Telling It Like It Is

Chinese Hackers hit US Chamber of Commerce, steal info on 3MM members: read THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY to learn what might come next!

HE ENTERPRISE--A HOPEFUL HOLIDAY

THE ENTERPRISE--A HOPEFUL HOLIDAY

THE GROWTH IS STILL LUKEWARM, BUT…BETTER THAN NO GROWTH OR DECLINE
The growth in jobs is still inadequate to absorb the new entrants to the work force.  The decline in the published (U-2) unemployment rate to 8.6% is artificial, caused by the dropout of 315,000 people who have given up looking.  The hiring of recent dates has been at least partly fueled by holiday needs, and may not endure.  The decline in the first claims for unemployment to around 380,000 is better than it was, but only by a few percentage points.  BUT--what the heck--growth is growth.  In many ways this is a lot like the GM bankruptcy.  Both would have happened with no intervention from the government and Obama's Misguided Minions.   In fact, his misdeeds may have actually slowed things down, but "whatever."

DON'T EXPECT ROBUST GROWTH TO OCCUR IN 1Q 2012…
According to the latest surveys by BIGinsight.com (formerly BIGresearch), consumers play to spend more paying down their debts in early 2012--and that means less on shopping.  What will really matter is how "clean the cupboards" of retailers are come Jan. 1.  If retailer inventories are modest, then January will be less of a downer.  There is always a bit of a slowdown in ordering in Jan. since most retailers' fiscal year ends are Jan. 31, and they want clean balance sheets on that date.  It is ironic that the campaigning to date has probably helped the growth a bit--because it forced President Obama and the Congress to at least hear many of the points being made by the GOP hopefuls.  Clearly, Obama is listening, and cherry-picking the ideas he can stomach IF they will help his reelection campaign.

MANUFACTURING REBOUND: FROM TARGET--THE ASSOCIATION FOR MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE NEWSLETTER:

Hopeful Signs Appear in Manufacturing
by Jeanette Spalding

Market reporting outlets from Bloomberg to the Wall Street Journal have covered the recent Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Manufacturing Report on Business that said economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in November for the 28th consecutive month and the overall economy grew for the 30th month in a row.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) reached the 52.7-percent mark, which represents a 1.9-percentage point hike from October's reading of 50.8 percent, reported Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee

SO WHAT ABOUT THE CANDIDATES AND 2012?  THE LATEST READ?
If you watched the Fox News sponsored debate last night--which most Republicans probably did, Independents might have and Democrats would have missed intentionally, you saw an excellent read on the candidates:  

• The Best Overall--Solid:  Mitt Romney--my choice from the outset.
• Still Smartest--Scary Smart: Newt Gingrich; 
• Easily most Extreme:  Ron Paul, and
•  "The best of the rest:" Jon Huntsman.  
• Rick Perry was on his game--it just wasn't good enough--even though his Texas record is impressive.  
• Rick Santorum is solidly like he has been all along--good, but not great. 
• Michelle Bachman is a "one-trick pony"--the furthest "right" of the bunch.  
• However, Iowans are not representative of the entire USA, so whoever emerges from those Iowa caucuses is not usually the winner overall (e.g., Mike Huckabee, Howard Dean)---unless it happens to be Romney. MItt should win in New Hampshire, and do OK in SC, especially after getting Gov. Nikki Haley's endorsement.  Florida, in early 2012 will be the big test--even though its age demographic is far older than the nation overall.

PREVIEW OF WHAT'S COMING IN 1Q 2012 (IN ADDITION TO THE PRIMARIES):  I HAVE TWO NEW BOOKS COMING OUT …I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THEM FOR MONTHS.

---THE INTERSECTION:  FOUR PATHS TO PROFITABLE GROWTH is "dynamite in a small package."  It will be under 100pp., and packed with solid strategic and tactical concepts to help businesses and people succeed in all kinds of enterprises--and in their careers.  The principles in this little book have been tested and used in many companies over the past decade or so--and have proven to be tremendously successful.  This book has been over a year in the making, and contains a concentrated dose of the things I have learned over several decades--including a Format for a Strategic Plan--something that so many have asked about because they couldn't find user-friendly books on strategic planning.

---HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY: Leadership Lessons from the Obama Presidency is co-authored with Dave Lukas, a brilliant young man (about ½ my age--but very accomplished).  In this one we will offer 30 "Lessons"—with a short chapter describing each one of them—and all based on missteps during the first three years of the Obama Administration--but all rooted in years of business experience and success.  It will be a fun, easy read; short chapters; simple principles.  It will not be so much fun for staunch liberals or for Democratic supporters of Barack Obama--although there is much they can also learn about why many of his efforts fell flat on their face.

Both books will be available in trade paperback format, and in e-book formats (for Kindle, at least) and adaptable to the iPad too.  Neither will likely see much time on the dusty shelves of big bookstores, since finding them back there is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Just go to amazon.com, and there they will be.

SYNDICATED COLUMNIST CAL THOMAS GETS IT SO RIGHT, I AM POSTING HIS COMPLETE COLUMN BELOW.

Obama's Latest "60 Minutes' Interview"  By Cal Thomas  12/15/2011
President Obama doesn't suffer from amnesia, but apparently he hopes the public does. In his latest in a series of interviews on "60 Minutes" last Sunday night, the president took positions that are the polar opposite of what he was saying as recently as last spring.  One wishes all of those "fact-checkers" who point out supposed mistakes by the Republican candidates were as committed to noting even worse flaws in the president's promises.

In his interview with Steve Kroft, the president said he always believed that reversing the culture in Washington "was gonna take more than one term." It's a "long-term project," he said, "not a short-term project." And then he claimed that during the 2008 campaign, he "didn't overpromise."  Really?

Speaking in Richmond, Va., on Oct. 22, 2008, Obama promised to put millions of Americans back to work; he pledged "real change." Instead, the unemployment rate is 8.6 percent. Or is it? Ed Luce of the Financial Times writes, "According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent." Washington remains unchanged, as dysfunctional and gridlocked as ever.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, since President Obama took office, the nation has lost 1.9 million jobs, prompting Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler to write that if the economy does not turn around, "Obama is on track to have the worst jobs record of any president in the modern era."

In 2009, the president said on the "Today" show, "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition." A few days later in Florida, there was this, "I'm not going to make any excuses," said Obama. "If stuff hasn't worked and people don't feel like I've led the country in the right direction, then you'll have a new president."

The latest right-track, wrong-track poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that only 17 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction, while a whopping 75 percent think it's headed the wrong way.

On CBS, the president said the 2012 election is about his vision, but as CBS News' Stephanie Condon reported last week, "Sixty-six percent of Americans say they do not have a clear idea of what he wants to accomplish in a second term. ... Fewer than half of Democrats say they have a clear idea of what the president wants to accomplish if re-elected." Don't we know? It's taxing "millionaires and billionaires" so the government has more of our money to waste.

Is none of this Obama's fault? Can it all be blamed on Bush? Apparently, the president has decided that playing the blame game is good campaign strategy.

The president blames Republicans for not allowing him to accomplish anything, but says nothing about his own failure to get things done (other than the health care bill, whose constitutionality the Supreme Court ultimately will decide) when Democrats controlled Congress for the first two years of his administration. And what about Senate Democrats who have rejected every House bill seeking cuts in wasteful spending to bring the budget closer into balance? Not a word.

Shall I continue? The president's housing programs received $50 billion from Congress to help stem foreclosures on 9 million homeowners. As The Washington Post reported in October, only $2.4 billion of that money has been allocated, helping just 1.7 million people avoid foreclosure.

Imagine what Democrats and their acolytes in the media would say if a Republican president had a similar track record. One doesn't have to imagine. With a lower unemployment rate and less debt in the Bush administration, Democrats were relentless in their attacks, promising improvements. Barack Obama assured us he would make things better.

Democrats didn't improve anything and nothing has been made better. According to President Obama's own standard, and contrary to what he said on "60 Minutes," he does not deserve a second term.  That he thinks he has earned re-election brings to mind the World English Dictionary definition of "hubris": "Pride or arrogance; (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition ... ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin."

THAT'S IT FOLKS.  CHRISTMAS IS COMING IN A WEEK.  I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS FULL OF FAMILY, PEACE AND LOVE--and remembering the true meaning of Christmas...  

