Rich Swier

Member For

1 year 10 weeks

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Red County Editor -
Sarasota County, FL
rswier@comcast.net

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Richard M. Swier, Ed. D., LTC, US Army (Ret.)

Richard holds a Doctorate of Education from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, a Master's Degree in Management Information Systems from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, MO.

Richard is a 23-year Army veteran who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1990. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his years of service. Additionally, he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for Heroism in ground combat, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry while serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. He is a graduate of the Field Artillery Officers Basic and Advanced Courses, and U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Richard was the Founder/CEO of Sarasota Online, a high technology company that was sold to Comcast Cable in 1996. He helped start Backsoft Corporation an enterprise software development company in 1997 whose clients included Coca-Cola, Anheuser- Busch, Hyundai Electronics, Volkswagen, Moen and Goodyear. Backsoft was sold in 2001.

Richard twice chaired the Sarasota Better Business Council, sat on the Board of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and served from 2000 to 2009 on the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. He currently serves on the Sponsorship Advisory Committee to the Sarasota County School Board.

He is President of the Sarasota County Veterans Commission, an honorary member of the BRAIVE Fund, and has been elected Chairman of the Sarasota National Cemetery Advisory Committee.

Rich is the Publisher of Red County – Florida and Editor of Red County – Sarasota, www.redcounty.com, an internationally read website dedicated to center right grassroots commentary, news and politics.

COMMENTARIES

Florida's Unemployment hits 11.2%

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/20/09

I have written a series of articles about how the stimulus money embraced by Governor Crist and the Florida legislature to help save/create jobs has failed by all accounts. I pointed out that the only jobs "saved" were government jobs, almost exclusively in education. I showed that Florida spent over $232,000 per job "saved". Today we learn that Florida's unemployment rate has risen to 11.2%, the highest in 34... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

"No human is genuinely 'carbon neutral"

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/20/09

Every Friday morning I have breakfast with a group of gentlemen and women. The group puts on the annual Sarasota Prayer breakfast. We discuss the bible, Judeo/Christian issues and local, regional and national debates on critical policies. I was the person designated to give today's lesson. I choose to look at the principles that are fundamental to a Judeo/Christian society. America is based upon Judeo/Christian principles. As a reference I used... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Returning Florida's Sovereignty using the "Submerged Land Act"

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/19/09

On October 9, 2009, Don Baldauf from FloridaOil.org met with Governor Charlie Crist in Tampa while attending a dinner. Don explained the opportunities that could be gained by the State by asserting it's rights under "The Submerged Lands Act" and how an executive order could enact those rights. The Governor was very interested and asked Don to set up a meeting so he could learn more details. The Governor even stopped to shake hands... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Sarasota County Schools and Student Achievement

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/18/09

For many years I have been interested in our schools. When I was studying for my Doctorate of Education in the late 1980s I was struck by how important it was and is to have our children be well versed in the 3Rs. In 1984 the seminal report "A Nation At Risk" was published. It laid out the condition of education in the United States as written by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The report reinforced the ideas that... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »Sarasota County (FL) |

Rubio wins big in Orange County straw poll

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/18/09

Rubio keeps racking them up as Republicans send a clear message to Governor Crist - you are not our candidate. The Orlando Senintel reports that Marco Rubio won the Orange County Republican County straw poll with 89% of the vote (211 for Rubio and 27 for Crist). Other conservative candidates also won big in Orange County. The Orlando Sentinel reports: Among other closely-watched races, businessman Matthew Falconer beat out fellow Republican... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Sarasota County, toxic assets and government largesse

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/16/09

Many pundits believe the takeover of banks and the housing industry began with the passage of the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP bill on October 3, 2008. Actually, it began well before that with the passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) which was signed into law on July 30, 2008. HERA is used today by the Sarasota County Commission, the local agent for the HERA federal program, to purchase foreclosed homes. This is... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Plastic Bag Tax in Florida? You're joking right?

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/16/09

The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is reporting that the Florida legislature, controlled by Republicans, will consider a tax and perhaps banning paper and plastic bags in Florida. According to the National Taxpayers Union: "Mere months after jamming over $2 billion in tax increases down the throats of Floridians, state government is threatening a new tax on all paper and plastic bags. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection... read more »

4 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Rubio wins straw poll held by 2nd largest Republican Club in Florida

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/11/09

Marco Rubio keeps racking up the wins when it comes to straw polls. Today, November 11th, the Republican Club of South Sarasota County (RCSSC) held a straw poll. This straw poll was conducted over the objections of the Republican Party of Sarasota Chairman Joe Gruters. Listen to my interview with Ron Filipkowski, Chairman of the Republican Club of South Sarasota County, Florida below. This club is the second largest in the state of Florida and... read more »

1 Comment | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Sarasota County Government Funds Charities?

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/10/09

James Madison said, "Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." I recieved a number of e-mails from readers concerned that the Sarasota County Commission recently approved $5,168,361 in funding for non-profit organizations. The concerns were that some organizations, whose policies they disagreed with, such as ALSO For Gay Youth, Inc. and Planned Parenthood, were funded. At they same time they were concerned that... read more »

3 Comments | Related Topics »Sarasota County (FL) |

Buchanan Calls For Congressional Inquiry Into Fort Hood Shooting

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/09/09

Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) today called on the House Homeland Security Committee to investigate the shootings at Fort Hood as reports surfaced describing the assailant as an Islamic extremist whom witnesses say shouted Allahu Akbar (God is great) as he fired on unarmed victims. The suspect, Major Nidal Hasan, also attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, according to the Washington Post. “We have a... read more »