SpaceBeagle

Potato chips

2009-05-21T14:24:00.002-05:00

I just read today that a British Court of Appeal ruled that Pringles' potato chips are indeed "potato chips" thus making the chips subject to the UK's 15% Value Added Tax (VAT).

In the UK most food is exempt from VAT but chips are not so clearly the government had a lot on the line here in terms of potential lost revenues!!

What an amazing world we live in when the court system has the added burden of determing what is and is not a taxable food item. A better world would be one in which all food, clothing, and shelter (yes - that means no more property taxes folks) are codified as tax exempt thus ensuring that Maslow's basic needs for human survival are not priced out of reach for our poorest citizens.

Reminder to readers -- I primarily blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com

Todd

"Modernizing" Minnesota Government

2009-04-21T11:07:00.002-05:00

Ed Lotterman is a regular columnist for our Pioneer Press newspaper here in Minnesota. His recent column, "Government needs to catch up to the times", argued that given "today's modern world" we don't need the decentralized government the founders of the state created due to technological change, etc. His column can be seen in full at --

http://www.twincities.com/ci_12167428?source=most_emailed

Wrong

Mr. Lotterman fails to note that technology does two things -- it empowers people and it allows for things to be decentralized. He just need to look at his newspaper office to realize this since most newspapers in the USA are dying while websites and social media services are booming as direct competitors.

Instead of centralizing even more power with the Minnesota state government we should close entire departments so that the money, staff, and responsibilities can be transferred to our county governments. I would much prefer 87 "mini-legislatures" (the number of counties in Minnesota) instead of all powerful legislature that treats county leaders as vassals on the estate.

Phase two of course would be for all taxpayers to get involved in their county government which is actually much easier to do for someone in International Falls, Minnesota versus driving 6 to 7 hours to St. Paul to lobby ("beg") their state legislators on issues of concern to them.

The resulting much reduced (in power and purse!) state legislature would perhaps meet for 60 days simply to play their constitutional oversight role and to adjust the state's sales tax rate because in my reform model all other taxes -- property tax, personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, estate taxes, etc. would be phased out -- leaving only the sales tax as a revenue source to be divided on a per capita basis to county governments. The parallel reform would be that all school districts, watershed districts, soil/water conservation districts, etc. would be revised to follow county boundaries. This would create the type of transparency we need because it would end the constant finger pointing we see from public officials today.

Todd

Minnesota Department of Economic Development

2009-04-21T10:42:00.002-05:00

Tell me again why we even bother spending tax dollars on economic development in Minnesota?

Given this pending legislation the entrepreneurs who create new jobs will be inspired to move to South Dakota and Florida which do not punish achievers:

Editorial: The new 'sin tax'The New Ulm Journal had this view: Legislators love to raise "sin taxes," those extra charges on things you shouldn't be doing in the first place, like drinking or smoking. The Minnesota House DFL apparently thinks it is also a sin to have a high income. House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenzcewski has proposed a tax increase plan that not only raises the cigarette tax by 54 cents and the alcohol tax by 3 to 5 cents per drink, it creates a 9 percent tax bracket for people who earn more than $169,700 a year ($300,000 for married couples).http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/506405.html?nav=5011

Reminder - I primarily blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com

Theatre deemed a Vital Local Service

2009-04-08T15:01:00.002-05:00

So the City of Burnsville, Minnesota's controversial (and publicly financed) Performing Arts Center (PAC) is running a current annualized deficit of about $276,000 yet in a recent newspaper article (www.startribune.com - by Dean Spiros) it was reported that Burnsville is "trying to trim 12 to 15 jobs through buyouts and attrition as it prepares for a projected $1.5 million loss in revenue........." which means cuts in the police, fire, and administration staffs.

What shocked me was that this article did not even mention the PAC's operating deficit. So residents can get to the theatre -- assuming there is something playing since the main stage is only projected to have acts booked for 50 nights this year -- but hopefully their homes won't start on fire during the show given the cuts at the fire department!

Again - governments should do VERY few things and it should do those things VERY well. The current Burnsville budget situation is a perfect example of public officials spending someone else's (our) money.

Todd

Talk Radio Changes

2009-04-08T10:24:00.002-05:00

Ok, I don't understand all the changes at my favorite talk radio station in Minnesota -- KSTP AM 1500, www.am1500.com .

Earlier this week Dave Thompson was released (fired?) from his noon show and today I read that Bob Davis was gone/fired from his 9 am talk show. This inspired me to switch the office radio to Cities 97 which is the headquarters for anyone who matured musically in the 80's and 90's. Cities 97 produces an annual CD of exclusive recordings to raise money for charity -- it is a must purchase which sells out at Target stores in less than an hour.

So goodbye and good luck Dave and Bob. Dave plans to run for chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota now but he is late in joining the race I believe. No idea where Bob Davis is but I have to guess he will pack his bags to head back to his hometown of Chicago. Bob's show is fun and he is very well read so it is worth watching his next move.

Todd

National Bargain Association

2009-04-07T13:25:00.004-05:00

Reminder -- I primarily blog at this site now: www.regularfolksunited.com

Today's Wall Street Journal sports page (page B16 if you love the paper copy like I do) noted that the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association recently sold game tickets for 10 cents if you bought one ticket for $12.00 thus making the tickets $6.05 each.

Not only is this a great bargain but it is clear evidence the market forces work for consumers. Residents of Los Angeles have two NBA teams to choose from -- Lakers and Clippers -- yet only one team is putting a great product on the hardwood thus the ticket prices for the lowly Clippers with their .234 winning percentage are very low.

Now if only a school choice revolution in Los Angeles would harness similar market forces that would allow parents and students to flee their failing government schools.

Drunk Driving in Minnesota

2009-03-30T16:30:00.003-05:00

I don't know Daryl Dean Fleck and I have no idea if he has a drinking problem but based on the article I read (www.twincities.com - March 25, 2009) I have to applaud his decision to avoid drunk driving.

Mr. Fleck , age 55, was arrested on June 11, 2007 in East Grand Forks, Minnesota but was just recently convicted of two counts of driving while intoxicated. Mr. Fleck's blood alcohol tested at 0.18 and three open beer cans were under a blanket on the passenger seat of his car which was parked in his assigned parking spot at his apartment building.

Ok, so far so boring you say -- but wait. Mr. Fleck was actually SLEEPING in his car with the keys set on the center console. Apparently Mr. Fleck knew he was drunk so he avoided driving by simply in his car during what was probably a beautiful summer evening. The problem however is that Minnesota state law states that if such a person has "physical control" of a vehicle - which Mr. Fleck did since the keys were in his possession and he was sitting in the car - then that person can be charged with drunk driving.

Again, based on what I read in the news coverage Mr. Fleck did the correct thing by sleeping in his car in an attempt to protect himself and others from drunk driving. Perhaps Mr. Fleck should have placed his car keys under the car and slept in the back seat to help his line of defense!!

I fear that such enforcement of our DWI law will actually encourage drunk driving.

Todd

More Football This Year!!

2009-03-24T15:22:00.002-05:00

The United Football League - www.ufl-football.com - is set to kick off its inaugural season in October 2009 which is great news not only for football fans but also for the US economy since they have many jobs to fill to run the league.

I have been very interested in their contest asking fans to generate mascot names for their teams which you can find at their website noted above.

I would only ask readers to promote my team mascot suggestion -- the "San Francisco Firestorm"

Now that would be great fodder for some cool t-shirts!!

Todd

French Women

2009-03-24T12:03:00.003-05:00

My local newspaper recently carried a book review for "French Women Don't Sleep Alone: Pleasurable Secrets to Finding Love" by Jamie Cat Callan. The review stated that "Callan is clearly trying to cash in on 'French Women Don't Get Fat'" by Mireille Guiliano.

So that got me wondering about books regarding French Women. A search on Amazon.com produces 154 results but perhaps the inevitable next book was missing which I call:

"French Women Don't Age or Die"

Such a title would help bring this genre to a close I believe!!

Au revoir,

Todd

See more of me at - www.regularfolksunited.com

Time for a Blood Test

2009-03-24T10:36:00.003-05:00

Today is "Alert Day" for the American Diabetes Association:

www.diabetes.org

So please get off line for 5 minutes today to call your doctor for scheduling a routine blood test. Then once you get your appointment schedule please send an email to your friends and relatives to join you in taking action for their health.

Please do not wait for Congress to create a universal health care system that will require blood tests and the rationing of services based on your station in life.

Todd

Reminder - I primarily blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com

Sharing Books

2009-03-20T15:31:00.002-05:00

I had lunch at Potbelly Sandwich Works last week (www.potbelly.com) where I noticed a book shelf with a sign on it -- "Take a book, leave a book".

I thought this was a nice feature for the restaurant so patrons could feed their head along with their stomachs!!

Read on, Todd

Pension Funds

2009-03-09T21:55:00.004-05:00

Reminder - I primarily blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com -- so if you have a few extra dollars please consider an online contribution to keep the site going. Thanks!

Now for something completely different! In a recent edition of the Financial Times newsletter an article about a Canadian pension fund including this ranking of the "Top 10 North American pension funds, 2007":

1. California Public Employees
2. Federal Retirement Thrift
3. California State Teachers
4. New York State Common
5. Ontario Teachers
6. Florida State Board
7. General Motors
8. New York City Retirement
9. Canada Pension
10. AT&T

So does anything in this list catch your attention?

How about the fact that 8 out of these 10 pension funds are for government employees. Perhaps we can even say that "9 of these 10" are for government employees given the massive amounts of tax dollars poured into General Motors.

Instead of sticking their hands in the pockets of taxpayers for a bailout perhaps the General Motors pension fund should have simply given General Motors a loan since this fund clearly has resources -- US$133.8 billion -- which is a better option for everyone concerned.

Yours in tax slavery,

Todd

NBA could learn from the CBA

2009-02-19T14:43:00.004-06:00

I have to guess most readers/sports fans don't know that the "CBA" is the Continental Basketball Association which is a minor league team unaffiliated with the National Basketball Association (NBA). Instead of cutting a deal with the CBA (perhaps they tried and I missed it) the NBA created their own "D-League" as their Development League for players that are not quite ready for the NBA.

My teen years are filled with fond memories of watching NBA games on Friday nights since I could "stay up late" to catch a game but now I am in my forties and have not watch an NBA game for several years. Personally I love college basketball but the NBA "game" (if you can call it that) has no appeal for me. I have to wonder how large this "lost market" is for the NBA since their "product" on the floor is pretty much worthless.

What I always loved about the CBA -- which ended its season two months early this year due to financial problems - is their point system. The CBA awarded a point for each quarter of a game that a team "won" which forced teams to play the entire game versus how most NBA games work today -- NBA players move the ball around until about the last 5 to 8 minutes of a game then they turn on the intensity to see which team can win. What a bore!!

In the CBA you must play all out each quarter because the overall point system determines who makes it to the playoffs. Here is an example to illustrate what I am talking about:

Team A Team B

1st quarter scores 15 20
2nd 20 25
3rd 25 30
4th 36 20

total points in the game 96 95

But Team B is awared "3 points" for winning 3 of the 4 quarters.

A much better model that the NBA should consider.

Todd

One Year Old

2009-02-17T11:47:00.002-06:00

This weekend we celebrated our son's first birthday with a party for friends and family at the Pool and Yacht Club (ok - it is mostly pool with no yacht but the dock is always open for you to visit!!).

Amazing, one year old already. I can't speak more highly of parenting -- I simply love it.

Since I am already 43 years old I really stop to think about what our children's world will look like when they are adults. One example is my blackberry which our son loves to play with whenever he can grab it. By the time he is old enough to use such a device my "brand new" blackberry will become a museum piece sitting besides the rotary dial telephone and the fax machine perhaps.

My best wishes to parents and aspiring parents everywhere. If the spirit moves you to adopt a child please do so -- there is no greater thing you can do than to give a child a loving home.

Happy birthday to our little bear cub,

Todd
(reminder - I primarly blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com )

Retirement Plans

2009-02-11T15:06:00.003-06:00

Ah, no retirement plans for me now that I have seen the results of the class action shareholder lawsuit I was involved in for my former employer today!! Retirement was on my mind -- public employee pensions to be exact -- when I read the "Top 25 List" in the Twin Cities Business Journal recently which listed the 25 largest "Government Agencies" in Minnesota.

Here are the agencies this posting is focused on:

#5 - Teachers Retirement Association
#6 - Public Employees Retirement System
#10 - Minnesota State Retirement System

To manage these agencies there are 250 full time employees who simply process public employee pensions paid for with our tax dollars of course.

Here is a government reform idea that will no doubt be killed in a legislative committee somewhere -- let's combine these three agencies into one thereby reducing operating costs and leveraging new investment opportunities by aggregating the funds involved?

Reform is needed,

Todd
(reminder to readers -- I primarily blog here now: www.regularfolksunited.com)

Really Big Snake!!

2009-02-10T13:53:00.003-06:00

Our local newspaper carried a Los Angeles Times article last weekend entitled,

"Huge Snake Fossil Found in Colombia"

Now I am not a herpetologist but I do admit unique stories such as this one command my attention. First I should note this newly discovered beast has been named -- Titanoboa Cerrejonesis (TC) - which is pretty catchy don't you think!!??

However, here are some data points in the article that I found most interesting:

TC "ruled the Amazon rain forest for 2 million years before slithering into nonexistence"
"The climate had to be 6 to 8 degrees warmer than it is today for a snake that large to survive."
TC "could eat a large cow or a bison....if there had been any around"

Which leads me to conclude/observe -- 2 million years ago Mother Earth was not "scarred" by the SUV's we drive today so clearly this "global warming" that allowed TC to live was not caused by humans. I might be oversimplifying here but this is a great example that "climate change" has occurred throughout the earth's history regardless of whether or not human were living at the time.

However, I would guess that Al Gore has an explanation for the story of TC's warmer world or perhaps even has another "false-umentary" film planned for us to watch?

Change happens,

Todd

The Decline of Newspapers

2009-01-28T13:30:00.002-06:00

Dear Readers (yes both of you!),

I primarily blog at this website now - www.regularfolksunited.com -- but still post here at Space Beagle on a wider variety of topics so I hope you enjoy the postings.

I admit it -- I probably should have been born around 1935 which would make me 20 years old in 1955. Yes the good old days when the "evening newspaper" was still an American institution. I love newspapers so I will always subscribe regardless of the Internet world. I just hope some newspapers actually survive so I can keep subscribing!

However, the current trend doesn't look good now that Minnesota's largest newspaper - www.startribune.com - has declared bankruptcy. Assuming they continue evolving as a business they will survive in some form I believe. Perhaps the clearest indication I have seen so far regarding the need for newspapers to evolve rapidly was noted in this recent article, "Star Tribune may not pay workers full severance." At the very end of the article was this fact, "the Star Tribune spends about $100,000 annually for rent in the Lowry Building in downtown St. Paul."

What? $100,000 annual rent for an office where newspaper staff can work? I have to say that is simply crazy!! The Star Tribune announced it would not continue leasing this office space opting instead to move their St. Paul staff to their Minneapolis office space while they consider their options but here are two options I never heard mentioned:

1.) Buy a condo in downtown St. Paul -- since there is such a glut of condos on the market the paper could probably purchase one for $100,000 then spend a few thousand more to wire it for staff to work online. A one time expense. We are only 20 minutes from downtown St. Paul and condos in our town are being sold for $139,000 for a two bedroom unit.

2.) But the best option by far for the paper would be to phase out most of office real estate by embracing telecommuting. Yes, send all the staff home with their job assignments and perhaps $3,000 checks for new lap tops and home office supplies.

By declaring itself a virtual company the Star Tribune will not only achieve cost savings but they will also increase their relevancy in our Internet economy.

Keep reading,

Todd

Letter to President Obama

2009-01-20T23:04:00.002-06:00

Reminder to my loyal readers (yes both of you!!) -- I am now regularly blogging at this website:

www.regularfolksunited.com

But will post commentaries that don't fit this website's focus here at my original "Space Beagle Notes".

Please check out the advice letter I posted for President Obama at the Regular Folks United website.

Thanks for reading, Todd

Lee Iacocca

2009-01-20T22:46:00.006-06:00

As 2008 drew to a close I completed reading Lee Iaccoca's most recent book -- "Where have all the leaders gone" which I family friend suggested I should read.

Overall I found that the book was two books in one -- a completed anti-President George W. Bush (GWB) bitch session coupled with Iaccoca's observations on a range of topics especially his philanthropic work now that he is retired. Ok, I got it Iaccoca - you do NOT consider GWB to be a "leader." While I am no fan of GWB on several policy issues I am not a fan of Iaccoca either given his inconsistencies/borderline hypocrisy in his world view as noted in this book.

