BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT AN EYE-OPENER, THIS IS THE BEST "EXPOSE" ON EDUCATION I HAVE SEEN:
The primary problem--and benefit--is that it's long: 41 minutes. Get a cup of coffee or a drink and settle in front of your computer. You will be amazed!
I AM NOT ALWAYS A FAN OF KARL ROVE--BUT HE GETS THIS ONE EXACTLY RIGHT--THIS IS BARACK OBAMA'S GREATEST "FAILURE"
He simply doesn't know how to govern and lead, doesn't want to, and wants to do just what he is doing--campaigning--it's what he's good at!
ANOTHER OBAMA JOB KILLER--POSTPONING A CRITICAL PIECE OF ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE--AND ALL THE JOBS THAT GO WITH IT.
FROM POLITICO.COM: The State Department has confirmed that a decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will be postponed so that it can "undertake an in-depth assessment of potential alternative routes in Nebraska." In a statement, the department said it is "reasonable to expect" that the extended review process "could be completed as early as the first quarter of 2013" - pushing off a contentious issue for President Barack Obama until after the 2012 presidential election.
ALL AMERICANS "BEWARE" --BECAUSE HE REALLY IS GOOD AT CAMPAIGNING--AND TOO MANY AMERICANS GET SUCKED INTO HIS "GAME."
The GOP candidate has to be someone who is able to go toe to toe with Obama and win--in the minds, AND HEARTS, of the American people.
RICK PERRY--EXPOSED--WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING-- IS HE JUST ACTING GOOFY? GO BACK TO TEXAS!
There is a full text of this "goofy" speech on YouTube if you want to see if all. This clip is enough for me. I took a shot at Perry in my FORBES blog this week. First watch this video--all the way to the end to see the "maple syrup" part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSJv-2qfDNc As you probably realize by now, I hold Rick Perry in low regard for a variety of reasons.
HERMAN CAIN--WHAT DO YOU THINK? HE SAID, SHE SAID--AN AWFUL CONFRONTATION
The most common question I get these days is "What do you think about the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations?" I am like most people; I don't know what or who to believe. I am inclined to accept Cain's denial, since I like his overall persona. I am suspicious of a woman who surfaces from financial distress to make public accusations about something that happened over 10 years ago, accompanied by a celebrity lawyer. It just smells like some kind of "agenda" is at work, funded by serious money. But who knows. She could be telling the truth. Or Cain could be telling the truth. Whatever the case, I still like Cain's blunt, common sense approach. But...he may be damaged goods now--a shame!
LIke David Brooks, I still like Mitt Romney. Iam for the GOP candidate who is most electable & I think that is Mitt! Brooks says it well--and in the NYTimes no less! However, read on for the big surprise this week.
I AM REEVALUATING MY PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT: BECAUSE I HAVE SAID ALL ALONG THAT NEWT WAS THE SMARTEST GUY ON THE STAGE
His ideas resonate increasingly with me. I think this is true with a lot of people. If Newt (as a candidate) could really push Obama into a series of seven "Lincoln-Douglas style" debates, that is something I'd love to see. Whether he can carry the election remains A BIG ISSUE. Newt was one of the most polarizing faces in the GOP in the past.
CAN A "NEW NEWT" EMERGE AND ACTUALLY GET THE NOMINATION AND WIN THE ELECTION? A BIG QUESTION--BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM DEBATE OBAMA...
BOTTOM LINE VIABLE CANDIDATES ONE YEAR BEFORE: Romney, Gingrich, maybe Cain, and that's it. Paul should not even be invited back to the stage, and soon both Bachman and Santorum will be so low in polls that they will join Huntsman on the sidelines. And you know how I feel about Rick Perry. Let's see how primary voters in early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada see it!
THIS FROM SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JOHN BOEHNER (I don't know if the links will work or not):
House Has Passed 22 Bipartisan Jobs Bills, & Counting
November 6, 2011 | Posted by Speaker Boehner's Press Office | Permalink
On ABC's This Week, Speaker Boehner highlighted the 22 bipartisan House-passed jobs bills that would remove government barriers to job growth (by stopping unnecessary regulations, preventing tax hikes on small businesses, and more) but remain stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Instead of more of the same failed 'stimulus' spending, these bills - all part of the Republican Plan for America's Job Creators - free job creators from government obstacles that prevent them from hiring new workers. Watch Speaker Boehner's interview and learn more about the House-passed jobs bills below:
Bipartisan House-Passed Jobs Bills Free Job Creators from Excessive Government Regulations, Tax Hikes, More Failed 'Stimulus' Spending
On ABC, Speaker Boehner said Washington has "done all this 'stimulus' spending in the last couple of years and, clearly, it has not worked." Instead of more 'stimulus' spending, higher taxes, and more needless regulations, the GOP jobs plan removes government barriers to job creation.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says one House-passed jobs bill - the TRAIN Act - would protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent electricity rates from skyrocketing.
Job creators spoke out in favor of four bipartisan jobs bills in testimony to Congress last week, arguing that if they became law these small businesses could begin hiring "immediately."
Speaker Boehner suggested this kind of approach to creating jobs and repairing infrastructure by expanding energy production (as opposed to more failed 'stimulus' spending or earmarks - which the House has banned) in his September address on "Liberating America's Economy."