I'M NOT SURE WHEN I'LL FINISH THE NEXT EDITION OF THE ENTERPRISE--PERHAPS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR ROLLS AROUND, BUT IF I GET TOO FULL OF HOLIDAY CHEER, I'LL WISH YOU ALL HAPPY NEW YEAR NOW AS WELL.

After a bit over ten years of writing THE ENTERPRISE every week, I hope to continue doing it--albeit with a few breaks from time to time for R & R.  For now, I'll sign off, another year older and hopefully a little wiser.

All the Best, JOHN


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

Author of the award winner: The Complexity Crisis &  The Chinese Conspiracy (a novel) 


Come see me on Forbes.com, and American Express Open Forum:
http://www.openforum.com/connectodex/small-business-trends?username=john-mariotti&isRecentPosts=True 
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959  http://www.mariotti.net, http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/

 

THE ENTERPRISE--A MIXTURE OF ALL KINDS

OVER THE HOLIDAYS, THE ENTERPRISE WILL NOT BE COMING AT YOU REGULARLY

There will be lots of holiday travel and family fun, and it will come whenever I find the time and am in the mood!  (I know, that's not much different than normally!)

After the first of the year, I'll be sending it from a different place, and that is sometimes a problem--Sooo…  If you don't get it in January, drop me a note.  Also, you can read the content on my blog, because I post it there right after I send it by email. http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/

OBAMA SHOULD PLAY MORE GOLF

1584 holes of golf Obama has played consumed about 300-400 hours out of tens of thousands of hours since he was inaugurated  It isn't what he did while playing golf--it's the harm he's done while not playing golf.  Maybe if he played even more golf he'd do less damage to America.

CONGRESS SHOULD PASS A LAW TO BAN TELEPROMPTERS FOR CANDIDATES AND ELECTED OFFICIALS

2012 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN--NOW TO NOV.2012--BAN THE USE OF TELEPROMPTERS BY ANY CANDIDATE

Read about it: http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2011/12/13/take-away-the-teleprompters

BE PREPARED TO BE BLOWN AWAY. 

This young man's story should be inspiration to millions about what talent might reside in unexpected places.

This is a story that is hard to imagine! Here from Korea’s Got Talent.  THIS IS A MUST SEE. A TRULY INSPIRATIONAL CLIP!!!!! http://www.wimp.com/greatchallenges/

I KEEP GETTING ASKED HOW TO CAUSE MORE JOBS TO BE CREATED IN THE USA

The main answer is to create an environment for economic growth.  President Obama and his backers don't get that.  Many of the GOP candidates do get it:  Romney, Gingrich, Perry, and Huntsman, for sure.  But aside from that "generalized answer" what to do is always easier to say than how to do it.  Here's a short list of ten of the "hows."

1. Provide more certainty on government positions and roles -- no more 1 yr. temporary tax & regulatory deals
2. Have a lot less gov't. interference, less red tape, less costly & punitive regulations--especially for small biz and start-ups which create a lot of jobs.
3. Make low cost working capital more easily available to small biz & startups--use the existing banks with backup gov't. loan guarantees 
4. Lower Taxes are about 5th on the list, but the tax code needs to be restructured to close the illicit loopholes and widen the ones that support growth in the economy. 
5. Border security is a factor—so, mandate secure national IDs for all immigrants--no ID & SS# = no hire.  It's not biz job to enforce borders. Extend this to all Americans to replace driver's licenses, voting cards, etc.  One ID for all.
6. Tort and employment law reform, both are too hard on employers--especially smalls; make hiring & firing/layoff easier & more flexible & less exposed to lawsuits & regulations. 
7. Pass a NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LAW! (Won't happen, but it should, and it should include private and public sector unions
8. Let biz bring home foreign profits at very low (10%) taxes IF invested in proven US job creation. 
9. Make gov't an ally of biz not an enemy, however that can be done; other countries subsidize their industries to compete with the USA--we don't--but we need to "get out of the way of business so it can compete!!
10. Elect a new president, and get Obama and his cronies out of Washington; also elect enough GOP Senators and Reps to control both houses of Congress (but not too big a majority in the Senate--fat chance of that) and hold their feet to the fire to rein in Washington, DC's growth, spending and overreach.

