David Bahnsen

Member For

1 year 48 weeks

Website:

BIOGRAPHY

David L. Bahnsen, CFP®, works as a Senior Vice President in the private client group of one of the premier Wall Street firms in the country, where he provides financial planning and investment management services to individuals and families. He and his wife of eight years (Joleen) reside in Newport Beach, CA with their four-year old son, Mitchell, and two-year old daughter, Sadie. He is an active board member of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, where he serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Issues Committee. He is a contributing writer to, and investing partner in, Red County.com. He serves on the Blackstone Faculty of the Alliance Defense Fund, and is a Cooperating Board member of the Center for Cultural Leadership, where he is the Senior Fellow of Economics and Finance.

David is a disciple of Milton Friedman, a lover of Ronald Reagan, and a "National Review kind of conservative". His writings strive to reflect an ideology of freedom principles integrated with transcendent truths. His hero is his late father, Dr. Greg Bahnsen, but he is pretty fond of John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper, F.A. Hayek, Winston Churchill, C.S. Lewis, William Buckley, Margaret Thatcher, George Gilder, Steve Forbes, and Larry Kudlow as well. When he is not being so serious, he also admires Tiger Woods and Pete Carroll.

Hobbies include travel, fine dining, golfing, and sports. His true passions in life include anything pertaining to USC football, the financial markets, politics, his vacation condo in the desert, his gorgeous and brilliant children, and his lovely wife, Joleen.

COMMENTARIES

An Open Letter to Every Republican Running for Office in 2010

By David Bahnsen | 11/06/09

Dear Republican Candidate for Office (incumbent or otherwise) – We hope and trust that you are celebrating with us the results of the election Tuesday night. There may be a lot of work to do, but we have to celebrate baby steps these days, and seeing Republicans overwhelmingly elected in states that voted so dramatically the other way just one year ago can only be taken as a huge positive. Well, it is a huge positive if... read more »

7 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Huff and Puff and Blow the Big Tent Down

By David Bahnsen | 11/03/09

If you have not heard the new gospel of political wisdom -that for Republicans to ever win elections again, they need to think and vote like Democrats – then you are living under a rock. If you have not heard the expression, “big tent Republicanism” (a reference to a very inclusive kind of Republicanism that defines “Republicans” as – “all sorts of non-Republicans”), you have been asleep. If you... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Wow! The Stimulus is Creating $1 Million Jobs!!!

By David Bahnsen | 11/02/09

If you believe the numbers coming from the Obama administration's own mouth, the stimulus plan has created (or saved) 640,329 jobs so far. At a cost of $787 billion, that comes out to $1,229,056 per job. Good work if you can get it! Of course, these workers are not making $1.23 million per year. They are making less than $70,000. The vast majority of these jobs are public sector administrative jobs hired to oversee work... read more »

5 Comments | Related Topics »National |

The Left Doesn't Want You to be Happy!

By David Bahnsen | 10/30/09

I was blessed to spend this evening at the Acton Institute's annual dinner event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For those unfamiliar with Acton, change that now. They are a breath of fresh air in a day and age where the moral foundation of freedom has been abandoned, and the moral superiority of free markets has been forgotten. Their co-founder, Father Sirico, is a friend and patriot. He is a scholar in Catholic social thought,... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

Is Christianity Good for the World?

By David Bahnsen | 10/26/09

Is Christianity good for the world? That's the question asked in the DVD, Collision, an important work which releases tomorrow that I heartily commend. The immensely talented and passionate Darren Doane has directed a gripping piece highlighting the debate over God’s existence between Pastor Doug Wilson of Moscow, Idaho and the well-known secular writer, Christopher Hitchens. The video is gripping, the participants are most-compelling,... read more »

16 Comments | Related Topics »National |

The Murder of Lehman Brothers

By David Bahnsen | 10/25/09

I am not really sure where to start in reviewing Joseph Tibman’s new book, The Murder of Lehman Brothers. Like the preceding book on Lehman’s extraordinary fall (see my review of A Collosal Failure of Common Sense here), there is plenty of riveting stuff here, especially if read as a narrative. I should start my review by informing readers that we do not know who the author is. Joseph Tibman is an alias (shorthand for “The... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »National |

California Tax Commissions Plan Misses the Major Point

By David Bahnsen | 10/22/09

The final report from the Commission on the 21st Century Economy has completed the work that Governor Schwarenegger commissioned them to do via executive order, specifically that they "set the commission to the task of evaluating and proposing reforms of California's tax system, to realize a revenue stream that is more stable and reflective of the state economy." The biartisan committee completed their work and has submitted it... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »CALIFORNIA |

Uncovered: Obama's Secret "Pitch" for 2016 Olympics

By David Bahnsen | 10/03/09

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have flown across the world here to Copenhagen, and I will make this quick for you. I love being here, and even if you go against my wishes tomorrow, this trip will not be in vain. There is nothing I need more than to see Scandinavian socio-political theory in practice, and just seeing the people leaving work at 1:20 pm today showed me that I have work to do back in the hell-hole I am trying to... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »National |

David Brooks is Utterly Clueless

By David Bahnsen | 10/02/09

It is unfortunate that a man of David Brooks' writing caliber is so unbelievably affected by rank snobbishness and incredible envy. He has written many things over the years I have enjoyed, though I confess they do not come back to memory easily. But Brooks is a northeast elitist, and there is nothing in the world that irks northeastern elitists more than the very existence of Middle America, let alone the indisputable popularity of... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »National |

The President's Pickle is Purely Political

By David Bahnsen | 10/01/09

I subscribe to the view that President Obama is in a true economic pickle, one in which out-of-control deficits are simply unsustainable, and will require forceful action. The economic pickle lies in how he addresses the deficits: Cut spending, and guarantee that you will receive the wrath of anyone and everyone affected by a cut in their precious social entitlement, OR, raise taxes, and risk the mother of all double-dip recessions. ... read more »