Telling It Like It Is

THE ENTERPRISE--THE ECONOMY IS STILL NOT WELL

COUNTDOWN ON ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH: The cover design and interior is not in the hands of the publisher for "typeset" or whatever todays equivalent of that is (creating .pdf files?)  I am estimating that the actual book will be available around Thanksgiving and the Kindle version shortly thereafter.  I'dd drop a few "teasers" into THE ENTERPRISE during the weeks heading into the available date.  I will be contacting many of you about quantity purchases as Christmas/Holiday gifts for your clients, business associates and family.  (Yes, you'll get discounted price for quantity buys.(:-)

HAVE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE.  TIME IS RUNNING OUT.  ARE YOU PLANNING TO VOTE?  I SURE HOPE SO!  Our country is depending on all of us.

NOTE: I WILL BE ASKING FOR A SPECIAL REPLY IN THE NEXT EDITION FROM THOSE WHO SUPPORT MITT ROMNEY (NO, I WON'T BE ASKING FOR MONEY!).

COVERING UP THE "BUMP IN THE ROAD?"  MAINSTREAM MEDIA STILL BURYING THE COVERUP AND DEFENDING OBAMA

Mr. President:Does this look like a "bump in the road?" What are you hiding now?  What have you been hiding for the past 4 years?  Time to "come clean"---now!  Let the American people know the character of the man they elected in 2008.

AMIDST SOME SLIGHT FEELINGS OF RELIEF--THERE ARE STILL DARK CLOUDS IN FRONT OF THOSE SILVER LININGS

• GDP growth for 1Q 2012 was revised downward from 1.7% (awful) to 1.3% (worse than awful).
• Orders for durable goods fell 13%!  That's the largest drop since January 2009 (coincidentally the same month Barack Obama took office!)
• Housing starts have "climbed" to just over 500,000 in August 2012, which is still less than half the rate of anytime from 1992 to 2007.
• The unemployment rate (official one U-2, which understates it badly) has now dropped to "only" 8.1%, largely thanks to a mass exodus of people from the work force.
• Only 58% of Americans are working, a rate that dropped precipitously (from the low to mid 60's) during 2008--and has never recovered--at all.
• Initial claims for unemployment each month continue to be stuck in the 350,000+ range.
• The deficit will, once again, for every year of President Obama's term, be in the $1.3 Trillion dollar range--totaling $5 Trillion over a 4-year term.
• In spite of the Fed's latest "money dump" into the economy (QE3) all major stock indices have plateaued for the past several weeks.

BARACK OBAMA'S PLANS FOR HIS SECOND TERM--IF REELECTED--TO MOVE "FORWARD" WITH MORE OF THE SAME AS HIS FIRST TERM

How does that strike you?  Not so good?  But he will take care of you.  Obama will see that the BIG government takes money from the wealthy robber barons and gives it to you as Food stamps, Welfare, Disability, Unemployment, Housing Allowances, etc. etc. and a host of other programs.  You see "he cares about you."  And as long as he can use "other people's money to pay for his programs, he will keep doing more and more of it.

IS IT ANY WONDER THAT RATIONAL BUSINESSES ARE PARALYZED INTO UNCERTAINTY

The first rule for uncertain and weak economic times is to not add fixed overhead (that is usually people and places to put them).  The next rule is to only invest in near sure things--because a simple change in the regulations can make what looked like a sure thing into a disaster.  Presidential "findings" are laws without the power of Congress behind them, but can be enforced.  Obamacare is now the law of the land.  So is Dodd-Frank, with a raft of new regulations still not written, but with which American companies must comply--as soon as they can figure out what they are.  Agencies like EPS, DHS, HHS, NLRB, CPSC, NHTSA, and a host of others can write and pass regulations on almost any "whim" that strikes them, as long as it falls under the President's wishes.  Hire people?  No way!  Build new plants?  Are you kidding me?  Park that money somewhere that it will earn a few percent at minimal risk and wait 'n see.

THE MIDDLE CLASS IS BEING DUPED--OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN ADS ARE LIES AND DISTORTIONS

And they are falling for it all.  That's the sad part.  Mitt Romney has been unable or unwilling to blunt or dispel the web of lies and distortions, half-truths and slanderous innuendo launched at him largely in battleground states, backed with millions of dollars of negative ads--and personal appearances telling everyone how much he (Obama) cares of them and will look after them.  So will prisons and nursing homes…with about the same level of freedoms.

SOMETIMES I FIND LITTLE LESSONS THAT ARE BOTH HUMOROUS AND USEFUL--THIS IS ONE OF THOSE

Subject: 5 MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE--5 LESSONS  Lesson 1: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel."  After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.  After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies. "Great!" the husband says, "did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?" Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure. Lesson 2: A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologized "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.  On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory." Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, opportunities for advancement will pass right by you. Lesson 3: A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish." "Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Puff! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Puff! He's gone. "OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch." Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say. Lesson 4: An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure , why not."  So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up. Lesson 5: A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients."  The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree. Moral of the story: Bull shit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there. Lesson 6: A little bird was flying south for the Winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and shit on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him. Morals of the story: (1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy. (2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. (3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut! THIS CONCLUDES THE 5-MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

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GET HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY  IN BOOK OR KINDLE VERSION AT: 

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Not-Strategy-Leadership-Presidency/dp/1469931044/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332434418&sr=1-5  

OR OTHER  EBOOK FORMATS AT: 

Smashwords.com  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/142287

AND GO SEE THE WEB SITE to see the Chapter titles and much more information:

 http://www.hopeisnotastrategybook.com

READ MY NEW BLOG: http://hopeisnotastrategybook.wordpress.com 

Author of the Award Winner: THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, and the exciting novel: THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY.   

