Telling It Like It Is

THE ENTERPRISE--WHAT MONEY CAN BUY--NOT RESPECT

THE ENTERPRISE--WHAT MONEY CAN BUY--NOT RESPECT

I STARTED TO WRITE MORE, BUT FOUND SO MUCH GOOD STUFF TO USE...I USED IT!
A lot of this is secondary material, but wow--is it powerful.  I can editorialize but the words stand strong as written--even if by others. 

WHERE HAS HONOR, HONESTY AND INTEGRITY GONE?  It started going missing during Bush's two terms, so it is a "disease" that is not restricted to one party or one president.  Sure Clinton had some issues too.  Something about being in power in Washington, DC corrupts people.

It's time to stop corruption, and come down on it hard (prosecution, not just a slap on the hands), no matter which party is in charge.

We simply must re-take control of our government and our country--as soon as possible.  if we don't, I fear what will happen in the next few years.

WHAT MONEY CAN'T BUY--A SOLUTION TO THE GULF OIL LEAK
The White House is throwing a smoke screen at the media because it knows this fiasco is as big a disaster for the Obama reputation was Katrina was for Bush.  Of course BP should foot the bills, but Bobby Jindal (LA Gov.) has exposed Obama's lies again--in that he promised to "do everything in his power."  Now he's hiding behind Corps of Engineers decisions as the reason he hasn't.  By the way, BP took a risky short cut on this well, which was endorsed by the government agency in charge--and it really backfired.  That's why the agency chief Elizabeth Birnbaum stepped down as director of the Minerals Management Service today.  I wonder how Obama will spin that one?  The man can lie himself out of any corner--until the facts are brought to bear.  When will Americans see him for what he is, and elect a Congress to "rein him in."  2010, I hope.

WHAT INFLUENCE COULDN'T BUY
NYTIMES: White House Used Bill Clinton to Ask Sestak to Drop Out of Race
"President Obama's chief of staff used former President Bill Clinton as an intermediary to see if Representative Joe Sestak would drop out of a Senate primary if given a prominent, but unpaid, advisory position, people briefed on the matter said Friday."  See, there are many ways to keep your hands clean--even if what they are doing is dirty!  Obama's Rahm-bo uses Bill Clinton--that's a juicy twist of influence--short of actual bribery.  I wonder what Blago has to say about that one?  "Subpoena them all!  They are all crooked!"

OBAMA'S APPEASEMENT POLICY IS WORKING GREAT

Iran has no respect for anything the US says or does. Here are a couple of pictures that should turn your stomach.  North Korea is rejuvenated.  Russia is rejuvenated.  Iran is rejuvenated.  Obama has marginalized the USA as a global influence.  That is the first step on the road to disaster.

RIDDLE:  WHAT DOES A SH*T SANDWICH LOOK LIKE?
Answer:  See below:


WHEN OUR PRESIDENT ACTS LIKE ROYALTY, WE KNOW WHO PAYS THE BILLS--"WE THE PEOPLE"


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Iran benefits from a weak, apologetic U.S.

Wednesday,  May 26, 2010 2:54 AM  By Charles Krauthammer

It is perfectly obvious that Iran's latest uranium maneuver, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, is a ruse. Iran retains more than enough enriched uranium to make a bomb. And it continues enriching at an accelerated pace and to a greater purity. Which is why the French foreign ministry immediately declared that the trumpeted temporary shipping of some Iranian uranium to Turkey will do nothing to halt Iran's nuclear program.
It will, however, make meaningful sanctions more difficult. America's proposed Security Council resolution is already laughably weak - no blacklisting of Iran's central bank, no sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industry, no nonconsensual inspections on the high seas. Yet Turkey and Brazil - both current members of the Security Council - are so opposed to sanctions that they will not even discuss the resolution. And China will now have a new excuse to weaken it further.

But the deeper meaning of the uranium-export stunt is the brazenness with which Brazil and Turkey gave cover to the mullahs' nuclear ambitions and deliberately undermined U.S. efforts to curb Iran's program. The real news is that already notorious photo: the president of Brazil, our largest ally in Latin America, and the prime minister of Turkey, for more than half a century the Muslim anchor of NATO, raising hands together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most virulently anti-American leader in the world.

That picture is a crushing verdict on the Obama foreign policy. It demonstrates how rising powers, traditional American allies, having watched this administration in action, have decided that there's no cost in lining up with America's enemies and no profit in lining up with a U.S. president given to apologies and appeasement.

They've watched President Barack Obama's humiliating attempts to appease Iran, as every rejected overture is met with abjectly renewed U.S. negotiating offers. American acquiescence reached such a point that the president was late, hesitant and flaccid in expressing even rhetorical support for democracy demonstrators who were being brutally suppressed and whose call for regime change offered the potential for the most significant U.S. strategic advance in the region in 30 years.

They've watched America acquiesce to Russia's re-exerting sway over Eastern Europe, over Ukraine (pressured by Russia last month into extending for 25 years its lease of the Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol) and over Georgia (Russia's de facto annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is no longer an issue under the Obama "reset" policy).

They've watched our appeasement of Syria, Iran's agent in the Arab Levant - sending our ambassador back to Syria even as it tightens its grip on Lebanon, supplies Hezbollah with Scuds and intensifies its role as the pivot of the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas alliance. The price for this ostentatious flouting of the U.S. and its interests? Ever more eager U.S. "engagement."

They've observed the administration's gratuitous slap at Britain over the Falklands, its contemptuous treatment of Israel, its undercutting of the Czech Republic and Poland and its indifference to Lebanon and Georgia. And in Latin America, they see not just U.S. passivity as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez organizes his anti-American "Bolivarian" coalition while deepening military and commercial ties with Iran and Russia. They saw active U.S. support in Honduras for a pro-Chavez would-be dictator seeking unconstitutional powers in defiance of the democratic institutions of that country.

