RSS Feed

a playground of art, photos, videos, writing, music, life

 


You are here







Random Quote

Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure.
-- Oliver Herford



Blog Posts for June 2012

Home Page

Blog Archive by Month | Blog Archive by Story or Tag | Search Blog and Comments

Bad for Business

 

From The Economist:

Mr Obama, as noted above, likes to insinuate that there is a conflict between pursuing profits and creating jobs. In the long run, however, in a competitive economy, that is nonsense. Only profitable firms can sustain any jobs, and the more profitable they are, the more money they have to invest in new ventures with new workers. Mr Obama is guilty not of rhetorical excess but of economic muddle. That is far more worrying.
I've said from beginning when Obama showed up on the stage that he knew nothing about business or the economy. A person without experience or understanding in that area should have no place at the helm of our government. But people weren't paying attention as they should have been, and the media didn't work very hard to inform them.

But we have a chance to correct this in November.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 6/2/2012 12:01:50 PM
Permalink


Obviously, the Tea Party is Dead

 

Remember how the media and every liberal on planet crowed about the supreme ineffectiveness of the Tea Party, that neophyte bunch of loosely-organized people? Well, the Tea Party just handed Wisconsin's unions and liberals their collective asses on a plate. So much for superior organization...

Who knew being dead could lead to so nearly a double-digit victory in a blue state?

Just wait till November.

P.S. The key to victory? Fiscal responsibility. That's the big takeaway here. Not government handouts. Not entitlements. Just plain old fiscal responsibility.

Thank you, Gov. Walker, who will likely be president one day, and likely win that one too.

ETC: From Ed Morrissey, who comments on the one small win for the Democrats in Wisconsin, a Senate seat:

The Wisconsin Senate will be out of session until 2013. In November, 16 of the 33 seats will be up for grabs, and thanks to the redistricting that will be in place for the first time in that election, Republicans are supposed to pick up at least two seats. The unions spent millions of dollars and over a year's worth of effort to get a temporary one-seat majority in a chamber that will never meet in session. And that's assuming that their lone win from last night holds up in a recount. Congratulations, Big Labor!
Labor...

My grandfather was a union steward and he hated management and was not shy about his feeling on or off the job. Oddly, then he wondered why it was difficult for him to get hired and stay on the job. I never understood that. Labor should partner with management - for the good of labor.

Thankfully, union members in Wisconsin are opting out of the union and dues revenue has dropped considerably. Likewise, pension reform passed in, of all places, California. Why? Because it's hard to feel sorry for people in the public sector.

Voters like Howard Delano of Willow Glen were tired of watching their city shovel more and more tax money into government pensions far more generous than their own retirement.

"It's out of control," Delano, 60, said after dropping off his ballot. "Nobody gives me a pension."

Who in their right mind would feel sorry for these people? The public sector tends to have better benefit plans, competitive pay scales, and they don't have to contribute as much to their retirement as do the people who are taxed to provide these outrageous pensions. The rest of us have to earn and scrimp and save, and have to do so in an environment where being laid off is far more of a risk.

Really - public unions don't deserve sympathy, and Wisconsin showed that in a big way. Good night, labor.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 6/5/2012 11:29:03 PM
Permalink


Carnival

 

 

1 Comment
by Brett Rogers, 6/9/2012 6:39:31 PM
Permalink


Election Winner

 

Being in the crow's nest for 247Toolset, I have an opportunity to see the insides of many political campaigns. There is overwhelmingly one characteristic of a campaign that indicates a victory, even if against a well-financed opponent.

Door-to-door.

That's it. Over 90% of the candidates who employed that strategy on a daily basis won their election.

Fancy marketing? Nope.
Slick web site? Nope.
Lots of money? Nope.
Mass email? Nope.

The only thread that runs common through every winning candidacy is door-to-door.

Hard work? You bet.
Worth the effort? Absolutely.

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 6/16/2012 10:14:24 AM
Permalink


Friendship

 

It appears that I may have lost a friendship because I helped an opposing politician succeed. I'm certainly getting a cold shoulder, by appearances.

I don't get that.

So for what it's worth, here's what I know about political campaigns:

They're just like businesses. If a person sets up shop and gets no traffic to sustain the business, it's because the business owner hasn't created a compelling reason that reaches the market to convince them to buy. Let's say that two businesses compete with each other. They both have to buy office supplies. Should Office Depot only assist one of the stores? Of course not - what a ridiculous notion.

Ditto for political campaigns. If a candidate starts a campaign for their election and gets no fundraising or coverage or volunteers, it's because the candidate and campaign manager haven't created a compelling reason that reaches the voters to convince them to help and donate. Let's say that two campaigns compete with each other. They both have to buy web services and marketing. Should I only assist one of the campaigns? Of course not - what a ridiculous notion.

But that may have cost me a friendship.

Politics is a business. If a person chooses to winnow their friends based on win or loss, you stand only a 50% of retaining your friendships. That little circle will become smaller fast.

 

2 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 6/24/2012 11:59:27 PM
Permalink


Pics

 

 

0 Comments
by Brett Rogers, 6/26/2012 3:07:31 PM
Permalink