Here is a prime example --

Iaccoca explains how his "Iaccoca Institute" at Lehigh University (his alma mater) brings students together from around the world for an intensive leadership training/multi-cultural experience at the college. From the description I read I was impressed with this project. However, later in the book Iaccoca throws a hissy fit that "we let the Germans buy Chrysler, the Germans................." By "Germans" of course he is referring Daimler Benz Corporation.

Iaccoca fails to explain why the "Germans" bother him so much -- perhaps World War II when his native Italy was an ally of Nazi Germany? I have no idea. Would Iaccoca have been equally upset if the "Japanese", "Koreans", or even those darn "Indians" (from India not the USA) had purchased his beloved Chrysler?

So much for the "open minded thinking" being taught at the Iaccoca Institute at Lehigh University.

Given Iaccoca's comments I just had to laugh this week when I read that Fiat (an Italian company) has now secured the rights to a 55% ownership stake of Iaccoca's Chrysler LLC. So will he be upset that "we let the Italians purchase Chrysler, the Italians..............." or will he be silent? I would definitely prefer silence since I fear he will publish yet another book.

Again - Iaccoca's philanthropic work at the Iaccoca Institute and on diabetes research is commendable and very necessary so I wish him well with these projects. But please did not offer the public yet another "grumpy old man tells the world what bothers him" book.

Todd

Coleman vs. Franken

2008-12-30T14:22:00.002-06:00

The State of Minnesota has a long history of clean elections and high voter turnout so this year's US Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken is a black eye for the North Star State.

The problem is that lawyers - not voters - will determine the final winner of this senate seat. However, "solutions" for improving the process have been advocated such as "Instant Runoff Voting" (IRV) where voters would note their first and second choices on a ballot so that these results would be allocated accordingly thus avoiding an actual run off election. Minnesota needs to amend its voting law to mirror that of the State of Georgia which had a run off election following the November 4th election.

I would hope that either Coleman or Franken would concede the race via a press conference where they would call for this type of election reform.

Todd

Unemployment Forecasts for 2009

2008-12-18T15:27:00.005-06:00

Today's local newspapers in Minnesota reported the following unemployment forecasts for 2009:

Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- 11.4%
Minnesota -- 7%
Wisconsin - 5.6%
Montana - 4.3%
North Dakota - 4.1%
South Dakota - 3.4%

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

The 11.4% rate in the UP of Michigan doesn't surprise me for two reasons: 1.) Michigan's state government has taxed and regulated the state economy into a near-depression, and 2.) There is just not much "employment infrastructure" in the UP to start with especially when tourism spending is probably down due to the poor national economy.

But coming in at second place is my beloved Land of 10,000 Taxes - Minnesota at 7%. I really hope I am wrong but I fear our 2009 legislature will propose yet again the nation's highest personal income tax rate to "create jobs in Minnesota.........."

Instead of looking to St. Paul for answers Minnesotans should look west to our neighbor - South Dakota - who is at 3.4% unemployment which in economic terms is considered "full employment" since you always have some shifting in the labor market.

Perhaps one key difference between Minnesota and South Dakota is the fact that South Dakota has ZERO personal income tax which helps keep entrepreneurs in the start creating more jobs.

If there are other factors that readers want to note for me to study please let me know. We have tried the "tax and create jobs" model for too many years in Minnesota so let's use 2009 to implement the "South Dakota Model" by phasing out our personal income taxes.

Todd (please see my other commentaries at -- www.regularfolksunited.com )

German culture

2008-12-09T23:36:00.002-06:00

Finally after numerous years of living in the Twin Cities of Minnesota I visited the German American Institute in St. Paul today.

My intent was simply to tour the building but when I walked in I was asked "are you here for the German language lunch?" so I was encouraged to stay. Hey $8.00 for German food and story telling is a good bargain so as the descendant of cheap German farmers I jumped at this opportunity.

The guests at my table spent the lunch talking about the former (thank God - along with Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II!) Soviet Union and East Germany. Is there anything better than laughing at the KGB and the Stasi :-) I spent most of my time talking with two elderly ladies who were retired German teachers. The one lady had obtained her US citizenship in 1949 after having fled East Germany via a job with the US Army at the time.

My lunch mates and I shared not only an appreciation for German culture today but our shared love and appreciation for the freedoms we have in the USA. Freedoms worth protecting for our children.

Study history not social studies,

Todd

PS -- see my other writing at: www.regularfolksunited.com

Billions of Barrels of Oil

2008-12-01T16:40:00.003-06:00

There is nothing like the long Thanksgiving Day weekend which allows us to relax with some light reading (when we aren't watching football games of course) such as this item I noticed in the November 29/30 Wall Street Journal:

"Proved Reserves, 2007, Top 10 Countries in Billions of Barrels"

Here is their top 10 list --

Saudi Arabia - 262.3
Canada - 179.2
Iran - 136.3
Iraq - 115
Kuwait - 101.5
United Arab Emirates - 97.8
Venezuela - 80
Russia - 60
Libya - 41.5
Nigeria - 36.2

Now this list can be viewed several ways. My purist free trade friends would say, "big deal where our oil comes from, we send them money and they send us oil, it works for everyone..........." However, I would note a few concerns with this list including the following countries where: we are involved in a war, there are local acts of terrorism against the oil industry, or we have very strained diplomatic relations with these nations -- Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Russia, and Nigeria. This represents 5 of the top 10 owners of the world's oil reserves on this list. Libya might even have to be considered for this list given its past acts of terrorism but in today's new world Libya has renewed diplomatic relations with the Western nations but limited proved reserves.

While never a supporter of invading Iraq I did see the benefit of defending Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's invasion in 1990/1991 given the true threat he posed to the free flow of oil. Had Hussein fully integrated Kuwait as a province of Iraq the combined nation would have been second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves.

But why should we have expected Hussein would have stopped at Kuwait? Why not invade the United Arab Emirates at some point and then his old enemy - Iran - which would have made the "Iraqi Empire" the world's largest owner of oil reserves. At that point he could have invaded Saudi Arabia for a clean run of the table!!

Fortunately the USA-Canada border is the "world's longest friendly border" so a steady supply of oil seems assured but such a reliance on imported oil should force our nation to explore other options.

To see more of my writing please visit this macro-blog: www.regularfolksunited.com

Thanks,
Todd

A Peaceful Divorce

2008-11-26T11:50:00.002-06:00

Today's newspaper reports show that 76% of voters in Greenland -- currently a territory of Denmark - cast "yes" votes in a national referendum yesterday calling for greater home rule. Twenty four percent of voters said "no" in the official results.

The plan spelled out in the referendum calls for Greenland to take control over:

-local police force
-court system
-coast guard
-language (Greenlandic will become the official language)

On a personal level I have always been intrigued by Greenland ever since a Danish friend of mine invited me to go scuba diving around the glaciers/ice bergs in Greenland. We never made the trip which I regret. However, on a political level this referendum vote coincides with my personal philosophy -- ballots are good and bullets are bad (unless of course an armed revolution is the only option for eliminating an oppressive government -- take heed North Korea, Burma, and Venezuela).

Since Greenland and its mother country, Denmark, apparently are headed for an eventual divorce that would leave Greenland as a sovereign nation it reminded me of other disputed/subservient areas of our world. Kurdistan, Northern Ireland, the Basque Region, etc. are examples that readily come to mind.

Again -- let's give ballots a try versus bullets. Had we pursued this course of action in 1860 in the USA by simply hosting state-by-state referendums in the Confederate States of America regarding the question of secession perhaps most of, if not all of the 600,000 deaths could have been prevented. While I abhor the institution of slavery that existed in the American South some scholars would argue that the US Civil War was a battle over the definition of states' rights but I have always argued it was merely friction between two very different economic systems -- the manufacturing economy of the North and the agricultural economy of the South.

Since the institution of slavery was a failed economic model -- as many plantation owners knew at the time I have read -- it was merely a matter of time before the South would have imploded as the Confederate States of America.

Freedom isn't free,

Todd

100% better than Applebee's!!

2008-09-30T14:37:00.002-05:00

Just on the border of Apple Valley and Burnsville, Minnesota is located an excellent family dining experience called - Giuseppe Restaurant -- located at 14600 Wood Park Shoppes. I must say the strip mall exterior is very deceiving.

This Italian restaurant is managed by the brother of the more well known - Stephano's Restaurant -- also in Burnsville. Little did I know but this family is Lebanese but they know how to cook Italian food. I had the seafood jambalaya which my wife could not even look at since apparently the site of squid and octopus waiting for me to consume them is a turn off for her :-)

The food is excellent, the wait staff is personable and attentive, and the owner makes you feel like family so overall a very pleasant dining experience. I will give it a 3.5 on my 5 point rating scale.

I am not posting at this blog very often since my writing time is being consumed by this new website --

www.regularfolksunited.com

I hope readers join me in the discussion.

Todd

new website needs writers

2008-09-03T22:42:00.003-05:00

If any of my blog readers share my world view which I roughly summarize as:

"fly over country" is a great place to live
governments cause more problems than they "fix"
many big government advocates actually want to keep the poor and ignorant in our country, poor and ignorant
God, family, and duty are central pillars to guide our actions

then I believe I have the website for if you are a current or aspiring writer. Think of this new website as your personal newspaper where you can guarantee your thoughts will get published.

The website I am talking about is called -- REGULAR FOLKS UNITED -- and can be found at:

http://www.regularfolksunited.com/

I am a regular writer there so let me encourage you to get involved.

Let the revolution begin,

Todd

Homerun!!

2008-09-03T22:33:00.003-05:00

Yes of course we are fast approaching the Major League Baseball playoffs followed by the World Series which for me is the ideal metaphor for the US president elections but that is a commentary for another time -- then again I have to guess George Will has already written it so that saves me some time!!

No, for this posting the "homerun" I am talking about is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Party national convention here in St. Paul, Minnesota tonight. Electrifying, inspiring, and on target like the hunter she is -- that speech represents exactly what this country needs. A mother in the White House he is not a "nanny" like Hillary Clinton.

No Hillary it does not "take a village to raise a child" - rather it takes a solid team of parents who love and guide their children within a family unit not via some government program.

For all of those voters out there who were "hoping for change" in Washington here are your major party choices:

US Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin

versus

US Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden

75% of these top 4 candidates are currently serving in the US Senate which is not a hot bed of executive experience. Elect Governor Palin, a proven reformer of political machines, if you truly want to shake up the DC Beltway.

Let the revolution begin,

Todd

Labor Day

2008-08-31T21:35:00.003-05:00

Hello from the host state of this year's Republican Party national convention which begins this Monday, September 1st - Labor Day.

I have to sit back and simply laugh. The Republican convention begins on Labor Day! Just imagine the amount of overtime pay required to get the labor union workers at the hotels and the various convention venues to work in order to get everything finished on time.

As most of America celebrates Labor Day with one last trip to the cabin, one last BBQ with friends, or perhaps just a day lounging on their couches the people involved with this convention will be working at full speed long into the night to make certain everything goes as planned. Personally I have worked on two of the past conventions so I can empathize with the staff this week -- my best wishes to all of them.

While I plan to focus on some family time I do have to catch up on some work especially some writing I have to do for a new website being launched this week to coincide with the Republican convention. This new website will be focused on what the "average Joe and Jane" think about politics and the world we live in today. It will celebrate the right to keep and bear arms, the love of the outdoors, and limited government. So whether you were harmed by a government program or simply are interested in living "off the grid" (I would like to but I also don't want to get divorced!!) I hope my readers will spend some time using this new website. I plan to promote it via this blog so please watch this space for the website address.

I'm Regular and I Vote,

Todd

Sad Day in Sports

2008-08-29T22:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was truly a sad day in sports. No, no athlete died yesterday but the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) chose to do things that not only altered their sports dramatically (in a negative way) and from my perspective - harmed their consumers in the process.

First -- the NFL continued its pre-season games last night with VERY few starting players opting to play their second and third string players since the games were only "pre-season" as a way to avoid getting their starters injured. Wait a minute - you don't have your starters play yet you charge your fans full price for these pre-season games? Instead of short changing their fans in this way why doesn't the NFL simply change the "pre-season" label to the "back up squad" games. A little truth in advertising would be appreciated.

Second - America's national past time , MLB, instituted their first use of video replay so that teams could challenge the calls of umpires. The last thing I want to see is an expansion of the "video challenge" system which has already harmed our ability to enjoy NFL games as coaches and officials spend several minutes reviewing videotape. Now the MLB's video replay/challenge system is merely for judging home run calls and foul balls but I fear a slippery slope that will one day lead to all of baseball being determined via video reply.

May we never see that day,

Todd

Encouraging

2008-08-28T14:39:00.002-05:00

First let me be clear -- Thomas R.Voyt of Andover, Minnesota, 55 years old -- is a pedophile who deserves the punishment he received from the Ramsey County Court if not more for his actions. Our local newspaper reported that Mr. Voyt was sentenced to 90 days in a workhouse and three years probation for soliciting sex with a 13 year old girl he met via the "Live Links" telephone chat line.

But I am able to see a silver lining - albeit a very thin one -- in this story since Mr. Voyt told Judget Michael T. DeCourcy before his sentencing:

"First, I'd like to apologize to the victim and to the general public. I made the wrong choice...I'm 100 percent ready to take full responsibility."

Wow, did you see what I saw here? No claims of being a "victim" of a terrible childhood or another crutch to lean on - he simply took "full responsibility" for his actions. Now that is encouraging and will hopefully lead him to devote the rest of his life educating the public where he can about the danger our children face from such predators.

While I respect this family's privacy and this girl's minor status I have to wonder -- does the newspaper community plan to do a follow up story about the 13 year old girl and her parents? Is someone in that family taking full responsibility for allowing this girl to place herself is this very dangerous situation? Did she think it was a 15 year old boy on the telephone chat line or was she simply adventurous and confident that she was mature enough to "handle" any situation including saying "no, I don't do that" when they actually met?

Fortunately no body bags were needed,

Todd

Raising Children

2008-08-27T14:01:00.002-05:00

Now that my wife and I are raising children - "future taxpayers" as the IRS likes to say - I definitely spend time reading the family/child rearing articles in the newspapers. So this posting is inspired by yesterday's USA Today Snapshot bar graph and today's Wall Street Journal's Work and Family column by Sue Shellenbarger.

First the USA Today Snapshot which reported the results of a survey question asking adults to rate "20 health issues facing children in their communities." The results included:

Obesity - 35%
Drug abuse - 33% (perhaps Lipitor was included!!??)
Smoking/tobacco use - 32%
Bullying - 28%
Internet safety - 27%

Then in Ms. Shellenberger's WSJ column I noticed that children today are "spending a mere 24 minutes a day doing cleaning, laundry, and other housework...............a 25% drop since 1981."

Cause and effect?

There has to be something hear since farming families a century ago, even 50 years ago (just review photographs in your local museum), did not have obese children simply because their children had chores to do just like the adults.

While I hate to lose even more readers let me encourge parents to get their children off the computer (Internet safety - 27%) a few hours a day to help around the house or if you have the land/trees needed get the kids to saw some wood to heat the house. Just think of the benefits - kids working outdoors instead of laying on your couch eating junk food. Now that is a health program that does not require more taxpayer dollars.

Your children will be better prepared,

Todd

Wind and Pigskins

2008-08-25T06:52:00.002-05:00

Last week my time was consumed with traveling to Fargo, North Dakota for an event on wind energy featuring T. Boone Pickens who has launched a campaign at:

www.pickensplan.com

I had not visited Fargo for a few years so it was interesting to see the Fargo Dome during this trip. The dome is the home field for the North Dakota State University Bison football team. Overall I was impressed with this stadium and the team's meeting rooms.

Touring the dome was a good reminder that this Thursday night serves as the kickoff for the 2009 college football season. This season has changes in store for our family since we did not renew our season tickets at Iowa State University opting instead for tickets to the University of Minnesota Gophers which is the wife's alma mater plus the drive to the stadium is substantially shorter. The Gophers of course play in the Metrodome for their last season this years since the new outdoor TCF Bank Stadium will open in 2009.

Last year's 1 and 11 losing season for the Gophers did not inspire me to purchase season tickets I can assure you but regardless it should be fun watching the games since the Gophers play in the football heaven known as Big Ten Conference football.

The season begins,

Todd

Top 5

2008-08-19T22:08:00.003-05:00

I have to admit it I love the "Labels" feature on Blogger which allows blog writers to give each of their postings a label/category. For no other reason then pure curiosity (something lacking in many classrooms today) I decided to do a tally count of my "Top 5 Labels" for my current 623 postings on this blog.

The tally count went as follows:

Government - 29 postings
Taxes - - 25 postings
Football - 25 postings
Education/School Choice - 18 postings
Presidential Candidates - 11 postings

TOTAL = 109 postings

So a full 23% of these 109 postings had nothing to do with government programs!! I can't believe people think I am a one-dimensional writer :-)

Huddle up,

Todd

Science Teachers

2008-08-19T21:33:00.002-05:00

Today the State of Minnesota released the test results of a "new, interactive, online science exam, the first of its kind in the nation.........." according to our Pioneer Press newspaper. This exam was given to 5th graders, 8th graders, and high school students.

