Telling It Like It Is

THE ENTERPRISE----HOW THINGS NEED TO CHANGE

THE ENTERPRISE----HOW THINGS NEED TO CHANGE

HOW ABOUT A POSITIVE NOTE:  MY RECENT AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN FORUM ARTICLE
Why Business Will Grow Again: 'We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us!'
Download Why Business Will Grow Again_ 'We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us!' _ Innovation __ American Express OPEN Forum

DOES THE CORNER OFFICE ALTER NICE GUYS?  AGREE?  OR DISAGREE?
What Jonah Lehrer said in the WSJ was essentially YES--a lot of the time. The removal of Mark Hurd from HP's top spot triggered the article, which says that "the very traits that helped leaders accumulate control in the first place all but disappear once they rise to power. ...   The surest way to accumulate power is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  But once the nice guys get to the top that power and the ability to wield it changes them.  They seem to lose their ability to relate to and empathize with others, especially lesser mortals.  They also  "ignore information that doesn't conform to what they already believe."  The final flaw is that they learn to excuse faults of their own that they condemn in others.  Lehrer concludes that not every CEO becomes a villain, "but even the most virtuous people can be undone by the corner office." 

[My opinion is that Lehrer is right--in too many cases.  People who move up to the top become insulated from those who do the work and create the value--and are further shielded by intermediate staff.  The most important thing a CEO can do is to enjoy a lot of (unfiltered) "casual" contact with the "working folks" who can either make or break him or her.  The s/he needs to LISTEN and ACT based on their honest feedback (and never "kill the messenger" because that will be the end of honest feedback.)

WHEN THE PRESIDENT HAS TO SAY "HE'S NOT ANTI-BUSINESS"--WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?
That he is! And he either doesn't have a clue as to why, or he's simply lying.  I think it is some of both.  His ideas of what business needs are so far from the facts that part of the time he is creating an anti-business climate because of his liberal, big-government, regulation-intensive, wealth-redistribution policies.  The rest of the time it is because he is so inexperienced and his staff is so non-business familiar that they do it "accidentally," while trying to pursue some other goal.  Either way: HE IS ANTI-BUSINESS--AND IT SHOWS!

WHEN NOTHING CHANGES, NOTHING CHANGES--AND A LOT NEEDS TO CHANGE, AND FAST!
Or so said a colleague of mine. We hope to change a lot in Ohio and the USA when we go to the polls in November.  However, WSJ editor Daniel Henninger said it perfectly at the end of a recent column: "If the Republican rookies entering Congress next year don't do something identifiably real to stop federal-spending balloon, voters two years from now will start throwing the GOP under the bus. Absent action, the political rage and cynicism on offer in 2012 could make this year's tea parties look like, well, a tea party."
CHANGE IS NEEDED--STARTING WITH FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

ONE CHART SHOWS A LARGE PART OF THE PROBLEM, AND REQUIRES LITTLE EXPLANATION
Government is supposed to work for the people--not vice versa!
 What do you think about these numbers?



POSTED BELOW IS A LETTER THAT PORTRAYS THE KIND OF FOOLISH BEHAVIOR THAT GOES ON...
Andy Brenner runs the most efficient office of its kind in this area.  He measures productivity, cuts staff when work doesn't require it, and doesn't pad his budgets.  What does he get for it?  County Officials "spit in his face" simple because they can--and over and well-intended and relatively minor amount of money.  Read the whole letter, and sense Andy's frustration. He wants to go to Columbus to help change Ohio for the better.  [Note: I am supporting ANDY BRENNER for the Ohio House from my District.)

POSTED BELOW IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW ELECTING INCOMPETENTS WHO ARE "PELOSI PUPPETS" HARMS AMERICA!   [Note: I am also supporting STEVE STIVERS even though he is not running in my District)
Steve Stivers lost to Mary Jo Kilroy in 2008 in a recount by 1300 votes out of over 300,000.  The vast majority of Kilroy's funding for a mud-slinging campaign came from outside Ohio (reported from sources like George Soros).  Her most intelligent ad featured her daughters saying they loved their mother.  She was arguably the worse Commissioner ever in Franklin County, and her actions on the new minor league ball part to "rig the contracts to favor union contractors, cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars and some have already been overturned in court.  Now she is running again, slinging mud and trying to hide the ineptness that is her trademark.

=====================
Andy  Brenner submitted this "letter to the editor" on Friday, September 17, 2010.
Look for it in the papers soon, and it was already published in Saturday's Delaware (OH) Gazette

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I am Andrew O. Brenner, the Republican nominee for State Representative from Ohio's 2nd House district, which covers all of Delaware County. Recently, my opponent has incorrectly stated that I am not upholding my promise to tax payers as Delaware County Recorder. I am writing to inform the voters of the facts so that you can understand how wrong my opponent is. There is an old philosophy that someone attacks you when they have nothing else to go on. This is the problem with my opponent - he has no other ideas and nothing else to run on, other than to try to attack me. I am also welcoming you to contact me through my web site at www.AndrewBrenner.com to ask me any questions after reviewing this information.

