Dear Readers and Advertisers,
In light of the current political events, here and abroad, I am asking for your help.
I am unwilling to see friends and family at risk and remain silent and passive. We need to do what we can to prepare and force our government to prepare for conflict.
We are potentially on the verge of war with another super-power. War would obviously be catastrophic for most of the domestic residential, commercial and agricultural construction industry.
War would obviously be catastrophic. If the conflict remains confined the uncertainty combined with increasing energy prices and general inflation creates a near-perfect storm that would be disastrous for our industry.
There are several things our government needs to do immediately. One of the foremost is to reinstate exploration and drilling on federal land. Petroleum products are critical for a war effort and take time to process to a usable form. It would also undermine our opponents’ cash flow and ability to continue its aggressions.
We also need to stop allocating funding to frivolous programs. Our spending-to-GDP ratio is comparable to that during World War II. With this level of debt, we cannot afford to fight a war. We can resume these programs after the conflict. In the concept of guns and butter, it is unfortunately time for guns.
I am not advocating war. Weakness and appeasement have never prevented violence. Consider this quote: “A man unskilled in violence can no more claim to be a pacifist than a eunuch can claim celibacy.” We need to be prepared and current policy does not have that result.
During the pandemic we provided a resource to contact your representatives and send pre-written letters. We are in the process of relaunching a similar initiative.
Please do everything in your power to persuade the administration to take the steps necessary to prepare, including opening energy production and reallocation of unspent money from the stimulus programs to our military.
The only thing worse than war is fighting a war you are not prepared to fight.
Speaking out now is not only what is best for our industry, it is the morally right thing to do. Please contact your representatives and become active in any way you can.
Thank you for your support and may God bless those placed in harm’s way.
By Gary Reichert, Publisher/CEO
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