Overall only 40% of students tested -- 185,000 students total -- in Minnesota met the state science standards for proficiency. No doubt when the 2009 legislature convenes there will be a collective call for "fully funding our schools.............investing in our children............so we can compete with India and China....................."

The tax and spending never stops my friends. Yes President Eisenhower warned us about the "military-industrial complex" but he overlooked the "education-spending complex" which now consumes nearly 50% of our state government budget. So how much should we "invest" in education -- 70, 80, or perhaps 90% of the budget?

How about instead of throwing more money at the problem we demand comprehensive reforms such as:

Differential salaries -- if we need more and better science teachers then let's pay such teachers premium salaries which are higher than their peers. It is time we used market forces versus collective bargaining.
Income tax reform -- to encourage new recruits to the teacher profession let's declare teacher salaries to be exempt from all federal, state, and city income taxes. Thus a teacher getting paid $60,000 per year (9 months of work with 3 months of summer off in most cases) paying a combined rate of 20% would see a $12,000 salary increase to $72,000. This salary annualized (9 months converted to 12 months) would then total $96,000 which is getting near the pay scale for Members of Congress :-)

So there you have it -- some innovative education reform ideas that do not cost us taxpayers one penny beyond what we are taxed today.

Reform on MacDuff and damned be the bureaucrat that says, "hold enough!",

Todd

Bear Hug

2008-08-17T23:34:00.003-05:00

Sadly the Russian occupation of the Republic of Georgia continues through this weekend. My prayers are with the families of my friends Paata and Gia as they face this life threatening situation. It is an amazing coincidence that Paata and Gia were scheduled to host this year's "European Resource Bank" conference in October in Georgia. This conference is focused on free markets, individual liberty, and limited governments -- concepts that Russia clearly abhors given it mafia-like foreign policy when it comes to energy supplies.

Yes perhaps as some observers have noted Georgia provoked this action by Russia via its attacks on the two breakaway provinces but if Russians were so badly affected by Georgia's actions why didn't they bring this concern to the attention of the United Nation's Security Council? If they did I missed it.

But perhaps more important I have to note that I think the leaders of NATO and the European Union were asleep at the wheel in terms of their failure to incorporate the Republic of Georgia into the Western/free world in a way that would have prevented Russian intervention as we have seen this month.

While I am not a fan of the European Union and believe NATO has outlived its original mandate these two institutions could still have served a vital purpose by lending their protection to Georgia but that opportunity seems to be lost give the current Russian bear hug of this sovereign nation.

Clearly Stalin is smiling in his grave,

Todd

No Loitering

2008-08-17T23:27:00.002-05:00

During a neighborhood dinner one of our city leaders informed me that our city government had to continue owning the local liquor stores because then we "can better control underage drinking........." To which I replied -- "since we are a suburb surrounded by other suburbs don't you think kids would simply drive to nearby towns to buy booze if you really think city ownership deters them?"

So on Saturday (yesterday) I had to laugh when I stopped at our local city liquor store (flash back to my 1986 Soviet Union trip -- the government owned the vodka shops!) to buy some refreshments for our pool party. Why? Because sitting right next to the liquor store exit was a park bench with a sign posted above it that read, "No Loitering". But it was the three 12 to 14 year old girls sitting on this bench eating lunch that made me laugh.

If the city leaders really want to keep children away from the booze perhaps the park bench should be moved to -- I don't know -- a CITY PARK!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere,

Todd

ACT scores and Education Reform

2008-08-13T09:58:00.003-05:00

Well the college entry ACT test scores state rankings were released yesterday so here are the top three states for highest average scores:

Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin

Nationally the report noted that the average ACT score dropped from 2007 to 21.1 (36 is the highest possible score) for the class of 2008. Clearly that is not a good trend but more importantly I believe is that even though Minnesota's average was the highest in the country the report noted that a full 67% of students going on to college require remedial education!! So if Minnesota is number one I would hate to raise my children in whatever state ranked dead last. This is not a good sign for the USA as we try to compete in the global economy.

Solutions? No need to spend more taxpayer dollars, instead we should pursue:

1.) Phase out the US Department of Education and send all the savings to the 50 states via education vouchers to families with school age children for spending on tuition, tutors, etc.

2.) Turn parents into consumers by having their current schools invoice families for education expenses so we all know the actual costs so then we can do some comparison shopping.

3.) Enact right to work legislation in all 50 states so teachers are not required to join their teachers' unions.

4.) Enact merit/performance pay for teachers

5.) Change/modernize teaching licensing requirements to help recruit working professionals from the math and science fields.

6.) Make teacher salaries exempt from all state and federal personal income taxes to help recruit new teachers to the career.

Read more and spend less,

Todd

Eat Local Food

2008-08-11T10:07:00.004-05:00

This weekend our family toured the annual Dakota County Fair which I always enjoy as a way to connect the kids with the land/agriculture a little given our suburban lives. Despite being the third largest metro area county in Minnesota nearly 70% of our county's land is still zoned for agricultural use.

As we walked through the animal barns, 4-H exhibits, the midway food stands, etc. one information booth I decided to visit was the "Lakeville Coalition for the Environment". This group was promoting everything "green" for a better world including their "Eat Local" campaign. Personally both of my parents' families come from generations of family farmers so I have an interest in the small, family farm life but I always pause when I see the "Eat Local" food campaigns. Why? Well, we don't grow many (zero to be exact) bananas in Minnesota and I also like strawberries but those are hard to find in February in Minnesota when arctic like winds hit our homes. Yes there are greenhouse opportunities to produce such products locally but if a fully loaded cost study was completed it may very well show that importing strawberries from California to Minnesota is still better for the environment versus the power supply needed for operating green houses throughout the 4 months of winter here in Minnesota.

Now of course global warming could change all of these economics to the point that we may someday grow bananas in Minnesota so would that be a good or bad thing for the environment?

Bon appetit,

Todd

Obesity Taxes

2008-08-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

Two related news stories in the last week from France and Mexico dealt with obesity so I trimming the fat to combine them into one positing today :-)

France - despite the best selling book, "French Women Don't Get Fat" , apparently they do in France since their Budget Ministry is considering increasing taxes on fatty, sugary foods from the current 5.5% up to 19.6%. So will this tax policy reduce obesity or will people simply consume more foods that are taxed at the lesser rate or is this just a money grab by the government so they can "harmonize" (which in Western Europe always means up/higher!) all food tax rates in the future?

Mexico -- after dropping his weight from 1,235 pounds down to about 700 pounds Manuel Uribe of Monterrey, Mexico was able to leave his home for the first time in 5 years to visit a nearby lake with his girlfriend, Claudia Solis. Mr. Uribe is only 43 years old so I have to wonder - how is it possible that he could live/support himself for the last 5 years in terms of earning money since he could not leave his home? Did Ms. Solis supply all the resources, did a government program support him, is he independently wealthy, or did he rely on charity? This sounds cold-hearted but I have to say whoever "helped" him to remain trapped in his home by his obesity did not help him at all. Instead these enablers simply became prison guards.

I am off to the gym!

Todd

Cuba - Part 2

2008-08-11T09:42:00.002-05:00

My earlier posting on Cuba advocated lifting the USA's trade embargo against Cuba as a counterweight to Russia's Prime Minister Putin's recent call for Russia to "re-establish our presence in Cuba..........." Hello - US Congress! Did you notice this weekend that Russia was bombing the Republic of Georgia while tanks and troops invaded the country?

Lifting the embargo against Cuba not only makes economic sense but it also makes sense in geo-political terms . We need to keep the Russians out of Cuba by bring Cuba into our economic sphere. I would much rather see thousands of Cuban-Americans "invade" Cuba with US dollars instead of sending US troops to attack Russian military installations in Cuba.

Speaking of Cuba here is one of my occasional restaurant reviews. Last week I was driving by a new restaurant in our town called "La Luz" (the light/light house in Spanish) which is a Cuban-themed deli. La Luz replaced my old favorite "Brown Bag Deli" which I was told by fellow citizens closed because their service was too slow. I hope La Luz doesn't have the same fate because while the food was good clearly my sandwich was on the slow boat from Cuba. After I waited for nearly 10 minutes the staff called my name. Thinking my sandwich was ready I walked to the counter only to be told -- "we are starting your sandwich now..........." Ah!!! Not good for a first visit. In my 5 star possible ranking system I am going to give them a "2" primarily to the service.

Libre Cuba!

Todd

Cuba

2008-08-05T23:53:00.002-05:00

"We should restore our position in Cuba and other countries"

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia

August 4, 2008 quote by Interfax News Agency

Of course the last "position" Russia (then the Soviet Union) including the installation of nuclear missles aimed at the USA so Mr. Putin's neo-imperialiam rhetoric should concern us. Yes concern us not "paralyze" us by fear.

We should take Mr. Putin at his word that the Russian Bear wants to re-assemble the former Soviet empire. So let's simply crush their dreams once again via the sheer economic power of the USA. How can we accomplish such a goal?

LIFT THE CURRENT TRADE EMBARGO THAT THE USA MAINTAINS AGAINST CUBA

Yes, let's welcome Cuba into the market-based world economy fully BEFORE Russia renews its presence in Cuba. The USA and Cuba are only 90 miles apart from each other while Russia and Cuba are thousands of miles apart. We should resurrect our old "Monroe Doctrine" via a new twist on its objective to keep foreign powers out of Latin America - namely "free trade" with Cuba.

The Cuban trade embargo has not harmed the Brothers Castro nor given any hint that they will be toppled from power. With "death" being the only term limit that Fidel and Raul are likely to face why should we want for their natural deaths when lifting the trade embargo on Cuba would drive them from power in a much faster way.

Cuban Americans should give this geo-political proposal serious consideration since their treasured trade embargo will eventually benefit Russia as they seek to jeopardize American national security.

Lift the embargo,

Todd

Roe vs. Wade

2008-08-04T21:41:00.002-05:00

Clearly it is election season here in the USA judging from all of the bumper stickers on automobiles I saw today. For example a car next to me had these three attached:

Coexist -- with the "o" being a peace symbol
Obama '08
I vote for kids

Let me zero in on this last one by posing the obvious question -- "what office are the 'kids' running for and how can they serve if elected since they would be underage???" :-)

Seriously folks - this is classic big government/nanny state sloganeering, " I vote for kids" , indeed. I know what their message is -- we need to "invest" (aka take more of your money) in smaller class room sizes, before and after school day care, etc. etc.

Well my wife and I have two children so I can assure you every time I vote I vote for candidates that focus on cutting taxes and cutting programs so we can expand freedom. I do indeed "vote for kids" when I vote for candidates who support the expansion of school choice.

Which brings us to the key theme for this posting -- "choice" -- which is typically short hand for "free to choose whether or not to have an abortion which of course became the law of the land in the USA in the Roe vs. Wade US Supreme Court decision. What I always highlight for my big government friends is that Roe vs. Wade ruled that there was a "right to privacy" in the US Constitution.

So why is it that this "right" has ONLY been applied to abortion rights versus privacy issues such as our personal incomes? If a "right to privacy" truly exists within the US Constitution then the US Supreme Court should declare personal income taxes to be unconstitutional.

Now that my friends would truly be an "economic stimulus package" that would actually help our economy.

Freedom,

Todd

NOLA -- further thoughts

2008-07-29T22:18:00.002-05:00

As noted earlier I attended the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures (www.ncsl.org -- if readers want to know more but I can tell you that these people simply want to consume more of your wealth to pay for more government programs) in New Orleans last week.

After returning home to Minnesota I reflected on the local media reports I read about the "Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts/status three years later...................." No where did I see how much money was spent -- tax dollars, private sector donations, and of course the man-hours of donated volunteer labor -- so far on the "recovery efforts" but it has to be at billions and billions of dollars by now.

So given how "green" our society has become with our focus on eating organic foods, recycling, and driving Toyota Prius cars everywhere I have to pose this question? Why didn't our nation simply pay - publicly and privately -- to turn most of New Orleans into "green space" instead of rebuilding everything?

Since we were all obligated to spend the money anyway why didn't we relocate families and businesses to "non-Hurricane" areas thereby letting nature reclaim large sections of land. So tell me former Senator John Edwards - from North Carolina who seems to be living in New Orleans given his multiple press events there -- "if you are so concerned that global warming is going to destroy our planet WHY in God's name our we rebuilding this city instead of creating more green space that would process more of the CO2 that apparently threatens our very existence?"

The answer my friends -- with a "crisis" to address politicians like John Edwards and Al Gore would be on food stamps.

Green space not levees,

Todd

NOLA

2008-07-24T22:24:00.002-05:00

Since my professional work requires me to attend numerous conferences this week I find myself staying in New Orleans, Louisiana yet again. I believe I have been in this city at least four times now so before and after Hurricane Katrina to be exact.

While I did not tour the infamous 9th Ward which three years after the hurricane damage is still a disaster area based on the TV and newspaper coverage I have seen this week. Now I am not a heartless bastard but my personality is wired to take action so I was a bit shocked when I read today's local newspaper. One article stated that the 9th Ward Homeowners Association recently held a fundraising event where some of the proceeds would be used to "mow the weeds a this empty lot........." which included a photo of the homeowners association president. What? Is the poverty so bad in this part of town that three years after the hurricane no one has a working lawn mower with gasoline or if nothing else a corn knife or machete so these weeds could be cut? I can tell you if we lived there our father would have my brother and I outside cleaning up as soon as the hurricane water receded. We would not have sat on our porch holding signs that said, "FEMA come help us!" Help us? Hell, if agencies like FEMA did not consume our tax dollars we would all have more money available to better recover from disasters.

One final observation on the "hurricane recovery" media coverage this week . Former presidential/vice presidential candidate and former US Senator from NORTH CAROLINA (yes, that is important so don't forget) John Poverty Edwards held yet another press conference to announce his "green house building project" as part of an overall poverty elimination project. Reminder -- when he announced his run for president in 2007 Senator Edwards held the event in the 9th Ward of New Orleans so let's encourage him to take the next logical step. Become a full time resident of Louisiana so you can run for political office OR better yet -- start a business and employ some people instead of having what appears to be weekly press conferences.

Just don't move to Minnesota -- we can handle our challenges Mr. Edwards,

Todd

Advancement via Competition

2008-07-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

Finally something for the conservative base to get excited about in terms of the McCain for President!! During Senator John McCain's speech to the NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - in Cincinnati Senator McCain stated that as president he would --

"expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low income children to attend private schools..............

The article I read in our local newspaper (www.twincities.com) went on to state that Senator Obama has "dismissed support for private school vouchers for low income Americans."

While I am very encouraged by Senator McCain's comments I have to say he did not go far enough. His speech should have called our failing public schools in poor neighborhoods EXACTLY what they are -- "modern day plantations" not centers of education excellence.

So at this point in the presidential campaign the black candidate - Obama - is keeping poor blacks on the plantations/schools via his opposition to a voucher system that would finally make schools compete for students.

McCain's speech is essentially a modern day Emancipation Proclamation but sadly I did not see any media coverage speaking in those terms.

Get a dream Mr. Obama,

Todd

Created by Consumers

2008-07-22T23:32:00.002-05:00

Today's Financial Times included a chart detailing the "World's Largest Companies" (by market capitalization) in the world today. This top ten listed included:

1. ExxonMobil - US$431 billion
2. PetroChina - $384
3. Gazprom - $298
4. General Electric - $279
5. China Mobile - $268
6. Microsoft - $241
7. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - $240
8. Petrobras - $235
9. Royal Dutch Shell -- $232
10. Wal Mart Stores - $228

Now if we break these ten companies down by category we end up with --

-5 companies are energy/oil producers
-3 of these companies are Chinese entities
-4 of these companies are American/USA companies

Given the high price of oil/gasoline today coupled with the growing energy demands of China it is no surprise that 5 of these corporations are energy companies. However their size and market value should not be surprising since consumers spent their own money via market decisions to create these giants -- although PetroChina, GazProm, and Petrobras are essentially products of national governments.

While reading this list in the Financial Times was educational all readers would have benefited if the article would have included a chart showing the "World's Largest Companies" from 50 or even 100 years ago to offer some historical perspective to show how the world economy has changed over time.