I was elected as County Recorder in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 with nearly 64% of the vote in the general election. Since 2004, I have cut my budget, modernized the office, come in under budget, made the office more efficient and made my office one of the, if not the, most productive Recorder's office in the State of Ohio. My budget is 10% lower than it was when I took office nearly 6 years ago. I have implemented new systems in the office so that we are operating with up-to-date technology and equipment, improving efficiencies and cutting costs. I have reduced my staff by 29%. And, my employees would have to process half the number of documents they do in order for us to meet the average in the state. In other words, I would have to double my staff to match the average efficiency and productivity of the average county Recorder's office.

Recently, I asked our County Commissioners for a $2,500 supplemental. This was requested for several reasons. First of all, I run a lean office. I do not pad my budget as some elected officials do. I cut everything out of it that I possibly can, and then budget accordingly. With a sudden increase in documents being recorded (a 40% spike), and a bid process underway for our indexing system, my small staff of 5 is overloaded. In an effort to make sure that we not only review the bids properly but that we also keep processing documents promptly for our customers, I requested $2,500 for overtime in case I needed it. Half of the money the Recorder's office receives goes to the Housing Trust Fund, minus $4.00 per document. When I went before the Commissioners, I explained to them that the daily average revenue as of May 2010 was around $8,000, and that today it is around $12,000. Of that $4,000 difference, considering that the county keeps about half of that, I was asking for only a little more than one day of the increased revenue. The Commissioners denied my request in a 1-1 vote, with one Commissioner absent.

Another fact most do not know is that the Recorder's office receives money back from the State for administering the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. This is a 1% return. Since I took office in 2005, my office has received $67,458 for administering the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. According to the Ohio law, this money is for the use of the Recorder, and many county Recorders use those funds in their offices. I do not. I have returned those dollars to the county for the six years I have been Recorder. So again, requesting the $2,500 is equal to 3.7% of those Housing Trust Fund dollars.

Additionally, turning down a legitimate request such as this only teaches elected officials to pad their budgets. I would rather see elected officials scrape away everything from their budget, as I have, and then go to the Commissioners if necessary. However, this is not what the Commissioners are teaching elected officials to do.

In a stance of complete hypocrisy, however, the Board of Commissioners recently gave a pay raise to a county employee from $48,000 to $64,000. This was immediate and done very suddenly due to a change in title. This is the equivalent of giving my office's staff an annual pay raise of nearly 3% for three consecutive years. So it's alright to implement a permanent pay raise that will hit the budget year after year, but it is not acceptable to request a one-time supplemental for $2,500 that will be given back to the county if it is not used?

What we are teaching our employees in the county is that they are better off unionizing. From the Sheriff's office to other county departments, the union employees receive raises (most notably recently because the mediator found the county to be dishonest about not being able to afford raises) while the non-union employees do not. Personally, I would not be giving anyone a raise right now; however, when one group receives a raise, it encourages the other group to do whatever the group getting a raise is doing so that they are on equal footing. Certainly, the Commissioners must see this.

Bottom line - I have cut my budget, repeatedly and voluntarily. Even with this $2,500 supplemental, my office's budget is still 10% lower than when I took office six years ago, and we are still one of the, if not the, most productive offices in the state. My opponent can sling mud all he wants, but he doesn't know the facts. I stand up for what is right in a fiscally conservative way, and will continue to do so at the Statehouse. Until then, I will continue to run an efficient, lean Recorder's office. I look forward to working with my soon-to-be colleagues in the Ohio House of Representatives to use my experience as Recorder to make Ohio efficient, lean, conducive to job growth and attractive to businesses once again. I am the only candidate in this race with a record of reform, and I will use it as your next State Representative to repair Ohio.                               

ANDY BRENNER, RECORDER, DELAWARE COUNTY (OH)
=====================

Friday, September 17th, 2010                                                    

Malicious Intent or Incompetence?
Healthcare Bill Will Hurt Businesses
Did Kilroy Intend to Hurt Businesses or Did She Not Read the Bill?

COLUMBUS - Congresswoman Kilroy has a lot of explaining to do.

Bait-and-switch Congresswoman Kilroy is claiming the healthcare overhaul passed this past spring won't hurt small businesses, and she's misinforming the public about the contents of the bill she proudly voted on.

"The question that must be answered is this: Is Congresswoman Kilroy intentionally lying to the people of Central Ohio, or did she not read the bill she voted on?" said John Damschroder, spokesman for Stivers for Congress.

Kilroy's Claim:
Congresswoman Kilroy claims that the healthcare overhaul does not require businesses to report both payments to and purchases with a taxable entity of $600 or more each year, starting in 2012. (Dispatch Editorial Board Meeting Sept 13th, 2010)

Reality:
The healthcare bill Kilroy voted on includes this bureaucratic nightmare of a burden on small businesses.
(H.R. 3590, Section 9006.)
"The people of this district deserve better," Damschroder said. "She either knew what was in the bill and lied, or she didn't know what she was voting on - either way she's guilty of not doing her job."