President Obama Stays Disengaged as Democrat-Controlled Senate Stalls Bipartisan House-Passed Jobs Bills
Speaker Boehner said "there is no reason – not one – for Senate Democrats to delay action on these bills any longer and that the president should urge them to act. "It is unacceptable for the White House to be anything less than 100 percent engaged in the legislative process," he said.
Latest Jobs Report Shows "Troubling Long-Term Unemployment Trends," Shows Need for GOP Jobs Plan
President Obama said last week the country is "better off now" under his failed 'stimulus' policies than it was four years ago, to which Speaker Boehner responded: "Are you kidding me?"
Speaker Boehner's economic policy advisor examined the latest unemployment report to see whether Americans are really "better off now" under the administration's 'stimulus' policies.
The analysis also found "disproportionately high unemployment for minorities, teens and those 55 and older, as well as troubling long-term unemployment trends." Read more.
And an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal says the "tsunami" of new government regulations is making things worse, "paralyzing" investment needed for job creation and economic growth.
This is why the Republican Plan for America's Job Creators - and its many bipartisan House-passed jobs bills - is so important. Read more about it and track our progress at jobs.GOP.gov.
China's mass of contradictions may even be enigmatic to Chinese leaders. Chinese government secrecy inhibits fact checking. It is riding a growth tiger and must eventually dismount, but like all of us, appears fearful of being chewed up when it gets off.
Export earnings finance most of China's 9% compound annual economic growth rate. Foreign direct investment in China is less than half that of the United States, and Chinese are investing mightily abroad. Some appear ready to buy Saab, for example. At home, Chinese subsidize new technology, manufacturing, and construction at a breathless pace. However, for a variety of reasons observers fear that this Cinderella coach will turn into a pumpkin within a few years.
At least five large, newly built Chinese cities are inhabited mostly by their construction crews. Of these, only Ordos City has gotten much Western attention. Buying a residence requires 50% down, so banks issue few bad mortgages - but few good ones too. Rumor is that well-heeled investors hold a big chunk of 64 million empty apartments on speculation. Likewise China's new high-speed rail system is lightly used for the same reason. Too few middle class Chinese can afford it.
Western banks have gotten a toehold on this boom, although China minimizes Western bank investment. However, it's enough that financial analysts fear that in addition to global economic drag if the Chinese bubble pops, Western bank exposure would create a big system problem like 2008. Unfortunately, the enigmatic fog over Chinese doings makes it hard for anyone to project risks - including the Chinese.
So why do Chinese governments, central and provincial, keep fueling this growth? To impress the world? Artificially boost GNP growth? Maintain jobs? Give people a visible hope for a better future? Policy analysts figure that to keep going, China must hike middle class incomes soon in order for them to fill this overbuilt capacity.
China is also an environmental enigma. It leads the world in generating energy by both alternative means and conventional ones. The biggest non-fossil source of energy is hydro power from big dams. China has far more big dams than any other country. Hydro generating capacity increased 90% between 2004 and 2009. It is planned to increase by another 70% percent by 2014; plus 46,000 dams need to be rebuilt or replaced. In addition to wild entrepreneurial growth, China still builds infrastructure on 5-year plans that are hard to throttle back.
China and India have both opted out of the World Commission on Dams, which looks at dams as global projects with consequences to a multitude of stakeholders. Critics see China's water programs leading to more unintended consequences like the Aral Sea. These problems are so severe that the 7th update of The World's Water, considered the bible on world water issues, devotes a whole chapter to China.
Engineers marvel and environmentalists gasp at two huge Chinese water projects: The Three Gorges Dam, and the South-to-North waterway, which is comparable to diverting the Mississippi to the U.S. East Coast. Those projects plus all the rest have displaced millions of people. Many now lead a marginal urban existence. Chinese secrecy does not prevent news of social unrest, some of it violent, from leaking out.
The Communist Party's boom can't long continue. First, they can't obtain enough materials and energy to maintain this pace. Second, pacifying people displaced but left out of the new economy keeps getting harder. Third, the financial bubble can't keep floating forever. Compression will catch up to China, just as it will to everyone else on the planet.
I KNOW I'M USING A LOT OF SECONDARY MATERIAL--BUT IT SEEMS TO BE GOOD, USEFUL AND APPROPRIATE.
It's easy for me to fill a page with my own words, but when I find someone who has done it well, and with whom I agree, I tend to grab it and share it.
NO ONE IS REALLY DOING ANYTHING TO GET THE ECONOMY GROWING--THAT'S A SHAME, BUT TO BE EXPECTED IN AN ELECTION YEAR
The SPEAKER'S piece above describes the "unpublicized" efforts of the House to try to stimulate growth in the US economy--the right way.
Unfortunately, this stuff seldom gets air time on the mainstream media. I hope sharing it with you this way is useful. It's hard to believe, but true--Americans get a very biased, filtered kind of "news" these days.
One way to overcome that is to forward newsletters and articles (like this one contains) to a huge number of recipients, who in turn pass them on. FEEL FREE TO PASS ON THE ENTERPRISE TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU'D LIKE.
BEST, JOHN
If you need a good laugh read the news article.
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Author of the award winner: The Complexity Crisis& The Chinese Conspiracy (a novel)
Come see me on Forbes.com, and American Express Open Forum.com
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