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

 

THE ENTERPRISE--DECEPTION AND DENIAL

UNIVISION INTERVIEWER PINS DOWN OBAMA--BETTER THAN ANYONE YET

The question was on immigration reform campaign promises, and why Obama hasn't kept any of them.  Obamas reply?  "I didn't promise I'd get everything (I promised) done!"  There's some news!  How could voters know which of his promises he didn't promise to keep?  For that matter, how would prospective voters know which of his new promises he'll keep--but wait--he's not promising anything but a continuation of what he's been doing--FAILING!

THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN AND THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE FEEDING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A STEADY DIET OF DECEPTION AND DENIAL

The deceptions involve such issues as making a big flap out of a clearly surreptitious video of Mitt Romney simply stating the factual truth to a group of supporters.  The Obama campaign wants Ameicans to believe that Romney neither is interested in nor will do a good job for the 47% of Americans that receive some kind of government payments--and the nearly similar percentage who pay no Federal Income Taxes.  That is a blatant lie (nothing new for Obama's campaign) and a massive deception.  NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.  THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO THAT 47%

--AND FOR THE 23 MILLION AMERICANS UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED WOULD BE TO ELECT MITT ROMNEY AND GET RID OF BARACK OBAMA.

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA WOULD LIKE US TO BELIEVE THAT ROMNEY HAS ALREADY LOST.  NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.  ONCE AGAIN THE OBAMA SUPPORTERS IN THE BIASED MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE PRACTICING DECEPTION AND DENIAL.

Watch and listen to this short video by Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi and also former Head of the Republican National Committee. Haley is an experienced and savvy politician--and a smart guy.  He debunks another of Obama-ites' lies.

http://www.coffeewithhaley.com/show/video/30

WHAT ARE BUSINESSES GOING TO DO NOW?  WAIT AND SEE, MOSTLY!

The stock market continues to do pretty well.  Of course it would when the Fed keeps dumping money (not backed by anything but debt) into the US economy.  The Fed is supposed to be independent of the White House, and anyone who believes that will be glad to hear some stories about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.  Do you think it is a coincidence that Bernanke chooses to try "juicing up the economy" just 60 days before his "boss" is up for reelection.  If you don't tell your friends and neighbors about this, they won't know.  Drug dealers give out free samples to entice new users to become addicts.  The White House has already created a nation full of addicts--not to drugs--but to HANDOUTS.

A SEASONAL UPTICK IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER--NO THANKS TO THE PRESIDENT, OR CONGRESS.

Retail sales always pick up for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That's normal.  the typical 1.5-2.0% growth rate in the economy might jump to 3, 3.5 or even (briefly) 4%…but with unemployment stuck at record high levels and hundreds of thousands of Americans leaving the work force every month--it is very unlikely to stay "UP."  But Barack Obama doesn't care about that as much as he cares about how the economy can be propped up before the Nov. 6 election!

There is nothing this president and his followers in the mainstream media will not stoop to doing to get a second term.  That includes burying the important news, and lying about the rest--or at least twisting it to serve Obama's needs.

VIVE' LA DIFFERENCE?  NOW IT IS EXPLAINED SIMPLY:

The differences between Obama and Romney supporters:
When someone asks you what the main difference is between the Obama supporters and Romney supporters, instead of stammering and stuttering and looking for an answer, just tell them that the Romney supporters sign their checks on the front, and the Obama supporters sign their checks on the back.

WHY ARE BUSINESS PEOPLE CONCERNED?  AN ANTI-BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND MORE REGULATIONS EVERY DAY--ANOTHER SIXTY+ COMING BETWEEN ELECTION DAY AND THE END OF THE YEAR.  Even if Romney wins, he can't stop them.  He'll have to get them rolled back, and that may mean new appointees in numerous commissions--and that could take months.  That's by business and government are inextricably intertwined.  You cannot talk about one without recognizing the influence of the other.  I WILL HAVE MORE ON THAT TOPIC VERY SOON…A POTENTIAL CHANGE I AM MAKING.

THE LONG ANSWER ABOUT WHY THE VARIATION IN POLL RESULTS:

One explanation is that all small polls--and all of these media driven very frequent polls are "small"--need to represent the beliefs of 75-100 million Americans.  The polls must "normalize" the demographics of the poll to match that of the electorate.  That's because many polls get far too many older folks (who stay home and answer the phone) and thus they must compensate for too few youth and minorities (heavier uses of cell phones which are hard to sample.

Another important decision is on what population of voters basis to do the normalization of responses. Depending on which voting electorate is used, he result can vary widely.  E.g., if they use the 2004 electorate it had huge record turnouts of blacks, youth, Hispanics, etc. this would skew any poll toward Obama by an unknown number of points--probably as many as 5 or more.  If they use the 2008 results, in which GOP turnout was much higher, that could skew results Romney's way.  That may have been what this table was based on. Rasmussen uses a blend of 2004 & 2008 polling demographics, which is why those polls usually favor Romney more.