Economic history is essential summertime reading,

Todd

Algae - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2008-07-21T13:55:00.003-05:00

Any blog posting on "algae" is probably out of the ordinary anyway so no one will be surprised that I am reversing the order of this posting's title as I comment:

UGLY:

Algae itself is a very simple life form and is not particularly attractive -- essentially it reminds me of my last prom date. (ok - I admit it , I did not take a date to prom but you get the idea)

BAD:

As the science community tells us "algae blooms" represent the "Bad" of global warming --

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080403140928.htm

"Harmful Algae Takes Advantage Of Global Warming: More Algae Blooms Expected
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2008) — You know that green scum creeping across the surface of your local public water reservoir? Or maybe it's choking out a favorite fishing spot or livestock watering hole. It's probably cyanobacteria -- blue-green algae -- and, according to a paper in the April 4 issue of the journal Science, it relishes the weather extremes that accompany global warming."

GOOD:

Yet in the July 17, 2008 edition of the New York Times newspaper we find this article title, "Planes that are Quieter, Cleaner and More Efficient are in Demand". As the article noted Boeing Corporation is experimenting with a "tank of bright green algae, the potential feeding ground for a jet fuel substitute."

SUMMARY:

So let me get this straight -- people should reduce their air travel to help cut emissions which cause global warming which causes algae blooms but yet algae is also viewed as a "feeding ground for a fuel substitute (NYT)".................

Looked at another way - so we should drive our SUVs and fly to faraway places for vacation (like Stockholm to accept our Nobel Prize Mr. Al Gore?) so that we use up these evil fossil fuels which produce global warming which of course produces algae blooms which of course might supply an alternative fuel source to replace fossil fuels.................. I am dizzy!

Then again we were all told not to eat bacon in the 1980's due to "high levels of nitrates" but no one is focused on this "bacon crisis" today so clearly the scientific research has changed. For more on bacon please visit -- http://www.baconunwrapped.com/

Green yet confused,

Todd

Spas and Election Campaigns

2008-07-14T21:25:00.002-05:00

Years ago when I worked on political campaigns full time I would have loved to been able to take some time off to visit a day spa just to relax a little but two major reasons I did not -- we worked nearly 7 days a week and I was poor!! Not food stamp level poor but poor enough to avoid such luxuries.

So today's Wall Street Journal article caught my eye - "Spas go all out to give kids the treatment" -- here we go again, marketing to children!! When will it stop!!?? Now I think we can all agree that a sea salt scrub is probably less harmful than a bubble gum cigar but I am certain a "child welfare" activist will seek a lawsuit against the spa industry for preying on America's youth.

The major reason for this marketing to children? Building consumer loyalty early to gain revenues since spa industry revenues have dropped in recent years as noted in this article:

2005 -- $9.7 billion

2006 -- $9.4 billion

Now that seems like a lot of money spent on pampering ourselves but I don't hear the activist community crying out about this vast sum of money that could be better "invested" in public schools or health insurance ponzi schemes like we hear people say about political campaign spending.

So how much will be spent on the presidential election in 2008? Perhaps just over $1 billion for all candidates based on this website's research --

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/totals.php?cycle=2008

So the next time you or your friends complain about "all these TV and radio ads by politicians.............." just laugh a little while you walk to your massage appointment. I know I will be doing so myself.

Breathe deeply,

Todd

Absolutely No Change

2008-07-07T22:24:00.002-05:00

During this year's presidential election Senator Obama/Democratic National Committee talking heads have consistently used the messaging that "electing Senator John McCain is the same as giving President George W. Bush a third term.............." to help reinforce Obama's "Change we can believe in" campaign theme.

Before I get to the heart of this posting I have to ask -- "why didn't Sen. Hillary Clinton simply campaign on the theme that we need to 'give President Bill Clinton a third term by electing me' since we are constantly told the "Clinton Years" were America's golden years? Personally I have to say that such a theme would have given me yet ANOTHER reason to vote against her to avoid more personal pain.

Speaking of pain I actually want to scream whenever I hear the "Change" phrase mentioned by Sen. Obama or party officials. Change what? Hell I want "change" myself such as a flat personal income tax of 15% paid on incomes over $500,000 but I doubt Sen. Obama agrees with my version of change. He has failed to give any specifics regarding how he would define change but I got a hint last week via a New York Times article that was republished in my local Minnesota newspaper. The headline read --

"Obama embraces faith-based programs"

Amazing "change" Senator Obama -- this is exactly the concept that President Bush gave us and I hated it then so I hate the idea even more today now that you are promoting the concept. If this is the "change" you are promoting then by all means the country should elect Sen. McCain since we are told that would create a "third Bush term" as noted earlier. The idea here is that the federal government takes our money from us then determines where best this money should be spent to deliver "social services" via the faith community.

So theoretically my taxes could be sent to Washington DC where the White House would then theoretically decide that my local church -- Grace Lutheran in Apple Valley, Minnesota -- should be the recipient of a "faith-based grant/program" of tax dollars so my church can expand its food shelf program to which my family already donates food and toilteries.

How is that for inefficiency for you? Why does anyone support such a system when inspired, motivated, and/or caring local citizens like me should simply be allowed to keep our tax dollars in our pockets so WE can decide where our donations go to benefit civil society - such decisions should not be made by Presidents Bush, Obama, or McCain.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto the Lord what is the Lord's as the Bible verse goes which makes me ask -- "if Jesus only wants 10% of our wealth (tithe) why should the federal government expect 28 or 31%?"

Praying for revolution not "change",

Todd

Teaching Obesity

2008-07-01T22:30:00.003-05:00

Well between a family vacation to my home state of Iowa last week and an unplanned business trip to Washington DC on Sunday and Monday this week I have not focused on posting on this blog but wonders of all wonders -- the nation's capital inspired me to write!!

As I sat in a hotel lobby between meetings in Washington DC a group of very large/clearly obese people were gathering near me during a break in the conference they were attending. What conference? The National Education Association (www.nea.org ) which is the largest labor union for America's teachers and perhaps our greatest roadblock to full blown school choice that empowers parents and students to act as consumers of education services instead of recipients (dare I say - "victims" ?) of the education establishment.

This group's obvious obesity status caught my attention because for years I have seen the media coverage of "childhood obesity, lawsuits against McDonald's, and vending machines selling junk food in our schools to raise money for the school because we completely selfish tax slaves aren't spending (sorry - "investing") enough on the education establishment..............."

The other thought that hit me was a research study released to the public a few months ago that concluded -- "if you have obese friends you too will likely become obese......" So who made these teachers obese -- McDonald's , their students, or perhaps did they get obese because they are not competing for their jobs since they work in a protected monopoly known as the public school?

Beyond the obvious obesity my other observation was the language/grammar used by these "teachers" -- my God, had Bill Cosby attended this NEA convention he would have no doubt delivered an entire speech on how these teachers are harming their students' futures via their use of ebonics/hip hop lingo/etc. It clearly was not the King's English that I heard in that hotel lobby.

Investments should produce returns not protected monopolies,

Todd

Chrysler

2008-06-25T22:53:00.002-05:00

Based on today's Wall Street Journal article, "Chrysler taps $2 billion credit line from owners", we have clear evidence that former President Jimmy Carter should have stuck to his initial instincts - a belief in the free market system -- when he was asked by Chrysler in the late 1970's to provide a financial bailout to the failing company. Unfortunately he caved in to the corporate/labor union cabal that rallied their government allies to support a bailout so by the time President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office in January 1981 the bailout deal was his to administer.

I hate to say it - especially since I am not the cold-hearted, greedy, capitalist pig dog that some readers will no doubt brand me as - but our US federal government should have simply let Chrysler go bankrupt in 1979 instead of putting it on life support so that 29 years later (this year) Chrysler's current owners, Cerberus Capital Management and former parent Daimler AG, are still bailing the company out via this latest cash infusion.

Why let them go bankrupt? Beyond the basic free market economics involved -- Chrysler failed to build vehicles that people actually wanted to drive!! -- there is a psychological reason known as "survivor syndrome" which I saw years ago when I worked in corporate life. The "survivors" in my case were the corporate employees who survived the massive lay offs my company announced over several years. The "syndrome" effect is described by psychologists are a feeling of "guilt, coupled with a 'why not me?' reflection........." (my paraphrasing). Personally I got sick of the corporate speculation/gossip about the "next round of lay offs" and did not want to fall into the "survivor syndrome" mind set so I left the company to join a consulting firm in an entirely new line of working and geographic location.

No, not every Chrysler employee would, perhaps could, make such a leap of faith like I did to escape the dark, negative corporate atmosphere I was working in but since Chrysler's future hasn't look very promising in the last 29 years what did the country gain by propping up this paper tiger of a corporation?

Upon reflection I have to believe the 100,000 plus employees at Chrysler in the 1979 time frame would have been better off if the company would have gone into bankruptcy so that new owners/management would have taken control to offer a new focus or simply to sell off all of its assets that would have phased out the company completely. I guarantee you that some of the workers who saw the very dark days in 1979 during the pursuit of the federal government bailout are still working there today. This assumption makes me sad for them since they could have easily completed a college degree and/or job training for a new career not in the automobile industry since they had 29 years to do it. Unfortunately the government "helped" them by perpetuating their dead end jobs.

Enjoy the ride (unless you are in a "K" car of course!),

Todd

Iowa Flooding

2008-06-23T21:39:00.002-05:00

My apologies for the lack of recent posts on my blog but due to family business last week I had to travel from Minnesota to my home town are in Northwest Iowa -- "where God vacations" -- as we used to say when we were kids.

While Governor Culver of Iowa did indeed declare 65 of Iowa's 99 counties to be disaster zones my home county was untouched by the flooding. As I have told friends over the years, "Iowa is not just flat land filled with corn, while Minnesota got the lakes, Iowa was given all the rivers........" so the recent flooding should come as no surprise to those of us who know this part of the country. My own hometown is located at the confluence of the Maple River and Odebolt Creek so there is plenty of potential for flooding. However, years ago these two bodies of water were engineered with wide flood plains to minimize flooding.

So as I completed my first road trip with our 4 month old son -- he is a great travel companion since he agrees with everything I say, currently that is!! -- the only thing that caught my attention was the extremely green, pastoral setting that is rural northwest Iowa. The fields and trees are really in great shape in this area of the state.

Speaking of trees here is some advice -- if you ever find yourself lost on some road in Iowa simply walk to the nearest stand of trees since it is very likely there is a farm house there because the original pioneers planted trees around the homes to serve as a windbreak and eventually as a source of fire wood once the trees matured. So no Al Gore humans have not cut down every tree because we hate Mother Earth - in fact we improved the treeless prairies of Iowa.

Best wishes to the flood victims as you recover from this recent disaster.

Todd

Jimmy Carter should fight this Thugocracy

2008-06-17T14:13:00.005-05:00

As the old joke (used to go ) goes - "Jimmy Carter is by far our best former President (of the USA), the sad thing is that he had to serve as President first to become a "former" president..........."

Perhaps that was true at one time given his work via the Carter Center and Habitat For Humanity (which he did NOT found by the way in case you are wondering) but recently he has inserted himself into volatile situations such as his recent meeting with Hamas (listed on the USA's terrorist list) regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Now comes an opportunity on the African continent for President Carter to redeem himself. On June 27 the African nation of Zimbabwe will be conducting a runoff election for President between the incumbent, complete bastard President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. President/Thug Mugabe stated that his political party will not abide by the run off election results (he lost in the first round of elections folks). His very telling quote was - "we are not going to give up our country because of a mere 'X'. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?" Mugabe went on to clarify his words by stating, "we are ready to go to war........." if he is not declared the winner.

So here you go Jimmy -- you have traveled the world as an election observer so let's see some boots on the ground by having you observe these June 27 elections. The British colonization of Zimbabwe was bad enough but Mr. Mugabe' thugocracy is even worse as he starves, imprisons, and even kills his political opponents.

The Middle East has been fighting for over 2,000 years Mr. Carter but Zimbabwe (formerly the colony of Rhodesia) has only been independent since 1980 so in only 28 years Mr. Mugabe has turned Zimbabwe from being an exporter of food to the world to being a recipient of food aid due to his failed policies.

Don't miss your flight Jimmy,

Todd

Hiring Freeze

2008-06-17T13:56:00.003-05:00

While reading an article in yesterday's newspaper regarding the Vice President running mates choices that Senators John McCain and Barack Obama face a New York University professor suggested that our future President should appoint their Vice President to be responsible for a "massive overhaul of the federal government." This professor went on to note that this job would actually be easier to accomplish than it was in the past because in the "next 10 years 600,000 baby boomers (are) set to retire from federal jobs................."

So my first response upon reading this was -- "yes and with better pensions than us tax slaves who funded their retirements" -- but then I focused on the positive side of things so clearly the coaching my wife has given me had paid dividends!! The positive element here my friends is that the next President can save all of us a lot of money and expand our freedoms by simply using his (sorry Hillary!) executive power to implement a hiring freeze - ON BOTH EMPLOYEES AND CONSULTANTS or we won't gain anyting -- during his 4 or 8 years as President.

A federal government hiring freeze would not only save money but it would force agencies and departments to completely re-think everything they do as their full time employee (FTE) counts start dropping. Perhaps some reporting requirements will be deemed obsolete versus a report simply being "Fred's job for the last 20 years.................." so no need to protect sacred cows that currently exist just so that another federal bureaucrat has a job.

Not only would the 600,000 jobs be gone via retirement/attrition we could then sell the office equipment and less office space overall would be needed which are additional savings for tax payers.

Let the bloodless revolution begin via retirement,

Todd

Debt-for-Nature

2008-06-12T22:23:00.002-05:00

In Malcolm Gladwell's second book, Blink, the focus is on our natural, immediate response when exposed to something based on our instincts and experience. One of Gladwell's examples was an art expert who simply glances at a painting then immediately replies, "this is a copy not an original......." -- well I had a definite "Blink" moment today after reading an email alert from the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) based in Washington DC.

Had a thought about it I guess I would have realized that "debt-for-nature" (DFN) swaps exist in our world but reading the ICCF email today made it very clear to me how the DFN system works. ICCF's email noted that the government of Madagascar made an exchange/swap with the entities that own portions of its national debt by agreeing to set aside portions of the country as nature preserves for national debt forgiveness.

Now of course I see several positives with the DFN systems -- nature is preserved so we can all enjoy it especially since the ICCF email noted that a vast majority of animals in Madagascar are only native to this island nation. Secondly national debt relief for a poor country like Madagascar is truly a relief to them I imagine but at what true cost I ask?

"Modern day colonialism" I would answer. My realization today that the DFN system has a potential dark side was my personal "Blink" moment. One could agree that Madagascar's former colonial master - France - simply leveraged the national debt owed by Madagascar's government to achieve a French government goal of controlling a portion of Madagascar's land mass like it did in the colonial days but this time France is the "green knight" coming to the rescue not an imperial power focused on financial gain.

Yes indeed Madagascar reduces the level of its national debt but the bargain made via DFN forbids Madagascar to exploit its natural resources in the same way other nations did as they developed. Poor countries simply need to learn from the historical experience of today's richest nations -- a country tends to exploit its natural resources at the expense of its environmental quality ONLY until the country gains enough overall/per capita wealth. It is at this point that the rich/developed country's citizens value environmental quality as the expense of natural resource exploitation. Last week's conference in Hong Kong that I attended included a speaker who showed a line graph/chart during his presentation which depicted this same economic evolution.

Ideally Madagascar will benefit from the growing interest in eco-toursim but it that industry fails to develop then they have simply defaulted back to becoming a modern day colony of France via this DFN scheme.

Wealth is Health,

Todd

Monks and Comedians

2008-06-11T23:48:00.003-05:00

The military generals who currently rule Burma (Myanmar) showed the world that they are ruthless dictators via their crack down earlier this year on peaceful Buddhist monks who were simply protesting the dictatorial rule of their country. At the time of this crack down I said to a friend -- "clearly the ruling junta has zero legitimacy to govern" -- but last week's news via the Wall Street Journal wire service perhaps surpasses the beating of monks!! Apparently the junta's police force arrested Burma's most popular comedian - Zarganar - last week which suggests his comedy routines ridiculing the junta made the generals very uncomfortable.

Political satire (and the resulting oppression) of Zarganar's variety dates back to at least ancient Greece (according to Mel Brooks' "History of the World - Part I " anyway!!) so it is great to see the junta's modern day paranoia on display as they move to suppress another advocate for democratic change.

As evidence of how technology has transformed our world - the same use of communications technologies that helped dissolve the former Soviet Union (fax machines in those days) can help bring political reform to Burma -- let me close with this weblink to the You Tube video service which features one of Zarganar's comedy acts --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57Gd_6YSZI

While I don't speak his verbal language the body language does provide me with some hints regarding his political messaging.

Stand up against juntas :-)

Todd

Budweiser

2008-06-10T21:06:00.003-05:00

Since most Americans are focused on rising gasoline prices and the "home mortgage crisis" I have to guess most people completely overlooked some very encouraging economic news in today's newspapers. Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri announced that they will be launching Budweiser beer is none other than Vietnam!

