THE ENTERPRISE--WHAT NONSENSE!--WISHES AND HOPES?
A LIST OF COMMON SENSE DEFYING THINGS AND A FEW COMMON SENSE PROPOSALS--THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON. But they are still worth thinking about.
[NOTE: The next edition of THE ENTERPRISE will be delayed due to some R & R time.]
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WE WORRY ABOUT MAN MADE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Look at what nature can do in a short time: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
Even Al Gore might admit that we are "small potatoes" compared to natural events. This eruption combined with the series of large earthquakes makes me wonder if the Earth is not entering some new stage--or if it is the "hand of God" sending us a message of some sort? Do we realize how insignificant we humans are as a group? No matter if there are 6 or 8 billion of us. A single cataclysmic event could wipe out all of Earth's humanity.
OF COURSE IT IS A GOOD WAY TO SCREEN! PROFILING MAKES GOOD SENSE--USE IT--A LOT
Then why did the TSA pull back from extra screening of US air travelers from the 14 Middle East countries where most of the terrorist originate. Complaints about profiling! What crap that is. Surprisingly few 70 year old, white haired, Caucasian women are likely suicide bombers. Profiling is wise, and selective. If the upstanding citizens of those offending countries/regions do not like it, perhaps they should exert their influence on their home countries where the perpetrators originate instead of America, the intended victim.
DUH--THIS IS SO OBVIOUS! TRACKING SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE VIA INTEL ALSO MAKES SENSE
But why is it "either or?" Do both. There is a great deal of information that might reveal potential terrorists. To not use it is not just foolish, it's criminal--on the part of the US government. Unfortunately, the current government does a whole range of foolish and criminal things (like stealing from wealth creators via discriminatory taxation to waste the money on the unappreciative or undeserving). It is clearly time for a "revolution" at the voting booths to replace these people--and it can't happen soon enough.
GOODBYE CHARLIE! CHARLIE CRIST--DOUBLE-CROSSING POLITICIAN
FL governor Charlie Crist has seen is GOP Senate campaign crumble as Marco Rubio takes him apart for his bad policies. Crist's star is descending, so he is cozying up to the Democrats, hoping to run as an Independent. How? The latest trick was to veto the bill that would have removed Florida's lunatic policy on teacher tenure. Go three years with acceptable performance ratings (we know what a joke that could be) and teachers get tenure--and can't be fired, no matter how bad or ineffective they are. Of course the teachers Unions love it. Unions love protecting mediocrity and ineptness--it is their role these days. So long, Charlie--and good riddance. Crist's only hope is that Rubio get snared in the witch-hunt going on right now, and get his reputation dirtied.
SPEAKING OF WITCH HUNTS. WITCH-HUNTS BY THE GOVERNMENT (a continuing saga)
The latest joke (but not funny at all) is the investigation of GE over misleading investors about the health of GE Finance. The basis for the investigation is a statement in Hank Paulsen's book (!) that Jeffrey Immelt told him the company was having trouble raising money in commercial paper--and then around the same time GE publicly stated that its "commercial paper programs remain robust." Next, it will be unsubstantiated bloggers claims that merit Federal investigations. And we thought Immelt was Obama's buddy. Hmmm.
AND NOW THEY WANT TO DO IT FOR WATER--EVEN SMALL PONDS! A 1970 CLEAN AIR LAW RULES IN 2010--AN EXAMPLE
Leave it to the government to use a 40-year old law--the Clean Air Act (in today's wildly different environment)--to kill off jobs. I suspect parts of the law are still fine. I suspect that parts of it are totally out of date. Thus it is also with the Department of Energy, and likely with many other parts of the US Federal Government. There are undoubtedly hundreds of useless and unnecessary government programs and many more, like this one that are out of date and need to be updated or eliminated. To fix our country's fiscal woes requires a thorough house cleaning in Washington, DC or people and programs. Of course that will raise the unemployment rate--temporarily--and really infuriate the public employee unions, whose dues income will drop by a lot.
GOVERNMENTS ARE SELF-SUSTAINING BUREAUCRACIES. C. NORTHCOTE PARKINSON HAD IT RIGHT
I heard him speak while in college and he learned most of his "laws" from the errors in the British government, but they apply as surely to the US as they did to the UK a half-century ago: He used his laws to point out the senseless nonsense of that era in the UK. We would do well to think of them as applicable here, now.