This is not just an America in decline. This is an America in retreat - accepting, ratifying and declaring its decline, and inviting rising powers to fill the vacuum.

Nor is this retreat by inadvertence. This is retreat by design and, indeed, on principle. It's the perfect fulfillment of Obama's adopted Third World narrative of American misdeeds, disrespect and domination from which he has come to redeem us and the world. Hence his foundational declaration at the U.N. General Assembly last September that "No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation" (guess who's been the dominant nation for two decades?) and his dismissal of any "world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another." (NATO? The West?)

Given Obama's policies and principles, Turkey and Brazil are acting rationally. Why not give cover to Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions? As the U.S. retreats in the face of Iran, China, Russia and Venezuela, why not hedge your bets? There's nothing to fear from Obama, and everything to gain by ingratiating yourself with America's rising adversaries. After all, they actually believe in helping one's friends and punishing one's enemies.

Charles Krauthammer writes for the Washington Post Writers Group.

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OBAMA & DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS GETTING READY TO "BUY" 13 MILLION NEW VOTERS WITH YOUR MONEY!
I think this is authentic, but have been unable to verify it.
(No wonder Obama didn't like the Arizona law.  It would cost him potential "buyable" future) voters!

Amnesty? Bureaucrats already drawing up plan to implement. It is urgent that we call or write to our congressional representatives NOW! $ ONE Billion, 30-week processing program revealed in leaked 14-page Homeland Security memo......

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, already has drafted a plan for processing 13 million illegal alien applicants for amnesty in a 30-week period at an estimated cost of $1 Billion, WND has learned.

The plan, a copy of which was obtained by WND, anticipates the approval of so-called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" legislation pending in Congress and assumes a nine-month ramp-up period for processing of applications.The undated draft report anticipates the possibility of the legislation requiring public benefits toamnesty applicants.

Want to put a stake through the heart of amnesty plans? Here's your simple, economical battle plan.

"If the statute requires interim benefits while application pending, issue discrete variant of status document (shorter term duration that [sic] if issued after prospective immigrant status granted)," the 14-page memo states. Under the plan, applicants 14 through 79 years old would be required to submit themselves for photographs, a full set of fingerprints and a signature. A photo and single print would be required for others. Only one outside contractor is discussed in the memo – Northrop Grumman – and the plan suggests negotiating a contract now, even before the legislation is approved. It also calls for volunteer help at local service centers and field offices.

The last time Washington attempted a push for amnesty under the guise of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform,"  the project triggered an outcry from talk radio and the public. It failed as a result. However, the political makeup of the Congress has changed since then, becoming even more Democrat.

Democrat leaders recognize their control of both houses is in jeopardy in the November elections and are determined to pass the amnesty program – though they abhor that word. Sen. Chuck U. Schumer, D-N.Y., has enlisted evangelical leaders to promote the plan. Democrats are determined to get at least some Republican support for the measure so the party is not held to account for amnesty like it is for another unpopular piece of legislation following the health-care debate that already threatens many Democrat seats. Even Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C. have distanced themselves from efforts in the Senate to revive it.

"You can play a vital role," Schumer told religious leaders including Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Mathew of Liberty Counsel, saying Republicans have great respect for them. "So please, if you could, help us get some Republicans just to sit in a room and talk tous."  .....Schumer is nuts!!...Is he really an American?
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THAT'S PLENTY FOR TODAY.  NEXT TIME AROUND, "THE MYTH OF THE OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT"
Until then, enjoy the Memorial Day holiday and remember those who sacrificed so we could be free. 

Best, John

THE ENTERPRISE--A WHOLE NEW WORLD?

THE ENTERPRISE--A WHOLE NEW WORLD?

A HUMAN INFORMATION "FOOD PROCESSOR?"
Today I realized that I am very often like those products featured on infomercials--choppers (Veg-O-Matic?) and food processors.  Put in an assortment of food types and out comes "something" that may or may not be tasty, edible or even useful. I read (a lot), receive email, talk to people, listen to or watch people, and then think about it all.  (That's the "processing.")  When all of this "food for thought" has gone through the old processor, I hope something tasty or useful results.  In spite of this unglamorous metaphor, I'm going to keep doing it--because if you choose the right mixture of what you read, see, and hear, and "sense" then mix it with some thought, reflection, and a dash of judgment, the result can often be palatable, and occasionally, downright tasty.  Not always, but sometimes...  Let's see how this week comes out:

THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE HYPOCRITES
Can you believe it.  The term "misspoke" is a synonym for lying by politicians.  The latest ins Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal describing how he intentionally misled (another term for lying) everyone about his "service" IN Vietnam--well, not actually--he was in the service briefly while the Vietnam conflict was going on.  He talked about "coming home from there," but he must have meant coming home from hit stateside position where he ran the "Toys for Tots."  Hillary Clinton did this a few years about when she "misspoke" about being somewhere she wasn't and coming under enemy fire (that she didn't).  Al Gore also misspoke more than a few times, about being places he wasn't, doing things he didn't.  And our Misspokesman in Chief, Barack Obama told civil rights stories about people and places that were totally out of synch with reality. 

Publicly lying in office, about significant matters of factual importance should be punishable by removal from office & prohibition from running again..  That would clear out a lot of people from Washington, DC, and also from many of our state houses. 

It would also thin out the candidate pool. Politicians lie a lot; sometimes it is a "parsing" of the truth to make their policies seem like something they are not.  At other times it is to avoid being seen for what they are.  If the penalty for publicly lying about matters of significance were removal from office--or worse (like perjury) a criminal penalty--a lot of politicians would mis-speak a whole lot less.