READ GEORGE WILL'S TAKE ON HOW OBAMACARE ALONE IS KILLING JOBS IN THE USA

ADVANCE NOTICE: TWO NEW BOOKS I HAVE BEEN WRITING ARE NEARING COMPLETION.  ONE IS A BUSINESS BOOK, AND THE OTHER MIXES BUSINESS AND POLITICS (NO SURPRISE, RIGHT?)

DOES THIS MAKE YOU YEARN FOR THE "GOOD OLD DAYS?"

The Green Thing
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.  The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."  She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in  conservation from a smartass young person.

Remember: Don't make old People mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.

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

A LITTLE TIMELESS HUMOR?

GREAT TRUTHS

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. --John  Adams 

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot.  And suppose you were a member of Congress.  But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

4. 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

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. --  G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. --  Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat, French economist (1801-1850)

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:  If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan   (1986)

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -- Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! --  P.J. O'Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. --Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest  in you! -- Pericles (430  B.C. 

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -- Mark Twain (1866)

17. Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. -- Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. --  Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of  the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. – Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.  --Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress. -- Mark Twain

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -- Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -- Thomas Jefferson

25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -- Aesop

FIVE  BEST SENTENCES

1.  You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2.  What one person receives without working for...another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going  to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

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

FINALLY, AN 11 MINUTE VIDEO TO WATCH.  YOU WILL NEVER HAVE SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS--I PROMISE YOU.

Devotion, friendship or love?  I don't know--but it is a memorable end to as assortment of topics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Yfbchq0xQmQ&vq=medium#t=

BEST, JOHN

 

Ban use of Teleprompters for 2012 Presidential campaign. See:
http://ping.fm/GrSoc

THE ENTERPRISE--THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE??

THE ENTERPRISE--THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE??

IT WOULD DO EVERYONE GOOD TO READ MY AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN FORUM POST THIS WEEK

Written during the Thanksgiving break: http://www.openforum.com/articles/lets-quit-complaining-and-appreciate-what-we-have?cid=email_articlefeed_articletitlelink

There are also two new Forbes posts, the latter one on employment you might enjoy: http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2011/12/02/the-presidents-premature-celebration-an-ugly-win/

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD  AND WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM WHAT'S CURRENTLY HAPPENING TO US?

This is the most common question I am asked.  It usually comes right after a suggestion that I run for office based on something I have written.  

FYI--I won't be running for office.  It's too hard, too nasty and I'm not willing to make the sacrifices needed.  

I am, however willing and hopeful that I can influence the conversation--and help the candidates that I think are the best ones.

THAT MEANS CONTINUED, EXTENSIVE WRITING--AND TWO NEW, TIMELY BOOKS COMING OUT--BOTH IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE

I won't even tell you the titles yet, since I can't tell you the exact available dates until we sign up with the publisher.  

I can only guarantee that both will provide rich content to learn from recent past mistakes--and be extremely useful to business people too.

And meanwhile, you can find my thoughts on my blog posts every week too.  (URLs are at the bottom of this edition of THE ENTERPRISE--go see FORBES.COM & OPENFORUM.COM)

GOOD NEWS:  BARNEY FRANK IS RETIRING IN 2012

But not until after he and Chris Dodd (previously retired) did more harm that most other members of Congress in the USA Housing crisis! 

The legacy left by Dodd and Frank is a monstrosity of a bill to supposedly regulate and prevent what their malfeasance causes in financial circles.  How sad!

BAD NEWS:  HERMAN CAIN IS "TOAST."  

I'm not sure how much of the "character assassination" he claims is true, and how many of the allegations are "somewhat true."  I suspect there is very little "serious truth" behind them.

I believe that most of it is "smoke" and not "fire," but I had already concluded that no matter how much I like Cain's no nonsense approach, he was not ready for the presidency.

That said, the US elected Barack Obama and he sure wasn't any more qualified than all of the GOP candidates.  All of his supporters tell me how smart he is and what a great leader he is.

You know what I think of Obama, and if you don't, stay tuned for a new book I am currently working on with a colleague and co-author…  We are editing the manuscript now.