Now this my friends is what I call progress. Instead of "exporting" soldiers to fight in Vietnam we are finally - nearly 30 years later - doing something vital for both countries, namely serving up some beers for everyone to enjoy. I take this trade development news very seriously because two of my uncles served with the US Marines in Vietnam which caused many sleepless nights for my grandmother until both of her sons came home safe and sound.

As my personal friends know I am still a Cold War Warrior even though the Soviet Union (I was there in 1986) is a relic of history so I am not being soft on Communism when I state - I would have much rather seen my uncles delivering shipments of beer to Vietnamese villages instead of scrambling to stay alive by hiding in rice paddies filled with feces-dominated water.

The lesson here is of course a very ancient one -- "trading nations are not warring nations". When was the last time you feared an invasion of the USA by Canada or Japan -- two of our major trading partners?

Beer makes the world go 'round,

Todd

Deep in the Heart of Texas

2008-06-09T22:53:00.003-05:00

While I often say when it comes to government -- "I do not seek office but instead I seek to eliminate offices........." I must admit I have a soft spot for the concept of state governments having a "Governor's Mansion" although a better name might be the "Taxpayers' Mansion" but I will leave that one alone.

So it is with sadness that I read today's news reports that the State of Texas' 152 year old Governor's Mansion essentially was burned to the ground by an apparent arsonist. The mansion itself was undergoing a $10 million renovation so the artwork and antiques that were housed in the mansion were actually in storage off site so at least this bit of history was not lost in the blaze. However, the history that was lost was the fact that the mansion had housed all of Texas' governors from Sam Houston through current US President George W. Bush. Current Texas Governor Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, were living at another location during the renovation so they were not affected by the fire. Hopefully they are not living in a double-wide trailer home like then Governor of Arkansas Mike "Pick me for Vice President" Huckabee was during their state mansion's renovation.

As I read this story my thoughts centered on a truly remarkable man in Texas history -- Sam Houston. Not only did Texas name the City of Houston after him they also elected him their President during the Republic of Texas years, then as their first Governor when they became a state, and finally as one of their US Senators.

This reminder of Sam Houston's legacy and accomplishments made me look at my fast approaching mid-life period (okay - it is here already!!) to assess when I plan to accomplish something in my life then I realized -- "Sure Todd, Mr. Houston was a very successful politician but your blog reaches more people than Mr. Houston's blog ever did......." -- then reality sets in when I realize blogs did not exist in the 19th Century :-)

Mr. Houston, I remain very impressed with your life story and am inspired to seek public office in future years.

Teach history not social studies,

Todd

Hong Kong insights

2008-06-06T06:50:00.003-05:00

The Pacific Rim Policy Exchange conference that I am attending this week in Hong Kong ended last night with a dinner that featured Mr. Jimmy Lai Chee Ying, the founder of Next Media which includes the newspaper, Apple Daily.

Impressive is the best way to described Mr. Lai. Not only is he a successful businessman/multi-millionaire -- in both the fashion industry and the media business -- but he is also personable, humble, moral, entertaining, and a free market champion!! Now this is the kind of person China needs as its leader not President Hu.

Here is Next Media's website in case any of my readers can read Chinese - http://home.atnext.com/

I mention this website because during the dinner with Mr. Lai we were able to pose questions to him so I asked -- "what 3 websites do you read most often..........." -- to which he replied, "none, I read newspapers/magazines like Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Newsweek.........." I found this both insightful and amusing given all the hype about "New Media" and the death of newspapers. Here is a very successful business man who has built a media company which includes websites yet he doesn't even read websites.

The saddest bit of reality for me of course is that it is VERY unlikely that Mr. Lai will ever read my blog!!! :-) This ends our humorous commentary for today.

Finally I will close by noting that during my city tour today our tour guide informed us that "most residents of Hong Kong pay a maximum of 15% for personal income tax" which is closer to the world I want to live in. Hong Kong's economy is booming versus the "recession" atmosphere we have in the USA so I say we should reduce our income tax rates to a flat tax of 15% as an economic stimulus package.

Todd

Obama Wins!

2008-06-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

Indeed this was a very historic week in the USA with US Senator Barack Hope Obama securing enough delegates for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the USA. Not only was this an historic event because he is the first black/African-American to secure the nomination of a major political party but it is also historic because he is probably the most inexperienced candidate for the highest office in the land in at least the last 100 years. This includes one term "wonder" President Jimmy Carter who at least had executive experience since he was Governor of Georgia at the time but Senator Obama's experience includes time as a state senator in Illinois and only three years as a US Senator (http://obama.senate.gov/about/).

Personally I am not surprised that the "glass ceiling" that historically has produced only old white men (I am qualified!!) as major party candidates for President was broken by a black man (Obama) before it was broken by a woman - in this case US Senator Hillary RFK Clinton. Why? History my dead friends, history. Following the US Civil War we amended the US Constitution to ensure the right to vote for BLACK MEN (not women) in 1870. It took our nation until 1920 to amend the Constitution again to give WOMEN the right to vote. This was a full 50 years AFTER black men. So we should not be surprised that Senator Obama not Senator Clinton stands at the brink of becoming President in 2008.

Now if this historical math holds true - 50 years - then Senator Hillary Clinton would be in a great position to become President in 2058 when she will be only 111 years old!!

Keep hope alive,

Todd

Signs of Hong Kong

2008-06-04T09:43:00.002-05:00

This week finds me attending the Pacific Rim Policy Conference - an annual gathering of free market think tanks from around the region plus a few political operatives like myself. During our bus tour today on the way to dinner at Watermark Restaurant two posted signs caught my attention.

One of these signs made me laugh while the second sign frightened me a little. The sign that made me laugh said --

"Let's join hands to ensure food safety" -- Centre for Food Safety

Join hands? Wait a minute, my church suspends having the congregation shake hands to greet each other ("sharing of the peace") during the flu season so it seems very unwise to encourage people to "join hands" for food safety. I prefer we just don't touch at all :-)

On a more serious note the second sign read --

"One world, one dream" -- 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Perhaps the Red (ok, perhaps just "pink" lately given their economic reforms yet still repressive) Chinese leaders we simply trying to convey the "Olympic Spirit" with this banner campaign slogan but my initial read sent up a red flag. "One world" -- under Chinese leadership? This is not how I want to live nor do I believe I share their "one dream" but then again I might be reading to much into the message.

However, if the Communist Party of China creates free and fair elections to replace its politburo-drive police state then I am happy to talk about dreams we can share for our world. With the 2008 Olympics set for August China has very little time to be prepared to welcome the world with open arms and open access to the country but I fear another Tianneman Square-like demonstration will occur.

Overall it is great to be visiting Hong Kong so I look forward to more postings on this subject this week.

Todd

Power versus Freedom

2008-06-02T23:35:00.002-05:00

Last week I attended the Republican Party of Minnesota's convention in Rochester, Minnesota. While there I also went to a fundraising lunch for US Senator Norm Coleman who is up for re-election this year.

During this Senator Coleman lunch I sat at a table that included a retired state legislator (let me call him "Fred" since I respect his privacy - for now anyway!!) from Rochester - a Republican. Now I am no partisan especially since neither the Republican or Democratic Party is emancipating us from the tax (and regulatory) slavery we live in today but the lunch conversation with this former Republican legislator, Fred, really troubled me but more importantly made me happy he was no longer in "public service." Fred was commenting on the 2008 congressional campaigns when he told us, "I am supporting Congressman Tim Walz (Democrat-Minnesota) for re-election this year and Senator Coleman because I love power. This way the Rochester area will have someone with the governing party in the US House..............."

Yea, yea, I understand this Power Politics 101 stuff having not only studied it but via my nearly 20 years of professional political work. But shouldn't we all pause to ask -- "isn't greater freedom for all of us more important than raw political power?" I didn't pursue this conversation with Fred for numerous reasons - primarily because I had better things to do such as meeting with the Rochester Post-Bulletin newspaper to promote the idea that Minnesota needs to create a government spending transparency like the one we have at a federal level - www.usaspending.gov

No, Fred, your world view is a broken one. We should be more concerned with empowering citizens via comprehensive tax reform not simply kissing the ass of the ruling party.

Please stay retired,

Todd

Amnesty Programs

2008-05-28T22:02:00.002-05:00

Judging from the lack of recent media coverage the handgun/firearm amnesty programs must have achieved great success since I haven't seen any mention of these programs for at least one year. Perhaps it was the fact that I was driving alone (thus in deep thought............) in my gas-guzzling SUV today to our state capitol when it hit me -- "perhaps the green/mother earth warriors will start an 'SUV amnesty' program to save us from global warming!!"

Now I hesitate to give the Al Gore storm troopers this well-developed plan to guilt people into giving up their freedom of choice but here it goes anyway.

Step One -- some agreed upon sponsoring organization such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ("MPCA" -- I drove by their building today thus my inspiration for suggesting them in this role!) would announce an "SUV Amnesty/Exchange Program" .

Step Two -- This would be a "no questions asked" program whereby guilt-ridden SUV owners would turn in their SUV's to the MPCA in exchange for a cool pair of basketball shoes or a skate board (think "kids with handguns" here folks!).

Step Three -- The SUV's would be "recycled" into scrap metal or perhaps sunk off the American ocean coasts to help create artificial reefs.

Step Four -- the internal combustion engines of course would be dis-mantled and melted down (again think "handguns" folks) so we can stop the senseless killing caused by SUV's.

So do you think I am crazy to believe such a scenario could happen one day? Personally I think it is just a matter of time before such a program will exist given today's political climate. However, I am confident that my V-8 Dodge Durango is better for the environment versus the Toyota Prius hybrid but how is this possible readers may ask? The answer is simple based on "green logic" -- if petroleum products are so bad for the environment then we should rid our planet of them as soon as possible correct? So let me call on everyone who loves the environment to purchase an SUV, perhaps even an RV, or the original HUMMER if you can afford such items so we can collectively use up all of the world's oil as fast as we can because such a course of action would move us to alternative energy options faster than any government program that exists today or is being debated as I type this posting.

Use more oil,

Todd

Transparency Revolution

2008-05-27T21:19:00.002-05:00

All those hours of reading news stories/think tank reports/etc. and posting comments on this blog paid huge dividends recently!! The Star Tribune newspaper in Minnesota published an editorial focused on my personal campaign to ensure the State of Minnesota complies with a 2007 state law which requires our Department of Administration to create a database/website ("webbase" is my new catch phrase) that shows any interested web surfer where the state spends our tax dollars.

Interested readers can see the entire editorial via this weblink --

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/18989324.html

Let me call on the readers of this blog to ask themselves-- "hey, does my state, city, county, school district government have a similar 'webbase' so I know where our tax dollars go?" If the answer is "no such tool exists" then find out why and what needs to be done to get one created. Here is the State of Oklahoma's spending website which I first reviewed today --

http://www.ok.gov/okaa/

This "webbase" could be a model for your own state spending tracking tool.

As for my next steps here is where my campaign is going:

1.) August 5 -- I am hosting a meeting where people responsible for Minnesota's state spending database law will be explaining the project. This will happen in St. Paul, Minnesota if anyone wants to attend.

2.) City government -- I am drafting a memo to attach to a copy of the Star Tribune editorial so that I can hand deliver copies to our Mayor and City Council members in Apple Valley, Minnesota. I know of no city in Minnesota that does this spending disclosure today so this is a great opportunity for my city to be a leader in being completely open and honest with citizens.

So what plans do you have to add to the transparency revolution?

Yours in tax slavery,

Todd

OPIC

2008-05-26T21:24:00.003-05:00

As a free market economist the last thing that I wanted to see created is another cartel especially one created by nation-states. However, I also believe in age old rule -- "never bring a knife to a gun fight" -- so perhaps it is time to create a cartel (oh, it pains me to type this line!) as a counter weight to perhaps the worst cartel in economic history. This "worst cartel" is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC was created in 1960 as an inter-governmental organization designed to control the supply of oil to the rest of the world. Membership (12 members currently if I read the list below correctly) in OPEC has included the following nations during its 48 year of operation:

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela -- the Founding Members (1960)

Qatar (1961)

Indonesia (1962)

Libya (1962)

United Arab Emirates (1967)

Algeria (1969)

Nigeria (1971)

Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership from December 1992-October 2007

Angola (2007)

Gabon (1975–1994)

As I noted in my earlier "Oil Imports and Free Trade" posting on this blog the USA's number 1 and number 3 export partners of oil are Canada and Mexico which are not members of OPEC so that is a very positive thing for the USA's economic performance.

Since OPEC controls the largest known oil reserves in the world I have to wonder why the US Congress did not insist on having OPEC officials testify alongside or in lieu of the American oil company executives who were compelled to explain why their corporate earnings and profits are at all time highs while Americans are paying nearly $4.00 per gallon of gasoline.

Again - I hate to advocate this but the time has come to pressure and hopefully break the back of OPEC via the creation of our own cartel called the Organization of Petroleum Importing Countries (OPIC). Here is a weblink to a wealth of information regarding world oil production, consumption, exports, and imports. I truly wish the Members of the US Congress would scan such data before they demand people to testify before Congress --

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm

This website notes that the following 15 nations are the world's largest importers of oil:

1 United States
2 Japan
3 China
4 Germany
5 Korea, South
6 France
7 India
8 Italy
9 Spain
10 Taiwan
11 Netherlands
12 Singapore
13 Turkey
14 Thailand
15 Belgium

Based on this list we see that 6 of the 15 nations are members of the European Union (a sometimes partner of the USA and via NATO) while another three -- Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have been staunch American allies for nearly 60 years. These 15 nations represent the vast majority of GWP (Gross World Production) , military strength, population, and the highest standards of living in the world today which should provide enough leverage via OPIC to force changes at OPEC.

I would suggest that once OPIC is formed the organization should target one member country of OPEC to pressure them to quit this cartel using the full economic, military, and diplomatic might of the OPIC member states. One option OPIC might consider doing is to coordinate the member states' oil imports so that the targeted member of OPEC receives the vast amount of OPIC foreign direct investment (FDI) versus going into other OPEC nations and perhaps all trade barriers would be lifted between the targeted OPEC member of the OPIC member states conditioned upon the targeted OPEC member quiting OPEC. Finally, once the first targeted OPEC member quits OPIC would set its sights on the second targeted OPEC member, the third one, etc. until OPEC is forced to dissolve or simply loses its critical mass of world oil reserves controlled by this cartel.

Creating a new cartel to destroy a current cartel seems justified but of course my fear is that once created OPIC will want to perpetuate its lifespan thus the founding members of OPIC would need to include a "sunset clause" to their founding documen t to ensure it will one day dissolve.

Fight fire with fire,

Todd

More math classes and fewer press releases please

2008-05-22T22:20:00.005-05:00

Growing up in Northwest Iowa we always had a nice laugh when we heard the "poor" local farmers complain about crop prices, the weather, etc. while they were driving around down town in their brand new vehicles.

I had a flash back to this childhood memory tonight as I read our local newspaper here in Minnesota. Tucked inside the Local Section was a small story about the Stillwater, Minnesota public school district (today's "poor farmer") which announced it was able to hire a new "Communications Coordinator" (today's "new vehicle") which was a job eliminated earlier due to budget constraints. The article went on to note that this position's annual salary was $70,820.

Personally I would rather see my local school focus on hiring an additional math teacher or perhaps a Chinese language instructor to better prepare students for our global economy if it was able to find an extra $71,000 (plus that excellent benefits package including health insurance, public pension, etc.). No doubt school administrators would defend this hiring by stating -- "we need to develop communication tools (newsletters, website, etc.) to communicate with our students and parents.................." -- but I have to believe a current Stillwater student could easily manage the school's website better than any communications coordinator they hire and a student newspaper could be started in partnership with the local community newspaper. Such a partnership would provide the school with trained students able to produce any required newsletters but more importantly these students would develop tangible job skills needed after graduation from high school. Any money spent in this area would be a better expenditure than adding one more FTE (full time employee) via the Commuications Coordinator job.

There are better uses for this $71,000 at Stillwater Public Schools if the education establishment truly believes in putting "students first" as the Education Minnesota teachers' union TV ads want us to believe.

Then again perhaps I should apply for this Stillwater job (insert laughter here!),

Todd

US Senator Ted Kennedy

2008-05-21T22:23:00.003-05:00

Political news in the USA this week has been dominated by the disclosure that US Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. According to today's Wall Street Journal (front page coverage in fact!) the life expectancy for the type of tumor Senator Kennedy has is about 14.5 months so by July of 2009 the last of the Kennedy Brothers political dynasty will have passed into the afterlife.