THE DANGER OF INTELLECTUALS RUNNING OUR COUNTRY
I was reading Thomas Sowell's profound book, "Intellectuals and Society" in which he points out some amazing things.  A couple of quotes:  "Intelligence minus judgment equals intellect."  Or perhaps, George Orwell said it better:   "Some ideas are so foolish that only an intellectual could believe them, for no ordinary man could be such a fool."  The "intellectuals" or pretenders-to-be in our society are heavily concentrated in a few areas:  academia, media, and government. These areas are largely "unaccountable" and that is very dangerous. The last Sowell quote on this topic is:  "Unaccountability to irresponsibility is a very short step."

INSANITY:  ARIZONA LAW VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS THE SAME AS CHINESE IMPRISONMENT, TORTURE AND MURDER
Or at least that is what our government's Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner said--very publicly--while meeting with the Chinese leaders.  If you didn't see if and hear it, you wouldn't believe it.  It is so preposterous, and yet he "represents" Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama--and because he represents the USA, he also represents YOU!  Make you SICK?  It does me.
Watch for yourself: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35774/

IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD--WILL YOU LEARN TO "PLAY" OR "WORK" IN IT?

The principles of marketing and communications still are as valid as ever.  It is the media format that keeps changing from generation to generation.  This sort of list was being circulated in the late 90's talking about the web, etc.   For interpersonal communications: Texting is cool.  Phoning is passe'. Texting is fast and asynchronous. Phoning is slow, requires social interaction, and synchronous  (both parties must be on the phone at the same time). Messages remain forever on some server, somewhere, if someone knows how to access them. Even "old dogs" have to learn some "new tricks" if we want to optimize the reach of our programs to the new, youthful audience.

[NOTE:  I could not verify this list of 40+ points, so it is possible that there are errors in it.]

1. Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30-years-old
2. 96% of them have joined a social network
3. Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
4. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
5. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
6. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…
7. Facebook added over 200 million users in less than a year
8. iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
9. We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.”
10. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 3rd largest ahead of the United States and only behind China and India
11. Yet, QQ and Renren dominate China
12. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
13. 80% of companies use social media for recruitment; % of these using LinkedIn 95%
14. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
15. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres (combined) have more Twitter followers than the  populations of Ireland, Norway, or Panama.  Note I have adjusted the language here after someone pointed out the way it is phrased in the video was difficult to determine if it was combined.
16. 50% of the mobile Internet traffic in the UK is for Facebook…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
17. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé – some universities have stopped distributing e-mail accounts
18. Instead they are distributing: eReaders + iPads + Tablets
19. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
20. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
21. While you watch this 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube
22. Wikipedia has over 15 million articles…studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
23. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
24. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
25. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
26. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
27. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
28. Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.
29. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them
30. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
31. Only 14% trust advertisements
32. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
33. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
34. Kindle eBooks Outsold Paper Books on Christmas
35. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation
36. 60 millions status updates happen on Facebook daily
37. We no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
38. We will non longer search for products and services, they will find us via social media
39. Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate
40. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like Mad Men Listening first, selling second
41. The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years
42. Bonus: comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network.

A COUPLE YEARS AGO, I WROTE A WEB COLUMN: TEN REASONS I DON'T USE SOCIAL NETWORK SITES
Since then I have learned a lot.  I use them more, but still selectively.  Their reach and power has grown tremendously, yet some, like Twitter, are shallow and still seem to be trivial.  Facebook and LinkedIn have grown into massive forces which can be used for valid business--and personal--reasons.  However, I still stand by many of the ten reasons I wrote as being valid concerns, and open issues. 

GOOD OR EVIL--THAT IS IN THE HANDS OF THE USER (JUST LIKE A GUN!)
The recent brouhaha about Facebook's privacy/security breakdown is just one example of how the negative consequences can equal or exceed the positive benefits.  Just like the Internet, Email, smart cell phones with video cameras and even the ubiquitous telephone, any technology can be used for good or for evil purposes.  I am posting my old article with a few more recent observations (in parentheses).

1. Social Media/Networking is an invitation to at best, uncontrolled and permanent over-exposure, and at worst, identify theft or misuse. (Still a concern, and a growing one.)
2. All of us are drowning in a tidal wave of complexity already, and these social networking sites make this complexity worse by an order of magnitude. (Still a problem, no relief in sight.)
3. Social networking is in the evolutionary stage, and as such, all of the sites that exist now will change, evolve become either more useful and secure or go away.  The lessons are there in recent history:  Compuserve, early versions of AOL, Prodigy and all the other now defunct or otherwise transitory Internet, email or proprietary web systems. (Still true, but the shakeout is underway, outcomes yet to be determined.)
4. Just when a lot of people learn to use one of the social networking sites/systems, someone will come up with a newer, better, cooler or more fashionable one. (Still true--more than ever.)
5. Security of social networking sites is as great a risk as passing business cards around in a busy bar.  No matter how many times the site owner/operator promises your information will be protected, secure, etc., the lure of money will make them liars.  Someone will buy the site for the contacts that come with it—period.  Then they will sell those lists to as many people and companies as will pay for them, to do whatever they wish with them. (Still true, still risky, still common. But on the Internet, the information lives and circulates forever--unlike a business card in a bar.)
6. There are many other, more focused ways of networking and marketing instead of placing your identity, your information, photos, etc. in the public—very public—domain. (These new media formats are too big, too widespread and too potentially explosive to ignore.  But like all "explosive things," handle with extreme care.)
7. Real business people realize that this social networking trend is superficial.   True relationships may originate in email or other similar venues, but must become personal and not electronic to be of meaningful value. (Some are superficial, like Twitter. Others are genuine ways for people to make contact, and what happens from there is up to human nature.)
8. The hassle of meddling with your computer and the so-called “easy to use” interfaces of such social networking sites is far too great compared to the complexity it adds. (Partly true, and partly a cop-out.  The sites are not all that hard to use.  They do however have a lot of tentacles that get really intertwined, and that is not so good.)
9. When I want to expand my network, I want to choose who will be involved and know that their involvement is willing and enthusiastic—not the result of an email and a few clicks of the mouse. (Although I now have included many contacts on LinkedIn, and do have Facebook and Twitter pages--albeit lightly used.)
10. I am simply too busy to meddle with something that is at least largely populated with people who have nothing better to do with their time, or others who think is it somehow an easy way to really be connected to a lot of people.  (Probably not the most diplomatic way to wrap up the list.  Some people find great value in social networking.  Some don't.  So be it.)