BLACK THURSDAY NIGHT--AND FRIDAY--and CYBER MONDAY: BARGAIN SHOPPERS ARE OUT IN FORCE!  BUT WILL THEY STAY OUT???

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EXCERPTS FROM: The Columbus Dispatch Friday November 25, 2011 11:46 AM  By  Tim Feran

The earliest opening of Black Friday — at the stroke of midnight — appeared to be a rousing success at local retailers.  Starting late Thursday and continuing through early this morning, shoppers lined up by the thousands to cash in on doorbuster sales that offered discounts of 50 or 60 percent and more.  When the action began late Thanksgiving night in the Columbus area, parking lots that normally would have been empty at such a late hour were packed, and traffic was as thick as on any Saturday afternoon."The huge discounts are worth the wait."  "We don't mind waiting," said Daniel Briscoe, who had been among the first in line at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.Down the street, there were even larger crowds queueing up at Kohl's and Target, with the vast parking lots at both stores almost completely filled.At Target, the line of waiting customers extended all the way north to the end of the shopping plaza, turned a corner and ended up at the back of the Faslube on Sawmill.  

The most intense shopping occurred early on.  The relatively warm temperatures and lack of rain or snow may have helped boost the crowd numbers overnight. At the very least, the good weather was appreciated by Murphy and others who have camped out for Black Friday deals in the past. “I started yesterday,” said Paula Russell. “We went to Old Navy, then we tried Target, but the line was too long. I think it’s fun. I look forward to it.” After buying silver friendship bracelets for her daughter and her daughter’s friend, she planned to drive to Big Lots, then Toys R Us.  By the time JCPenney opened its doors at Polaris Fashion Place — at the now-almost-leisurely hour of 3:30 a.m. — hard-core shoppers had made several stops.

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RIGHTS VS. RESPONSIBILITIES

This was in the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco , TX Nov 18, 2010.  I really like it!

Put me in charge . . . 

•  
  • Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for  Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans,  blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job. 
  • Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job. 
  • Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place. 
  • In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the common good.. 
  • Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules.. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem. 
  • If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices. 
  • AND While you are on Govt subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Government welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.

THE FOLLOWING COLUMNIST WOULD LIKE MY FORBES ARTICLE THIS WEEK:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2011/11/29/the-president-has-gone-awol/

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FOR OBAMA, THE PRESIDENCY IS "BENEATH HIM" 

By MICHAEL GOODWIN (NY Post Columnist)

Last Updated: 3:29 AM, November 30, 2011

The words cut like a knife. “What the hell are we paying you for?” Gov. Chris Christie asked of President Obama.

The New Jersey Republican has a gift for getting to the heart of things, and his broadside against the president over the debt bomb is Exhibit A. His assertion, framed as a question, makes the case against Obama better than anything heard from the actual candidates.

Christie’s decision not to run remains a disappointment, but he is a valuable player who can help sharpen the fuzzy aim of Mitt Romney, the man he supports. Christie’s consistent theme is that Obama has defaulted on the responsibility to provide presidential leadership during a national crisis.

On Monday, the GOP heavyweight called Obama “a bystander in the Oval Office” for ducking the congressional committee charged with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years.

“I was angry this weekend, listening to the spin coming out of the administration about the failure of the super committee, and that the president knew it was doomed for failure, so he didn’t get involved,” Christie said. “Well, then, what the hell are we paying you for? ‘It’s doomed for failure so I’m not getting involved?’ Well, what have you been doing, exactly?”

The questions are rhetorical in that we know what the president has been doing and why. He plays golf and campaigns. Governing is beneath him.

He doesn’t talk much to members of Congress or his own Cabinet. They’re beneath him.

His connection to the public consists of speeches before large crowds, and he ducks behind the curtain and into the security bubble as soon as he finishes. The people are beneath him.

Warped by a sense of entitlement and self-aggrandizement, Obama refuses to take responsibility for finding practical solutions to problems. He prefers the glory of transformation rather than the roll-the-sleeves-up work of reform.  When he can’t get his way, he appoints a czar and ignores Congress. Democracy is beneath him.

He could have brokered a deficit deal, but doing so would have demolished his campaign slogan that Republicans are to blame for everything. Any deal would give him ownership of the results, and end the fiction that politics are beneath him.  In fact, he’s all politics, all the time. His idea of bipartisanship is that everybody agrees with him.

