One and one half million dollars is a lot of money, as is 555 million. The first is roughly what the city pays the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to promote the city around the nation and attract jobs. The second is the city's total budget for fiscal 2010-11.
There is an old Frank Sinatra song recorded in 1959 called "High Hopes", about an ant trying to move a large rubber tree plant. Part of the refrain goes "He's got high hopes, He's got high hopes, He's got high apple pie in the sky hopes."
Just when you thought the Tulsa civic leadership could not descend any lower in to minutia, they prove me wrong. We now have a news item involving the Mayor's wife. It's over a $16 bill for business cards used by the Mayor's wife. The cards had the city logo on it as well as a city e-mail address. This $16's is about to negate the efforts represented by the much larger numbers above. Not by itself but as a part of the overall drama at city hall.
Counselor G.T. Bynum thinks the following list is notable:
Community Development Block Grant allocations
Election reform task force
Traffic signal synchronization task force
Disparity study task force
Creation of the Economic Stabilization Reserve Fund
ShopTulsa initiative
Ethics advisory committee review
Approval of PlaniTulsa Comprehensive Plan update
Sale of former City Hall
See August 20 edition of the Tulsa World
Let's see how these things are playing out.
Election reform?, in the works, not finished.
Traffic signalization?, taskforce just started.
Disparity study taskforce? Maybe not even empanelled yet but will just issue a report.
Economic Stabilization reserve fund. Maybe voted in to existence but how much money is in it?
ShopTulsa? That's a good move. Counselor Christianson is to be commended for this effort. It serves as a reminder to encourage people to keep their money in Tulsa.
Approve PlanItTulsa? That's the long term work of a lot of people. All the council did was vote.
Sale of former City Hall. Again, they analyzed and voted, that's all.
Accomplishments are finished, completed items
Ethics advisory committee review. The circle is completed. Key word here is review. This is an interesting item considering the current climate. The Mayor's wife made use of $16 worth of business cards paid for by city money. This resulted in an ethics complaint being anonymously filed. The anonymity aspect is not an issue. Whistle blowers have to be protected, even to the extent of anonymity. It's necessary to encourage an organization to self police.
"Mrs. Bartlett is not an employee or official of the city. Therefore, she is not entitled to be provided with business cards," states an Aug. 10 letter sent to Ethics Advisory Committee Chairman Michael Slankard. (Tulsa World article by P.J. Lassek dated August 21. The issue is one of magnitude. Large contracts tainted with preferential treatment of vendors? Sure. Business cards printed with ambiguous references costing $16? Not on your life.
The aforementioned spending for city government and economic development and jobs stunted by a tempest in a teapot of acrimony? Priceless and jobless.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
What Stimulus?
Let's remember something about the jobs picture and the pallet on which it's painted.
As of 2008, the Gross Domestic product of the United States was $14.6 trillion dollars. According to the Americans for Prosperity website in an article titled "Can Government Spending Stimulate the Economy, the various stimuli packages cost about 900 billion dollars. To put it in perspective. about 6.2 percent of GDP. What or who gets excited about that?
The overriding principal here is that jobs from government stimulus are temporary. The level of spending on that effort can't continue year after year, or the budget would be further bloated, as would the national debt. Government stimulus yields temp jobs, not full time or career jobs. What we have is 900 billion dollars of unemployment benefits under a different name.
Pumping 6/10's of a percent of GDP in to the economy is not to create anything except a ripple. And a temporary one at that. It does get some needed(?) projects done(?). But that's about all. It's a small pot of catch up money.
Only the private sector generates permanent jobs. Here's the catch. New jobs are created out of profits. Profits come from well managed companies. Well managed companies need certainty and profits to make investments in new products, new markets, new technology, as well as sustain existing products. Growing government spending and deficits create uncertainty.
Therefore, the very presence of a government stimulus of any amount in the current deficit situation leads to the exact opposite of what is needed for the job picture to turn around. Government can say it jumped in to the breach to save American workers, but will it last to the next payday and beyond?
