepreneurship and innovation, so the double taxation of dividends should be eliminated for middle-income families. Currently even a successful entrepreneur can lose nearly two-thirds of his earnings to the government, crippling his ability to grow his business and create new jobs. Meanwhile, America’s corporate tax rate is tied with Japan as the highest in the developed world, but the tax code itself is a complex jungle of breaks and loopholes. Since only large companies have the armies of lawyers needed to take advantage of the breaks, small businesses are effectively taxed more than large ones. Eliminating these breaks, simplifying the tax code and switching to lower but uniform taxation would benefit everyone. To help businesses be profitable, the burdens of overregulation and complex taxation should be lifted.
Blink 7 of 10
“Obamacare” should be repealed and the grossly misaligned incentives in the healthcare system corrected. In Massachusettes, a healthcare model was pioneered which allowed 98% of citizens to have health insurance without signifantly increasing the state’s budget. This was achieved by incentivizing people to buy their own insurance and subsidizing those who could not afford it. While Obamacare does bear certain similarities to this succesful model, it will not work nation-wide and should be repealed and replaced. It raises taxes, cuts benefits for seniors and creates a jungle of regulations for small businesses. Each state should be allowed to experiment to find its own optimal system instead of having a uniform federal healthcare model forced upon them. Unfortunately, access to healthcare is only the tip of the iceberg: Actual healthcare costs are spiralling out of control, projected to consitute a third of the economy by 2040, up from just 5% in 1960 and 18% today. The runaway costs are due to incentives in healthcare being completely misaligned with national interests. Consumers have no incentive to search for effective healthcare providers, since their insurance deductibles will be the same in any case. Doctors and hospitals perform unnecessary examinations and procedures because they are paid by quantity of actions taken, not by the results they produce. The answer is to realign the incentives so that the free market can tame the costs. Patients should be pushed towards payment methods like co-insurance, which encourage them to select low-cost, high-quality providers. Hospitals and doctors should be paid according to the results they deliver, e.g. a fixed fee for catering to a person’s lifetime healthcare needs. This would also encourage them more clearly to help the patient stay healthy in the long run, e.g. through dietary advice. “Obamacare” should be repealed and the grossly misaligned incentives in the healthcare system corrected.
Blink 8 of 10
To repair the broken education system, teachers must be put in focus. Though it is one of the prime determinants of the country’s future, the state of America’s education system is deplorable. School children, both poor and rich, lag far behind other developed nations in performance and a staggering 29% of students fail to finish high school, which virtually guarantees a future of poverty for them. Teachers’ unions are powerful entities, which defend the interests of their members, as they are meant to. Unfortunately, they also hold tremendous political sway and can help get officials elected who will enforce their preferred policies. The result is that often there is no one left to stand up for the education of future generations. For example, despite compelling data that classroom size does not correlate with education results, unions continue to demand smaller classrooms to create more jobs for their members. For decades, this has meant decreasing class sizes and pouring ever more money into the system, without the results improving. To truly revive the education system, teachers must be put in focus. They must be selected with more care, paid far better than today and given the training and mentoring needed in their demanding jobs. Currently, unions stop any efforts to systematically reward good teachers and remove poor ones, just as they oppose innovations like online classes and homeschooling. Nevertheless, these developments can still greatly improve America’s schools. What is needed now is the kind of leadership in government that will refocus education policy on the future of American children. To repair the broken education system, teachers must be put in focus.
Blink 9 of 10
The current entitlement program is unsustainable and will lead to ever higher national debt. The American dream rests on people pursuing happiness, not being entitled to it. Social security, Medicare and Medicaid form an important safety net of entitlements for those unable to care for themselves, but their costs have run out of control. Currently, they constitute over half of all federal spending and by midcentury will consume all of it. To cover this increase, payroll taxes would have to triple in the same period, or more likely, the money would have to be borrowed. Awareness about the looming entitlements crisis needs to be raised. One clear improvement would be creating a public national balance sheet to make politicians accountable for the long-term liabilities caused by their decisions. More critically, all three big entitlement programs need to be dramatically reshaped to avoid disastrous tax hikes and rising national debt. But entitlements are not the only thing growing the already massive national debt: President Obama’s budgets aim to add $9 trillion to it in the next decade alone. Currently, more than 40% of individual income taxes go to just servicing the interest on debt. This drain on national income can easily lead to a vicious cycle of debt leading to deficit leading to more debt, eventually resulting in either catastrophic default or devastating hyperinflation. A mountain of national debt is not the legacy either Democrats or Republicans wish to leave their children, and it is a problem both must work to solve. The current entitlement program is unsustainable and will lead to ever higher national debt.
Blink 10 of 10
Congratulations on reading “No Apology” in blinks, here's a recap of what you've learned: The key message in this book is that with a strong economy and military as well as free, entrepreneurial people, the US can prevail as a prosperous, leading global nation. The questions this book answered: How can unique American values prevail? § America faces dire challenges, but can overcome them and maintain its position as a world leading nation. § Elected representatives must act in the long-term interests of the nation, not pander to polls or financiers. § Traditional family settings and American values should be strengthened to provide the best opportunities for future generations. How can the US maintain its global role? § The US must maintain its ability to project both hard and soft power abroad. § Alternatives to foreign oil must be pursued while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. How can the US remain a prosperous nation well into the future? § Free trade, innovation and increased productivity are the keys to getting the economy back on track. § To help businesses be profitable, the burdens of overregulation and complex taxation should be lifted. § “Obamacare” should be repealed and the grossly misaligned incentives in the healthcare system corrected. § To repair the broken education system, teachers must be put in focus. § The current entitlement program is unsustainable and will lead to ever higher national debt. Final Summary
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Credits: Book cover credits: Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore. Taken from http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Datei:Mitt_Romney_by_Gage_Skidmore_3.jpg&filetimestamp=20111207013033
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