DO CEOS MAKE TOO MUCH?
Some do.  No doubt about it.  Especially if they fail to lead their companies successfully, or get "sweetheart" or windfall deals, just before the companies fail.  Boards are the culprits if they overpay. And we need stiffer "claw-back" laws. But some CEOs make what the market demands for them--and what they are "worth. " Of course it is fine for President Obama to be upset because CEOs make too much.  He only makes a few hundred thousand a year  His friend Oprah only makes $275 million per year (As a CEO and an entertainer), George Lucas (of Star Wars fame) makes $170 million; Madonna, only $110 million, Harrison Ford only $55 milloin.  But these entertainers, (and many similarly high paid athletes) are somehow... "worth it."  What crap that is.  Most overpaid of all, Tiger Woods--but somehow, I think he's going to take a BIG pay cut this year and a bunch of his wealth will got to his ex-wife to be Elin.


SOME TRUTHS ARE TIMELESS--WILL OUR NATION'S LEADERS EVER FIGURE THESE OUT?
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

COUNTRIES AND ACRONYMS
The BRICs are beating the PIIGS in every economic measure except financial failure.  Know what those acronyms mean? 
Google them! (:-)

Best, John

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 "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
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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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THE ENTERPRISE--ALIEN-ATION & OTHER STUFF

THE ENTERPRISE--ALIEN-ATION & OTHER STUFF

FIRST, A FEW SHORT TAKES:
--THE RECOVERY: A JUDGMENT CALL
Tone down the celebrating, but a bit of a recovery seemed imminent in Jan. -Mar., and Easter came early this year.  Then April came and the consumer realized that the spending level in the 1Q was not sustainable, because jobs are still not growing much at all.  There is still a lot of pain in housing; there is still too much leverage; Europe is proving for the entire world that a secular socialistic society is a lousy way to run a country.  That is where our government is forcing America.  Smart companies will plan on a luke-warm, spotty recovery, and rejoice if it is any better than that.

PREDICTIONS AND NEAR CERTAINTIES
Unemployment will stay at or near 10% reported which means 15-17% real for most of all of 2010, and probably into  2011.  Remember, with over 100,000 new work force entrants every month, job growth must absorb them before replacing the millions of lost jobs.  Best guess, is that IF job growth continues at or near record recovery pace for 5 years, unemployment will get "down" to 7-8% reported which is 12-13% real.  Small businesses are back creating jobs now (that's good), but the recent Health Care bill and nearly any other Democratic "cram-down" (Like Cap & Trade, EFCA, new EPA rules,etc.) will dampen that growth.

Worst of all, IF the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire for 2011, it will be a "tax increase"--and a big one, for nearly all Americans.  Unless the 2010 elections reverse control of the House and Senate, that's what will happen. That big tax hike will dampen the best of recoveries. As far as Afghanistan goes, the Taliban will keep up symbolic "war-like" behavior, but when winter comes, they will hibernate and await the Obama announced 2011 troop withdrawals.  Then they'll reassert themselves and retake Afghanistan before Obama leaves the White House after 2012 elections.  He will leave messes in his wake in every area of America--deficits at record levels, job killing new laws, new taxes, more government interference in every part of American life--and states that will be insolvent thanks to unfunded or underfunded Federal mandates.  That's Change You Can Believe In!

---THE MUSHROOM REPORT: From my old Illinois classmate, Joe Volpe: "TO ALL: NOT A GOOD YEAR FOR MUSHROOMS. ONLY 45LBS. I WALKED 150 MILES. NORMAL YEAR 100 TO 150 LBS"  This could be a leading indicator that mushrooms and mushroom dishes will go up in price.  Lots of other things will go up in price too--not the least of which is oil after the big spill kills offshore drilling around the USA for a long time.

--THE ROADKILL REPORT: Quite a few years ago, my old friend Ron Loveless worked for Walmart (he started Sam's Club in those days as its first GM).  Ronnie noticed that Arkansas was big "chicken country" (home to Tyson), and that a lot of chickens roamed astray and became "road kill."  Other animals also became road kill, but a freshly hit chicken could go "into the pot" for dinner.  He theorized that the better the economy, the less likely people were to stop and pick up road kill (chickens or otherwise)--and vice versa.  In a book he has in progress, he goes into lots more detail.  My guess is that last year, the roads were "picked pretty clean."  We'll see if the "road kill report" recognizes whether a recovery is really underway.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK--BEING REDISTRIBUTED
The web link below will allow you to check how much of the stimulus bill coming to your state has arrived, and what the imagined (?) job creation impact has been.  Funny thing about this government largesse.  The money comes from...(where)?  From your tax dollars of course.  And it is redistributed where?  Wherever the Democratic politicians wanted to send it--probably to their own states or those of their crony buddies.  http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx

GIVE ME A FISH OR TEACH ME TO FISH?
These "one time" handouts will add some stimulus, but nothing like what would happen if private enterprise generated the wealth and reinvested it.  It's sort of like the old saying, "Give me a fish, feed me today; teach me to fish and feed me forever."  The stimulus is the government's way of giving people their "fish" for today, in hopes they'll get reelected to do it again and again.  Of course any government program is a bit inefficient even at redistributing wealth.  If you start with 100 cents on the dollar, you can bet a big chunk of it is wasted on government bureaucracy and only a fraction of the 100 cents ever gets redistributed.  Welcome to the new Obama economy where being dependent on the government is the new meaning of HOPE AND CHANGE. 