What People Are Saying:
"...small businesses are staring in horror toward 2013, when the 1099 mandate will hit more than 30 million of them. Currently businesses only have to tell the IRS the value of services they purchase from vendors and the like. Under the new rules, they'll have to report the value of goods and merchandise they purchase as well, adding vast accounting and paperwork costs..." (Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2010)

"The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year." (CNNMoney.com, May 5, 2010)
"It's a pretty heavy administrative burden...Eliminating the goods exemption
could launch an avalanche of paperwork"
(Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Businesses)

The expanded 1099 reporting requirement will bury businesses in an avalanche of paperwork for often basic and routine activities. This is no time to be discouraging businesses from hiring new workers.
With economic recovery stagnant, Americans cannot afford to stop the creation of any jobs."
(The Heritage Foundation, September 9, 2010)

"It is just one of the dumber things I have seen in Congress."
(Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) on the 1099 provision in H.R. 3590)

=====================
WE NEED TO SEND A MESSAGE LOUD AND CLEAR THE THE UN (I CALL IT "USELESS NATIONS")
If this organization continues to bring idiots like Ahmadinejad here to give him a big news platform and insists on having the most atrocious attitude about which countries are on its human rights council and hold prestigious positions, then the USA should withdraw most of its funding, and stay involved only a defensive position.   If you read the UN charter, it has strayed so far from what it was intended to do, that it no longer is even credible.  Most don't realize that the USA's original reason for being the host to the UN in NYC was so it could eavesdrop on all the foreign countries coming to its meetings.  Not the most noble of missions either.  These organizations have outlived their usefulness and become the opposite of what was originally intended. (Same as labor unions have.)  We should "send the little despot" home.  (Watch the Fox News interview with him to get a real taste of what he's all about.)

JUST BACK FROM THE 14TH REUNION CONFERENCE AND MY MIND IS BUZZING WITH IDEAS.
There will be multiple occasions when I'll discuss some of our topics and conclusions...but that is for future editions.

 Best, John


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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--THE REAL PROBLEM IN AMERICA

THE ENTERPRISE--THE REAL PROBLEM IN AMERICA

WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM IN AMERICA?
First of all, the Industrial model upon which America's amazing 20th Century growth was based is now obsolete.  Globalization, the emergence of China, the ease of transferring technology and intellectual property around the world in an instant, and the growing unwillingness of Americans to "actually work" have resulted in many jobs moving out of the USA.  Unions in the USA have cost Americans millions of jobs by their obstructionist behavior and (until the crisis is upon them) their unwillingness to bend or compromise on a whole range of work rules, benefits, etc.  have priced American companies using American labor out of world markets.  Add to that what is nearly the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and a growing and oppressive number of regulations and regulatory agencies looking for someone to punish--and US businesses are at a huge disadvantage vs. many other competing countries.  And that is just the short list.

MATURING & COMMODITIZATION OF LUMPY OBJECTS
Consumer products have been so competitive that prices are almost unbelievable.  Small appliances for $5-10.  Bicycles for under $50.  Every imaginable form of household product for prices ranging from $1 to $10.  Walmart has truly saved billions for American consumers.  But it and its competitors--Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, even Kmart/Sears have driven so many prices down so far that they struggle to achieve comparable store sales gains year over year, because they are consistently selling more stuff for less money.  In the process, as they search the globe for suppliers they find someone, somewhere who will meet their latest low price target, and sell them what they want.

IT'S NOT "WILL AMERICANS COMPETE?"   IT'S DO AMERICANS HAVE THE WILL TO COMPETE?
We have two different generations with widely different problems.  Those over 50 once knew how to work, and they worked hard--and made good money--and if they had a Union, they got benefits that were far too rich and ultimately unaffordable.  Their jobs have largely gone away or been replaced by technology or automation, both of which allow far fewer workers to make more, better products.  Then there are the "Millennials"--a generation so pampered and pumped up that they think the world owes them a living and adulation.  They are in for a big surprise--and a tragic one.  Many of them never learned that part of success was just showing up--for work--on time--and actually working.  Not web browsing or long lunches or texting friends--but doing productive work. 

AMERICANS WANT WORK, BUT DON'T WANT TO "REALLY WORK" (SOME IMMIGRANTS DO)
Americans--too many of them want work, but don't want to really work.  The American immigrant will to win shown in the mid-20th Century, to work hard and succeed has been diluted, lost and/or destroyed.  The current wave of immigrants seem much more willing to work, than they are to comply with immigration laws.  A disconnect that is impeding their ability to succeed, be assimilated into America's culture and communities.  And so they remain here, but isolated and afraid of being found out, working for low wages, and sending the money home to their even poorer relatives.

THEN COMES THE DEBATES ABOUT GOVERNMENT STIMULUS AND TAX POLICY
Studies have proven that tax cuts create more jobs than government stimulus programs---these just build a bigger and bigger bureaucracy to be loaded on the backs of taxpayers.  However, tax cuts without spending restraint is a fool's game too.  America is spending--right now--$3 for every $2 it takes in in revenue.  That simply has to stop--and the process of stopping it will be painful, but necessary.  The old exercise adage: "No pain, no gain," applies more appropriately than most can imagine.  Services need to be cut.  Governments neither need to nor should operate so many things (like prisons, for one example).  They do it poorly, at higher cost, and with less incentive to do it better.  Schools need to be consolidated to reduce administrative salary costs.  Classes have been shrunk too far--to attempt to staff for classes of 15 is ludicrous.  Try 25-30 in each class, and then give the good teachers excellent pay and pay incentives and throw out the bad ones--and let the Teachers' Unions go crazy
====================[my emphasis added]

Tax Cuts vs. 'Stimulus': The Evidence Is In—A review of over 200 fiscal adjustments in 21 countries shows that spending discipline and tax cuts are the best ways to spur economic growth.

