THE ENTERPRISE--UNKNOWABLE ANSWERS OR REASONABLE ONES?

FIRST TWO UPDATES:

====  ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH is on the way.  I am awaiting the final edited version of the actual book.  If I approve it, it's up on amazon very soon.  THIS IS THE LITTLE BOOK THAT CAN HELP SAVE THE AMERICAN ECONOMY.   It is a gold mine for small businesses, but it is equally applicable--or more so--for large ones.  When it is on sale, I will give you the final heads up and hope that you buy multiple copies of it to give to everyone in business that you know and care about.

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Some of my best posts are appearing weekly on www.thebrennerbrief.com:  Click on this and read on: http://thebrennerbrief.com/author/johnmariotti2012/

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THE POLITICAL CLIFF, THE DEFICIT AND THE PATH FORWARD IN A DIVIDED GOVERNMENT, AND A GROWING NATION OF DEPENDENCY 

Does anyone think these kind of issues will ever really get resolved?  I don't.  Not now, maybe not ever actually.  There are two opposing forces:  a president who believes in the welfare state, spending on whatever he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it, and blaming the opposition for anything that goes wrong after that.  The GOP is in disarray. They only agree totally on one thing.  They oppose Obama and his programs.  But that is not enough. Obama's power wins out…for now…and the country loses. I encourage you to read more about this in my recent posts on http://thebrennerbrief.com/2012/12/15/the-gop-must-do-these-6-things/

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QUESTION: ARE YOU WILLING TO CLICK ON A LINK THAT TAKES YOU TO A BLOG--AND THEN COME BACK TO YOUR EMAIL?

I am trying to decide if I should replicate my posts on TheBrennerBrief on here in their entirety.  It is easy to follow the stream of my posts on TheBrennerBrief so I am inclined to continue just posting links here.  If you have an opinion on this, please let me hear from you.

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BY THE WAY: BOTH PARTIES ARE WRONG IN THEIR ENTRENCHED POSITIONS

Obama's wrong in taking his single minded path to everything by raising taxes and increasing deficit spending.  The GOP is wrong by contending that the only solution is the dramatically cut spending.  Spending needs to be reined in--but very carefully and very wisely--or it will tumble the economy back into recession.  This is a task that Barack Obama is not competent to lead the nation in doing.  The GOP needs unity--in fact and in leadership--and then it needs to get realistic about what can be done, and what will really solve America's financial problems. ONLY ONE THING CAN SOLVE AMERICAS DEFICIT PROBLEMS AND ITS ECONOMIC WOES:  GROWTH--SPECIFICALLY ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR

--------UNTIL OR UNLESS GOVERNMENT GETS OFF THE BACK OF BUSINESS AND FIGURES OUT HOW TO STIMULATE GROWTH (OTHER THAN THROWING BORROWED DEFICIT SPENDING AT IT)…the problem will get worse, not better.  I will write much more about this both here in THE ENTERPRISE, and in THEBRENNERBRIEF  in the coming weeks and months.  MAYBE SOMEONE WILL ACTUALLY READ IT, AND HEED IT…I CAN ONLY HOPE SO!

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A FINAL NOTE:  IT'S BEEN A TROUBLING DECEMBER.  FIRST THE CT SHOOTINGS.  THEN THE CONTINUED ABYSMAL DISARRAY IN WASHINGTON.

I saw the word repugnant used to describe torture recently. I guess it comes down to what you think is more repugnant--torture or mass murder?

What I find most repugnant is the irresponsible, demagoguery that is masquerading as governance in Washington DC.  (One Congressman I am close to said, "it makes me sick to my stomach," and added, "but I don't know what else I can do about it." )( That is an honest elected representative's opinion!  SCARY, HUH?

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We are almost at the New Year, and nothing much was getting done in Washington except Obama playing "musical chairs" with his staff and administration.  Will those changes make any difference in his misguided policies?  That is one of those unknowables, but most likely--given that he's the "'boss" the changes will be minimal and not very positive.  John Kerry--UGH.  Another thing you can depend on is that every change will be carefully vetted for its PR effect and for how it will be perceived by Obama's followers.

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FROM MY FRIEND DOLPH SANTORINE-- A VERY SHARP AND THOUGHTFUL GUY:

RE: THE SCHOOL SHOOTING, ETC.

I've been to Columbine High School. They were a customer of my company.