As of 2008, the Gross Domestic product of the United States was $14.6 trillion dollars. According to the Americans for Prosperity website in an article titled "Can Government Spending Stimulate the Economy, the various stimuli packages cost about 900 billion dollars. To put it in perspective. about 6.2 percent of GDP. What or who gets excited about that?
The overriding principal here is that jobs from government stimulus are temporary. The level of spending on that effort can't continue year after year, or the budget would be further bloated, as would the national debt. Government stimulus yields temp jobs, not full time or career jobs. What we have is 900 billion dollars of unemployment benefits under a different name.
Pumping 6/10's of a percent of GDP in to the economy is not to create anything except a ripple. And a temporary one at that. It does get some needed(?) projects done(?). But that's about all. It's a small pot of catch up money.
Only the private sector generates permanent jobs. Here's the catch. New jobs are created out of profits. Profits come from well managed companies. Well managed companies need certainty and profits to make investments in new products, new markets, new technology, as well as sustain existing products. Growing government spending and deficits create uncertainty.
Therefore, the very presence of a government stimulus of any amount in the current deficit situation leads to the exact opposite of what is needed for the job picture to turn around. Government can say it jumped in to the breach to save American workers, but will it last to the next payday and beyond?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
To Mosque or Not to Mosque
"From statehouses to state fairs on Tuesday, Republican incumbents and challengers unleashed an almost unified line of criticism against the president days after he forcefully defended the construction of a $100 million Islamic center two blocks from the site of the 2001 terror attacks"
Wall Street Journal - August 17, 2010
Craig McMurtry - ABC News - Debra Burlingame, who lost her brother in the 9/11 attacks, is adamant the Islamic cultural centre will never be built.
"Saudi Arabia has partnered with this Imam on other programs. Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest funders of 9/11 where 15 of the hijackers came from, this man and this mega mosque will never happen there, no," she said. Yahoo 7 News
From the WSJ to Yahoo News, this debate has taken over every new outlet you can find. It would be one thing to dominate the three old line news outlets (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX?, Tulsa World?). But the Inernet? Yahoo News, the bastion of journalism, was full of it too.
How do you find an issue that can do this? Easy, the "issue" is like a search and destroy topic. News stories have always developed a life and behavior of their own, but they were filtered through a much narrower neck of the information bottle. The internet opened a much larger number of outlets, like this blog. It can make a story seem bigger than the same topic used to seem. Its analogous to the three mainstream outlets breaking, thirty years ago, breaking in to game shows every 30 seconds with an update. Or, like a weather event in Tulsa today.
Now, the New York governor has said he will offer state land in a different location for the Mosque. Did the shrill nature of news coverage of this event move the governor to act? Did the public outcry (private citizens speaking out) move government to act? Did multiple politicians acting on their own initiative, bring or will bring, this issue to a palatable conclusion? The huge growth in the number and variety of "news media" options has created an instantaneous flow of information for the reader/surfer. Opinions can be formed much faster, sometimes out stripping the ability of politicians to react. Obama's explanation was an example. He had to clarify on a weekend.
Is more better? Maybe just the fact that politicians have to pay closer attention is the biggest benefit of all.
Wall Street Journal - August 17, 2010
Craig McMurtry - ABC News - Debra Burlingame, who lost her brother in the 9/11 attacks, is adamant the Islamic cultural centre will never be built.
"Saudi Arabia has partnered with this Imam on other programs. Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest funders of 9/11 where 15 of the hijackers came from, this man and this mega mosque will never happen there, no," she said. Yahoo 7 News
From the WSJ to Yahoo News, this debate has taken over every new outlet you can find. It would be one thing to dominate the three old line news outlets (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX?, Tulsa World?). But the Inernet? Yahoo News, the bastion of journalism, was full of it too.
How do you find an issue that can do this? Easy, the "issue" is like a search and destroy topic. News stories have always developed a life and behavior of their own, but they were filtered through a much narrower neck of the information bottle. The internet opened a much larger number of outlets, like this blog. It can make a story seem bigger than the same topic used to seem. Its analogous to the three mainstream outlets breaking, thirty years ago, breaking in to game shows every 30 seconds with an update. Or, like a weather event in Tulsa today.