By ALBERTO ALESINA

Politicians argue for increased stimulus spending, as opposed to spending cuts, on the grounds that it would speed up economic recovery. This argument might have it exactly backward. Indeed, history shows that cutting spending in order to reduce deficits may be the key to promoting economic recovery.

In Europe today, the risk of a renewed recession comes not from the spending cuts that some governments have enacted, but from a sovereign debt overhang and multiple bank failures. July's stress tests were not reassuring because they didn't test the exposure of European banks to sovereign debt; had they done so, many banks would have failed. Those banks remain a threat to the European economy.

In the U.S., meanwhile, recent stimulus packages have proven that the "multiplier"—the effect on GDP per one dollar of increased government spending—is small. Stimulus spending also means that tax increases are coming in the future; such increases will further threaten economic growth.

Economic history shows that even large adjustments in fiscal policy, if based on well-targeted spending cuts, have often led to expansions, not recessions. Fiscal adjustments based on higher taxes, on the other hand, have generally been recessionary.

My colleague Silvia Ardagna and I recently co-authored a paper examining this pattern, as have many studies over the past 20 years. Our paper looks at the 107 large fiscal adjustments—defined as a cyclically adjusted deficit reduction of at least 1.5% in one year—that took place in 21 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries between 1970 and 2007.

According to our model, a country experienced an expansionary fiscal adjustment when its rate of GDP growth in the year of the adjustment and the next year was in the top 25% of the OECD. A recessionary period, then, was when a country's growth rate was in the bottom 75% of the OECD. Our results were striking: Over nearly 40 years, expansionary adjustments were based mostly on spending cuts, while recessionary adjustments were based mostly on tax increases. And these results would have been even stronger had our definition of an expansionary period been more lenient (extending, for example, to the top 50% of the OECD). In addition, adjustments based on spending cuts were accompanied by longer-lasting reductions in ratios of debt to GDP.

In the same paper we also examined years of large fiscal expansions, defined as increases in the cyclically adjusted deficit by at least 1.5% of GDP. Over 91 such cases, we found that tax cuts were much more expansionary than spending increases.

How can spending cuts be expansionary? First, they signal that tax increases will not occur in the future, or that if they do they will be  smaller. A credible plan to reduce government outlays significantly changes expectations of future tax liabilities. This, in turn, shifts people's behavior. Consumers and especially investors are more willing to spend if they expect that spending and taxes will remain limited over a sustained period of time.

On the other hand, fiscal adjustments based on tax increases reduce consumers' disposable income and reduce incentives for productivity. American firms today are profitable and have large unspent resources. But their uncertainty over regulation and taxes discourages them from risk-taking, investment and consumption. In Europe, governments would strengthen the banking sector if they cut spending and reduced their default risk. This, in turn, would ease the flow of credit into the private sector.

The composition of fiscal adjustments is therefore critical. Based on what we know, the U.S. and Europe are currently at greater risk from increased stimulus spending than from gradual but credible spending cuts. Europe seems to have learned the lessons of the past decades: In fact, all the countries currently adjusting their fiscal policy are focusing on spending cuts, not tax hikes. Yet fiscal policy in the U.S. will sooner or later imply higher taxes if spending is not soon reduced.
The evidence from the last 40 years suggests that spending increases meant to stimulate the economy and tax increases meant to reduce deficits are unlikely to achieve their goals. The opposite combination might.

Mr. Alesina is a professor of political economy at Harvard.   ©The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2010.

 =======================
HOW ABOUT OUR UN BALANCED BUDGETS?  WHAT CAN BE DONE?
The CATO institute recently ran a full page ad pointing out Ten areas where savings in the Billions and maybe in the Trillions could be achieved.  It will require tough-mindedness and fortitude.  I can't reproduce its findings here, but you can go read about them here: http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/  NOTE:  The only way to balance an unbalanced budget is TO SPEND LESS OR FIND MORE REVENUE/INCOME.  TAXATION CANNOT, AND WILL NOT FIX A BROKEN BUDGET WITHOUT BIG SPENDING CUTS.

THE US INDUSTRIAL MODEL IS RAPIDLY BECOMING OBSOLETE--A NEW, IMPROVED ONE IS CRITICALLY NEEDED
I opened with this topic but it is far too broad to cover much more in the space I have left.  The US Industrial Policy and Model is worthy of dedicating an entire edition.  Until that time, simply consider how the nature of jobs has changed in the USA in your lifetime.  Check where people work, and the kind of work they do.  Then check where nearly everything you use is made--(except your house and its essential materials)--and it is not in the USA.  This is why the housing crash and decline has been so devastating to the economy.  Nearly everything major in your house is still produced in the USA, including the labor to make it all into a house.  When that demand drops by  50% or more, it's no wonder the overall jobs picture is bleak.

NO AMOUNT OF POLITICAL MANIPULATION WILL FIX THE JOBS PROBLEM (OR THE HOUSING PROBLEM)
It requires time for the free enterprise system to "right itself" after a bad fall.  Meanwhile, the best solution is to adopt fiscally sound policies on spending--both in business and in government.  But that leads to yet another big issue.  Gotta quit for now...more later.