I have seen first hand their physical commitment to preventing it from happening in their school again.

The mention of Columbine to those outside of the Denver Colorado metro immediately causes people to remember the tragedy. To those who live in Jefferson

County, it’s just another high school. The wounds heal for the locals, and they leave a scar.

For those of us outside the area, all we remember is the bleeding.

The Sandy Hook school shooting is a national tragedy. Much has been written about it, and the great national outpouring will continue for quite some time.

We were not given the opportunity to finish grieving before the "left" started blaming the "right" because of their defense of the second amendment. 

Simultaneously, the "right" blasts the "left" over the alleged moral disintegration that they have championed since the

1960s

.

The extremes are passionate about their positions. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, but we are looking for safety, and all we are getting is “blame storming” and finger pointing. 

The television has an endless parade of talking heads pontificating about their position. It’s the weapon. It’s violent video games. It’s our society. It’s the mother. It’s.... whatever. What we need is a more measured approach.

1960s

My heart and prayers go out to the families of the slain innocents. Yours do too, I know. In the light of our national discussion of this disaster, and the loud call for immediate action, it’s essential we remember that all extreme statements are wrong, including this one. 

What do we know without doubt?

The killer is to blame. 

This is the action of one mentally ill individual. A murderer. He killed to get the weapons, and then used them to kill. He killed his own mother.

No action we take as a society will stop this from happening again. History proves this unequivocally. Banning weapons will not stop it. Taking the civil liberties of those with mental illness will not stop it. Changing society’s fascination with “entertainment violence” will not stop it. Some combination of all of these factors, and more, will make the next spree of evil less likely.

In 1927, a murderer bombed Bath Consolidated School in Michigan, killing 38 elementary school children, two teachers and four other adults. Like Sandy Hook, it was a deliberate planned act. The deadliest school massacre in American History.

The press of the day did not blame anyone but the murderer. The headlines contained words like “Maniac”, “Killer

 “Insane”, “Madness”.

 It was crystal clear who was responsible. There were no video games to blame. No violent entertainment to blame.

Just one person, and depression.

Even looking back just 13 years to Columbine, the headlines contain words like “slain" and "psychopath” and clearly assign the actions to two individuals, and their depression.

In Newtown, Connecticut, it’s one person, and depression. The common thread remains people, and mental illness.

We are rational society searching for answers. Simply saying that there are three hundred million of us and this will happen again is not enough, even though statistically it is correct.

We are going to have to decide what civil rights we trade off for what level of security. 

There are mentally ill among us, and sometimes, they need to be forced into treatment. 

They need to be treated for their own well being, and for society’s. Just like the laws are wide open regarding gun ownership through the work of the NRA, it’s become nearly impossible for parents and mental health practitioners to forcibly treat an individual until after they have destroyed the lives of others. This is through the work of the ACLU.

We have the "right" providing the means, and the "left" providing the ways. We remain the middle in a quandary.

There is no single, simple answer. Making this less likely to occur will not be explained in a headline or a sound-bite. It’s complex. 

The only thing that might result in absolute security for our children would be banning people, and that is an impossible solution.

I have seen the security measures in place at Columbine post massacre. There were security measures in place at Sandy Hook. That treats the symptom, but where is the cure? How do we insure the safety of our children until the cure is in place?

The extremes will tell you their prescription for cure is a panacea. Deep down we know better. 

Will we be fortunate enough for leadership that will seek a carefully measured approach that includes all the factors? It will not be easy. It demands compromise from all of the stakeholders. It puts us on a very slippery slope.

To find a cure, we will have to sacrifice civil rights. There is no option. Which ones, and by exactly how much? 

To fully cherish the memory of the victims of these tragedies, we must demand balance, as the extremes are just that, and America deserves better.

WHERE WILL OUR NEW LEADERSHIP COME FROM--HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT KIND OF LEADERS WE NEED.

(NOTE:  I didn't have time to vet this to make sure it is all accurate, but it came from a usually reliable source.)