Now I do not share Senator Kennedy's political views nor his driving record but let me be clear I do not wish him ill. This is tragic news for him and his family but it is also a "learning opportunity" for American voters this November. First, a short history lesson -- when US Senator Hillary Clinton, current presidential candidate, was named by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as director/chairman-in-a-pants -suit of a health care reform commission she was First Lady of course. Via this commission she advocated a complete takeover by the federal government of the entire American health care system to ensure we have universal health care/single payer health care. As most astute observers noted at the time such a "reform" would have ultimately created "health care rationing" such as is practiced in Canada which motivates Canadians to drive across the border into New York State, USA to get MRI tests conducted due to the existence of long waiting lists (rationing) in Canada.

So if the utopia that was to be -- "Hillary Health Care" -- existed today the principles of health care rationing would be applied to people like Senator Kennedy because he is 76 years old with a brain tumor. Senator Kennedy would clearly have to be placed VERY LOW on the waiting list for treatment since he is clearly at the end of his projected life expectancy for white men in America so the government's limited health care resources would be better spent on a 25 woman with ovarian cancer. Doesn't that make sense??

Of course not -- instead of some government health care rationing commission deciding which patients live or die based on the health care rationing regulations, actuary tables, etc. we need to empower family members to make these very personal health care decisions.

So if any readers out there believe the American health care system is completely broken then let's "reform" it completely by getting government the hell out of the system!! No more mandates on insurance companies regarding which services/procedures should be covered. Personally I would like to have massages and yoga instruction paid for by my insurance company since I believe in this form of "alternative medicine" but I am not about to lobby my government to require such coverage nor should another group of people lobby the government to force my insurance company to pay for plastic surgery procedures. Such mandates simply add to the overall cost of insurance thus resulting in insurance premium rates which are too high for a segment of society -- essentially government health care regulations have caused people to go through life with out health insurance.

Rationing is not rational,

Todd

Klansmen for Obama

2008-05-20T09:38:00.003-05:00

Throughout my nearly 20 years working in politics I have built and have witnessed some creative coalition building but yesterday's news out of West Virginia is perhaps the best one yet.

US Senator Robert "Name Another Building After Me Paid With Your Tax Dollars" Byrd of West Virginia endorsed US Senator Barack Obama for President of the USA yesterday. Now this biographical note does not appear on Senator Byrd's official website (http://byrd.senate.gov/bio.htm) but he was (can you quit this organization?) a member of the Ku Klux Klan which he comes to grips with via his book noted in this Washington Post (if you don't believe me perhaps you will believe the Post) article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105.html

A Senator's Shame
Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK
By Eric PianinWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, June 19, 2005; Page A01
In the early 1940s, a politically ambitious butcher from West Virginia named Bob Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant, the "Grand Dragon" for the mid-Atlantic states came down to tiny Crab Orchard, W.Va., to officially organize the chapter.

So congratulations Senator Obama -- you have to be the first black man/African-American (covering my bases here!!) in American history with a 50/50 chance of becoming president to be endorsed by a recovering Klansman. This is even a great accomplishment than when the Reverand Jesse Jackson ran for President.

Personally I think race relations in the USA would be helped by Senator Byrd taking his endorsement one step further by doing a national town hall meeting with Senator Obama to talk about his experiences in the KKK.

Now this is diversity,

Todd

Oil Imports and Free Trade

2008-05-18T21:21:00.004-05:00

This weekend's Wall Street Journal ("WSJ" -- oh, if only more Members of Congress read this sacred text!) featured an article reporting on the recent failure by President Bush to convince the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. This request was designed to increase world oil supply to help drive down gasoline costs for American consumers.

The WSJ article included a very informative bar graph which depicted the USA's "Crude Oil Imports, March 2008, millions of barrels a day" (from specific countries). The overall rankings included the following list from highest to lowest provider of crude oil to the USA:

Canada
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
Nigeria
Venezuela
Iraq
Angola
Algeria
Ecuador
Brazil

Now without me conducting extensive geo-political/cultural research on these 10 nations here is my quick snapshot overview of our reliance on these oil exporters based on my years of general observation, study, and travel:

Four (4) of these ten countries' (located in the Mideast and Africa) political systems are dominated by Islamic organizations -- many of which are hostile to the USA. Another three (3) of these countries (located in South America) have socialist governments with cool diplomatic relations with the USA but one in particular, Venezuela, consider the USA to be a greedy and corrupt empire destined to be overthrown.

Which leaves us with three (3) of these top ten oil suppliers to discuss -- Angola, Canada, and Mexico. First - Angola, located in Africa of course so this can pose distribution problems for the USA since President Chavez could use his oil money (partially gained from the USA) to build a naval presence capable of destroying Angolan oil tankers -- far fetched you might say but did anyone predict the Twin Towers in New York City would be bombed by passenger aircraft??

So that leaves us with Canada (which is # 1 on this WSJ list) and Mexico (coming in at #3 on the WSJ list) that we should consider not only valuable oil suppliers but also solid allies for the USA. Let's pause here to count our blessings since these two countries are of course our northern and southern neighbors. Additionally the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) helps to ensure that these three economies are reliant and inter-dependent on each other. Tell me -- does anyone out there fear Canadian troops invading the USA? No because the old maxim is true -- "trading nations are not warring nations."

Here are two key things we should focus on in terms of American foreign policy:

1.) Encourage (and assist) Mexico to modernize and privatize its national oil monopoly to increase its production capacity so the American economy receives an increase in supply.

2.) Enhance the Canadian-USA relationship via --- increased exchange student programs especially in the fields of geology and engineering, state trade missions led by all 50 of our governors to Canada, and film festivals featuring movies like "Canadian Bacon" and "Strange Brew" (hey -- just trying to little the mood here after the earlier talk of Islamic radicals and Latin dictators!!).

Free trade has benefits that people like Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to overlook since they are pandering to the Democratic Party's "base" at the general public's expense not just in pocketbook but also in national security terms.

Free trade is the oil that lubricates the world economy,

Todd

Obama and Clinton Cutting a Deal

2008-05-17T20:48:00.001-05:00

As the Democratic Party presidential nomination winds down to what appears will be a victory for US Senator Barack Obama all the pundits are speculating what will become of his challenger - US Senator Hillary Cattle Futures Clinton.

From what I have seen all the speculation has focused on whether or not Clinton will become Obama's Vice Presidential running mate or that Senator Clinton would drop out gracefully to help unite the party as she looks towards the 2012 presidential election - which of course is based on the scenario that US Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee, would defeat Senator Obama in November 2008.

Let me offer another scenario I have heard or read anywhere. Here is a hint -- Hillary is a "lawyer". Any guesses?

If you haven't guessed yet here we go -- Senator Clinton drops out gracefully by cutting a deal with Senator Obama and does all she can to help Senator Obama elected in November 2008 with no plans to run in 2012. The deal? President Obama appoints Senator Clinton to the US Supreme Court which of course is a lifetime appointment versus the potential 8 years (assuming she get re-elected in 2012 or 2016 depending on when she would potentially run - this year or in 2012. Yes - I know that is complicated!) that Senator could serve as President due to the current constitutional limitations.

Today Hillary is 61 years old so assuming President Obama appoints her to the Supreme Court in 2009 (assuming there is a vacancy - although the Clintons could probably arrange that!!) she could serve in that capacity for potentially 25 years based on current life expectancy rates.

Wow! I don't know which scenario gives me worse nightmares -- President Clinton for 8 years or Justice Clinton for 25 years.

Sleep well,

Todd

Follow The Money

2008-05-13T15:19:00.005-05:00

Since American taxpayers lose nearly 50% of our wages -- when you add federal, state, county, city taxes together -- due to the tax burden we suffer in this country we have every right to demand where OUR money is spent. Don't you agree?

Here in the State of Minnesota we had a new law that went into effect in 2007 that requires the state government to create a database/website (aka "Google Government") which would show any interested person where the state spends OUR money. After nearly 1.5 years since this bill became law we tax slaves of Minnesota still do not have a tool that will allow us to follow the money.

After numerous telephone calls and emails -- too many actually in terms of transparency/efficiency for citizens -- with the state Department of Administration , the state legislature, local activists I know, and even some Washington DC groups that track these issues for a career -- I still do not have a good answer that explains why we do not have this database/website operational yet. Today I was told that "yes this is the law but we did not receive any money to pay for the implementation and our consultant told us we need $1 million to $2.5 million to implement this website............"

Wow, that sounds like real money!!

How is it that several states have moved forward with this "Google Government" concept at very low costs but Minnesota needs millions of additional tax dollars to do the same thing? Here are some examples for readers to ponder and for asking your own state governments why they don't have such a website:

http://www.nebraskaspending.com/ -- Nebraska

www.window.state.tx.us/wherethemoneygoes -- Texas

The one encouraging aspect of my last two days of telephone calls and emails is that I found out our local media is very interested in this database project. Historically I have "challenged" far too many journalists to emphasize the "investigative" part of their reporting such as when I read an article about the St. Cloud, Minnesota school district being unable to purchase textbooks due to a lack of funding. No where in the article did you see evidence of the reporter asking some hard questions like -- how much does the school district need for text books and how much does it spend today on automobile allowances for administrators? A classic question since my teacher friends complain this is why they have to purchase equipment for their classrooms with personal money every August. The vital lesson for me is that even though they are un-elected/un-paid by taxpayers our journalists are currently more accountable to taxpayers than many government officials are today. Yet another reason to continue buying newspapers!!

Finally, I need to note that the population of Minnesota is about 4.5 million people while the population of Texas is nearly 17 million YET the Comptroller of Public Accounts for Texas reports that she developed their spending transparency database/website at a total cost of --

$310,000

So Minnesota needs at least $1 million dollars but the State of Texas did essentially the same thing for only $310,000?

Something is clearly wrong here and further justifies the need for spending transparency in government.

Todd

Run Hillary Run!!

2008-05-12T11:57:00.004-05:00

Via my blackberry news service I just heard that former US Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia has announced he will run for President of the USA under the Libertarian Party (LP) banner. While this news will no doubt excite many of my conservative friends especially the Ron Paul supporters I doubt the LP will win more than 5% (perhaps 3% maximum in fact) this year even with a former Republican US Congressman (Barr) at the top of the ticket. I have met with Mr. Barr and like his worldview but unfortunately he is just not high profile enough to capture the national headlines needed to advance his campaign.

However, what REALLY does excite me is the opportunity that US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has at her fingertips. Since Senator Clinton highlighted for American voters that her opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, US Senator Barack Obama, is NOT qualified to "take that call at 3 am" that tests what every president is made of during a crisis.

If Senator Obama is really not prepared for the extreme challenges that are likely during his presidential term then Senator Clinton must, in fact is required, to launch a third party campaign assuming Senator Obama wins the Democratic Party nomination for President and does not choose Senator Clinton to be his vice presidential candidate.

So which party for Hillary to save the American public from an unqualified President Obama? Green Party? Not a great option since she would somehow have to overcome/replace Ralph Nader who is seeking this party's nomination -- http://www.votenader.org/

I won't even begin to find a new party for Senator Clinton to join but here is an extensive list of her choices --

http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Given her current opposition to free trade agreements and "concern for working families" perhaps she should pursue a "Hillary Clinton-Lou Dobbs" ticket with one of these various third parties.

Imagine how much fun November would be for voters -- beyond college football of course -- if the presidential candidates included -- McCain, Obama, Clinton, and Barr -- running as candidates from four different political parties. Now that would be an exciting range of choices.

Run Hillary Run until November,

Todd

Elitists for Hope and Change

2008-05-09T15:12:00.004-05:00

In the run up to the Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania in April this year US Senator Barack Hope Obama (BHO) was pummeled by US Senator Hillary Change Clinton (HCC) for his comments regarding voters which were considered to be "elitist" in nature.

Now that is progress in the USA when a black man is considered elitist versus being considered mere chattel to be sold in the public square!!

As I have posted here before I find it comical that the "party of the common man" (Democratic Party) has a provision in its party rules whereby an elite politburo of "super delegates" exists to essentially determine who becomes the party's nominee this year due to the close nomination battle between BHO and HCC. So we end up with a group of elites (super delegates) choosing from two elites (BHO and HCC) to rule over us tax slaves.

Now this coronation process should bother all of us -- especially anyone who has read what guided the Founding Fathers' thinking as they created the USA. They specifically forbid the creation of titles and royalty but I will admit their Electoral College was a semi-elitist check on the popular vote. Hey, nobody is perfect, even James Madison the Father of the US Constitution.

However, I am not surprised by the American public's willingness to defer to various elites to govern us as evidenced by the default royal class we have created in the USA via Hollywood stars and celebrity weddings such as Jenna Bush's (daughter of US President George W. Bush of course) in Texas. In fact I saw a newspaper article about the wedding with a photograph of the wedding copy featured on a computer mouse pad that can be purchased in Crawford, Texas.

Of course I will probably be called an elitist myself for my disdain of this aspect of American society by both of my readers but so be it. Jenna didn't even invite me!!!

Get me to the cabin,

Todd

Yes to Yurts and No to TSA

2008-05-07T18:42:00.003-05:00

This past weekend my family and I went on a "world tour" via the Festival of Nations (www.festivalofnations.com) in St. Paul, Minnesota. This annual event could best be described as a three ring circus since the festival had three major components:

Country specific food booths featuring cuisine from around the world
The "bazaar" where you could purchase products from around the world including ethnic-specific products such as a "Parking for Germans Only" sign (my dad loves the one I gave him years ago!!) and where you could speak with natives of the countries represented.
Live entertainment -- music and dance performances such as Irish step dancing which in a Catholic Irish town like St. Paul, Minnesota is always a favorite!!

One additional feature of the festival that I like to highlight is that for US$0.75 you could purchase a "passport" that you would get stamped at each country booth that you visited. So we purchased one for our four year old daughter so she could see the world. While we visited at least 20 country booths the one we had the most fun at was the Mongolia booth because they had a "yurt" (native home) set up that you could tour. Our daughter and I explored the yurt's interior (I want to buy one for a family cabin but then again I don't want to go through a divorce so I won't buy one............) for too long of a time since we had numerous countries to visit.

The best thing about this "travel" was that we did not have to strip down like prisoners for inspection by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) storm troopers - although someone from TSA will probably think having a booth at the Festival of Nations in 2009 would be a great "community outreach" idea!!

Consumers Without Borders,

Todd

North to Alaska

2008-05-01T22:52:00.002-05:00

Following my trip to Atlanta last week while attending the "Heritage Resource Bank" conference of free market think tanks I traveled on to Anchorage, Alaska for a few days of business meetings -- and perhaps a football game -- where we talked business of course.

Since it was the end of April when I was in Anchorage the weather was clearly "nearly Spring" which of course means the annual "city wide clean up" sponsored by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. Overall I like the idea of the city -- population about 300,000 -- coming together to clean their city of the winter trash that accumulates so that the city looks clean, safe, and welcoming for the tourist season. Now granted it was just the end of winter when I was there but from what I saw while walking around downtown and via my 20th floor view from my hotel room was the Anchorage Chamber should combine its annual city clean up with a tree/shrub/flower planting event -- perhaps held a few weeks later to avoid a late freeze. I suggest this because from what I saw Anchorage is pretty dominated by surface parking lots and no downtown parks that I could see especially since I walked everywhere so I had a ground level perspective on the city.

As for the football -- what could be better than Monday Night Football via the "Intense Football League" (same game as Arena Football League only the IFL has smaller salaries and smaller crowds!!) which paired the Alaska Wild (Anchorage) against the San Angelo (Texas) Stampede Express?? My little group had a great time at this game especially since the Wild won!! I have to say though there is no reason to "hype up" the league via the "Intense" moniker in their name. The overall quality of play was very good plus the team spirit and competitive drive exhibited by the players was the most entertaining. You really have to admire the players' intensity especially since they get paid about $300.00 per game.

Overall I really enjoyed my time in Anchorage and look forward to future opportunities to see the Last Frontier.

Todd

Sweet Tea

2008-04-25T22:21:00.002-05:00

"Yawl want some sweeeeeetea.................?"

Hello from the capital of the "New South" , Atlanta, Georgia (aka "Hot-lanta") where I am attending the annual Heritage Resource Bank (www.heritage.org) conference for the free market think tank community. The other partners of this conference include the Atlas Foundation (www.atlasusa) and the State Policy Network (www.spn.org) which work in conjunction to foster and expand the global network of free market think tanks which work to develop and implement public policy reforms that will not only generate greater economic wealth but will also expand individual liberty.

I love attending this conference which typically has over 700 attendees primarily from the USA but also from numerous foreign countries. For example the attendees at my dinner table tonight were from -- Portugal, Dominican Republic, and Peru -- I had never met this people before but the mutual interest we shared -- limited government -- allowed us to have a great dinner conversation coupled with numerous networking ideas to better connect the freedom "movement."

Yes I complain about the size of government in nearly every post I make on this blog but I have to stop to count my blessings since some of the think tanks that the Atlas Foundation works with actually risk imprisonment for simply speaking out about the reforms their nations need. Clearly, life is pretty good in the USA for agitators like me compared to the challenges some of these think tank leaders face back home -- I won't lose sight of my own reality but will work every day to reduce government intrusion.