Best, John


IRONIC, ISN'T IT?
Let me get this straight. We're going to be "gifted" with a Trillion dollar health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it (but exempts themselves from it) to be signed by a president who smokes but has a much better health care plan, paid for with funding administered by a treasury/IRS chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.   What the hell could possibly go wrong?


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I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.    -- Winston Churchill

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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--I WISH FOR...

THE ENTERPRISE--I WISH FOR...

I WISH FOR: A PRESIDENT WHO WOULD QUIT CAMPAIGNING WHEN HE SHOULD BE FIXING AMERICA'S PROBLEMS
Listen to his recent speeches.  Do they sound like 2008?  They are.  They are "campaign speeches" full of glowing rhetoric that he's proven he cannot live up to even when he isn't lying.  Instead of spending your money (and mine) like water and then cooking up phony metrics to say what isn't working looks like it is--maybe he should skip a few rounds of golf and cancel some vacations and figure out what to do about:  JOBS, UNEMPLOYMENT, SOARING DEFICITS, INCREASING THREATS FROM IRAN, AN UNWINNABLE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, PIE IN THE SKY ENERGY PLANS,STIMULUS PLANS THAT DON'T STIMULATE ANYTHING BUT GROWING GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY, ONEROUS, BUT VAGUE NEW REGULATIONS AND A POROUS US BORDER WITH DRUG-LORD CONTROLLED MEXICO.   And those are just the top of mind ones.

I WISH FOR: TERM LIMITS FOR CONGRESS AND STAFFERS
As long as I am wishing, I might as well wish for two things that would dramatically improve America.  12 years in Congress should be plenty for Representatives.  Either 12 or 18 for Senators. A minimum of four years gap before running for any Congressional office again.  Four years off for staffers whose Senator or Representative "times out" as well.  Career politicians are bound to become corrupted somewhat--or worse--or use old solutions to new problems.  And incumbents 90%+ re-election rate is ludicrous.  They simply collude to "gerrymander" districts in which they can hardly lose--ever.

I WISH FOR: A NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LAW WHICH PROHIBITS PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS
Unions are destroying America--costing the private sector jobs by the millions and costing Americans billions in excess wages and benefits in the public sector.  Public sector unions are incestuous.  The other option is to ban any and all political contributions from any public sector union or an affiliated body or group.  Unions outlived their usefulness sometime in the 1970s or 1980s when employers figured out that taking advantage of workers or treating them badly was down right stupid and counter productive.

I WISH FOR: MORE H1B VISAS IN BADLY NEEDED JOBS; EXTENSION VISAS FOR FOREIGNERS WHO GRADUATE FROM USA COLLEGES
Let's keep the best and brightest in the USA, and let in more of those badly needed jobs that no Americans can fill because of shortages:  Doctors, Nurses, Programmers, etc.  Instead we send the best and brightest out of the USA and limit the entry VISAs in the exact areas where are needs are greatest and unfulfillable with Americans.

I WISH FOR: AN END TO STUPID "RANKINGS" WHICH ARE SIMPLY BOGUS "BEAUTY CONTESTS"
I worked for America's Most Admired Company and it was falling apart from the inside--but the voters who vote on impressions, media hype, history and hoopla had no idea.  I dealt with the people who rated Colleges for Business Week while I was at one of the colleges.  It is a highly contrived system, which is designed to favor the so called "Blue chip" schools year after year--assuring that they keep getting money and top students--but doing nothing to assure that they are giving top notch educations.  The same goes for NCAA Sports rankings.  How many of the voters in the Coaches poll have time to watch the other teams entire games--even on tape or DVRs?  How many sports writers who vote in the media poll really understand enough about the inner workings of the game to know what they are seeing IF they take time to watch all of the top 40-50 teams.  How can magazines evaluate which are the best Hospitals or Doctors.  Do they really study success rates and mortality tables with scientific rigor.  I bet not!  How can any of these "rankings" voters do more than choose on PR,  hunches, scraps of anecdotal evidence and the grapevine of others' feedback--however biased it might be?

I WISH FOR: MORE ONE ARMED ECONOMIST WITH NO HANDS; STOCK ANALYSTS WHO GET FINED WHEN THEY ARE WRONG
So they can't say, on one hand, this might happen and on the other hand, that might happen.  Then when they are wrong, they throw up their arms and say, "who can predict the future/"  Not you--that's for sure.  Analysts in Wall Street Firms take their best shot at estimating earnings from the carefully cloudy statements of corporate chieftains.  Tip:  Actively managed mutual funds are outperformed by Index funds 75% of the time.  So much for the "analytical brilliance" of these guys.  Why do they keep doing it?  Because they have nothing to lose when they are wrong, and reap handsome payoffs when they are right.  Create negative bonuses that "take back previous gains" and watch they get realistic.