Since nobody knows the turnout profile for 2012 yet, the only thing pollsters can do is guess at what normalization to use.

Sampling choices for polls can also skew results by a lot--accidentally or intentionally.  I have seen data which says most media and many  "well known" polls over-sample Democrats and under sample GOP voters by 5 points or more.

All that said, Romney has made some bold comments that have been easily interpreted by the heavily liberal media to turn voters against him.  Romney isn't just fighting Obama huge d spending.  He's fighting the mainstream liberal media, while his allies run he dirtiest campaign in history.  THey, and he, will stop at nothing to distract voters from his terrible record and the awful economy!  Unfortunately it's working.  Obama's idea of "fairness" is to take more money from those who earn it to give to his dependent big government voters--a cleverly disguised bribe for votes!

MEANWHILE, THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES.  ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH IS NOW CLOSING IN ON ABOUT 60+/- DAYS TO PUBLICATION.

THE ONLY REASON IT WILL TAKE LONGER IS IF I DECIDE TO MAKE CHANGES AND/OR DELAY ITS RELEASE TO AVOID THE NEWS CRUSH OF THE ELECTION--WHICH I MIGHT DO!

More next week:

Best, JOHN

**********************

GET HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY  IN BOOK OR KINDLE VERSION AT: 

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Not-Strategy-Leadership-Presidency/dp/1469931044/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332434418&sr=1-5  

OR OTHER  EBOOK FORMATS AT: 

Smashwords.com  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/142287

AND GO SEE THE WEB SITE  http://www.hopeisnotastrategybook.com

READ MY NEW BLOG: http://hopeisnotastrategybook.wordpress.com 

Author of the Award Winner: THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, and the exciting novel: THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY.   

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

 

THE ENTERPRISE--THE DEFICIT & THE ELECTION--A PROBLEM SO SIMPLE, SO POORLY UNDERSTOOD

THE ENTERPRISE--THE DEFICIT & THE ELECTION--A PROBLEM SO SIMPLE, SO POORLY UNDERSTOOD

I am sending this to you all as a separate "edition" in hopes that you will forward it to everyone you know--whatever their political persuasion.  I was at a rally where Marco Rubio spoke today (in Columbus, on Romney's behalf--while Obama was not all that far away telling more of his patented half-truths)--Rubio dwelled on the deficit and debt issue at length--and its impact on our future--as individuals and as a country.

Financial columnist John Mauldin, puts it much more succinctly: 

The Economic Consequences of a Political Decision

The preview of economic consequences depends on your view of what the most important issues are that need to be decided (in terms of economics). Let me list my top ten.

1.  The Deficit

2.  The Deficit

3.  The Deficit

4.  The Deficit

5.  The Deficit

6-10. Everything Else

I am only being mildly flippant. How we deal with the deficit affects everything else. And not dealing with the deficit leads to a disaster of biblical proportions, the equivalent of all eight of the first eight plagues. Ask Greece or Spain.

Here is the problem--"the deficit crisis" stated in the simplest way I have ever seen!

Minimal reading is required. Just look & listen to the linked video.  It is non-partisan.  It is simply factual math.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EW5IdwltaAc?rel=0

CONCLUSIONS:

Entitlements we have been promised and paid into/for are no longer sustainable due to a government that has promised more than it can deliver, and spent all the money, and then some--on other things.

All other arguments are irrelevant. The money is GONE!  The ONLY way out of this without cataclysmic consequences is to stop all spending increases of very kind, and start trimming back EVERY KIND OF SPENDING including the Medicare & Social Security I currently get ( that you'd like to get someday ) AND increase taxes by reforming the tax code.  Why?  

Because we can't even save our way out of this big a hole.  We must fuel the growth of the economy, leading to job growth, income growth, etc.  Increasing taxes, unless done very carefully will have the opposite effect--depressing economic growth.  But, some taxes can be increased by eliminating nearly all the deductions (which de facto "closes loopholes").  This will increase taxes on higher earners, but in a manner hat lets them alter their behavior (and investment plans) to soften the blow--and not stifle economic growth (too much).

I don't see the US totally shifting from Income Taxes to  Consumption taxes (overall, this is arguably a "fairer way to tax, one which is used extensively in Europe--VATs) because income taxes can be specifically set up to help the poor and tax he rich--"the American way, it seems, to achieve "fairness!"--Penalizing people for their economic success!  The problem with VATs is that once you have one, the way to solve every spending problem is to increase the VAT.  At least one European country I was in recently (I think it was Ireland) is functional bankrupt and that is with a VAT of 23.5%!

"ONE OF THE IMPORTANT RULES IN BUSINESS AND IN LIFE: "WHEN YOU ARE DEEP IN A HOLE, QUIT DIGGING!"

Clinton was right in one regard: math doesn't lie!  We are deeply in debt and our president wants 4 more years to "keep digging."

Sorry for so many words, but political wrangling won't fix this DEFICIT CRISIS!  Which candidate's set of policies and whose ideology is better suited to address this deficit crisis?  I know my answer. (HIS INITIALS ARE MITT ROMNEY!)

OBAMA HAS FAILED; WE NEED TO "FIRE HIM."  TO REELECT HIM WILL MEAN FOUR MORE YEARS OF MISERY!

BEST JOHN

 

THE ENTERPRISE--SOMETIMES LOGIC FAILS TO EXPLAIN...