FIFTEEN POINTS FROM ONE OF THE MOST INSIGHTFUL JOURNALISTS AROUND
OPINION: DECLARATIONS MAY 1, 2010  By PEGGY NOONAN
The Big Alienation—Uncontrolled borders and Washington's lack of self-control.

We are at a remarkable moment.
    [1]--We have an open, 2,000-mile border to our south, and the entity with the power to enforce the law and impose safety and order will not do it. Wall Street collapsed, taking Main Street's money with it,
    [2]--and the government can't really figure out what to do about it because the government itself was deeply implicated in the crash,
    [3]--and both political parties are full of people whose political careers have been made possible by Wall Street contributions.
    [4]--Meanwhile we pass huge laws, bills so comprehensive, omnibus and transformative that no one knows what's in them and no one—literally, no one—knows how exactly they will be executed or interpreted. Citizens search for new laws online, pore over them at night, and come away knowing no more than they did before they typed "dot-gov." It is not that no one's in control. Washington is full of people who insist they're in control and who go to great lengths to display their power.
    [5]--It's that no one takes responsibility and authority. Washington daily delivers to the people two stark and utterly conflicting messages: "We control everything" and "You're on your own."
All this contributes to a deep and growing alienation between the people of America and the government of America in Washington.  This is not the old, conservative and long-lampooned "I don't trust gummint" attitude of the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
    [6]--It's something new, or rather something so much more broadly and fully evolved that it constitutes something new. The right never trusted the government, but now the middle doesn't. I asked a campaigner for Hillary Clinton recently where her sturdy, pantsuited supporters had gone. They didn't seem part of the Obama brigades. "Some of them are at the tea party," she said.
    [7]--None of this happened overnight. It is, most recently, the result of two wars that were supposed to be cakewalks, Katrina, the crash,
    [8]--and the phenomenon of a federal government that seemed less and less competent attempting to do more and more by passing bigger and bigger laws.
    [9]--Add to this states on the verge of bankruptcy,
    [10]--the looming debt crisis of the federal government,
    [11]--and the likelihood of ever-rising taxes. Shake it all together, and you have the makings of the big alienation. Alienation is often followed by full-blown antagonism, and antagonism by breakage.
Which brings us to Arizona and its much-criticized attempt to institute a law aimed at controlling its own border with Mexico.

    [12]--It is doing this because the federal government won't, and because Arizonans have a crisis on their hands, areas on the border where criminal behavior flourishes, where there have been kidnappings, murders and gang violence. If the law is abusive, it will be determined quickly enough, in the courts. In keeping with recent tradition, they were reading parts of the law aloud on cable the other night, with bright and sincere people completely disagreeing on the meaning of the words they were reading. No one knows how the law will be executed or interpreted.

Every state and region has its own facts and experience. In New York, legal and illegal immigrants keep the city running: They work hard jobs with brutal hours, rip off no one on Wall Street, and do not crash the economy. They are generally considered among the good guys. I'm not sure New Yorkers can fairly judge the situation in Arizona, nor Arizonans the situation in New York.

But the larger point is that Arizona is moving forward because the government in Washington has completely abdicated its responsibility. For 10 years—at least—through two administrations, Washington deliberately did nothing to ease the crisis on the borders because politicians calculated that an air of mounting crisis would spur mounting support for what Washington thought was appropriate reform—i.e., reform that would help the Democratic and Republican parties.

The establishments of the American political parties, and the media, are full of people who think concern about illegal immigration is a mark of racism. If you were Freud you might say, "How odd that's where their minds so quickly go, how strange they're so eager to point an accusing finger. Could they be projecting onto others their own, heavily defended-against inner emotions?" But let's not do Freud, he's too interesting. Maybe they're just smug and sanctimonious.

The American president has the power to control America's borders if he wants to, but George W. Bush and Barack Obama did not and do not want to, and for the same reason, and we all know what it is. The fastest-growing demographic in America is the Hispanic vote, and if either party cracks down on illegal immigration, it risks losing that vote for generations.

    [13]--But while the Democrats worry about the prospects of the Democrats and the Republicans about the well-being of the Republicans, who worries about America?

No one. Which the American people have noticed, and which adds to the dangerous alienation—actually it's at the heart of the alienation—of the age.

In the past four years, I have argued in this space that nothing can or should be done, no new federal law passed, until the border itself is secure. That is the predicate, the common sense first step. Once existing laws are enforced and the border made peaceful, everyone in the country will be able to breathe easier and consider, without an air of clamor and crisis, what should be done next. What might that be? How about relax, see where we are, and absorb. Pass a small, clear law—say, one granting citizenship to all who serve  two years in the armed forces—and then go have a Coke. Not everything has to be settled right away.

    [14]--Only controlling the border has to be settled right away. Instead, our national establishments deliberately allow the crisis to grow and fester, ignoring public unrest and amusing themselves by damning anyone's attempt to deal with the problem they fear to address.