Now, the New York governor has said he will offer state land in a different location for the Mosque. Did the shrill nature of news coverage of this event move the governor to act? Did the public outcry (private citizens speaking out) move government to act? Did multiple politicians acting on their own initiative, bring or will bring, this issue to a palatable conclusion? The huge growth in the number and variety of "news media" options has created an instantaneous flow of information for the reader/surfer. Opinions can be formed much faster, sometimes out stripping the ability of politicians to react. Obama's explanation was an example. He had to clarify on a weekend.
Is more better? Maybe just the fact that politicians have to pay closer attention is the biggest benefit of all.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Jungle Boogie - Unemployment
In order to draw unemployment, they determine your income and average in some way. It appears the more you make, the less the benefit amount. That's me making an assumption. I haven't asked the question of an authority.
What's for sure is that unemployment benefits are taxable both by the state and federal governments. The government giveth and the government taketh away. Some of the giveth anyway.
If you get part time or temp work, you must report what you were paid. So you deduct off your unemployment check the gross weekly employment payment. So it's better for us not to work while drawing unemployment benefits? Not entirely. Work is therapeutic when you are unemployed. It's best to stay in the workforce simply because it looks better on your resume. A prospective employer can't tell the difference between lazy, and chronically unemployed. The can't tell the difference between lazy, and selective about who you work for and what you do.
Given the above, there is no financial analysis about whether you make more money on unemployment benefits or working part time. Its what you would look like to a prospective employer.
Take it from one who knows.
What's for sure is that unemployment benefits are taxable both by the state and federal governments. The government giveth and the government taketh away. Some of the giveth anyway.
If you get part time or temp work, you must report what you were paid. So you deduct off your unemployment check the gross weekly employment payment. So it's better for us not to work while drawing unemployment benefits? Not entirely. Work is therapeutic when you are unemployed. It's best to stay in the workforce simply because it looks better on your resume. A prospective employer can't tell the difference between lazy, and chronically unemployed. The can't tell the difference between lazy, and selective about who you work for and what you do.
Given the above, there is no financial analysis about whether you make more money on unemployment benefits or working part time. Its what you would look like to a prospective employer.
Take it from one who knows.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Government ? Size gets in the way
One of the great reliefs as well as burdens of life is unemployment. You get a rest from the daily grind of the work world. You also get a sabbatical from the paycheck.
In the world of work, part of your paycheck is a deduction for unemployment funds. Plural because their are both state and federal funds. We pay in to these funds on speculation. They are used "if" we need it.
Stay employed for 40 or so years, then find out you need it. In the intervening your amount paid in builds and builds. So far, nothing innocuous. All funds are governed by rules to prevent fraud and abuse. However, bureaucracies are self perpetuating. They absorb people from the private workforce in to the protected field of government service. Smart people become drones. This is only a small percentage the total workforce.
It's not these employees that make the rules but politicians who may have no experience in the area they seek to regulate.
Case in point. The Oklahoma version of an unemployment fund says that you must be available for work in normal work hours. Seems logical. Except if you take a class in the daytime, you are not "available" for work. You get your unemployment benefits terminated or suspended. That would be a class that can upgrade your skills to get a job.
Case 2. If you find part time work, you must report those earnings. They will then be deducted from your benefits. Still fine. But wait, there's more. YOU must report those earnings in the week you worked, not week you are paid. What's deducted from UE benefits is the gross pay, not net of taxes. So if you're a good (sensible) boy or girl and pay the feral and state taxes in advance you are screwed, blued. and tattooed (to coin a phrase). Not to mention the fact that more is deducted from you UE benefits than that which you actually received.
This rant was brought to you by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. What's secure about this? How does this help the un-EMPLOYED? To my way of thinking, it doesn't. But we elect the boobs that cause this. What are you doing to do about it?
In the world of work, part of your paycheck is a deduction for unemployment funds. Plural because their are both state and federal funds. We pay in to these funds on speculation. They are used "if" we need it.