I WISH FOR: SOMEONE TO STOP "LEVERAGING LIES" TRYING TO MAKE THEM INTO TRUTH
Rush Limbaugh's innuendo about whether Obama is a Muslim is effectively "leveraging a lie" so that 18% of Americans think he is.  He isn't.  He may be a lot of things, and as a child he may have been raised as a Muslim for a while--but he's not one any more.  Nancy Pelosi who spends our money like water, claims that a tax increase for those making over $250,000 only will affect 3% of small business taxpayers and the media runs with it.  The truth is that according to the IRS, 48% of the net income of those classes called small businesses (S Corps, sole proprietorships, partnerships, etc.) went to households with incomes above $200,000 (in 2007)--not 3% of the small businesses will be impacted.  Obama continues to claim that "no one will have to give up their health insurance if they don't want to."  He hasn't read the law he signed, because there are a whole bunch of circumstances where people WILL have to give up their health insurance.  And finally, the biggest lie of all:  Those making under $250,000 will not see their taxes go up one dime.  I guess if you change the name of what you are charging for government from taxes to fees, fines, etc., maybe that can be true--but I doubt it.  Or if you pass on the bill to the states, by unfunded mandates, and then states raise taxes...  You get the idea.  It's Leveraging Lies.

I WISH FOR: A RETURN TO SANITY IN UNEMPLOYMENT AND MINIMUM WAGE LEVELS
Unemployment for 99 weeks has to be paid for by someone.  Who is that?  If you are making money and paying taxes, it's YOU!  There is no free lunch.  And it creates a huge disincentive to find work.  Staying home and loafing and getting a check is habit forming.  Raising the national minimum wage to over $8/hour doesn't help lower wage workers. It keeps them unemployed.  An employer with a job that he can (or could have) reasonably paid someone $6/hour to  do, won't hire anyone at all if the least they are going to be paid is $8.25/hour.  This dramatically reduces the chances for unskilled youths to find jobs, and it's even worse for minorities.

FINALLY, I WISH FOR: A GOVERNMENT IN CONTROL THAT REALIZES THAT SOCIALISM IS A FAILED IDEA FOR AN ECONOMY
Paying for the government to do things with other people's money doesn't work.  And the more the government does (poorly, and wastefully) the more it collects from those actually earning money, until their incentive to earn is reduced further and further.  When government workers both out number and out earn those is the private sector (as they do in the USA), the country is in dire straits, and in even greater need of a REVOLUTION to change things a lot. And that is what I WISH FOR--MOST OF ALL.  Obama's Hope and Change, was Hype and Change.  We need a government that remembers it works for the people and not vice versa.

LESS THAN 60 DAYS TO THE START OF THE REVOLUTION!  SAY ENGAGED!  IT'S A MULTI-YEAR PROCESS TO MAKE REAL CHANGES!

Best, John


Someone who thought I might be depressed over the loss of my dog, Kobe, sent me this.  Somehow it made me grin and grimace all at once. 
Why I'm Depressed …
      Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel , "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."
    Nearly 75 years ago,(when Welfare was introduced) Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."
    Today, Barack Hussein Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!
    I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc .  .  . I called a Suicide Hotline.  It didn't help when I had to press 1 for English.
    I was connected to a call center in Pakistan .  I told them I was suicidal. They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck.....

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I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.    -- Winston Churchill

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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--THE TRUTH ABOUT THINGS

THE ENTERPRISE--THE TRUTH ABOUT THINGS

PRIORITIES UPSIDE DOWN: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WOULD FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO SUE INSTEAD OF AMERICANS, CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON A RETIRED BASEBALL PLAYER, ETC.
Does it seem odd that there is no more pressing business for Barack Obama's proven inept Attorney General to sue than Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and people who are trying to enforce their laws.  Doesn't Congress have any business more pressing than to hold hearings about whether Roger Clemens did or did not tell the whole truth about steroid use, years ago?  Couldn't the President and Congress find some way to help the PRIVATE SECTOR create jobs instead of REDISTRIBUTING TAXPAYER dollars to PUBLIC UNION EMPLOYEES IN BLOATED BUREAUCRACIES and thinking they are doing something good?

IF ANYONE REALLY WONDERS WHY BUSINESSES ARE RELUCTANT TO INVEST, AND THUS JOB GROWTH IS VERY SLOW, OR NON-EXISTENT, READ THIS. 
I wrote this as part of a Chapter for my book on Complexity, but it would have dramatically increased the length of the book, and that was without even a very exhaustive treatment of Complexity in government.  Consider that the President's has grown and grown to (I think) 13 positions now.  None are ever dropped or consolidated--which is a really good solution to reduce the size of the bureaucracy.  The same applies for "Departments" formed and then allowed to grow and grow and grow--at each step taking over more and more of our lives and our income.  Anyway, read the attached if you wish, or better yet, print it out and make two notes next to each government agency or regulatory body.  Hs it affected how you do business?  (Yes or No).  And does it cost you more because of its existence? Use a + or - to designate if it costs you more or less.  Then send that to your State and Federal Representatives and Senators--or better yet, to the ones you hope to vote into office in Nov.
Download Complexity Government Influences

A READER'S QUESTION--AND A GOOD ONE

John,
There is a disease in this country (maybe many) that large and successful (growing revenue/growing profit), still feel compelled to reduce headcount - in the interest of being good and savvy financial leaders! So if they are doing it, where in heaven are the jobs gonna come from?