    [15]--Why does the federal government do this? Because so many within it are stupid and unimaginative and don't trust the American people. Which of course the American people have noticed.

The American people fear they are losing their place and authority in the daily, unwinding drama of American history. They feel increasingly alienated from their government. And alienation, again, is often followed by deep animosity, and animosity by the breaking up of things. If our leaders were farsighted not only for themselves but for the country, they would fix the border.

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
===============


THIS NEXT ONE IS LONG TOO--AND WORTH THE TIME TO READ IT.

                            " I'M TIRED AT 63 "

 Robert A. Hall is the actor who plays the coroner on CSI if you watch that show.
This should be required reading for every man, woman and child in the United States of America.

"I'm 63 and Im Tired"
by Robert A. Hall
 
I'm 63.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

 I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

 I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.

 I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

 I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News?  Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

 I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a  three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

 I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next?  Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?  And, no,  I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

 I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war?  You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.

So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

 I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in  Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

 Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

---------------

 Robert  A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts  State  Senate.

There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! This is your chance to make a difference.

"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." -- Ayn Rand

NOTE: THE ABOVE WAS VERIFIED ON SNOPES AS CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW THINGS WE CAN DO ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS
The biggest one is to VOTE and to get out the vote--but most of all to select, meet and assure ourselves that we know who we are voting into Washington, DC.  The majority of voters in this country was deceived into electing a manufactured President with NO experience, with NO background that he'd share with Americans, and with the little we did discover--found that he was NO WAY the kind of person he was "acting like."  HIs campaign promises and rhetoric exceed the best (worst) lies and misleading statements I've heard in my lifetime.

ARE YOU READY TO THROW THE BUMS OUT IN 2010...AND AGAIN IN 2012?
Nothing will get much better with Obama in the White House.  All we can hope is to elect enough sensible, fiscally responsible, and motivated members of Congress to slow down his avalanche of misguided laws, spending, foreign policies and worst of all appointees--who will each do great harm in their own right.

WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.  IT IS NOW JUST UNDER 6 MO. UNTIL WE CAN.  THE CAMPAIGN LIES ARE ALREADY STARTING HERE IN OHIO.  I IMAGINE THEY ARE IN YOUR STATE TOO. 

SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.  LEARN THE FACTS AND POSITIONS TO TAKE.    IT'S OUR COUNTRY; LET'S ACT LIKE IT.

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/

THE ENTERPRISE--EVIDENCE FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE

THE ENTERPRISE--EVIDENCE FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE

Since I am just back from some R & R, I had a lot of reading to catch up on.  As luck would have it, the Columbus Dispatch and WSJ came through with some great insights, and friends provided the rest.  (Sorry about so much reading--but it's all good stuff.)

THE RECOVERY IS LOOKING "SPOTTY"...BUT CONTINUING
Jobs were created.  That's good news.  Unemployment was up to 9.9% (the real number is closer to 17%), which is technically bad news--because people who had given up looking for work are back looking again.  Retail recovered a bit and then the early Easter, which helped March numbers, hurt the April numbers.  Inventory rebuilding is nearly complete--as far as it will go--because caution is the description for attitudes on inventory.  Target and Walmart both limped in with weak April numbers, but Costco had a robust gain as did Macy's and Nordstrom.  The recent stock market gyrations and cataclysmic drop last week will make everyone more nervous.  Conclusion--a slow, erratic recovery is the safest bet to plan on.  if things heat up, scramble to capitalize.

PRODUCTIVITY IS COMING BACK DOWN TO EARTH
This goes along with some job creation and the last stages of a recession, and early stages of a recovery.  Employers have squeezed nearly all the juice out of their current work force.  New hiring usually depresses productivity numbers and this time will be no exception.  The big issue this time is that many of the jobs that went away will never come back.  That means chronically unemployed people in certain classes--manufacturing being one.  Construction has a long, long way to come back, so many of those jobs are "gone" for the foreseeable future too.

CHINA--LABOR SHORTAGES AND THE YUAN
China's largest problems right now are containing some of its overheated sectors and finding enough skilled workers to staff its most prominent and best situated industries.  There are lots of people further inland, but skills are weak or worse and infrastructure is uneven. Low wage jobs moving to VietNam and Indonesia will find that there are not enough people and too little industrial base to absorb China's overflow.  Expect some interesting challenges for China sourcing in the next year.  It's no longer so simple--and requires people with real skills, knowhow and experience to do it properly.  That includes "certification" of the products before they ship too.

IF WE DON'T ELECT SOME NEW LEADERSHIP IN OUR COUNTRY--AND FAST—I MEAN STATE AND FEDERAL THERE WON'T BE MUCH OF THE AMERICA I KNEW FOR THE PAST 6+ DECADES LEFT.  JUST FIXING THESE ENORMOUS MISTAKES WILL BE A DAUNTING TASK.

EUROPEAN LIFE SYTLE IS FALLING APART--BEING ADOPTED IN THE USA BY OBAMA & DEMS/LIBERALS
Europeans have long been cited for 'knowing how to enjoy life." Europe is a prototypical socialistic/statist system. Take 6 week "holidays" in late summer, shutting down businesses--so what?  They work 35 hour weeks, maybe--so what?  Retirement age is in the low 50's--so what?  The problem is that the European economic system is failing--that's what!  Look at what's happening in Greece, (and several other southern European countries are right behind it--Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.).  The EU has now proposed that Greece privatize its health insurance--at the same time the US Congress/President Obama are pushing America in the other direction. Worst of all is the proposal that the primarily US funded IMF contribute about $150B to bail out Greece.  A bunch of that money comes from Americans!  Write your Representative and Senators and complain!

