It's About....You!

We've been hammering politics pretty hard this last week, maybe it's time we were a little selfish! It's always good to take a step back and reflect on ourselves. So; how's it going? Are you happy with your relationships? Has you financial plan come to fruition? Are we as tight with our Creator as we'd like to be? If you don't like the answers your getting, or simply don't have an answer to any of those questions, don't despair! It's nothing a little reading won't shed some light on.

Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward in their book Launching a Leadership Revolution, suggest we can actually grade ourselves on these issues. It's a great way to self analyze ourselves so that we can be aware of our strong points and look to improve where we are lacking.

Let's look at relationships for example. List all that are applicable to you. Spouse, children, siblings, parents, and co-workers. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 grade yourself. Be honest now, remember the 11th commandment;Thou shalt not fake thy self out! Let's say for argument sake you scored a 4 with your spouse, a 5 with the kids,a 8 with your siblings, a 9 with your parents, and a 8 with co-workers. Averaged out you scored a strong 6, almost a 7! Very telling, your attitude at home isn't what it is at work or with others you don't live with. In this instance I'd be rereading Love and Respect (Eggerichs), and the Five Love Languages (Chapman). If they were all low I'd think I'd start with The Difference Maker (Maxwell), and Leadership and Self Deception (The Arbinger Institute).

Don't limit yourself to reading to self correct. The quickest way is a 360 degree review. Take the relationships you want to improve and simply ask those people. What could I do in your eyes to be a better person? It takes a lot of self confidence to ask for this feedback, but it is spot on straight information. It'll eliminate our blind spots in a hurry!

The same self correcting steps apply to financial and faith. Break each down into categories and grade them, and don't be afraid to ask for input from those who have the results you seek. Raise just one of those numbers just 2 points and you'll pull your average way up and life will take on a whole new outlook!

God Bless
Capt. Bill

Leadership or Disceivership?

Yesterday I touched on the missing key to turning this country around, leadership! People won't follow those who deceive, once that trust is violated the ability to lead is compromised. Obvious attempts to mislead or spin the truth like, "the stimulus money has saved or created two million jobs," leaves American citizens yearning for quality leadership. Let's take a closer look sat how far off base that statement is....

The administration itself is heard to say most of those jobs are teachers, firemen, and police officers who weren't laid off because the stimulus package supplied money to the state and local budgets to keep them employed. Now my readers are thinkers, I'm sure you all are wondering, as am I, when this year's state and local budget comes for approval; where is the money for their salaries for the next year going to come from? Is the federal government going to pass our tax dollars yet again to the states to keep these teachers, firemen, and police officers on the job?

You see there has been no recovery in the private sector. The taxed income of the private sector is what pays for these government jobs. The housing market is still in decline so there will be less property tax revenues to apply to paying for these services. Does anyone else foresee another spike in unemployment on the horizon?

Their plan to "stimulate" the economy is all built on a house of cards. The only true incentive to create jobs is to lower the tax base. Believe it or not, lower taxes creates more tax revenue. This is documented in the Laffer Curve. It proves that through out history lowering taxes increased the volume of money collected. More tax money = more government hiring, like those teachers, firemen, and policemen we all need and love.

But our current administration has a better idea, one also prove er mis-proven by history to work. Japan tried this and things just got worse. I know President Obama is aware of it, he quoted the historical name for Japan's economic failure in his speech the other night. "The Lost Decade", is not a term for our last nine years but a reference to Japan's economic failure in the 90's.

With their apparent arrogance and deaf ear to our will, they trod on with their agenda like a bull in a china shop. And when their plan is not effective, they choose to lie to us.

God Bless
Capt. Bill

State of Contempt!

I let everyone else weigh in on the President's State of the Union speech the other night, before I gave my input. Grandma always said it was best to sleep on an issue so you didn't react based on emotion. Besides, I got a good overview of what the pundits thought in the meantime. It seems like they're in a race to get their opinions out there, as if the first one wins. So after further review, and much deliberation, here's my take.

