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
-----------------------------------------------------------
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------------------------------
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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