The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. It took me thirty-four years to admit my problem. I was a Democrat -- a liberal, Republican-hating, pseudo-socialist. I grew up in a typical union, blue-collar household where my father and grandfather argued over just how deep in hell Richard Nixon and rest of the Republicans deserved to reside. Their fervent hope was that God had a special place in the fiery depths for these rich, elitist, elephant-loving capitalists.

Before every holiday meal, rather than saying a blessing, my grandfather, seated at the head of the table, would look out lovingly over his children and grandchildren, smile and say, "That SOB Nixon would be mad as hell if he could see how good we have it." Over the years Nixon turned to Ford, then to Reagan. Apparently President Carter was happy we were eating so well. I was programmed with the dogma of class warfare from a very early age.

As a teenage Democrat I actually believed the government had a file on me from kindergarten on and if I did everything right, scored well on my tests, lettered in three varsity sports, made the National Honor Society, I would be rewarded with opportunities. This is easy to believe when you're young. Your student file has all the details of everything you've done, your grades, your extra-curricular activities. My senior year I received an almost embarrassing number of awards and scholarships for my work. Surely Uncle Sam was watching and couldn't wait to get his hands on me. He probably has great things waiting for me, I thought. Alas, sometime in college I discovered this wasn't Red China and no one was looking at a master file full of accomplishments deciding whether I would be an Olympic athlete or an astronaut. I was living in a free society where I had to make my own way. That's a hard thing for a young Democrat to realize.

In 1984 my grandfather died and in his memory I voted for Walter Mondale. Yes, grief had truly robbed me of all reason. In 1988 I attended my first Young College Democrats meeting. Shortly after, I voted for George Bush. I considered myself a Truman/Kennedy Democrat and, although I did not vote for Reagan, I just could not bring myself to vote for Michael Dukakis. My hypocrisy would only go so far.

I returned to my Democratic roots when the Democratic Congress voted to cut defense spending after Desert Storm and I blindly blamed George Bush, who I reasoned was the Commander in Chief and therefore responsible. A "new" Democrat was on the rise and once again I was proud of my party.

Throughout the 1990s I was an Air Force officer and a Democrat, making me the minority in my chosen profession. I spent the next eight years defending the policies of the "new" Democrat, Bill Clinton. I was the butt of many jokes for my liberal stances. One of my colleagues hung a poster on the squadron bulletin board announcing a Clinton rally was to be held at my house. The activities included burning old draft cards, a screening of a Jane Fonda movie and a special singing engagement by Barbra Streisand. Bring your own pot and be ready to inhale.

I found myself in many debates with my friends arguing in favor of changing the minimum wage to a "fair" wage and increasing taxes on the wealthy, whom I despised since they built their wealth on the backs of the working man. I viewed the concept of a free market as simply Republican words designed to trick the masses into believing market forces controlled the prices they paid. The Government had to watch over and regulate all parts of the economy so the rich, elitist bastards couldn't take advantage of the poor working man. Like most Democrats, I believed in good paying jobs, but hated those who made those jobs possible.

After I left Government service and entered the business world, I had a simple revelation. I discovered the retail price of my company's product is completely dependent on the price of our competitor's product. This forces us to manufacture our product better and cheaper. The more efficient we perform, the greater our profits. The greater our profits, the more investors we attract, driving our stock price up and, consequently, the value of our 401K and all those who have invested in our company. The more money the investors make, the more they have to re-invest and grow the economy. The more the economy grows, the more jobs are created and the more revenue the Government receives in taxes.

I could no longer deny the simple genius of a free-market, capitalist economy and this represents a fundamental difference between my beliefs and those of the modern Democrat Party. At the most basic level it boils down to the definition of the American Dream. I believe our system of personal liberties and a free enterprise, capitalist economic system maximizes an individual's ability to fulfill his or her potential. Success takes hard work, a level of ambition, a never-ending development of new skill sets and, yes, some level of risk.

The modern liberal believes our free market, capitalist system is rigged against the common man. They believe the government should act as a "Big Brother," a protector in all aspects of life. Completely lacking faith in the abilities and spirit of the individual, they seek to insulate us from the risks and rewards of capitalism. They do this by the re-distribution of wealth, taking money from investors and funneling it through the Federal government in the form of entitlements. Nearly all Democrat legislative initiatives involve some increase in entitlements. This populist strategy has been very effective in winning elections for the Democrats.

This “take from the rich and give to everyone else" policy disregards one critical factor. The wealthy do not keep their money idle. Democrats seem to think men like Bill Gates keeps his billions buried in his backyard. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the power of money. Wealthy men and women know that in order to stay wealthy they must make their money work for them. They invest this capital into new businesses, large and small, new technologies, new products and new services. All of these create jobs, jobs the common man relies on for his paycheck and the Federal Government relies on for tax revenues. Every dollar invested in a new company is done so with the idea that it will grow and earn profits, which will be paid to the employees, the investors and eventually in taxes. When I was a Democrat I understood this concept, but I didn't believe it.

Today, I'm a believer and I'm not alone. The worst thing to happen to the Democrat Party in the last thirty years is the 401K. Now the common man is invested in the market, and more and more have an understanding of the genius of a free market economy. People have begun to realize that maybe the rich don't bury their cash. Maybe they create jobs with it. Men who a generation ago would have retired to a life of adequacy are now buying RVs and traveling the nation in retirement at a much younger age. The blue-collar conversations in the lunch room concern return on investments and speculation about what the Fed will do about interest rates. The average American is becoming educated and that works against the Democrats.

Aside from matters of economics, I admit I really never saw eye-to-eye with the Democrats regarding national defense. Democrats from history like Roosevelt, Truman, JFK and even Johnson, did not coddle dictators -- Nazi, Communist or otherwise -- and they openly opposed oppression and tyranny wherever they found them. Ronald Reagan's stance against the tyranny of Communism was a direct descendant of Truman's and Kennedy's policies. Jimmy Carter, and every Democrat since, has not shown the will or resolve to oppose tyranny. They seem to be firm believers in peaceful coexistence with evil. Some prevalent members of the modern Democrat Party have echoed...