CAP & TRADE IS A HIDDEN TAX BASED ON A HOAX--TRASH IT!
Global warming reports used by Al Gore and created by IPCC are now revealed to be filled with unscientific "consensus."  In other words, there is no concrete proof that human activity, and especially the production of CO2 is the cause if catastrophic global warming.  Thus there is no credible reason for Cap & Trade.  Granted, we should stop fouling our planet with refuse and toxic emissions--but that is not what Cap & Trade was all about.  We must resist this hoax drive campaign to add taxes and cripple our American industries. Write your Representative and Senators and complain!

THE FOX IS GUARDING THE HEN-HOUSE--BUT A "DEVOUT" FOX!
Subject: Fw: Time is growing short--Email received from a friend who is a retired Navy Admiral:  Well,  boys and girls, today the fox is guarding the hen house.  The wolves will be herding the  sheep.  Obama  appointed two devout Muslims to home land security  posts. Doesn't this make you feel safer  already? Obama  and Janet Napolitano appointed Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim, as  Assistant Secretary for Policy Development.   DHS  Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim,  who was born in Damascus, Syria, as ADC National Executive  Director as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council  (HSAC).

NOTE:   Has anyone ever heard a new government official being identified  as a devout Catholic, a devout Jew or a devout  Protestant....? Just  wondering. Devout Muslims being appointed to critical Homeland Security  positions?  Doesn't this make you feel safer already??  That  should make our home land much safer, huh!  Was it not "Devout Muslim men" that flew planes into U.S. buildings 8  years ago?  Was it not a Devout Muslim who killed 13 at Fort Hood? Write your Representative and Senators and complain!

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PAY AND BENEFITS ARE THE LARGEST FACTOR BEHIND STATE FINANCIAL CRISES
Gary Shilling offers sound advice on how we must rein in these costs, and what are some of the most palatable, and least disruptive approaches to do this.  Without action, many states will drown in red ink and become financially bankrupt or worse.  Few politicians have the nerve to tackle these problems.  Our job is to find those who do, and get them elected. Contact both your state and Federal Representative and Senators and complain!
====================
OPINION--APRIL 29, 2010
How to Tackle Government Labor Costs—Pay freezes, two-tier wages, pension reform—nothing should be off the table
By A. GARY SHILLING
Life is tough and getting tougher for state and local governments. Revenues from personal and corporate income and sales taxes are down and property taxes are weakening. Budget deficits are jumping, and states now issue debt to fund routine expenditures. Meanwhile, pension obligations are underfunded to the tune of $1 trillion, according to the Pew Center on the States. States on average have set aside just 7.1% of retiree health care and other nonpension benefits, and 20 states have reserved nothing.

Costs remain stubbornly high, propelled over the last decade by rising municipal employment. Since the Great Recession started in December 2007, private payrolls have dropped 7.4%, but state and local jobs are essentially unchanged, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Some governments are making service cuts, but these are wholly inadequate, and voters are fiercely resistant to tax increases. The inescapable conclusion: Labor costs, which at $1.1 trillion in 2008 account for half of state and local spending according to the Cato Institute, simply must come down. And there is plenty of reason why they should. Consider:

Years ago, there was an informal "social contract"—public employees generally received lower wages than private-sector workers, and in return they got earlier retirement and generous pensions, allowing them to catch up. That arrangement has long since gone by the boards. The result is a remarkable trend. State and local government employees for years have received pay increases in excess of inflation, and BLS figures show they now have wages that are 34% higher on average than in the private sector.

Partly responsible for these trends is unionization, which the Department of Labor reports has jumped to 37.4% of the public sector in 2009 from 24.1% in 1973 (unionization in the private sector declined to 7.2% from 25.4% in the same time period). The result is often pay levels higher than needed to attract qualified employees. The average quit rate among state and local employees is a third of that in the private sector.

Public employees also have a 70% advantage in benefits. Health insurance, retirement benefits, life insurance and paid sick leave are not only much more available to them, but much richer. In 2009, BLS figures indicate that the costs of health insurance were 2.18 times as much for state and local employees as for private-sector workers. In the private sector, defined-benefit pensions have declined over the years in favor of defined-contribution plans such as the 401(k). In 2009, defined-benefit plans were available to only 21% of private-sector workers—but to 84% of municipal employees, according to the Cato Institute. And public-sector defined-benefit plans paid retirees about twice as much as those in the private sector.

Public-sector retirement costs also are high because many can retire at age 55 after 30 years of employment with pensions equal to 60% or more of final salary, which is often jacked up by lots of overtime in final working years. In some states, employees can "double dip" by retiring early and then resuming their previous jobs or taking other government positions. So they get salaries and pensions at the same time. With slow economic growth, limited income expansion and high unemployment likely in future years, a taxpayer revolt may be brewing. Americans still want basic municipal services like police and fire protection, good schools for their kids, clean streets and garbage collection, but at lower costs and budgets that don't kick the deficit can down the road.

State and local government labor costs can be reduced in an orderly way. Following in the footsteps of bankrupt GM, two-tier wage structures would allow existing employees to continue at current salaries, but pay new hires much lower wages that are nevertheless adequate to attract and retain qualified people. And the new people can be enrolled in defined-contribution pension plans that require employee contributions instead of defined-benefit plans. Retirement ages can be increased. While waiting for existing employees to retire, their pay can be frozen. Pension formulas can be reformed to avoid the system being gamed by heavy overtime in final years on the job, and double-dipping can be eliminated. Retirees in the public sector can be required, as they are in the private sector, to pay meaningful shares of their health-care costs.