Stay employed for 40 or so years, then find out you need it. In the intervening your amount paid in builds and builds. So far, nothing innocuous. All funds are governed by rules to prevent fraud and abuse. However, bureaucracies are self perpetuating. They absorb people from the private workforce in to the protected field of government service. Smart people become drones. This is only a small percentage the total workforce.
It's not these employees that make the rules but politicians who may have no experience in the area they seek to regulate.
Case in point. The Oklahoma version of an unemployment fund says that you must be available for work in normal work hours. Seems logical. Except if you take a class in the daytime, you are not "available" for work. You get your unemployment benefits terminated or suspended. That would be a class that can upgrade your skills to get a job.
Case 2. If you find part time work, you must report those earnings. They will then be deducted from your benefits. Still fine. But wait, there's more. YOU must report those earnings in the week you worked, not week you are paid. What's deducted from UE benefits is the gross pay, not net of taxes. So if you're a good (sensible) boy or girl and pay the feral and state taxes in advance you are screwed, blued. and tattooed (to coin a phrase). Not to mention the fact that more is deducted from you UE benefits than that which you actually received.
This rant was brought to you by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. What's secure about this? How does this help the un-EMPLOYED? To my way of thinking, it doesn't. But we elect the boobs that cause this. What are you doing to do about it?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Here's to the Hero - Bull Feathers
Jet Blue is not known as a top tier airline. Neither is Steven Slater a top tier employee with a service attitude..
Slater is the flight attendant who went off on a truculent passenger a few days ago. After a profantiy laced tirade inside the Jet Blue airliner, he went for a beer in the planes refreshment center, then engaged the escape slide and went down to temporary freedom. Slater was eventually caught and charged with multiple crimes. His bail was set at a whopping $2,500.
Slater's trigger point was a passenger who got up before the plane had "docked" at the departure ramp and come to a complete halt. The passenger accessed the overhead luggage bin and Slater tried to stop her until the plane had come to a stop. Such is the regulation set by government aviation authorites. Slater, a service employee as are all flight attendants, tried to stop the activity and get the passenger seated. She refused and the argument ensued.
Slater has received adulation on facebook, had a defense fund offered to defray the huge $2,500 bail. What else would you expect for the crime of grand theft beer can and creating America's first dry water slide. The slide likely will cost ten's of thousand of dollers to replace and re-install, which elevates the dollar amount of the crime.
Why the adulation for Slater? He is a service employee who lost his cool during working hours. What happens to cops that do this? Fired. What happens to office workers who berate or assault their peers? Bounced out the top window of the executive suite. Slater is the same.
To say he is a hero is to demean and diminish the designation "hero". Go to you tube and search on the song "Hears to the Heros", the military tribute. Can you listen to that song, see the video and look at Slater the same way? We tend elevate the common, everyday man or woman when he or she struggles against the daily challenges of life and emerge victorious. Does Slater fit any of the above? Not really.
Does he deserve the notoriety he is receiving? That is more a function of society's fascination with the reach of the internet, rather than the substance of what that reach can provide. The great inconsistecy in this is the wide publication of the event compared to the punishment the law requires. Why is a guy who blows up at a passenger he could have handled less angrily, then helps himself to a cold alchoholic beverage on the way out a door intended to be an enerfency exit, so widely known?
We have met the enemy and he is us (Pogo comic strip). We crave information no matter how insignificant, just so we know it. It's a human circus.
Slater is the flight attendant who went off on a truculent passenger a few days ago. After a profantiy laced tirade inside the Jet Blue airliner, he went for a beer in the planes refreshment center, then engaged the escape slide and went down to temporary freedom. Slater was eventually caught and charged with multiple crimes. His bail was set at a whopping $2,500.
Slater's trigger point was a passenger who got up before the plane had "docked" at the departure ramp and come to a complete halt. The passenger accessed the overhead luggage bin and Slater tried to stop her until the plane had come to a stop. Such is the regulation set by government aviation authorites. Slater, a service employee as are all flight attendants, tried to stop the activity and get the passenger seated. She refused and the argument ensued.