Download Mortimer Zuckerman: Those Jobless Numbers Are Even Worse Than They Look - WSJ.com

THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES--70 DAYS AND COUNTING UNTIL ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH:@The Intersection IS READY (At least I hope so.)  The interior design is about done, but the cover design needed some work.  The message is unchanged.  Here are a few questions to think about (not stated per se in the book, but …read on:

• What business are you in?  Really?  Do you know? Have you truly thought about this?
• Do you make and/or buy and sell products, or services, or are the products just incidental to the services you sell, or are the services incidental to the ultimate end results you sell--which are success, and (you hope), profitable growth.
• Is that the business you want to be in?  Do your customers think it the business you should be in?  Why?  Why?  Why?
• What is it that you do, offer, deliver, provide, that makes you the most desirable place/person/people from which to buy that?  
• Figure that out--and it will unlock many more insights for you.

A NICE UPWARD TICK IN RETAIL SALES UNTIL YOU LOOK BEHIND THE NUMBERS

Almost all of it was either due to high gas prices or auto sales (and if you look behind them, you'll see that much of GMs recent sales success has been because the government (who owns a big piece of GM) bought a lot of vehicles for fleets.  Thus the question really should be: how much are real consumer retail sales up.  It's not the reported 0.9%--it's actually about 0.1%.  And last month's number was revised downward from +0.8 to +0.7, which means it didn't quite recover the drops of the prior two months.  The economy is still stalled and stagnant, paralyzed--waiting to see the outcome of the elections.

A QUOTE TO REMEMBER: "The Democratic party has suddenly developed a keen sense of morality. John Edwards has been banned from making a speech at the Democratic National Convention for having an affair and lying about it. —  In his place Bill Clinton will be speaking."  Clinton is a remarkable speaker.  His nearly hour long speech sounded more like he was running for office than Obama--and he is a master and mixing fact, fiction and hyperbole--all in a good ole boy demeanor.

But remember, when someone prefaces a remark with "honestly," they are most likely going to be dishonest with what they say, and when someone says, "here's the truth," what you will get is very likely only a piece of the truth--the part that serves their purpose.

If you wonder what Barack Obama's plans are if he is reelected to a second term:

PROPOSED BUMPER STICKER:  WANT FOUR MORE YEARS OF MISERY?  VOTE OBAMA!

THIS COLUMN BY MORT ZUCKERMAN IN LAST WEEK'S WSJ IS SO WELL DONE, I'M POSTING IT HERE FOR YOU TO READ

FALL IS ABOUT HERE, FOOTBALL IS IN FULL SWING.  ENJOY THE GAMES OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS.

BEST, JOHN

**********************

GET HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY  IN BOOK OR KINDLE VERSION AT: 

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Not-Strategy-Leadership-Presidency/dp/1469931044/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332434418&sr=1-5  

OR OTHER  EBOOK FORMATS AT: 

Smashwords.com  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/142287

AND GO SEE THE WEB SITE to see the Chapter titles and much more information:

 http://www.hopeisnotastrategybook.com

READ MY NEW BLOG: http://hopeisnotastrategybook.wordpress.com 

Author of the Award Winner: THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, and the exciting novel: THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY.   Come see my blog posts on Forbes.com

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

 

THE ENTERPRISE--"FAIR AND BALANCED?"

ONE REASON THE LABOR FORCE IS SHRINKING:  BOOMERS RETIRING

Amidst the concern about tepid job creation under the Obama presidency, there is also the issue of people "dropping out of the work force" and the percentage of the population in the work force continually hitting new lows.  It is important to be fair about this and recognize that there are two different factors driving this shrinkage in the work force:

1- People are truly discouraged about job prospects and quit looking--and this is exaggerated by the high level of government support: unemployment, food stamps, welfare, etc.

2- 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, that is 3,650,000 per year (300,000+/-) per month, most of whom might be dropping out of the work force.

THUS: As little as 25% of the work force drop outs are due to demotivated job seekers, and as many as 75% could be aging boomers who "retire" and draw Social Security (age 66+) and Medicare (age 65+).

ONLY 96,000 NET JOBS AND YET UNEMPLOYMENT GOES DOWN TO 8.1%--WHAT?

First this is U-2 unemployment which ignores many people who are dramatically underemployed (U-6).  Go see http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm   This shows the complete picture nationally and by state.  Since population growth in the USA is around 3% and the country's population is 312 million, it takes around 100,000 to 125,000 new net jobs to absorb new work force entrants. It varies around 100-125,000 since the ages of new work force entrants might be slightly different from the average growth rate…but when the economy i.e. creating net new jobs at an average of 150,000, it is not really growing very much in jobs.  

NOTE:  The claim of 4.5 million new jobs in the past 30 months by Obama-ites uses a slight deception to make it look better. It excludes government jobs, which have been dropping, and only shows private sector jobs.  Bottom line--there has been growth, but a only a little higher than the number of new work force entrants @ 100,000-125,000+/-.

AN OUTLOOK FOR THE ECONOMY?  

Here is my latest Forbes post, since it attracted very few views--I guess everyone is glued to the political conventions.  I probably need to write some kind of scathing political headline to attract view--content clearly doesn't do it.