My Answer:
IN A WORD--GROWTH--DUE TO IMPROVED COMPETITIVENESS--BUT FIRST THEY MUST  "GET IN SHAPE"
First, IF the company has "grown fat and sloppy," then pruning is necessary.  In nature, plants that are not pruned and shaped do not grow to their full potential.  They become distorted, unhealthy, and misshapen, and susceptible to disease and storm damage. The same happens in business.  Any organization must "get in shape and stay in shape" just like a human body.  During tough times this is even more important. 

Then it is time to start doing things differently and better.

The dark side of improved productivity is that fewer people do more work.  The same goes for eliminating government waste--it usually takes the form of unproductive people in unnecessary jobs.  Fewer people working sets off all kinds of alarms.  How are they going to be employed again???

The solution is one where you must have faith that it will work, and follow through to make it happen:  improved productivity and less waste (and better quality & service) almost always leads to improved competitiveness.  That improved competitiveness must be focused on industries and markets where there is growth potential.  These "wins" will create jobs, and absorb the temporary casualties of doing the right things. 

Export markets are especially desirable growth, as are any domestic markets with better than average growth potential, or that can be "expanded" via innovation.  Some jobs have even be repatriated from having been outsourced overseas (call centers have come back from Mumbai and Manila to North and South Dakota, to cite just one example.)

Cutting head-count for the sake of just cutting costs is a short term fix--and only then IF the head-count that is cut is the "right head-count."  Too many companies cut indiscriminately (20% across the board is certain to cut some that shouldn't be cut and miss some that should(. In doing so they cut muscle and eliminate some of the "invisible important people"--the ones that make things happen (real workflow seldom follows the bureaucratic hierarchy of an organization chart).

There is an interlude in which you can keep good people for a period of time until the growth that utilizes them starts to occur.  This requires and investment--but usually a far smaller one than funding sustained 99 week unemployment benefits, and the costs of severance, then of finding, rehiring and training of new people.  This is where vision, confidence, and strong managerial skills/insights into how things really work, are necessary.

Nobody said it would be easy. But I have done it and it works.  It's like the story of how bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly--but they do. 

Case in point: This worked for us at Huffy Bicycles in the 1980's and early 1990's.  We started with 2000 (United Steelworkers) hourly employees making 11,000 bikes/day, and 10 years later we had 1800 employees making nearly twice as many bikes/day! (21,500/day)... and much greater USA market share -- from 22% to 34%--and some decent International Sales. 

The 200 people fewer (except for a very few removed for performance reasons) were gone due to attrition or retirement. We had one small and brief (a few weeks) "layoff" during a decline in the market in the mid-1980's, and all but some weak performing supervision were called back. We did flex "plant shutdowns" in mid-summer and mid-winter by a week or two plus or minus to adjust inventory.  Productivity and quality improved dramatically, market share grew, sales increased 75% and pre-tax profits doubled. All the people whose " jobs were eliminated via improved productivity", found new jobs (in the company) due to growth in market share!  On a few occasions we had the cleanest plant around while those waiting for new jobs swept, painted and maintained things.  It can be done.  It works.  But it requires singleminded determination not to veer off course or panic.

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IF THE BUSH TAX CUTS ARE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE IN 2011, COMBINED WITH "NON-TAX TAXES" FROM OBAMACARE....
Given the need for something to offset rampant spending, and extending health care coverage to millions, here is how YOU pay for it!

WHAT ARE THE ODDS THE BUSH TAX CUTS WILL BE RENEWED?
Moderate, at least the ones for people in lower tax brackets--but with the deficit at near record levels this decision may be passed on to the "new Congress," forcing it to decide whether to inflate the deficit still further ("giving tax breaks to the rich" will be the 2012 Campaign rhetoric), or increase taxes by letting these cuts expire--risking yet another shock to a shaky economy.

BARACK OBAMA DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE THIS DECISION!  HE WANTS TO HANG THE REPUBLICANS WITH IT TO USE IN 2012 CAMPAIGNING
HERE ARE THE "TAXING SCENARIOS" IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT READ THEM:  In just five months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:

 ------First Wave:      Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
 In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:

 Personal income tax rates will rise.   The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).  The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.  All the rates in between will also rise.  Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.  The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

 - The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%

 - The 25% bracket rises to 28%

 - The 28% bracket rises to 31%

 - The 33% bracket rises to 36%

 - The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

 Higher taxes on marriage and family.  The  "marriage penalty"  (narrower tax brackets for married  couples) will return from the first dollar of income.  The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.  The  standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.  The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

 The return of the Death Tax.    This year, there is no death tax.  For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million.  A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

 Higher tax rates on savers and investors.  The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.  The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.  These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

NEXT COME NEW TAXES--THAT ARE JUST NOT "CALLED TAXES": OBAMACARE CALLS THEM "REVENUE OFFET PROVISIONS"

-----Second Wave:    Obamacare
  The "Medicine Cabinet Tax" --Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

 The "Special Needs Kids Tax" --This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit).  There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.  There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to  pay for this type of special needs education.

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare.  Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011.  They include: Real Estate will be subject to a 3.8% sales tax to be phased in by 2013.... 