Personally my "batteries" are re-charged after talking to friends and new contacts over the last few days so I am ready to go home to continue the good fight.

Enjoy your tea before the FDA regulates it,

Todd

Shakira

2008-04-23T23:49:00.003-05:00

While reading today's USA Today newspaper I noticed a photo of musician, Shakira, during her recent visit to Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Shakira was using her star power to promote the "Global Campaign for Education" to call attention to the need for education around the world.

It is great to see Shakira getting involved in public policy issues but since she is a native of Colombia I would have loved to see her meet with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi -- who has used her office to prevent debate over the proposed US-Colombia free trade agreement -- to argue that free trade with Colombia would help create new wealth that can be used to improve education options for the children in her home country.

I am certain the Colombian drug lords love the idea of keeping the current trade barriers in place so that the local farmers don't not have new economic opportunities created via free trade thus defaulting them back to raising coca for the drug lords.

Free trade is music to my ears,

Todd

Zoo + Zoo = One

2008-04-22T07:35:00.004-05:00

Here in Minnesota our state constitution mandates that the legislature must adjourn by May 19 so with less than a month to go before we taxpayers are safe again the final legislative pieces of the puzzle are being determined. One perfect example is the "bonding bill" whereby the State of Minnesota issues bonds to pay for a wide variety of projects around the state. During this year's session our two major zoos -- Como Park Zoo and the Minnesota Zoo -- pursued $41 million but only received $2.5 million after the legislative process.

Now I love zoos and I love writing personal checks for projects I believe in so when I read this news in today's newspaper I was not troubled at all. My family has visited Como Park Zoo several times along with the Minnesota Zoo (www.mnzoo.com) which is only two miles from our home so we are active users of these facilities. However several factors --

rising property taxes in St. Paul,
the fact that the Como Zoo and Marjorie McNeely Conservatory ( http://www.comozooconservatory.org/index.shtml) are owned by the City of Saint Paul,
the state's nearly $1 billion budget deficit,

Lead me to conclude that these two zoos need to think beyond simply lobbying the state legislature for more taxpayer money. Let me offer an idea that I haven't seen any legislator pursue this year -- the City of St. Paul should divest the Como Zoo as a city-owned asset and combine it with the Minnesota Zoo into one entity that is not only stronger but would also benefit from the syngeries/cost savings that would result from combining these entities' management teams, marketing efforts, "friends of the zoo" networks, access to exhibits, etc. On a personal note I know the Minnesota Zoo can do better in terms of managing its volunteers since I have volunteered three different times and also asked three different times regarding the possibility of them bringing back their 5K "Zoo Run" fundraising event but I have NEVER been contacted -- not a great way to build public support I have to say.

This would allow the City of St. Paul to focus on basic, essential government functions -- fixing pot holes (that could be privatized too but I will give them that one), law enforcement, and fire prevention -- versus running a zoo and conservatory. Yes I realize there are numerous political turf issues and "access" issues since Como Park Zoo is "free of charge" (nothing is free of course since taxpayers pick up the tab of course) but we need to expect our public entity leadership to think beyond their current strategy of lobbying the state government for more of our money.

Don't feed the animals,

Todd

"Going goofy"

2008-04-21T11:28:00.003-05:00

Yes it has been several days since my last posting but with good reason -- the family and I took advantage of my wife's maternity leave and a speaking opportunity I had in Honolulu, Hawaii to create a "working vacation". This "working vacation" concept has to be the greatest oxymoron of our time!!

While I stayed on top of work via conference calls and blackberry we toured the island of Oahu and spent time with a fraternity brother's family who is stationed there with the US Marines. Semper fi!! Overall the time spent in Hawaii was more vacation than work so a successful journey. As for my speaking engagement I was a guest speaker for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii's (http://www.grassrootinstitute.org/) , which is a free market think tank for Hawaii, monthly center right, leave us alone coalition meeting known as the "Calabash". My topic was on "Political Correctness -- the anti-don'ts" which we thought was a very witty play on words. No need to give my readers all the details of my presentation so let me summarize -- government takes our money and tells us how to live so they can keep us alive longer just to keep paying more in taxes so the government can have more resources to control our lives even more....................you get the idea.

Beyond the speech and our personal touring I noted several observations regarding life in Hawaii which I outline below in no particular order:

The laid back island attitude is alive and well - some of the drivers reminded me of past trips to the Caribbean
Hawaii's traffic congestion could be improved simply by having drivers take "drivers' education refresher courses" since the left lane of freeways are to be used by drivers that are going faster than other drivers!! Move to the right if you don't care when you arrive at your destination so the rest of us can get on with our lives please :-)
Hawaii's public schools are broken and yet they are taking money away from the charter school system -- this will only reduce what little competition the "old school" schools have today.
In an effort to reduce their traffic congestion the Honolulu City Council (and county government it appears) is debating whether or not to build a train system. The major problem that I noticed is that you have city council members voting on which train technology should be used -- rails, rubber wheels, or magnetic levitation -- instead of choosing winners and losers the council members should develop general transportation policy not pick and choose what their toy train should look like.
Speed limits on their freeways vary substantially. You will be driving in a posted 45 miles per hour are which changes to 60 miles per hour and then to 50 then back to 45 miles per hour all within 10 or 15 minutes of driving thus you never allow for an even flow of traffic given all this acceleration and deceleration.

Well enough public policy discussion. Regarding fun activities I can cite the Dole Plantation tour as a highlight and my tour of the Marine base was eye opening since I learned that the US military is still flying Vietnam era helicopters to fight the current war in Iraq. Yes the helicopter may work well and taxpayers save money but I have to think about the computers I have used over the last 20 years -- the Apple II I used in high school have zero capability compared to my current Sony Vaio lap top which comes complete with multi media functions. We fought in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago so imagine the technological changes that our current soldiers are not benefiting from today. We could probably end the war in Iraq faster if we modernized our Armed Forces.

On a personal note I finally completed an item on my "bucket list". I finally took surfing lessons and discovered that I am not as limber as I was back in high school!! Since I am left handed the instructor taught me to surf left-handed which is known as "going goofy" in surf lingo. I actually tried to surf goofy style and right handed but only succeeded in flying off my board and hitting the water hard. No cracked ribs but a wake up call for me to take more yoga or Pilate's classes.

Surf's up (and so is our tax burden),

Todd

Stick it to the corporations!!

2008-04-09T00:17:00.004-05:00

Let me offer an easy wager -- $20 says that you can survey 10 people on the street and not be able to find that even 2 of them agree with me when I say --

Businesses don’t pay income taxes – the “ C.E.O.” pays these taxes –

No, not the Chief Executive Officer but instead the “Consumers” C (via higher prices), “Employees” E (via layoffs and salary freezes/cuts), and “Owners” O (shareholders via lower stock prices and unpaid/reduced dividends).

Here is a Minnesota-specific example to show you just how painful corporate income taxes are to the average working person. Let's say "Mary Svenjohnson" works at Target Corporation's Minneapolis, Minnesota headquarters office. Then let's say our legislature overrides Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto (since I am certain he would veto such bad policy) to raise Minnesota's corporate income tax from its current 9.8% up to a full 11% as a way to "create jobs in Minnesota through government investments............."

Hey, come on Todd that is only a 1.2% increase -- surely a greedy company like Target can afford to pay it right? Wrong -- in order to pay the state coffers the additional 1.2% they have to choose how to raise the cash. One option would be to raise the prices on the clothing Mary Svenjohnson likes to buy at Target or even bump up their grocery prices. Another option - perhaps in combination with the first option would be to simply lay off Mary Svenjohnson to help reduce corporate overhead, and then once Mary is sitting at home unemployed she will have plenty of free time to read her mail from Target's Investor Relations department telling her that Target will cut their dividend payment to shareholders this year so Mary's 401k account takes a hit when this third option is pursued by Target to raise the funds the mandarins in state government demand for their central planning.

Yes indeed -- just keep raising corporate income tax so we get to the workers' paradise even sooner.

Todd

2:32 AM

2008-04-07T22:42:00.004-05:00

In our modern consumer world where stores are open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week I was struck by how different the world of government operates. Here are two prime examples from my State of Minnesota that showcase how governments simply do not operate like the rest of us in the private sector:

Last week our Minnesota House of Representatives debated the state budget legislation for 14 hours which ended at 2:32 am, and
Today I went to our local city council office to submit some new paperwork they require for landlords only to discover the city offices close each day at 4:30 pm

In the first example above one could argue that the debate schedule in the House was a good thing for citizens since you could leave work, say at 5 pm, to catch hours of remaining debate over the state budget since they debated until 2:32 am.

But let me ask my readers who work in the private sector -- does your company have staff meetings until 2:32 am to determine next year's sales plan? Ok, I admit that alot of corporate decisions have probably been made in a bar around 2 am but overall companies are keeping employees in conference rooms until the wee hours of the morning.

No the real problem here is the "quality" of this budget debate -- how many state legislators were even awake at the closing hours of this debate BUT even more important -- did state legislative leaders think these "business hours" benefited the average Minnesota citizen? Even if we tried I doubt my wife and I could have found a baby sitter for the 6 pm to say 3 am shift if she and I wanted to be watchdogs for taxpayers during this legislative debate.

As the old adage goes -- "sunshine is the best disinfectant" -- and that could not be truer when it comes to government. Ending the debate at 8 pm would not have harmed anyone other than those members of the "takings coalition" who want to extract even greater tax revenues from us tax slaves.

On the opposite end of this 2:32 am government business timeframe is my local city council mentioned earlier which has its office open from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Fortunately I don't commute like many people in our community do so I can stop by during these hours to conduct my business but let's say you start your morning commute at 7 am and leave the office at 6 pm which returns you home at 7 pm -- zero opportunity to complete your business before the city council. Unless of course all government services are online/website-based which is the case in the country of Estonia. Personally I tried to complete my landlord registration form via my city council's website but it failed to work so I had to start over by simply printing out a copy to mail or deliver to the council offices.

Government offices need to scrap their union rules and their pushing through legislation under cover of darkness so that the average citizen can participate in and protest their government.

Reform starts with customer service,

Todd

Alycia of Troy

2008-04-03T23:05:00.004-05:00

Yet another US political family has been rocked by a sex scandal - this time in the state of Michigan where US Senator Debbie Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, "told police he paid a prostitute $150 for oral sex at a hotel", according to a Troy, Michigan police report cited in my local newspaper today.

The article went on to note that Mr. Athans, age 46, is co-founder of the "liberal TalkUSA Radio network" and that the prostitute involved was Alycia Martin, age 20, of Westland, Michigan. However, the most confusing and interesting part of this report was that while Ms. Martin was arrested with a "charge of prostitution" the police did NOT file any charges against Mr. Athans.

Perhaps a call to the Troy, Michigan police will clear this up tomorrow but for now I have to wonder about the following issues:

If an act of prostitution is completed between two people (money changes hands) how is it one person is arrested but the other one remains free?
Did Mr. Athans simply do this as yet another "talk radio" DJ stunt to gain publicity? :)
Why do such stories consume space in our newspapers?
Will authorities also charge Ms. Martin with tax evasion or did she plan to claim the $150 as ordinary income?

And justice for (almost) all,

Todd

Living with the Parents

2008-04-02T22:28:00.003-05:00

No, no I am not living with my parents again (at age 42) but Jo Ann Bauer, at 50 years old, is living in her childhood bedroom in her parents' home in Eden, Wisconsin. This according to an Associated Press (AP) article by Emily Fredrix (March 22, Pioneer Press) that I recently read.

Now I feel sorry for Ms. Bauer who was laid off from her resort job in Kohler, Wisconsin just one year after her divorce was finalized. This chain of events led to bankruptcy followed by the move back to the parents' home. Today Ms. Bauer is employed and saving money so she can purchase a house while her parents cover her basic living expenses.

So what should we make of this news that financial planners who were quoted in this same AP story saying this is a growing trend of parents offering substantial financial support to clearly mature/adult children? Perhaps Ms. Bauer made some unwise , even lavish, purchases along the way or perhaps she has a gambling addiction -- the story never tells us and I am not doing this blog posting to focus on what she may or may not have done correctly in her life.

Instead let me focus on -- Bill and Shirley Smith -- Ms. Bauer's parents. You have to admit their assistance to their daughter is a loving statement but let's focus on their life in retirement. First let's assume Ms. Bauer started working at age 22 so now that she is 50 years old that means she has been paying into the Social Security system for 28 years -- money that has gone into the "trust fund" (I don't trust the government with our funds I say!!) that exists to pay her parents' retirement payment. So for 28 years Ms. Bauer has paid 7.65% into the Social Security/Medicare funds (FICA) while her employers over those same 28 years have contributed another 7.65% (money that could have been paid as salary to Ms. Bauer if the government did not confiscate it via taxation). A whopping 15.3% of her earnings went to the federal government which is ON TOP OF personal income taxes, state income taxes, etc. Full details on this tax policy are at --

http://www.nyc.gov/html/opa/html/taxes/socialsecurity.shtml

To REALLY simplify this math let's also assume Ms. Bauer made $50,000 each and every year of her 28 working years so 15.3% of $50,000 over 28 years =

$214,200

Final note -- this same AP article noted that Ms. Bauer was saving money so she could have enough for the 5% down payment needed on a home for herself but she only had 2%. I have to guess that if she had this $214,200 in her savings account earning a measly 2% interest she would still be better off than letting the government keep her money in the "trust fund" to keep paying her parents' retirement checks so they can afford to house their 50 year old, bankrupt daughter.

No, whether flaws or personal financial mistakes Ms. Bauer made along the path that led her back to her childhood bedroom pale in comparison to the $214,200 robbery the government committed at the "Bauer State Bank" .

FICA off federal government,

Todd

Pizza - Minnesota

2008-04-01T22:59:00.002-05:00

The Grand Avenue area of St. Paul, Minnesota is populated with unique stores and quality restaurants so the city council takes their planning and zoning duties VERY seriously. First a little history -- late last year a planned "Noodles and Company" location on Grand Avenue was vetoed by the planning authorities because "fast food" isn't allowed on Grand Avenue.

Just last month a multi-location pizza restaurant -- Punch Neapolitan Pizza (www.punchpizza.com) -- announced plans to renovate a current building on Grand Avenue to create its sixth location in our Twin Cities. Originally Punch was going to demolish the building they purchased to build a new facility but that design plan was deemed to be a "fast food outlet" by the planning authorities so Punch opted for the renovation plan instead. Score a victory for the historic preservation crowd but also a victory for pizza lovers! Punch produces excellent wood fire grilled pizzas and since most customers have to wait nearly 45 minutes to an hour during the dinner hour their produce is CLEARLY not fast food in terms of both dining time required and quality of the food served.

Personally I am troubled that Punch has no immediate plans to build a location "South of the River" in our part of the Twin Cities since we clearly would benefit from an added restaurant choice of Punch's caliber.

Bon appetit,

Todd

Starbucks

2008-03-28T13:38:00.004-05:00

Since today's work schedule started with a meeting at a Starbucks location in Minneapolis, Minnesota I was reminded of the court judgement in California they lost last week. This class action lawsuit forces Starbucks to pay $100 million in back tips plus interest to current and former baristas (fancy word for "coffee servers") . Full details can be found at --

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23736754

Apparently Starbucks allowed/perhaps encouraged shift supervisors to take a share of "tip jar" earnings left by satisfied customers. Honestly though I do think we should call these "tips" by their more accurate name -- "loose change" -- since I doubt that many customers perform the mental math at Starbucks that is necessary for tips in restaurants.

For me the most troubling quote in the MSNBC article I read was this one:

Terry Chapko, an attorney for the baristas, said the ruling was a victory, but the case was far from over. “Starbucks should be paying their shift supervisors a supervisory wage, not compensating them through tips that legally belong to baristas,” he said.

Chapko's comment about wages is a red flag for me given the growing trend of city councils to mandate "living wages" that companies must pay their employees. Now since my first "real" job outside of the home was washing dishes and waiting on tables at a local restaurant I have personal experience with the importance of tips in American society. No, Terry Chapko - the problem is not the wages Starbucks pays its supervisors but instead it is the "tip jar" system itself since it is at best a socialist model whereby the baristas split up the "pooled" tips at the end of the day. But in this case it was even worse -- the supervisors took a share of the tips which to me is a throwback to feudalism!

So Starbucks could have avoided this entire lawsuit by avoiding the "common tip jar" and replacing it with a set of tip jars for each employee working during each shift. Perhaps allow the employees to individually (now there is a bad word given the "collective" world we live in!!) decorate their personal tip jar to attract customers' loose change.