Meet Maine 's New Governor  --- In case you haven't heard about this guy before, his name will stick in your mind--Paul LePage The new Maine Governor, Paul LePage is making New Jersey 's Chris Christie look timid. He isn't afraid to say what he thinks. Judging by the comments, every time he opens his mouth, his popularity goes up.   He brought down the house at his inauguration when he shook his fist toward the media box and said, "You're on notice! I've inherited a financially troubled State to run. Observe…cover what we do...but don't whine if I don't waste time  responding to your every whim just for your amusement."  During his campaign for Governor, he was talking to commercial fishermen who are struggling because of federal fisheries rules. They complained that O'bama brought his family to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park for a long Labor Day holiday and found time to meet with union leaders, but wouldn't talk to the fishermen. LePage replied, "I'd tell him to go to hell and get out of my State." The Lame Stream Media crucified LePage, but he jumped 6 points in the pre-election poll.  The Martin Luther King incident was a political sandbag, which brought him national exposure. The 'lame stream' media crucified him, but word on the street is very positive. The NAACP specifically asked LePage to spend MLK Day visiting black inmates at the Maine State Prison. He told them that he would meet with ALL inmates, regardless of race, if he were to visit the prison. The NAACP balked and then  put out a news release claiming falsely that he refused to participate in any MLK events. He read it in the paper for the 1st time the next morning while being driven to an event and went ballistic because none of the reporters had called him for comment before running the NAACP release.  He arrived at that event & said in front of a TV camera, "If they want to play the race card on me they can kiss my *—ss," and he reminded them that he has an adopted black son from Jamaica and that he attended the local MLK Breakfast every year that he was mayor of Waterville. (He started his morning there on MLK Day.)   He then stated that there's a right way and a wrong way to meet with the Governor, and he put all special interests on notice that press releases, media leaks, and all demonstrations would prove to be the wrong way. He said any other group, which acted like the NAACP could expect to be at the bottom of the Governor's priority  list!  He then did the following, and judging from local radio talk show callers, his popularity increased even more: The State employees union complained because he waited until 3 P.M. before closing State offices and facilities and sending non-emergency personnel home during the last blizzard. The prior Governor would often close offices for the day with just a forecast before the first flakes. (Each time the State closes for snow, it costs the taxpayers about $1 million in wages for no work in return.)  LePage was CEO of the Marden's chain of discount family bargain retail stores before election as governor. He noted that State employees getting off work early could still find lots of retail stores open to shop.  So, he put the State  employees on notice by announcing: "If Marden's is open, Maine is open!"    He told State employees: "We live in Maine in the winter, for heaven's sake, and should know how to drive in it. Otherwise, apply for a State job in Florida !" Governor LePage symbolizes what America needs; Refreshing politicians who aren't self-serving and who exhibit common sense.  THE LAW IS THE LAW! This is one of the better e-mails I have received in a long time! I hope this makes its way around the USA several times over!!!!! HERE IS WHAT Governor LaPage said,  "THE LAW IS THE LAW So "if" the US government determines that it is against the law for the words "under God" to be on our money, then, so be it.  And "if" that same government decides that the "Ten Commandments" are not to be used in or on a government installation, then, so be  it.    I say, "so be it," because I would like to be a law abiding US citizen I say, "So be it," because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions.  I would like to think that those people have the American public's best interests at heart.  BUT, he said, "YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I'D LIKE?""    Since we can't pray to God, can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don't believe Government (Federal, State and Local) and its employees should participate in Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.  I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter. After all, it's just another day.  I'd like the" US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well  as Sundays." After all, it's just another day.   I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the "Christmas Break." After all it's just another day.  I'm thinking a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be "politically correct."  In fact....I think our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God...). Because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day...."  What do you all think???? If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the "minority opinions" and begin, once again, to represent the "majority" of ALL of the American  people.    SO BE IT...........Please Dear Lord, Give us the help needed to keep you in our country! 'Amen' and 'Amen' Touché!

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I GUESS THAT IS ENOUGH FOR ANY ONE WEEKEND.  OUR COUNTRY IS BEING LED DOWN A PERILOUS PATH BY BARACK OBAMA AND HIS ACOLYTES IN THE SENATE AND HIS MINIONS IN THE ADMINISTRATION.  IT MAY BE A PATH TO DEVASTATION--UNTIL OR UNLESS SOMETHING DERAILS HIS "BANDWAGON."

LET'S HOPE SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT SLOWS OR STOPS HIM BEFORE HE DOES MORE IRREPARABLE HARM.

BEST, JOHN

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-----New Book: COMING SOON: ROADMAP TO PROFITABLE GROWTH… 

 

Author of the Award Winner: THE COMPLEXITY CRISIS, the exciting novel: THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY, and co-author of HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY: Leadership Lessons from the Obama Presidency   

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