These changes would be profound and shake up the high-paid, secure image of state and local government jobs. But essential services would still be delivered, only much more cost effectively. Push has come to shove.  Mr. Shilling, an economic consultant and investment adviser, is president of A. Gary Shilling & Co. Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

WHEN A CENTER-LEFT NEWSPAPER LIKE THE COLUMBUS (OH) DISPATCH SAYS THIS--LISTEN!  Excerpts from an Editorial: CONSIDER THE 15 POINTS [**} TAKEN FROM THE EDITORIAL


===================

Malpractice—Flaws of health-care overhaul grow more apparent every day
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 2:53 AM

Almost daily, the ill effects of the health-care overhaul passed by Congress last month are becoming apparent. As employers and government bureaucrats analyze the law's effect on bottom lines for the private sector and for government, the alarm bells are ringing.
    [1]--The tragedy is that these ill effects could have been and should have been calculated before the law was passed, not after. ...
    [2]-- ...That's because their uppermost goal was not to pass the best health-care bill possible but merely to pass anything that could be called "health-care reform" and could be claimed as a political victory by a president desperate for one.
    [3]--The latest analysis of the bill's likely effects comes from the Office of the Actuary in the federal Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The report by Chief Actuary Richard S. Foster says that, far from reducing the cost of health care, the overhaul will add $311 billion to the nation's health-care costs over the first decade the law is in effect. That's just for starters.
    [4]--...The report also warns that the$575 billion in Medicare reductions that are supposed to help pay for the overhaul are unrealistic. If the cuts are not implemented by Congress, then hundreds of billions of dollars will be added to the national debt.
    [5]--...In the extremely unlikely event that Congress allows the Medicare cuts to occur, then 15 percent of hospitals and other care facilities that rely on Medicare reimbursements would become unprofitable, meaning that they might drop Medicare patients.
    [6]--...This would limit the availability of care for millions of seniors in the Medicare program at a time when
doctors and hospitals already will be stretched thin by the addition of millions of other Americans
clamoring to use the health insurance the overhaul will provide.
    [7]--...(And to quantify the anticipated shortage of doctors, the American Academy of Family Physicians predicts a shortage of 39,000 family physicians by 2020.)
    [8]--... by extending Medicaid coverage to 18 million people and offering government subsidies to 16 million others to pay for health insurance, the overhaul will drive up demand for health-care services.
    [9]--...The actuary notes that a new, long-term-care benefit called the CLASS program that was included in the overhaul will become unsustainable in 15 years, and its deficits will be added to the national debt.
    [10]--...Meanwhile, Monday's New York Times reports that congressional Democrats are acknowledging that companies such as AT&T, Caterpillar, Deere and Verizon were correct for making filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing the large earnings hit they will take as a result of tax changes in the health-care overhaul.
    [11]--...Initially, Democratic leaders suspected that these companies were simply trying to undermine the new
law by exaggerating its harm. U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, intended to subpoena these companies and subject them to a
public lashing before Congress. But after analysis of data substantiated the companies' SEC filings, he is now saying in effect, "Um,never mind."
    [12]--... AT&T documentation shows that it spent $4.7 billion on medical costs for employees and retirees in 2009, an amount far higher than it would pay in penalties imposed by the health-care overhaul if the company dropped health-care coverage altogether. Those employees presumably then would seek government-subsidized health-insurance paid for by taxpayers.
    [13]--...Underlining the law's perverse incentive, documents provided to Congress by Caterpillar included an e-mail from a company executive saying that provisions of the overhaul could "drive many employers to just drop coverage for retirees altogether, and let the government foot the whole bill."
    [14]--...even the expansion of coverage may turn out to be an empty promise if there are too few doctors and hospitals willing to accept inadequate reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patients.
    [15]--... the law was slapped together behind closed doors without proper testimony and vetting by health-care, financial and insurance experts, and is a patchwork of political and special-interest deals rammed through Congress using procedural gimmicks.
The nation deserved something much, much better than this.
©2010, The Columbus Dispatch
===================
THAT'S A LOT OF READING--BUT THE MESSAGES ARE EVIDENCE
Evidence that the misguided leadership in charge of the US--in many state houses and in the Federal government must be removed and replaced.  Not everyone is misguided.  You have the good sense to know who is--and who is not.  There are many Senators and Congressional Representatives "retiring" suddenly.  Perhaps, just maybe it is because they know they have been exposed for the miscreants in these enormous misdeeds, and they'd better get out--before they are called out to be punished.  This is more than about just elections.  Some actions are borderline criminal--others are seditionist (but that law was repealed a long time ago).  Still others are stupid, power hungry and gutless.

FIND NEW CANDIDATES IN YOUR DISTRICTS--KNOW THEM--ELECT THEM

Our entire future, and that of our country depends on US.  "We, the people..." are every one of us.  Time to revolt is nearing.  Just under 6 months away.

Best, John

------------------------------------------------------

PS:  It's always good to end with a grin:


You know the honeymoon is over when the comedians start on the President.

The liberals are asking us to give Obama time. We agree . . and think 25 to life would be appropriate. -Jay Leno

America needs Obama-care like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask. -Jay Leno

Q: Have you heard about McDonald's' new Obama Value Meal?
A: Order anything you like and the guy behind you has to pay for it. -Conan O'Brien

Q: What does Barack Obama call lunch with a convicted felon?
A: A fund raiser. -Jay Leno

Q: What's the difference between Obama's cabinet and a penitentiary?
A: One is filled with tax evaders, blackmailers and threats to society. The other is for housing prisoners. -David Letterman

Q: If Nancy Pelosi and Obama were on a boat in the middle of the ocean and it started to sink, who would be saved?
A: America! -Jimmy Fallon

Q: What's the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo?
A: Bo has papers. -Jimmy Kimmel

Q: What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program?
A: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. -David Letterman
 
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
 "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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