The State of the Union as I see it is; We as a nation are in big trouble. Now wait, that's not based on unemployment or any other issue, those can be solved. My opinion is based on the fact our President stood before the nation and misrepresented the facts. Our leadership is either totally out of touch with reality, or they are deliberately lying to us. Either way we have a problem with leadership.

The President tried to stand before us and exude posture, something a leader needs to do. The nation should have faith and believe in the leadership. That all goes out the window when facts are misrepresented or spun to fit the administrations needs. "Truth tampered with is truth lost,"(A.J.Nock) It is extremely apropos when defining the integrity needed to lead a nation.

So when a President is caught being a poser, his attempt at posture is revealed as arrogance. Arrogance breeds contempt, and people who hold you in contempt will never follow your lead. So anything this administration tries to offer to the American public will be viewed negatively. Any legislation passed will be considered forced upon us. With the country in this mind set, we as a nation, will lose hope for recovery. That was the effect of the State of the Union speech. Grandma had another wise saying,"Some things are best left unsaid."

God Bless
Capt. Bill

Talking Points!

Today I thought I weigh in on the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn campaign finance practices. I had trouble with this one, but I think I've got it down where I can digest it. I had some mixed feelings allowing corporations unlimited opportunity to finance their candidate It just seemed like he with the most money would win and the playing field wasn't level. I think we might all have trouble accepting the court's decision as just.

But upon further review, they were spot on. First of all, they didn't attempt to write legislation, that's just not their job. They simply stated the bill as presented to them didn't pass the smell test. It violated the principles outlined in the Constitution regarding free speech. You can't limit people's right to voice their opinion simply because you might not like the message.

A perfect example of this is a pending ad for the upcoming super bowl. College football great Tim Tebow is going to star in an advertisement touting the decision his mother made not to abort her pregnancy after being advised to do so by doctors, because of a possible defect due to illness. The result was the birth of Tim and his rise to greatness both on and off the field, is a testament to her wise decision. Not only does it have women's rights groups up in arms, it has a religious tone to it upsetting anti-religious zealots.

Let's address the women's rights groups first. My first question is; Why would you be opposed to a woman being able to hear this story? Whenever you make any decision you should be presented with all of the possibilities and only then are you informed enough to decide. Are proponents of abortion laws positions so thin they can't hold water to a true life story? What's the down side? A baby is born that might have been aborted? Truth be told I'd rather err on the cautious side of that fence. I'm sorry but this is an example of the right granted to us by our Creator, free speech, and the fact you don't like the message or the possible outcome is simply too bad. The only time free speech should be stifled is when it's abused, like screaming fire in a crowded venue when there clearly isn't one. But you do have the right to complain, as silly as you now sound. Isn't it funny a group dedicated to someone's rights would deny another's?

Now on to the anti-religious zealots who want this ad squashed because again they don't like the message. Again because you don't like the message is no reason to demand control of it. What is your argument, separation of church and football? The separation of church and state argument doesn't even pass the smell test, so trying to gag a TV ad applying that principle isn't going to work either. Freedom of speech cannot be inhibited just because you don't like the message or the possible results.

The Supreme Court's message was the legislation as it was written needed to be reworded to be constitutional. Here's the other side of this story. With this bill being enforced, big corporations have found other ways around promoting their candidate. General Electric bypassed this issue by purchasing NBC, and using it as a non-stop advertisement for the election of President Obama. Aren't media outlets corporations too? Why should they be given unlimited access to presenting their message to you? They do have lobbies and political agendas. How do we justify making them exempt? The Supreme Court was simply saying we can't hinder free speech because we don't like the message. It's one of the benefits of being free, everyone has a voice. Should they be equal voices? How do you decide what's equal? The deciding authority would have a louder voice, no? The first step in overthrowing a free society is to control the message. Enough said!

God Bless
Capt. Bill

A Taxing Situation!

Washington has a plan! They've vilified the banking and health insurance industry, and with that feel the need to regulate them. After all it's for our own good, they are making "obscene" profits from us. Most of us would agree we don't like big conglomerates taking advantage of us, so to convince us the government needs to step in is a pretty simple task. This is where they "get us" every time.

