This is a great book for anyone interested in good government operation. Newt has really flourished with his views and articulates them much better since leaving public office. I have always been a fan of Newt, as a Congressman and then as Speaker of the House. He took one for the team, when he resigned after the Republicans lackluster election performance. I should note that I have possessed on my vehicles in the past a “Newt Speaks For Me” bumper sticker.
Some worthy excerpts from Wining the Future are:
On Public Employee Unions: “America is a better country for the dedication of Samuel Gompers and others who worked to create the union movement. But the union movement as it stands today has become an obstacle to America’s economic growth because the union leadership is often resistant to necessary change.” Newt talks about how the Private sector unions have had to change to compete, however, the leadership of public employees unions is the worst. The public employees unions do not face the same pressure to change in order to compete. “They want to get as much out of the taxpayer as they can, and they want to avoid job changes for their members as much as possible.””They have become the most politically active union in the country. The more they control the school boards, state legislatures, and congressional delegations, the more they can deliver for their members and game the system to their favor.” Amen Newt.
On Balancing The Federal Budget: “We must replace administrative public bureaucracy with entrepreneurial public management to get the kind of improvements in productivity in the public sector that have happened in the private sector.” “We must privatize government agencies including the airports, Amtrak, the post office and the Tennessee Valley Authority. We need to develop partnerships between government and the private sector for those systems that need to remain in government but would benefit from the entrepreneurial drive and additional human and financial resources a private partner can bring to bear.”
This point is right on. Governmental agencies should only perform the task that are essential to the mission of the agency. My personal philosophy for years has been..If you can find in the phone book, Government ought not be doing it.
On The Key to 21st Century Success – Science and Technology:
“We should set as a goal eliminating 50 percent of the education bureaucracy outside the classroom and the laboratory and dedicate the savings to financing the improvements in math and science education.”
He hits the point on the education bureaucracy (in the past I have referred to it, as the education Mafia)
“We now have curriculum specialist who consult curriculum consultants who work with curriculum supervisors who manage curriculum department heads who occasionally actually met with teachers. The more we have spent on education, the smaller the share we have spent on inspiring and rewarding those doing the educating.”
On Getting Government to Move:
“Every Agency and every project must have:
1. A definition of success:
2. Strategies to achieve success;
3. Specific strategies necessary to succeed;
4. Specific tasks to compete the projects;
5. A requirement that customers, private sector experts, and Congress be consulted as a reality check on the bureaucracy.”
This is a not a novel idea to those of us with years of private sector business experience. To government bureaucrats that have never been employed outside the government this is as
realistic as them taking the next flight on the starship enterprise. All Government agencies should look toward bringing in individuals to key positions that have spent a considerable amount of time in the private sector, justifying and competing for their paychecks every week.
The characteristics of any good “governmental change agent” is set up every agency and every project using the 5 point plan outlined above.
On What You Can Do to Win The Future:
Newt talks about what you should do as a student, as a teacher, as a parent, as an alumnus, as a voter and ultimately as an American. I am going to highlight the portion as a parent and then as a voter. Because that fits me, more than the others. As a father reaching 40 quickly, the alumnus fire is leaving me as I approach paying for three college educations in the near future.
“As a parent you should pay attention to school campuses, textbooks, class activities, and special projects. You should visit your child’s classes and meet the teachers. You should complain if the textbooks, the curriculum, or special activities are biased and teach values incompatible with your own. You should insist on accountability so you can know whether your child is learning and whether or not the school is functioning effectively. You should insist on and be very supportive of discipline as the first key to an effective school, and the principal should know that he or she could count on you for support even if it is your child who needs disciplining.”
As a former school board member, in the four years that I served we adopted and purchased many different textbooks and not one time did any parent call the board members or appear at a board meeting to acknowledge that they examined a textbook or complained about a specific textbook. I have a copy of a history book that is used today, that has severe re-writing errors. By the way, it was purchased before I became a board member.
I am a product of the Knox County School System. I made the decision to enroll my children in public education. I stay abreast of issues with each child’s classroom and curriculum and when task like leaf collection are assigned that do not fit with the curriculum, I let the principal know. My role is to be a responsible parent, first and foremost. My wife and kids are the most precious gifts that God has blessed me with. I am certainly not worthy with what he has blessed me with.
“As a voter, your school board, state legislator, governor, and federal officials serve you. Hold them accountable.”
I am amazed at some of the people that get elected to positions. They don’t want to get yelled and/or cussed at. They never attend community meetings. They never accept speaking engagements in their community. They rely on someone else on their board to speak in their community and never take positions. I am not sure if it because they do not study the issues
or understand the role they play. Maybe they need the position so bad they feel to keep their head down and never make anybody mad will keep them without any opponent and sure of a government paycheck for 12-18 years.
I on the other hand, attended all the community meetings that I could the four years that I served as an elected official. I was the first and only school board member in the history of the Knox County School System to host town hall type meetings at every school in the district all four years. They were called “Community School Night”. I studied all the issues and made the decision that I felt represented my community and my core beliefs. In hindsight, it took a ton of time, and I am enjoying the view from where I am today.