He’s so bad at the job that the frequent comparisons to Jimmy Carter are unfair to Carter. The former peanut farmer was a terrible president, but he was at least sincere in his starchy disdain for the country.

Obama professes to really, really like America. He just wants to change everything about it.  And when the country says no thanks, he goes off script and the smears come out. We’re “soft” and “lazy” and “bitter” and “cling” to God and guns.

 

Much ink has been spilled trying to figure out what went wrong after such a brilliant, history-making campaign got him to the White House. Obama smashed the Clinton machine and dispatched John McCain without breaking a sweat. Mount Rushmore was waiting.

But his first day in office marked the peak, and it’s been all downhill since. Deadenders, after blaming George W. Bush, Senate Republicans and the Tea Party, were forced to turn on their own, especially the economic advisers who are gone, Larry Summers and Peter Orszag. They were the problems.

But there are no hiding places in the Oval Office and, after three years, it’s clear who the problem is.  The campaign of 2008 looked brilliant because campaigns showcase Obama’s one real talent — blaming someone else for blocking the way to Utopia.  On that basis, he got the job. But now we know the terrible truth: Actually being president is beneath him.

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BIOFUELS, GREEN ENERGY, BIODEGRADABLE REFUSE, AND MINI-NUCLEAR PLANTS

FROM THE KIPLINGER LETTER:

The first new U.S. nuclear plants in decades will be built in Tenn.  They’ll be much smaller and cost less than the reactors now being used.

The smaller units can stand alone to supply power to 60,000 homes and businesses or be assembled as modules to serve larger populations. First up: A half-dozen plants from Babcock & Wilcox for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Design work will start in December, based in part on work the company does on nuclear-powered subs. The units will be about one-tenth the size of conventional nuclear plants and won’t require the massive cooling towers associated with such plants now. Because the modules are mass-produced, they can be constructed much faster than full-size reactor facilities, which take decades to design and assemble.  It’ll still be at least 10 years before even a mini-plant will be built, though.

I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE WAGE GAP BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS--AND WHAT WE  MIGHT DO ABOUT IT

These two stories are just the start of considering why this gap has developed and how to improve the huge difference between the i% and the 99%--because it is not good for America, long term.  Attached are several items that reflect on this issue:

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 Subject: A Great Letter

To All My Valued Employees, 

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job.

 

What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to tell you whom to vote for - it is against the law to discriminate based on political affiliation, race, creed, religion, etc. 

 

Please vote for who you think will serve your interests the best. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interest. First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. 

 

This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear.  Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside.  You saw my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the back story. 

 

I started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living space was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you. 

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. 

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes.  Instead of hitting Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. 

 

My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business --- with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had. 

 

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5 pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself.  I unfortunately do not have the freedom.  I eat, ****, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to me like a 1 day old baby. 

 

You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made. Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. 

The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.  Yes, business ownership has its benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why: 

 

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what?   I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes.  You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? 

 

Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand .. to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what?   Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now. 

 

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart?   Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the mud of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. 

 

Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep. So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers.   You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. 

 

You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.  

 

While tax cuts to 95% of America sounds great on paper, don't forget the back story: If there is no job, there is no income to tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make decision to vote, ask yourself, who understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't?  Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of saving your job. While the media wants to tell you "It's the economy Stupid" I'm telling you it isn't. 

 

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in the South Caribbean sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about. 

Signed, Your boss,

Michael A. Crowley, PE  Crowley, Crisp & Associates, Inc.  Professional Engineers  1906 South Main Street, Suite 122  Wake Forest, NC 27587  Phone: 919.562.8860 x22  Fax: 919.562.8872 Location: This is a real letter

Michael A. Crowley, PE is the owner of  Crowley & Associates, Inc. and was President and an owner of Crowley, Crisp & Associates, Inc. and Michael A. Crowley, PC.  As President of Crowley & Associates, Inc., Mike is a lead designer of water supply, treatment and storage projects, regional sewage lift station design, and residential and commercial site development projects and is responsible for the management of the firm.  Mike’s industry background includes over 20 years experience in the civil engineering field inclusive of executive level responsibilities in Marketing and Project Management.  Prior to founding Michael A. Crowley, PC, Mike held positions with several engineering firms in North Carolina and Maine.  Mike holds a B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Maine and a Master of Business Administration from Boston College.  Mike is a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and holds professional registrations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Australia, and Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.  Mike is a native of  Norridgewock, Maine.  The Crowley family resides in Wake Forest.