Government regulation demands taxing, because someone has to pay for this oversight. Once again it easy to agree to tax corporations, because we've been told they are evil and take advantage of us. How about we take a real life look at who's actually benefiting from all this oversight, and who the villain really is.

The perfect example of government intervention and oversight,(so the consumer doesn't get taken advantage of), is utilities. Now I don't know if you've ever really looked at a utility bill, but I happen to have one handy for an example.

I own a property I've not visited in at least the last 30 days. The city utility company supplies that house with water, for which I gladly remit a check for services rendered. Since I was absent during the last billing cycle one would think my bill would be minimal, Pfffft. Here's how it broke down.....

Somehow I used .08 gallons of water, I'm thinking evaporation, but then the meter doesn't register hundredths so we'll just say the figure is made up, because it has to be. Normally my water bill averages about 32 dollars a month, when I'm there full time. This billing cycle, for.08 gallons of water my bill was $25.53, so I was curious as to where all this money goes. Would it surprise you to know it's for government regulation? $8.02 is for water readiness to serve, a tax for being ready to give me water. Now I could probably do a whole blog on this farce alone but wait, there's more! Sewer readiness to serve, $13.56. Now any reasonable person can see that if your going to be ready to supply water you have to by definition be prepared to remove said water. Ergo a tax for again being prepared. Also included was a tax for $.81 for a "Utility tax", I'm guessing the money needed to oversee that these taxes are collected and distributed. And last but not least a storm water tax for $2.88, just in case it rains, they taxed it. Now the bill was actually eight cents for the water and eighteen cents for sewer. So in reality to keep the evil utilities in line it costs $25.36 in taxes on a twenty six cent bill.

Now for what amounted to a mouthful of water I paid $25.53, the finest sparkling wine from an exotic country couldn't rival that. This is the regulation they are trying to institute in your health insurance bill and your banking. Effectively turning them into utilities and "regulating" them. So with this example in mind, who's the villain here?

We need to get government out of our lives, it's too darn expensive! The cost of bureaucracy is what is ruining our economy. The only thing that comes to my mind right now after reviewing this invoice is, government doesn't fix problems, government is the problem. I can recall a previous blog where I pointed out the Federal Government made more in tax revenue than the evil oil companies, yet they are the villains! Look at your electric bill too, the only thing not taxed, is the taxes. Nope wait, they taxed them too.If you can stomach another example review the phone bill, these are not isolated incidents, but rather examples of a pattern.

This is what we are in store for if the government regulates banks and health insurance. Anytime our representative suggest a tax on any entity, take it to the bank, it'll be passed on to us. Time to speak out my people, otherwise we are going to be taxed into socialism.

God Bless
Capt. Bill

Tomorrow's Hope!

There are times in a parent's life they just swell with pride at their children's accomplishments. The first words, the first step, their touchdown catch in the last seconds of a game that sends their team to a national championship, or the interception he takes back for 99 yards to set his college school record. They keep coming even as they become adults. Last night was another one for me!

My youngest is in college, in his last year, finishing up his double majors, and he's got a class in capitalism. As luck would have it, Chris Brady's blog yesterday,(1/25/10), highlighted a video, (I hope you caught it, if not hit the link to the right and check it out), that I asked him to watch for talking points. It's a short documentary describing the downfall of Detroit. After he watched it we had a phone conversation, and in that discussion he said the words that brought a tear to my eye. He asked me; why? Dad, why do people elect politicians who keep them down like that? Dad, why don't the teachers teach? Dad, why would people allow themselves to be aligned with a union that eventually bankrupts their industry? The questions kept coming. My son has learned how to think, distinguishing himself from those who are taught, what to think. It reminded me of when he was just a tadpole and those why questions began to flow. Dad, why is the sky blue, etc.