Download Retail Recovery: A Blip Followed By A Dip? - Forbes

PROVERBS ARE OFTEN TRUE

Original Chinese Proverb: "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime"
New White House Proverb: Give a man a welfare check, a free cell phone with unlimited free minutes, cash for his clunker, food stamps, section 8 housing, free contraceptives, Medicaid,  ninety-nine weeks of unemployment, free meds, and he will vote for Democrats the rest of his life … even after he's deceased.

ON THE WEEK WHEN THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IS PUTTING ON AN OBAMA "LOVEFEST" 

I only watched a little of the coverage:  Michelle Obama was amazingly effective.  The personal nature of her appeal hit home with that audience.  Bill Clinton seemed to be running for another term--and was far more informative and effective than Obama will be--but he's done.  He was doing his duty and did it very well.  The base loves him.  The rest of us know he lies as easily as Obama and as most people tell the true.  Best of all, as a politician, he can bend the facts to suit his purpose with the best of them (like Obama, but way more engaging and down to earth.  He's masterful at it.  But he was selling a "dog that just won't hunt."  (Most of his rationales were contrived or distorted--but he gave it a good shot!)

WHAT NEW IDEAS DID BARACK OBAMA COVER?

THE NY TIMES SUDDENLY GETS A BIT MORE OBJECTIVE:

(READ RICH KAARLSGARD'S INTRO FIRST)

Download New York Times Proves Clint Eastwood Correct -- Obama Is Lousy CEO - Forbes

CAMPAIGNS ARE WHEN BOTH SIDES TAKE EVERYTHING THEY CAN AND USE IT--EVEN WHEN IT ISN'T QUITE ACCURATE

Paul Ryan's Janesville GM plant story is one example of this.  Ryan didn't lie.  He just didn't tell everyone the full context. He was trying to point that instance out as another example of Obama's broken campaign promises and failed rhetoric.  IF Ryan had phrased it a bit differently--and more honestly--he'd have gotten as much or more impact out of the story.  He will learn, and continue to improve.

OBAMA IS PARTLY RIGHT, BUT MOSTLY WRONG--AND HE THINKS OF IT ALL MOSTLY WRONG TOO!

Barack Obama's "you didn't build that…" is another case of where a phrase was partly taken in context, and partly taken out of context. Obama is partly right.  Obama is right if he meant that companies don't build the infrastructure (water, sewers, roads, etc.) they need to exist, do business, etc.  On the other hand, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?  

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM TO PAY FOR PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE?  TAXES--from companies and employees

If companies aren't "built" and don't hire people and pay taxes (plus, their employees, suppliers, etc. also pay taxes) then there is no financial basis for building the infrastructure (often done by Bonds).  from the other directions, cities and states sometimes build infrastructure first and then try to attract employers.  As far as other governmental support, (police, fire,schools, etc.) I think Obama is on pretty shaky ground in saying that these public services were what has allowed companies to be built, prosper, etc.

A LITANY OF LIES MARKED HIS CAMPAIGN (AND FOLLOWED IN HIS PRESIDENCY): WATCH AND LISTEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UErR7i2onW0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

TWO VERY GOOD PIECES FOLLOW THIS…THEY SAY IT FAR BETTER THAN I COULD.

BEST, JOHN

(Click on  the file and see both pages)

A BRILLIANT WRITER WEIGHS IN

Obama's Dreams 
By Thomas Sowell 
Tuesday, September 04, 2012 

After reading Barack Obama's book "Dreams from My Father," it became painfully clear that he has not been searching for the truth, because he assumed from an early age that he had already found the truth — and now it was just a question of filling in the details and deciding how to change things.  
 
Obama did not simply happen to encounter a lot of people on the far left fringe during his life. As he spells out in his book, he actively sought out such people. There is no hint of the slightest curiosity on his part about other visions of the world that might be weighed against the vision he had seized upon.  

As Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago Law School has pointed out, Obama made no effort to take part in the marketplace of ideas with other faculty members when he was teaching a law course there. What would be the point, if he already knew the truth and knew that they were wrong?  
 
This would be a remarkable position to take, even for a learned scholar who had already spent decades canvassing a vast amount of information and views on many subjects. But Obama was already doctrinaire at a very early age — and ill-informed or misinformed on both history and economics.  
 
His statement in "Dreams from My Father" about how white men went to Africa to "drag away the conquered in chains" betrays his ignorance of African history.  
 
The era of the Atlantic slave trade and the era of European conquests across the continent of Africa were different eras. During the era of the Atlantic slave trade, most of Africa was ruled by Africans, who sold some of their slaves to white men.  
 
European conquests in Africa had to wait until Europeans found some way to survive lethal African diseases, to which they lacked resistance. Only after medical science learned to deal with these diseases could the era of European conquests spread across sub-Saharan Africa. But the Atlantic slave trade was over by then.  
 
There was no reason why Barack Obama had to know this. But there was also no reason for him to be shooting off his mouth without knowing what he was talking about.  
 
Similarly with Obama's characterization of the Nile as "the world's greatest river." The Nile is less than 10 percent longer than the Amazon, but the Amazon delivers more than 50 times as much water into the Atlantic as the Nile delivers into the Mediterranean. The Nile could not accommodate the largest ships, even back in Roman times, much less the aircraft carriers of today that can sail up the Hudson River and dock in midtown Manhattan.  
 
When Obama wrote that many people "had been enslaved only because of the color of their skin," he was repeating a common piece of gross misinformation. For thousands of years, people enslaved other people of the same race as themselves, whether in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Western Hemisphere.  
 