Slater has received adulation on facebook, had a defense fund offered to defray the huge $2,500 bail. What else would you expect for the crime of grand theft beer can and creating America's first dry water slide. The slide likely will cost ten's of thousand of dollers to replace and re-install, which elevates the dollar amount of the crime.
Why the adulation for Slater? He is a service employee who lost his cool during working hours. What happens to cops that do this? Fired. What happens to office workers who berate or assault their peers? Bounced out the top window of the executive suite. Slater is the same.
To say he is a hero is to demean and diminish the designation "hero". Go to you tube and search on the song "Hears to the Heros", the military tribute. Can you listen to that song, see the video and look at Slater the same way? We tend elevate the common, everyday man or woman when he or she struggles against the daily challenges of life and emerge victorious. Does Slater fit any of the above? Not really.
Does he deserve the notoriety he is receiving? That is more a function of society's fascination with the reach of the internet, rather than the substance of what that reach can provide. The great inconsistecy in this is the wide publication of the event compared to the punishment the law requires. Why is a guy who blows up at a passenger he could have handled less angrily, then helps himself to a cold alchoholic beverage on the way out a door intended to be an enerfency exit, so widely known?
We have met the enemy and he is us (Pogo comic strip). We crave information no matter how insignificant, just so we know it. It's a human circus.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Is a "boo" bushleague?
President O'bama sent a video instead of himself to the Boy Scout Jamboree last week. What the !@#$%#@!#$%%^. Why?
It has been a tradition for sitting Presidents to attend this national event for one of the finest organizations in the country, nay the world. Baden Powell, the Boy Scouts founder, was a native of Great Britain. This is one of the few organizations that champions family values FOR KIDS. The designation "Eagle Scout" a journey that takes dedication over an child's adolsecent years. Exactly the time of life when trouble usually starts for some kids.
They always recognize Watch any City Council meeting on T-Gov. They always recognize Boy Scouts in attendance that are working on the citizenship in the community merit badge. Gee, wonder what that requires. The kids working on this badge may be the next waivew of Mayors, City Councilors, or higher.
The trip for the President would have taken less than a day. But Barak the buddy of the under utilized chose to attend "the view". That tiltle is in lower case on purpose. Instead, the president sent a video. He apparently is not afraid to speak and bask in the blather of four entertainers(?) sans teleprompter.
Baden Powell lived in 19th century England. Way back then, he saw a need for an orgainzation that promoted virtues that would strengthen families. That goal survives to this day. All the President (resident with an extra letter) was delay the appearance on the view for a couple of days or at best a week. Give the Boy Scouts a life long memory instead of a something fit for a DVD.
Booing a video when they should have had a human being isn't all that bad.
It has been a tradition for sitting Presidents to attend this national event for one of the finest organizations in the country, nay the world. Baden Powell, the Boy Scouts founder, was a native of Great Britain. This is one of the few organizations that champions family values FOR KIDS. The designation "Eagle Scout" a journey that takes dedication over an child's adolsecent years. Exactly the time of life when trouble usually starts for some kids.
They always recognize Watch any City Council meeting on T-Gov. They always recognize Boy Scouts in attendance that are working on the citizenship in the community merit badge. Gee, wonder what that requires. The kids working on this badge may be the next waivew of Mayors, City Councilors, or higher.
The trip for the President would have taken less than a day. But Barak the buddy of the under utilized chose to attend "the view". That tiltle is in lower case on purpose. Instead, the president sent a video. He apparently is not afraid to speak and bask in the blather of four entertainers(?) sans teleprompter.
Baden Powell lived in 19th century England. Way back then, he saw a need for an orgainzation that promoted virtues that would strengthen families. That goal survives to this day. All the President (resident with an extra letter) was delay the appearance on the view for a couple of days or at best a week. Give the Boy Scouts a life long memory instead of a something fit for a DVD.
Booing a video when they should have had a human being isn't all that bad.
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