The simple answer is those people traded freedom for security. They adopted a socialist agenda without even realizing it. Agreeing to unionize strips you of exceptionalism. You take competition out of the workplace, and lazy gets the same pay as industrious. Sooner or later even the most dedicated worker realizes there is no point in exceptionalism. The graduation rate declines as the teachers realize there is no incentive to instruct, they just put in time to collect a paycheck. The auto worker does the minimal job, because at the end of the day, his check is guaranteed, as is his job. The end result is the finished product suffers. They traded their ability to negotiate a pay for performance salary bump, for the comfort and security of; "what's good for the collective mass." The pride of the American worker was lost to a benefit package. Collateral damage for agreeing to be socialized by union representation.

Isn't interesting that unions couldn't get a foothold into the workplace until the FDR administration. They became part of the "Progressive" movement during the New Deal, and like a leech have partnered with their host, the government ever since. Our current "Progressive" administration rely's heavily on union support. Their financial support of the progressive agenda insures their voice is heard and their agenda is protected by Washington. Talk about eternal life!

It wasn't enough this socialist infection has demolished the steel industry, turning once thriving communities like Bethlehem, Pa into a ghost town, it's brought the auto industry to the verge of bankruptcy, diminishing Detroit to a drug infested slum, and reduced the quality of education our children receive to minimal. Now it threatens the nation.

It's a vicious cycle. The youth aren't taught, by union teachers, the history that might open their eyes to the inevitable. That's why when my son asks, why...I'm inspired there is hope. It's the reason I write this blog. It's also what drives Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward write their books and blogs. Our hope is it inspires thought. Thought leads to emotion, emotion creates action, action accomplishes productive results, and productive results is the polar opposite of socialism.

God Bless!
(and keep those thoughts coming)
Capt. Bill

I Don't "Mine"

I was perusing the current events yesterday when an article caught my eye. There was an announcement by a key supplier of the Toyota Motor Corp., that they had formed a partnership to mine lithium on Argentina, securing access to a metal critical to the production of future hybrid and electric cars. Wonderful news, no?

I'm sure global warming activists everywhere were dancing in the streets. Those carbon emitting, gas guzzling, environment ruining, motor cars are on the verge of extinction.

"This generation and the next generation of batteries in automobiles ... is going to be lithium," said Don Hillebrand, director of the Transportation Research Center at Argonne National Laboratory. "Looking at the cutting edge stuff 10 or 30 years out, that's going to be lithium too, and probably more lithium intensive."

Lithium will play a bigger role in the auto industry, especially at Toyota, which has plans to sharply boost its hybrid and electric vehicle production this decade. The lightest metal on the periodic table, lithium is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries — currently found mostly in cell phones and laptops but expected to be more widely used in future automobile batteries

Conventional hybrids are widely expected to give way in the coming years to plug-in hybrids. These, unlike traditional hybrids, can be plugged into a wall socket and run for long stretches on electricity alone. Toyota is launching plug-in hybrids along with battery-powered cars running solely on electricity starting in model-year 2012. Both will be powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Last week, the company announced plans to double its global hybrid sales to 1 million annually, with many likely to be powered with lithium-ion batteries.

Now on the surface this looks like great news. We are beginning to eliminate our dependence on foreign energy; or are we?

Most of the world's lithium is produced in South America, China and Australia. Chile and Argentina together account for about half the world's 27,400 metric tons of lithium production, though proven reserves have been found elsewhere.

We had lithium mines here in the United States but alas we shut them down. It appears we are headed down the same path as oil. We have it here, but choose to be dependent on foreign sources for our energy supplies. I guess we'll never learn. If we out-source manufacturing, our economy is doomed. We cannot survive as a consumption nation. We have to use our natural resources and labor.

Now let's look at what the tree huggers have missed in their glee. The word "mined" keep popping up. I don't know about you, but it's been my experience that "mining" is a taboo in the world of the environmentalist. Perhaps in their enthusiasm to replace fossil fuels they've overlooked the process this metal is secured?

So let's review...We traded oil for lithium, lithium is mined, creating a possible environmental situation, and we rely on our supply from other nations, when we also possess a supply here in the states. Yup, that about sums it up. Now that's progress, or progressive.

God Bless
Capt. Bill
PS: Please use the link to the right to check out Chris Brady's blog today. The video is powerful.