Europeans enslaved other Europeans for centuries before the first African was brought in bondage to the Western Hemisphere. The very word "slave" is derived from the name of a European people once widely held in bondage, the Slavs.  
 
As for economics, Obama thought that Indonesians would be worse off after Europeans came in, used up their natural resources and then left them too poor to continue the modern way of life to which they had become accustomed, or to resume their previous way of life, after their previous skills had atrophied.  
 
This fear of European "exploitation" prevailed widely in the Third World in the middle of the 20th century. But, by the late 20th century, the falseness of that view had been demonstrated so plainly and so often, in countries around the world, that even socialist and communist governments began opening their economies to foreign investments. This often led to rising economic growth rates that lifted millions of people out of poverty.  
 
Barack Obama is one of those people who are often wrong but never in doubt. When he burst upon the national political scene as a presidential candidate in 2008, even some conservatives were impressed by his confidence.  
 
But confident ignorance is one of the most dangerous qualities in a leader of a nation. If he has the rhetorical skills to inspire the same confidence in himself by others, then you have the ingredients for national disaster.  
 
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com.

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GET HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY  IN BOOK OR KINDLE VERSION AT: 

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Not-Strategy-Leadership-Presidency/dp/1469931044/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332434418&sr=1-5  

OR OTHER  EBOOK FORMATS AT: 

Smashwords.com  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/142287

AND GO SEE THE WEB SITE to see the Chapter titles and much more information:

 http://www.hopeisnotastrategybook.com

READ MY NEW BLOG: http://hopeisnotastrategybook.wordpress.com 

Author of the Award Winner: THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, and the exciting novel: THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY.   Come see my blog posts on Forbes.com

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

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THE ENTERPRISE--A LOT TO CONSIDER, THINK ABOUT…

THE ENTERPRISE--A LOT TO CONSIDER, THINK ABOUT…

COUNTDOWN --82 DAYS AND COUNTING:  MY NEW BOOK: ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH:@The Intersection IS NOW IN THE LAYOUT STAGE. I SHOULD SEE THE FIRST COVER AND INTERIOR DRAFTS IN ABOUT TEN DAYS.

ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION--PREDICTIONS OF SORTS

The desperation of the Obama campaign will blossom in full force during the Democratic Convention--both from the podium and from the behind the scenes media and talking heads.  Listen carefully to Bill Clinton when he speaks.  Listen for what he does't say, or for "faint praise" of Obama.  Clinton does not like Obama, ever since the vicious campaign against Hillary.  However, Bill Clinton is an adept politician and he knows he much support the "party line" if he is to sustain his power--and keep doors open for Hillary.

Do not be surprised to hear more about other "negative aspects" of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: (the Dems can find more bad things to say about two good men than imaginable by reasonable people).

1.  Mitt Romney's Mormon faith--coming from a hypocritical president who claims to be a Christian, has previously referred to "his Muslim faith" on camera (prior to being elected), only attends church when it is politically expedient--a handful of times each year (because he doesn't want to cause a disruption, he says) and regularly leaves God out of pledges of allegiance and other well known public utterances (he just quits speaking at that point!)  Perhaps he got all the church going he needed listening to Rev. Jeremiah Wright in Chicago.

2.  Repeated, and baseless references to Romney's finances/wealth, tax returns (Is this "the pot calling the kettle black,"--when Obama won't release anything about his background, who paid for what, how he got into prestigious institutions with mediocre grades, etc. etc.--or was I just an Obama-racist because I used the word "black" in a statement??)

3.  A litany of so-called "lies" by Paul Ryan--e.g., the one about the Janesville GM plant, which was categorically true, exactly as Ryan said it.  Ryan didn't say the plant closed after Obama was elected.  He was illustrating just one of the many Obama campaign promises that were totally bereft of any actual results. (Creating five million green energy jobs--and the Solyndra debacle, the closing of Guantanamo, the inference of "government help" that would keep the Janesville GM plant open, and on, and on…)

4.  That Romney is proposing "old ideas" that will take us backwards--how many of us would love to go back to the Reagan "old ideas" and the results they produced.  (Obama's "new ideas" are a continuation of his failed ideas of the past 4 years--but then no one in the mainstream biased media will ever say that!)

5.  That in Romney's career, he "destroyed jobs," (a blatant misrepresentation, since he was a huge "net" job creator--even Bill Clinton referred to his "sterling" record)  or that his plans would "harm the middle class, when the opposite is the truth.  More appeals to the "fairness" of taxing those who create wealth and redistributing it to those who do not--who, in fact, are part of a huge and growing "dependent underclass" that Obama is relying on to elect him.

6.  Anything to avoid talking about the real issues--Obama's Failures as president!

NOTE: Here is just one of many excerpts from HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY…chronicling Obama's influences and his past mentors--all associations that he carefully avoids now, while throwing mud at his opponent, Mitt Romney

President Obama has amassed a long list of negative influences in this area, and he does everything

possible to avoid admitting the obvious effects of these influences.

o It is a fact that in his formative years Barack Obama was closely tied to Frank Marshall Davis

an avowed communist and socialist.

o It is a fact that one of Obama’s early associations was with Saul Alinsky, Marxist author of

Rules for Radicals

o It is a fact that Barack Obama spent many years in Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church

listening to angry, black liberation theology.

o It is a fact that Obama also had considerable contact with Bill Ayers, the former head of the

“Weather Underground,” an anti-US socialist organization that bombed the Pentagon, and

perhaps Bernadette Dohrn too, also of that organization.

HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY: Leadership Lessons from the Obama Presidency

30

o It is a fact that the Obama home in Chicago was acquired in a questionable series of

“friendly transactions,” involving convicted Chicago mobster Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

o And he was raised in a Muslim country (Jakarta, Indonesia) in his early years, age 6-10—

which could be a potential explanation for his current Muslim sympathies.

o But this is just a partial list…from Obama’s formative years.

Even in Barack Obama’s memoirs, (which many think Ayers heavily contributed to “ghost writing”)

he states that he intentionally sought out the radicals to spend time with during his early life and while in

college. In short, much of Barack Obama’s life was spent around radicals, dissidents, and socialist/Marxist

thinkers, learning from these people and absorbing their belief systems. How would you imagine his belief

systems would develop?

ARE BUSINESS PRINCIPLES APPROPRIATE IN GOVERNMENT?  CAN A BUSINESS LEADER, BE A LEADER IN GOVERNMENT?

Granted, the processes are dramatically different, with democratic votes on so many issues, politics altering practical considerations, and so forth.  But even that has proven to be less true as Barack Obama has repeatedly circumvented Congress by using his Cabinet level people, and appointees (HHS, EPA, NLRB, NRC, etc.) to do so, OR through other presidential actions, mandates, proclamations, etc.  So, I guess a business leader might be able to use some of those tactics too, right?  For example, to defund, stop and take apart Obamacare?  Or to reverse some of the worst of the regulations strangling business in the USA?  What else might be similar or different in leading government compared to business?

WHAT BUSINESS WOULD SPEND 40% MORE THAN ITS INCOME FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS

None that wanted to stay in business.  Even the vaunted GM mess fell short of this kind of irresponsible behavior.

WHAT BUSINESS WOULD ATTEMPT TO BEAT ITS COMPETITORS WHILE TELLING THEM EITHER IN PUBLIC OR IN PRIVATE OF THEIR PLANS AND TIMETABLES?

None that wanted to actually win the competitive battles.   But America told the Taliban when the US troops would be gone.  It allowed others to ignore sanctions and support Iranian unke development

(Because, "I'll have a lot more flexibility after I'm reelected.")

WHAT BUSINESS WOULD GAMBLE HUGE AMOUNTS OF CAPITAL ON A COMPANY THAT ALL OF THE EXPERTS WARNED WAS NOT VIABLE?

Well, perhaps some businesses would, but not for long. Most would pull back their capital and loans as if they had touched a hot stove.

WHAT BUSINESS WOULD HIRE A TOP EXECUTIVE TO OVERSEE FOR AN AREA WHERE THAT EXECUTIVE WAS FOUND TO HAVE BROKEN THE RULES IN THE PAST?

Treasury secretary Tim Geithner had broken tax laws, failing to report things, in the very same area that he is not the "boss."  If that sounds wrong to you--it is! (But he got a "do-over."

WHAT BUSINESS CONFUSES WHO ITS CUSTOMERS ARE--THAT IT MUST SERVE AND BE RESPONSIBLE TO?  

None that want to stay in business long.  But our US Government has forgotten that is was created to work for the American people--not vice versa!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN STARTLING COINCIDENCES?

 

• Presidential candidate gets nominated on his second try, after losing first time he tried.
• Presidential candidate's last name has 6 letters starting with R.
• The VP candidate last name has 4 letters.
• The Presidential candidate has "good hair" and an engaging smile.
• Presidential candidate was a successful Governor of a heavily Democratic state.
• The VP candidate was an accomplished career public servant, born in and hailing from the center of the country.
• Presidential candidate was born in the upper Midwest but later moved and spent much of his career and recent adult life in coastal area.
• The incumbent/opponent was elected with great hope, and many promises, but presided over even more great disappointments.
• They country was/is in great economic distress, and people are demoralized.

 

COMPARE:  REAGAN--BUSH CIRCA 1980 and ROMNEY--RYAN CIRCA 2012

DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT MITT ROMNEY YET?

If not, I'll try to add some pieces in here as the election gets closer.  If readers come across good pieces to share, please send them along.

ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?  ARE YOUR KIDS?   NIECES, NEPHEWS, ETC.?  IT'S EASY, AND WE NEED ALL THE VOTES WE CAN GET FOR MITT ROMNEY/PAUL RYAN

Do you know how to request Absentee ballots, and where to send them, and by when, to make sure you get to vote, even if you happen to be traveling or sick or out of town on election day?  The Internet lists these Election Offices for every county in every state.  Just Google it and find yours.  You can usually get a .PDF format document to fill out and the address of where to mail ie.  BUT DO IT NOW!  THERE ARE DEADLINES AND THEY ARE COMING UP IN OCTOBER! GET EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY TO HELP.

DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT PAUL RYAN?  HERE'S A NICE LITTLE PIECE A FRIEND SENT ME--(OF COURSE IT SORT OF COMPARES HIM TO BARACK OBAMA--ABOUT WHOM WE KNEW LITTLE AND STILL DON'T KNOW ENOUGH--EXCEPT NOW WE KNOW ENOUGH TO WANT HIM OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!

