OK. Here I go again. I’m going to tick off a few of you with my discussion of small business.. The facts are that our government has no clue that not all “small” business are the same, nor do they understand that lifestyle businesses are not really small businesses. Yet, they produce economic policies assuming the contrary. And, because of that our national economy suffers.
Continue reading Our Economy Needs Entrepreneurs
It’s getting closer. And, I don’t think it’s going to go away. Because a whole bunch of folks think that, in a recession, it’s more important to reduce spending than to keep the economy growing. You’d think that seeing the terrible results of the similar program in Europe would give them pause. But, that also requires one to assume they either care- or understand.
Continue reading Really? You care about spending, Pinocchio?
There are a lot of fights going on in America. Abortion. Education. Tax Equity/Fairness. Gay Marriage. Every one of them are buzz-words that evoke visceral reactions from folks across this land.
Continue reading Justice, Justice
Love him or hate him, Frank Luntz is a wordsmith par excellence. This Republican consultant spends his time concocting words that evoke good feelings- despite the misgivings one may have for the principles that lie beneath the words. He asserts (correctly, in my opinion, as it applies to the American electorate) that “80 percent of our life is emotion, and only 20 percent is intellect. I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think”. Continue reading It’s not what I do…It’s what I say
I’m sitting here, listening to the talking heads discuss the Supreme Court decision about Obamacare. No- that’s NOT the subject of this blog. But, it is emblematic of the issue- that our official “small government” party is the part of the “big government” when it helps Big Business and against all government that works for any other issue- except for the Defense Department (which is also provided by Big Business).
Continue reading Efficient Markets?
I have written before about the military’s push for alternative energy sources. Not necessarily because they want to be innovative, but for purely logistical reasons. The need to get power to the troops- often within the enemy confines, which adds the danger of attack to the delivery requirements. Which is why there now is an Assistant Secretary for Operational Energy in the Department of Defense [DOD] hierarchy. (Shannon Burke assumed this position in 2010.)
Continue reading Unconventional energy is what our military forces need
Have we learned anything? Are we better off?
Yes, it’s a decade since “9-11”. We have engaged in at least three wars- Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. And, we are still engaged in those same three wars.
Continue reading We got a 911. Why do we treat it like a 311 or 511? I want the 411!
Continue reading This Bank is Going to Be a Real Pain-in-the-… And our pocketbooks
Yes, America has passed health care insurance reform. But (maybe in 2014), we have not addressed the 900 pound gorilla in the room- our overall health care, itself. Here’s an example of the problem- childhood asthma. Of all emergency visits for children (think for a second of how many broken limbs), about 15 to 20% are due to this disease (and much, much higher in cities, where there are less broken limbs from playing in fields).
Continue reading Fee for Service works for car repairs- not people’s health
So, there’s a new book- one that will probably tick you off. Not because it’s annoying, but because, if you are like most people, you had no idea that the facts reported in the paper (and CERTAINLY on the web) are highly suspect. The book: Sex, Drugs, and Body Counts: the Politics of Numbers in Global Crime and Conflict, by Peter Andreas with Kelly Greenhill. (If you want to buy the book, you can find it here.)
Continue reading 22.143% of Americans hop on one foot, twice a day…