Parkinson's Laws
1) Work expands to fill the time available for its completion; the thing to be done swells in perceived importance and complexity in a direct ratio with the time to be spent in its completion.
2) Expenditures rise to meet income.[Obviously he never imagined how Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have altered this one.]
3) Expansion means complexity; and complexity decay.
4) The number of people in any working group tends to increase regardless of the amount of work to be done. [The same applies for government departments and budgets.]
5) If there is a way to delay an important decision the good bureaucracy, public or private, will find it.
6) The progress of science is inversely proportional to the number of journals published.
A BAD LAW NEEDS TO BE REPEALED! STOP PERMITTING BABIES BORN TO ILLEGALS TO BE CITIZENS!
This policy alone would slow the flood of illegals, and stop them from coming here to bear their children and then live off the largesse of the American taxpayer. Babies born to illegals must be declared illegal too, and both the parent and children (entire family) deported back to Mexico at the closest border point. Let Mexico take care of its own. The drug lords down there are rich enough to pay for it. This policy of granting citizenship based on birth was a big mistake in the first place.
YOU THINK HE WON'T? HOW OBAMA WILL "BUY" 12-13 MILLION VOTES FOR 2012--WITH YOUR MONEY
Immigration will be the next "health care" for the Democrats and especially President Obama. Enough "real Americans" are fed up with his lying and contemptuous takeover of the American people's rights and money by the government that he knows he'd better find some new voters for 2012. He will "buy" the votes of about 12-13 million of them. We call them illegal immigrants now. He and his cronies will give them amnesty fast enough that they can get the right to vote--and a huge majority of them will vote Obama.
SLIM & NO CHANCE, BUT RIGHT! NATIONAL TERM LIMITS SHOULD BE PASSED IMMEDIATELY (Will any Congress to this? It is the right thing to do!)
Career politicians were never intended by our Founding Fathers. The longer they serve the less "representative" they become of the people who elected them. There should be a uniform law limiting Senators to two terms (just like the President), but that would give them 12 years. The same term limit should apply to Representatives. After a four year hiatus, they could run for the other side of Congress, and if they were popular enough, they could "double-dip." That is very liberal, and would fix many of Washington's problems.
EVEN LESS OF A CHANCE BUT ALSO RIGHT! PASS A NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LAW (Not with this Congress and President)
America is supposed to be a free country, and yet, a Union that wins an election can force employees to join and pay dues as a condition of their job. This is true in the 28 states (plus D. C.) that do not have Right to Work laws. Twenty-two states have these laws protecting American workers freedom of choice about being a Union member. I'll bet there is a high correlation to job creation and economic development success in these states. Very, very few employers can afford to mistreat employees--for several reasons: they will lose them; a web of other laws like wage & hour laws, anti-discrimination laws, unlawful termination laws protect the employees already.
HERE'S ONE THAT COULD GAIN SOME TRACTION EXCEPT FOR GOV'T UNIONS! PASS A LAW BENCHMARKING GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PAY AT NO MORE THAN PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES
Equal pay for equal work has been the rallying cry for decades. How about enforcing it. Cut the pay and benefits of government (state and Federal both) to levels equal to the median of private sector employees doing comparable jobs. And remove the preferential pension and benefits provided for members of Congress. Make them earn full benefits by "vesting" as a result of serving until their term limit is reached--pro-rata.
I AM SO SORRY MAKING YOU READ ALL THESE ABSOLUTELY LOGICAL AND YET FOOLISH HOPES.
Maybe, if we all find candidates who have their heads screwed on straight and support them so no one big donor "owns them," we might have a chance to retake control of our country. One vote--how much difference can that make? Not much unless 10-20 million of people with one vote each all "get together."
STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED
Look, in 2008 Americans and media elected an articulate political plant, a phony who had no experience and wouldn't even divulge his credentials--or his birth-right to be president. Stranger things have happened than to throw him--and all his supporters--out, first chance we get.
Primaries are in 10 days. Go vote for the right people.
General Election is Nov. 2, just over 6 mo. away.
It's time for "We the people" to rise up and take our country back.
