Rich Swier

Member For

1 year 10 weeks

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Contact:

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

Going Green by Going Solar

By Dr. Richard Swier | 11/01/09

I recently got a direct mail flyer saying that my neighbor had installed photo voltaic panels on his roof and a solar hot water system and will be saving an estimated $1,500 annually. I say great for my neighbor and great for the entrepreneurial company that sold him that solar system. I thought this is the free market at its best. But wait in the flyer Michael Van Beck, Director of Sales for Solaris Solar Energy states, "With the current... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Every Florida Stimulus Job "Saved" Cost $232,295.51

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/31/09

According to Recovery.gov as of October 30, 2009 the state of Florida spent $6,811,579,599.00 and saved 29,322.78 jobs. Using my trusty calculator that means Governor Crist and our Repbulican legislature spent $232,296.51 per job saved. I am not sure if Governor Crist will accuse me of "calculator abuse" or not but that seems like a lot of money to save a job. It appears Florida, from the Recovery.com data, did not create any jobs.... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Massachusetts is a Health-Reform Debacle

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/31/09

Perhaps the best model of "the public option" in existance in the United States is the Massachusetts plan signed into law by Mitt Romney, former Governor. This article by David Sukoff lays out the unexpected outcomes of the public option: In an October 15th op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Governor Deval Patrick proclaimed that “Massachusetts is a Health-Reform Model.” The reality is that since its inception in 2006, the... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Beaches, Oil, Politics, and Emotions—an Explosive Mix

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/30/09

Article written by Dr. E. A. Shinn, Ph.D., Courtesy Professor, University of South Florida, Marine Science Center: West Florida beaches are blessed with especially clean sugar-white sand. Louisiana and Texas are not so blessed. There is a good reason for the difference. It’s all about geology, wind, and tide. Not all sand is created equal. The sugar-like beach sands east of the Mississippi have a distinctly different source than sand in... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Who is Patricia Sullivan?

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/30/09

I have been reading Ayn Rand's seminal novel Atlas Shrugged. In the book people keep asking "Who is John Gault?". Today we are seeing lots of answers to this question in lots of places. Today's John Gaults are people like Doug Hoffman a Conservative running for the NY-23 U.S. House seat, David Harmer running for the CA-10 seat and Patricia Sullivan running for the FL-8 seat held by Alan (Republicans want you to die) Grayson. I believe... read more »

14 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

To Drill or Not to Drill

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/29/09

On March 2, 2010 the Florida legislature will convene and have two major issues on the table - a $2 billion revenue short fall and off shore drilling. They are linked, highly political and emotion issues. My column will try to answer the question on everyone's mind: To drill or not to drill off of Florida's shores. The legislature will surely introduce a bill that will give the Governor and Cabinet the authority to sell off shore oil leases at... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Political Parody at its best with Jim Gossett

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/29/09

Here are pair of political parodies done by the talented Jim Gossett featuring Johnny Cash singing "The Obama Prison Blues" and the Barackman singing "Secret Heathcare Plan" to the tune of that 1960's favorite Secret Agent Man. Now we have the talented Jim Gossett offering us a pair of parodies that really hit home, that is if you still have one. The first is Johnny Cash singing "The Obama Prison Blues". You know... read more »

2 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Patriotic Resistance meets with Senator LeMieux

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/28/09

Article courtesy of Christine Prazeres, Florida State Director, Patriotic Resistance: Today I, and fellow “Resister” Herta Weiss, met with Maria Carusillo, Interim Regional Director for Senator LeMieux. The following is a summary of our meeting. We asked Miss Carusillo about the Senators views on the health care debate and the bill that is being formed in the Senate Committee. She told us that the Senator... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »FLORIDA |

Port in a Storm: Afghanistan End Game

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/27/09

Rich discusses President Obama and his end game in Afghanistan - to delay making a decision as long as possible. Rich explains how this end game is having a devastating effect on troop morale and making the deployment of more troops ever more difficult. President Obama now wants to wait until after the Afghan elections before making a decision. Rich discusses how waiting makes no difference and why. Rich also discusses making Senator John Kerry... read more »

0 Comments | Related Topics »

Sunlight as a disinfectant

By Dr. Richard Swier | 10/27/09

Column courtesy of Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13). Everyone knows that Congress is elected by the people to serve the people. Yet far too often that democratic principle is ignored by Washington power brokers who work in secrecy and exclude the American people from critical decisions affecting our country. Here in Florida we have one of the strongest right-to-know laws aimed at ensuring that government leaders conduct the people's... read more »