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Who Causes Income Inequality? It’s The 99%

 

By WALTER E. WILLIAMS

Posted 05:33 PM ET

 

Benefiting from a hint from an article titled "Is Harry Potter Making You Poorer?" written by my colleague Dr. John Goodman, president of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis, I've come up with an explanation and a way to end income inequality in America, possibly around the world.

Joanne Rowling was a welfare mother in Edinburgh, Scotland. All that has changed. As the writer of the "Harry Potter" novels, having a net worth of $1 billion, she is the world's wealthiest author. More importantly, she's one of those dastardly 1-percenters condemned by the Occupy Wall Streeters and other leftists.

How did Rowling become so wealthy and unequal to the rest of us? The entire blame for this social injustice lies at the feet of the world's children and their enabling parents. Rowling's wealth is a direct result of more than 500 million "Harry Potter" book sales and movie receipts grossing more than $5 billion.

In other words, the millions of "99-percenters" who individually plunk down $8 or $9 to attend a "Harry Potter" movie, $15 to buy a "Harry Potter" novel or $30 to buy a "Harry Potter" Blu-ray Disc are directly responsible for contributing to income inequality and wealth concentration that economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman says "is incompatible with real democracy."  In other words, Rowling is not responsible for income inequality; it's the people who purchase her works.

We just can't blame the children for the unfairness of income inequality. Look at how Wal-Mart Stores generated wealth for the Walton family of Christy ($25 billion), Jim ($21 billion), Alice ($21 billion) and Robson ($21 billion). The Walton family's wealth is not a result of ill-gotten gains, but the result of Wal-Mart's revenue, $422 billion in 2010.

The blame for this unjust concentration of wealth rests with those hundreds of millions of shoppers worldwide who voluntarily enter Wal-Mart premises and leave dollars, pounds and pesos.

Basketball great LeBron James plays forward for the Miami Heat and earns $43 million for doing so. That puts him with those 1-percenters denounced by Wall Street occupiers. But who made LeBron a 1-percenter?

It's those children again, enabled by their fathers or some other significant male. Instead of children doing their homework and their fathers helping their wives with housework, they get into their cars, drive to a downtown arena and voluntarily plunk down $100 for tickets.

The millions of people who watch LeBron play are the direct cause of LeBron's earning $43 million and are thereby responsible for "undermining the foundations of our democracy."

In his Nov. 3 New York Times column, "Oligarchy, American Style," Krugman lamented: "We have a society in which money is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people, and in which that concentration of income and wealth threatens to make us a democracy in name only."

I'd ask Krugman this question: Who's putting all the money in the hands of the few, and what do you think ought to be done to stop millions, perhaps billions, of people from using their money in ways that lead to high income and wealth concentration?

In other words, I'd like Krugman to tell us what should be done to stop the millions of children who make Joanne Rowling rich, the millions who fork over their money to the benefit of LeBron James and the hundreds of millions of people who shop at Wal-Mart.

I'd like to end this discussion with a bit of a personal note. The readers of this column know that I never make charges of racism. Rowling is an author, and so am I. In my opinion, my recently published book "Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?" is far more important to society than any "Harry Potter" novel.

I'd like to know what it is about me that explains why millions upon millions have not purchased my book and made me a billionaire author. Maybe Krugman and the Wall Street occupiers have the answer.

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OK…THAT'S WAY TOO MUCH, BUT READ AS MUCH AS YOU WANT.

BEST, JOHN

BY THE WAY: WHO IS JOHN GALT? (DO YOU KNOW)

Come see me on Forbes.com, and American Express Open Forum:http://www.openforum.com/connectodex/small-business-trends?username=john-mariotti&isRecentPosts=True 

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

 

 

 

 

U.S.Military Chief: We're under constant attack every day- http://ping.fm/1r9rf
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