 The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRA's and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

 -----Third Wave:  The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.  The major items include:

The AMT  will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.      According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising  from 4 million last year to 28.5 million.  These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level.  The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000.  This will be cut all the way down to $25,000.  Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment.  In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.      There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place.  The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others.  Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.      The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.  Tax credits for education will be limited.  Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.  Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.  Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.  The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

 Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.  Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.  This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution."  This ability will no longer be there.

 +++Now your insurance is INCOME on your W2's......One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . the dupes, er, dopes, who backed this administration will be astonished!  Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.  If you're retired?  So what; your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.  You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen.  Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt.  That's what you'll pay next year.  For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

-----This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the 15%  that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.
Not believing this???  Here is a research of the summaries.....
On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec.  9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002  "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. Go to Kiplingers and read about "13 tax changes that could affect you."  Number 3 is above.    

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A VERY GOOD ARTICLE--BY A JOURNALIST WHO'S BEEN DOING IT LONGER THAN I HAVE
 Read  this slowly, let it sink in, then VOTE in November
 
This  is about as clear and easy to understand as it can  be.   please read the entire article.  The article below is completely  neutral, not anti Republican or Democrat.

Charlie Reese, a retired  reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head,  defining clearly who it is that in  the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every  day. Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.  It's a short but good read.  Worth  the time.  Worth remembering!

EVERY  CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS  JOURNALIST HAS scripted IN THIS MESSAGE.  READ IT AND  THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL  DEBACLE.

545  PEOPLE -- By Charlie Reese

--Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

--Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

--Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

--You and I don't propose a federal  budget.  The president does.

--You and I  don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on  appropriations.  The House of Representatives  does.

--You and I don't write the tax code,  Congress does.

--You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

--You and I don't control  monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank  does.

NOTE:  One hundred senators, 435 congressmen,  one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to  545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly,  legally, morally, and individually responsible for the  domestic problems that plague this country.

I  excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.  In 1913,  Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a  sound currency to a federally chartered, but private,  central bank.

I excluded all the special  interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.  They have  no legal authority.  They have no ability to coerce a  senator, a congressman, or a president to do one  cotton-picking thing.  I don't care if they offer a  politician $1 million dollars in cash.  The politician  has the power to accept or reject it.  No matter what  the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility  to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human  beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.  What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the  gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President  for creating deficits.... .  The president can only propose a budget.  He cannot force the  Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which  is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to  the House of Representatives for originating and approving  appropriations and taxes.  Who is the speaker of the  House?  Nancy Pelosi.  She is the leader of the  majority party.  She and fellow House members, not the  president, can approve any budget they want.  If the  president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they  agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a  nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people  who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence  and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single  domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545  people.  When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545  people exercise the power of the federal government, then it  must follow that what exists is what they want to  exist.

--If the tax code is unfair, it's because  they want it unfair.

--If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

--If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want  them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are  on an elite retirement plan not available to the people,  it's because they want it that way.

--There are  no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they  hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose  gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom  they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take  this power.  Above all, do not let them con you into  the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces  like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent  them from doing what they take an oath to  do.

--Those 545 people, and they alone, are  responsible.

--They, and they alone, have the  power..

--They, and they alone, should be held  accountable by the people who are their  bosses.

--Provided the voters have the gumption  to manage their own employees...

--We should vote  all of them out of office and clean up their  mess!
 
Charlie Reese is a former  columnist of the Orlando Sentinel  Newspaper.

What you do with this article now  that you have read it.........  Is up to  you.

A PARTIAL LIST OF WHERE THE GOVERNMENT'S "INCOME" COMES FROM--OR IN ONE WORD:  YOU!

1. Sales Tax
2. School  Tax
3. Liquor Tax
4. Luxury Tax
5. Excise  Taxes
6. Property Tax
7. Cigarette  Tax
8. Medicare Tax
9. Inventory  Tax
10. Real Estate Tax
11. Well Permit  Tax
12. Fuel Permit Tax
13. Inheritance  Tax
14. Road Usage Tax
15. CDL license  Tax
16. Dog License Tax
17. State Income  Tax
18. Food License Tax
19. Vehicle Sales  Tax
20. Gross Receipts Tax
21. Social Security  Tax
22. Service Charge Tax
23. Fishing License  Tax
24. Federal Income Tax
25. Building Permit  Tax
26. IRS Interest Charges
27. Hunting License  Tax
28. Marriage License Tax
29. Corporate Income  Tax
30. Personal Property Tax
31.  Accounts  Receivable Tax
32. Recreational Vehicle  Tax
33. Workers Compensation Tax
34. Watercraft  Registration Tax
35. Telephone Usage Charge  Tax
36. Telephone Federal Excise  Tax
37. Telephone State and Local Tax
38. IRS  Penalties

(tax on top of tax)

1. State Unemployment  Tax (SUTA)
2. Federal Unemployment Tax  (FUTA)
3. Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge  Tax
4. Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee  Tax
5. Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per  gallon)
6. Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration  Tax
7. Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge  Taxes
8. Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges  Tax
9. Don’t  forget Income Tax

Not  one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation  was the most prosperous in the world.
We had  absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the  kids.

What in the hell happened?  Can you  spell 'politicians? ' I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!!   YOU can help it get  there!!! GO AHEAD - - - BE AN  AMERICAN!!!
 
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I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.    -- Winston Churchill

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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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