BEST, JOHN
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
-----------------------------------------------------------
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
A LIST OF COMMON SENSE DEFYING THINGS AND A FEW COMMON SENSE PROPOSALS--THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON. But they are still worth thinking about.
[NOTE: The next edition of THE ENTERPRISE will be delayed due to some R & R time.]
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WE WORRY ABOUT MAN MADE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Look at what nature can do in a short time: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
Even Al Gore might admit that we are "small potatoes" compared to natural events. This eruption combined with the series of large earthquakes makes me wonder if the Earth is not entering some new stage--or if it is the "hand of God" sending us a message of some sort? Do we realize how insignificant we humans are as a group? No matter if there are 6 or 8 billion of us. A single cataclysmic event could wipe out all of Earth's humanity.
OF COURSE IT IS A GOOD WAY TO SCREEN! PROFILING MAKES GOOD SENSE--USE IT--A LOT
Then why did the TSA pull back from extra screening of US air travelers from the 14 Middle East countries where most of the terrorist originate. Complaints about profiling! What crap that is. Surprisingly few 70 year old, white haired, Caucasian women are likely suicide bombers. Profiling is wise, and selective. If the upstanding citizens of those offending countries/regions do not like it, perhaps they should exert their influence on their home countries where the perpetrators originate instead of America, the intended victim.
DUH--THIS IS SO OBVIOUS! TRACKING SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE VIA INTEL ALSO MAKES SENSE
But why is it "either or?" Do both. There is a great deal of information that might reveal potential terrorists. To not use it is not just foolish, it's criminal--on the part of the US government. Unfortunately, the current government does a whole range of foolish and criminal things (like stealing from wealth creators via discriminatory taxation to waste the money on the unappreciative or undeserving). It is clearly time for a "revolution" at the voting booths to replace these people--and it can't happen soon enough.
GOODBYE CHARLIE! CHARLIE CRIST--DOUBLE-CROSSING POLITICIAN
FL governor Charlie Crist has seen is GOP Senate campaign crumble as Marco Rubio takes him apart for his bad policies. Crist's star is descending, so he is cozying up to the Democrats, hoping to run as an Independent. How? The latest trick was to veto the bill that would have removed Florida's lunatic policy on teacher tenure. Go three years with acceptable performance ratings (we know what a joke that could be) and teachers get tenure--and can't be fired, no matter how bad or ineffective they are. Of course the teachers Unions love it. Unions love protecting mediocrity and ineptness--it is their role these days. So long, Charlie--and good riddance. Crist's only hope is that Rubio get snared in the witch-hunt going on right now, and get his reputation dirtied.
SPEAKING OF WITCH HUNTS. WITCH-HUNTS BY THE GOVERNMENT (a continuing saga)
The latest joke (but not funny at all) is the investigation of GE over misleading investors about the health of GE Finance. The basis for the investigation is a statement in Hank Paulsen's book (!) that Jeffrey Immelt told him the company was having trouble raising money in commercial paper--and then around the same time GE publicly stated that its "commercial paper programs remain robust." Next, it will be unsubstantiated bloggers claims that merit Federal investigations. And we thought Immelt was Obama's buddy. Hmmm.
AND NOW THEY WANT TO DO IT FOR WATER--EVEN SMALL PONDS! A 1970 CLEAN AIR LAW RULES IN 2010--AN EXAMPLE
Leave it to the government to use a 40-year old law--the Clean Air Act (in today's wildly different environment)--to kill off jobs. I suspect parts of the law are still fine. I suspect that parts of it are totally out of date. Thus it is also with the Department of Energy, and likely with many other parts of the US Federal Government. There are undoubtedly hundreds of useless and unnecessary government programs and many more, like this one that are out of date and need to be updated or eliminated. To fix our country's fiscal woes requires a thorough house cleaning in Washington, DC or people and programs. Of course that will raise the unemployment rate--temporarily--and really infuriate the public employee unions, whose dues income will drop by a lot.
GOVERNMENTS ARE SELF-SUSTAINING BUREAUCRACIES. C. NORTHCOTE PARKINSON HAD IT RIGHT
I heard him speak while in college and he learned most of his "laws" from the errors in the British government, but they apply as surely to the US as they did to the UK a half-century ago: He used his laws to point out the senseless nonsense of that era in the UK. We would do well to think of them as applicable here, now.