Subject: OUR NEXT VICE PRESIDENT--HOW DOES HE MEASURE UP???……………………            Well, early one Saturday morning we learned that Congressman Paul Ryan, Republican from Wisconsin , is to be Mitt Romney's pick for the next Vice President of The United States.                What are we to think of this selection? (He's not a graduate of Columbia University .  He's not a graduate of Harvard.  He wasn't selected as the President of the Harvard Law Review.  He didn't get a special free quota scholarship ride to any prestigious university either!) Instead, had to work his way through Miami University of Ohio...the man drove the Oscar Mayer Wiener Truck one summer and waited tables another!                One morning when Paul Ryan was sixteen years old he went in to wake his father and found him dead of a heart attack.  (He didn't write two books about that experience).  Instead, he assumed the role of adult at an early age, never having the luxury to pursue youthful drug use and the art of socialist revolution.                Instead, Paul Ryan and his mother took his grandmother, suffering from Alzheimer's, into the household and served as the primary care provider for his grandma.  His grandma wasn't the Vice President of the Bank of Hawaii so she could offer nothing in return, except the element of "need".                Once Paul Ryan got his BA in Economics from Miami University of Ohio he was hired as a staff economist in Wisconsin Senator Kastin's office.  The job must have not paid well because young Ryan moonlighted as a waiter and fitness trainer.  (No one offered him a "token honor" position at the University of Chicago and a $200,000 dollar a year salary.)                When a still young Paul Ryan returned to Wisconsin to run for Congress, (he didn't demonize his opponent and dig up dirt to shovel against him); he waited until the standing Congressman vacated the office before seeking the office.  ( In Janesville , Wisconsin they don't have a big political machine to promote you, to criminalize your opponent;) instead Paul Ryan had to go door to door and sit at kitchen tables and listen to his future constituents.                After getting elected to Congress, Paul Ryan didn't triumphantly march into Washington , buy himself a Georgetown townhouse and proceed over to K Street to rub elbows with lobbyists.  He bunked in his Congressional office and used the house gym for showers and a fresh change of clothes.                Paul Ryan then married and took his bride back to Janesville .  He lives on the same street he lived on as a kid and shares the neighborhood with eight other members of the Ryan clan.  He hunts with the local Janesville hunt club and attends PTA meetings and other civic functions.                For those who can't make those public functions, Paul Ryan bought an old bread truck, converted it into a "mobile constituent office" and drives around to meet with those who need his help and attention.                Now, I don't know if we can vote for a guy like this.  He doesn't have a regal pedigree; he's Irish!  (No one awarded him a Nobel Peace Prize two months after getting elected.  No one threw flowers or got "chills down their leg" as he took his seat in Congress.)                What is most striking about Paul Ryan is that he has had the nerve to write the House Budget for three years in a row.  He is brazen and heartless in advocating in that budget for a $5 trillion dollar reduction in federal spending over the next ten years!  The House passed his budget three years in a row AND the Democratically controlled Senate has let it die. All without ever proposing a budget of their own.   (If Congress were to cut $5 trillion dollars from the budget where would the President get the money to give $500 million dollars to a bankrupt Solyndra?  Or $200 million dollars for bankrupt Energy 1?  Or $11 billion dollars to illegal aliens filing INIT, non-resident tax returns to claim $11 billion big ones in child tax credits, even for their children living in Mexico?) I heard that Paul Ryan seemed heartless.  He keeps wanting to cut government waste, he keeps wanting to put a halt to those big, wasteful GSA conventions in Vegas and, worse, he keeps trying to make people look at that $16.7 trillion dollar deficit!  The guy's no fun at all!  He's way too sensible and responsible. Who wants a numbers cruncher?   Who wants a VP who thinks American government should "live within its means?" Who wants someone spoiling the party by showing folks the bill?   Nothing will spoil a party quicker than sending the host the bill before the party's over!  On the other hand, maybe his guy is exactly what America needs. Someone right next to the President, offering practical sensible solution to American problems!

DO YOU SCARE EASILY?  HERE'S SOMETHING SCARY TO CONSIDER:              

 

 

Columnist Andrew McCarthy gives us what probably is 

 

the most important question regarding the upcoming presidential election.  If Mitt wins the nomination, he will enthusiastically support his candidacy. For friends who have hesitation on that score, He'd just ask you to keep four things in mind: 

 

1.. Justice Scalia just turned 78 

 

 

2.. Justice Kennedy will turn 78 later this year 

 

 

3.. Justice Breyer will be 76 in August 

 

 

4.. Justice Ginsburg turned 81 about a week ago. (Justice Ginsburg has Pancreatic Cancer. )

 

 

5.  Justice Stephens has already said he would retire (and is just waiting for Obama to be reelected.

 

 

The next president could appoint as many as 4 new Justices over next 4 years. This election is about more than ObamaCare Tax. 

 

 

We wish them all well, of course, but the brutal fact is that whoever we elect as president in November is almost certainly going to choose at least one new member, maybe as many as 4, of the Supreme Court, in addition to hundreds of other life-tenured federal judges, all of whom will be making momentous decisions about our lives for decades to come. 

 

 

 

If you don't think it matters whether the guy making those calls is Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, I think you're smokin' something funky.  So for anybody who is thinking of not voting because your favorite didn't get nominated, or writing in a candidate who can't win, imagine this:   SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ERIC HOLDER? 

 

 

THAT'S PLENTY FOR ONE WEEK.

BEST, JOHN

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