Parkinson's Laws
1) Work expands to fill the time available for its completion; the thing to be done swells in perceived importance and complexity in a direct ratio with the time to be spent in its completion.
2) Expenditures rise to meet income.[Obviously he never imagined how Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have altered this one.]
3) Expansion means complexity; and complexity decay.
4) The number of people in any working group tends to increase regardless of the amount of work to be done. [The same applies for government departments and budgets.]
5) If there is a way to delay an important decision the good bureaucracy, public or private, will find it.
6) The progress of science is inversely proportional to the number of journals published.
A BAD LAW NEEDS TO BE REPEALED! STOP PERMITTING BABIES BORN TO ILLEGALS TO BE CITIZENS!
This policy alone would slow the flood of illegals, and stop them from coming here to bear their children and then live off the largesse of the American taxpayer. Babies born to illegals must be declared illegal too, and both the parent and children (entire family) deported back to Mexico at the closest border point. Let Mexico take care of its own. The drug lords down there are rich enough to pay for it. This policy of granting citizenship based on birth was a big mistake in the first place.
YOU THINK HE WON'T? HOW OBAMA WILL "BUY" 12-13 MILLION VOTES FOR 2012--WITH YOUR MONEY
Immigration will be the next "health care" for the Democrats and especially President Obama. Enough "real Americans" are fed up with his lying and contemptuous takeover of the American people's rights and money by the government that he knows he'd better find some new voters for 2012. He will "buy" the votes of about 12-13 million of them. We call them illegal immigrants now. He and his cronies will give them amnesty fast enough that they can get the right to vote--and a huge majority of them will vote Obama.
SLIM & NO CHANCE, BUT RIGHT! NATIONAL TERM LIMITS SHOULD BE PASSED IMMEDIATELY (Will any Congress to this? It is the right thing to do!)
Career politicians were never intended by our Founding Fathers. The longer they serve the less "representative" they become of the people who elected them. There should be a uniform law limiting Senators to two terms (just like the President), but that would give them 12 years. The same term limit should apply to Representatives. After a four year hiatus, they could run for the other side of Congress, and if they were popular enough, they could "double-dip." That is very liberal, and would fix many of Washington's problems.
EVEN LESS OF A CHANCE BUT ALSO RIGHT! PASS A NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LAW (Not with this Congress and President)
America is supposed to be a free country, and yet, a Union that wins an election can force employees to join and pay dues as a condition of their job. This is true in the 28 states (plus D. C.) that do not have Right to Work laws. Twenty-two states have these laws protecting American workers freedom of choice about being a Union member. I'll bet there is a high correlation to job creation and economic development success in these states. Very, very few employers can afford to mistreat employees--for several reasons: they will lose them; a web of other laws like wage & hour laws, anti-discrimination laws, unlawful termination laws protect the employees already.
HERE'S ONE THAT COULD GAIN SOME TRACTION EXCEPT FOR GOV'T UNIONS! PASS A LAW BENCHMARKING GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PAY AT NO MORE THAN PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES
Equal pay for equal work has been the rallying cry for decades. How about enforcing it. Cut the pay and benefits of government (state and Federal both) to levels equal to the median of private sector employees doing comparable jobs. And remove the preferential pension and benefits provided for members of Congress. Make them earn full benefits by "vesting" as a result of serving until their term limit is reached--pro-rata.
I AM SO SORRY MAKING YOU READ ALL THESE ABSOLUTELY LOGICAL AND YET FOOLISH HOPES.
Maybe, if we all find candidates who have their heads screwed on straight and support them so no one big donor "owns them," we might have a chance to retake control of our country. One vote--how much difference can that make? Not much unless 10-20 million of people with one vote each all "get together."
STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED
Look, in 2008 Americans and media elected an articulate political plant, a phony who had no experience and wouldn't even divulge his credentials--or his birth-right to be president. Stranger things have happened than to throw him--and all his supporters--out, first chance we get.
Primaries are in 10 days. Go vote for the right people.
General Election is Nov. 2, just over 6 mo. away.
It's time for "We the people" to rise up and take our country back.
BEST, JOHN
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
-----------------------------------------------------------
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
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