Such a system would not only reward the best workers but it would also empower consumers by giving them a choice -- if "Tony" did a great job on my double non-fat frappe-latte then I would tip his jar but if "Fred" at the cash register could not organize a two car funeral as he processed my change from a $20 bill for a $4.35 coffee then Fred would not get a tip.

No sharing of the fruits of labor unless it is voluntary,

Todd

Wireless Soldiers

2008-03-27T22:28:00.003-05:00

While sorting through my office mail today I found a business reply envelope from an organization called -

Cell Phones for Soldiers
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

This is a non-profit group based in Massachusetts which is working with a Michigan-based company, "ReCellular", to recycle cellular telephones for use by US military personnel to stay in touch with their loved ones. However, the next few sentences which I copied from their website says it all for you:

“Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year,” says Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular, “with the majority of phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer. Most people don’t realize that the small sacrifice of donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.” Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

Two elements are worth highlighting in above paragraph from their website:

1.) Americans will replace an "estimated 130 million cell phones this year..." - That is an amazing statistic that reminds us that recycling in this case can benefit many lives if we work to avoid the landfills.

2.) This organization was founded by two teenagers using $21 dollars of their own money.

What - no government program was involved? These are exactly the kind of people that make the USA the "city on the hill" for the rest of the world. However, I would encourage these founders to look beyond helping soldiers by expanding their distribution network to get as many Iraqis and Afghanis as they can onto the wireless network. Such a distribution of cellular technology would help improve several situations in these two recovering nations including:

provide an additional network of "eyes and ears" reporting potential terrorism to military and police personnel
enhance commerce by empowering citizens with access to market information and the ability to do comparative shopping simply by calling vendors in surrounding communities
end the isolation many citizens must fill as they stay hunkered down in their homes due to the ongoing violence

The founders of this program should be thanked repeatedly for their good works. One additional hopeful thing we should keep in mind is that the founders are YOUNG so they have enough time and energy to expand their capabilities in the directions I noted earlier in this blog posting.

Clean out your closets Americans,

Todd

Economic Waste NOT Stimulus

2008-03-26T14:38:00.004-05:00

The US Congress recently approved an "economic stimulus" package whereby they borrow money to give checks to us today in the hope the economy will improve regardless of their mis-guided decision so they can be re-elected in November 2008 elections.

Now I think the economics of this "stimulus" package are completely bunk but in today's posting I will simply focus on the administrative elements involved in implementing this package:

First -- after the media reported that "checks from $300 to $1200 will be in the mail to taxpayers as a result of this economic stimulus package............" our home received a letter in early March from the Internal Revenue System (IRS) telling us to expect a check in May. Question -- why was this letter necessary and more importantly, why wasn't the "check" simply sent in early March instead of/or with this IRS letter to save both time and expense?

Second -- what is the cost of printing and mailing the millions of checks this package requires? I guess that is just an added "economic stimulus" right since someone must be paid to get this work completed?

Third -- while traveling this week I read a VERY tiny (this should have been front page news not buried in the newspaper) article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper stating that the IRS "will open 320 offices on Saturday (March 29) to help low income people , includes some retirees and veterans, get the checks they are eligible for............."

Question -- what am I missing here? These 320 offices are designed to help people that by description are already datapoints - via welfare payments/TANF, earned income tax credit (EITC), Social Security, and military records -- in the numerous government databases used to track our lives so shouldn't it be easy for the government to simply mail them a check? Yes perhaps some of them are homeless but how will they be informed as to where these 320 offices are located?

If Congress truly wants to help people like those listed above then let's see them vote to eliminate ALL taxes on Social Security benefits ( http://www.ssa.gov/history/taxationofbenefits.html )clearly that would help senior citizens pay for their heating bills and prescription drugs.

Clearly more details and better journalism are needed regarding these office expenses since my initial gut instincts tell me this is a WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY!!

Prove me wrong,

Todd

School Choice

2008-03-24T23:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's Easter dinner attendees included two family friends from the education world -- a current elementary teacher and a retired teacher -- who do not support any form of school choice. Most readers out there will already know that most etiquette counselors tell us the topics that should be avoided over dinner include:

politics
religion
sex

Given our different worldviews on school choice "politics" was clearly not a topic at this Easter gathering. While Easter is of course a highly important religious holiday that wasn't really a topic that could be discussed since I always highlight the fact that Jesus Christ did not like monopolies (the "temple" -- think about public schools today) and of course said there was a limit to government power ("render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto the Lord what is the Lord's.............") so that would have placed us on the same path to disagreement during the dinner conversation.

That left "sex" which was clearly not going to be discussed.

At the end of the day I spent my time pondering school choice issues on my own since the teachers walking around the house provided constant reminders of our past debates on how best to reform our education system.

So here is my question -- if school choice is such a bad idea or simply un-needed for today's students why should we allow "school choice" for teachers?

By this I mean -- teachers are free to move from school to school as opportunities present themselves -- yet students (in the vast majority of cases) are required to attend the local government school provided in their neighborhood. To be consistent why don't we simply require teachers to teach in the schools in their neighborhoods -- regardless of supply and demand or personal interests?

Choice should be universal,

Todd

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing

2008-03-20T17:09:00.002-05:00

No doubt my younger readers out there are wondering what I am talking about when I say - "Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing" (MMM) but if I mention "3M" and "Post-It Notes" then I would connect with you. MMM was the original company name that evolved with societal and economic change to become the industrial giant known as 3M today.

But given today's front page news in my local newspaper -- "3M sends troubling signal to Minnesota: Unit HQ move opens front of uncertainty for the state's economy" -- perhaps they should change their name again to "1M" . The days of 3M being a mining operation in northern Minnesota are essentially gone with them evolving into a supplier of mining supplies (a good economic move by the way to get out of the commodity business of mining into a high-value service industry like mining supplies). Now with today's news that 3M plans to move the leadership team of its optical systems division from Maplewood, Minnesota to Hong Kong sends another clear clue that we have heard here in Minnesota before -- 3M will probably cease being based in Minnesota within a few years given the changes in the global market.

I have no problem with 3M moving with the changing global marketplace knowing full well the state of Minnesota could be harmed in terms of jobs, prestige, etc. with such a loss. However, I do have a BIG problem with our current state corporate income tax which the Minnesota legislature has failed year after year to reduce -- better still, eliminate -- to make Minnesota a more competitive tax jurisdiction.

A perfect example is the article on the same front page today below the "3M Sends Troubling Signal........." which was entitled -- "State Budget Fixer Turns to Business Tax Reform." In this article we find that one of our state representatives has proposed a "business tax reform" that -- BIG SURPRISE HERE -- raises another $171 million for state government. This legislation would accomplish this theft by closing a tax loophole for "foreign operating companies" combined with a reduction in the state corporate tax rate from 9.8% to 8.8%. Wow, a full one percent, how generous the state can be with our tax money!!

Sadly most consumers would probably say the same old refrain of "yea, tax those corporate fat cats" without realizing -- due to the lack of school choice/competition in this country -- that CORPORATE INCOME TAXES ARE SIMPLY PASSED ON TO CONSUMERS AS HIGHER PRICES OR TO SHAREHOLDERS IN REDUCED DIVIDENDS.

The Minnesota Legislature could easily make national news simply by bringing our corporate income tax rate down from 9.8% to 0% with the net effect being increased economic growth in Minnesota. Yes -- 3M may still leave its original home in Minnesota to become a non-USA corporation but at least by eliminating this tax we will actually COMPETE to keep 3M here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes versus our current policy which encourages companies to leave our state borders.

Now this is a tax reform debate that should happen in St. Paul.

Time to dump more tea in the harbor,

Todd

Defend our Wallets First THEN our Borders

2008-03-17T22:26:00.004-05:00

My thanks to the recent edition of Parade magazine (www.parade/intel) for their annual installment -- this one always comes before the April 15 income tax filing date it seems! -- entitled, "Government Watch -- Where Your Money Goes."

As reported the U.S. federal government spending levels for 2008 include:

Consumer and Occupational Health/Safety -- $3.1 billion
Federal Prisons -- $6.2 billion
Disaster Relief and Insurance -- $12 billion
International Development/Foreign Aid -- $14.3 billion
National Institutes of Health -- $28.6 billion
Food & Nutrition Assistance -- $60.2 billion
Homeland Security -- $64.9 billion
Medicare -- $396 billion
Military spending -- $583 billion
Social Security -- $615 billion

Hey, a million here and a million here in Washington DC and pretty soon you are talking about real money!! Let's take a moment to re-group these budget line items to match some categories up with each other. For instance --

1.) Homeland Security and Military Spending combined = $647.9 billion

2.) Medicare and Social Security combined = $1,011 trillion

So we spend LESS money keeping our nation safe then we spend in the forced taxation/Ponzi schemes known as Medicare/Social Security which are meant to provide Americans with a "safety net" that improves quality of life.

Yet Medicare/Social Security do not provide "care" or "security" given the waste and inefficiency of these systems. The anti-military crowd protests how much money our nation spends on military budgetshttp://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm ) but yet these same people never seem to join protest regarding our broken Social Security system . Essentially Social Security pays a very poor 1% return on our "investment" (forced taxation) yet who complains other than crack pots like me who blog constantly?

Now this is true injustice -- not excessive military spending whereby the federal government turns our nation into deaf and dumb robots paying taxes via auto-pilot (payroll deductions) to fund black holes like Social Security.

No nation even needs to invade the USA since our "social benefits"/forced taxation system has already destroyed most of our citizens by stripping away their desire to live free or die.

Surely our Founding Fathers would be disappointed in our management of our own affairs,

Todd

Keeping People in Poverty

2008-03-15T13:56:00.003-05:00

Since a few of my European friends read my blog I wanted to share this information with them so we can compare personal income tax rates:

Single Person - 2007 USA Federal Income Tax Brackets

US$ 0 to $7,825 = 10% federal income tax rate
$7,826 to $31,850 = 15%
$31,851 to $77,100 = 25%
$77,101 to $160,850 = 28%
$160,851 to $349,700 = 33%
$349,701 and over = 35%

These income levels and tax brackets are of course called a "progressive" tax system because as you make more money the government takes even more of your earnings. However, let me highlight two of these income brackets which are taxed at the 10% and 15% levels.

Now since the US federal government declared that our "poverty level" in terms of income (in 2006) to be $10,400:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#The_official_measure_of_poverty

Let's take notice of the obvious -- we have American taxpayers currently in the 10% and 15% federal income tax brackets who are earning the federal poverty salary level YET our government still demands they pay a portion of their income to the Internal Revenue System.

Personally I want to completely eliminate our personal income tax since it is not only a form of theft it is an invasion of personal privacy! I thought the US Supreme Court declared in Roe vs. Wade that the Constitution protects personal privacy thus making abortions legal in the USA but for some reason this personal privacy protection does NOT extend to how and how much I earn my income?

Yet I know we don't have the votes in Congress to eliminate personal income taxes so my default position is the "flat income tax." Just to make up some numbers -- how about a 15% income tax for all taxpayers/households for earnings above and beyond $150,000? Now that would not only simplify our tax compliance system but it would also raise known/consistent revenues for the government (which I oppose but it is a compromise to get us away from our current plantation system known as the IRS) but most importantly it would bring TRANSPARENCY to our tax system and eliminate the class warfare that exists with today's progressive tax rate system.

Yours in tax slavery,

Todd

Pizza - Part 2

2008-03-15T13:37:00.002-05:00

Clear evidence that people read my blog this week as I received two posted comments on my "Pizza" posting regarding the largest pizza companies in the USA. Sadly though -- the topic of "pizza" garnered more comments than my past postings regarding income tax reform ideas but there in lies the challenge. Although I could completely re-vamp my blogging to create a blog solely dedicated to pizza -- recipes, restaurants, chefs, appropriate beers, etc -- which could lead to a book deal like my friend's blog which is dedicated to a pork product (I won't disclose the book deal until she tells me it is public then of course I will buy a book for my brother who loves the stuff!!).

Coincidentally pork is a key ingredient for several pizza recipes so let's get back to pizza. In this "Part 2" posting I want to respond to the two posted comments. A college buddy noted that I completely overlooked a campus favorite -- Pizza Pit -- which tastes great if you are sober or drunk!! Just for fun today I called the location we always used to go to at +1 515.292.6914 . It is amazing how memory works since it has been 19 years since I graduated from university but can still remember their phone number. FYI -- they are open until 12 midnight today if needed.

So thanks for reminding me about Pizza Pit. Here are a few other chain pizza operations that I have enjoyed over the years:

1.) Godfather's
2.) Rocky Rococo's

To recap for my readers from my initial pizza posting -- Pizza Hut is ranked at the largest (in terms of 206 revenue) pizza firm in the USA but clearly "bigger is not better" when it comes to pizza since I would much prefer a trip to "the Pit" than to "the Hut".

Save me a slice,

Todd

FOIA

2008-03-14T22:18:00.002-05:00

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

James Madison

Fourth President of the USA and Father of the Bill of Rights

During lunch today I attended the "2008 Freedom of Information Day" at the Minneapolis Central Library here in Minnesota. This event was organized by the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information which is chaired by the ever-personable Helen Burke, a librarian at this same library.

The event's keynote speaker was Jane Kirtley, Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law, whose presentation was entitled: "The Light at the End of the Tunnel - The Outlook for Freedom of Information." To paraphrase Ms. Kirtley we should be encouraged by the improvements we are seeing in terms of access to government records. Sadly, I had to spend my time driving to the top of a parking garage so I was a few minutes late to hear some of her speech so I missed some of the points she made.

The event concluded with short "reflections" offered by two of the 2008 John R. Finnegan Freedom of Information Award winners -- which totaled eight (8) journalists from the Associated Press and Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) . The primary message I heard from these informal speakers was that our state Department of Transportation essentially buried its head in the sand when the Interstate 35 bridge collapsed. As a communications consultant let me state the obvious -- "if a tree (bridge) falls in the woods while everyone is there for a picnic, YES the falling of the tree was heard!!! " -- in a crisis those in charge have to get out in front of the story NOT become the media story.

Overall, I enjoyed the event and talking with a few people I knew at the reception. Today's awards event was a nice kickoff for "Sunshine Week" which begins on March 16 to highlight the constant need for vigilance when it comes to knowing what the government has done or plans to do to us (not FOR us -- don't ever believe that old line).

The "First Amendment" was designated as "first" for a good reason,

Todd

Tax Filing Time

2008-03-13T11:14:00.002-05:00

American tax slaves (aka employed and even retired/non-working people since their income streams are taxed in the USA) have about one month before the infamous April 15 federal income tax deadline is here so we stay in compliance with the Internal Revenue System. The only option of course is not filing income taxes which might lead to serving time in jail living off the resources of those people who did pay their income taxes. Ah, the options we have in life!!

So as my readers scramble to file their income taxes I wanted to share some state income tax data with all of you (ok, both of you!!) to put your own situation into perspective:

STATES WITH NON PERSONAL INCOME TAX:

Alaska
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Washington State
Wyoming

Yes my state of Minnesota borders South Dakota so a move is very tempting but I enjoy being married so I stay here :-)

STATES WITH FLAT INCOMES TAXES:

Colorado - 4.63%
Illinois - 3%
Indiana - 3.4%
Massachusetts -- 5.3%
Michigan - 3.9%
Pennsylvania - 3.07%
Rhode Island - 5.5% (starting in 2010)

If we can't eliminate personal income taxes right away here in Minnesota then I say -- give us a flat tax. A flat tax is not only efficient and transparent but it actually "fairer" than pitting economic classes against each other via the class warfare the current system lives on and promotes today.

From the Land of 10,000 Taxes,

Todd

Pizza

2008-03-12T22:01:00.003-05:00

Yes the residential housing market is the worst in nearly 10 years and our job growth rate is essentially 0% here in Minnesota but some encouraging business news was reported by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal recently.

Indeed -- Little Caesar's Pizza has returned to the Twin Cities market after closing all its locations about a decade ago. Now this caught my attention for two reasons -- 1.) I am always watching the business news looking for economic growth, and 2.) I love pizza!!

The article I read regarding Little Caesar's return to our market included a bar graph which ranked the "Largest Pizza Chains" in the USA (according to revenue in billions of dollars) so here it is reproduced for readers:

#1 - Pizza Hut with just over $5 billion in revenues
#2 - Domino's Pizza
#3 - Papa John's Pizza
#4 - Little Caesar's Pizza with $810 million in revenues
#5 - Cici's Pizza
#6 - Sbarro
#7 - Papa Murphy's Pizza

SOURCE: QSR Magazine , based on 2006 system wide sales

If you have traveled the small towns in Minnesota and Iowa like I have then you know that numerous Pizza Huts have been closed and/or converted into other businesses -- primarily Mexican restaurants if you ask me!! -- yet they have nearly double the total revenues of the #2 on this list, Domino's Pizza.

As I noted earlier -- I love pizza especially Chicago style deep dish stuffed with spinich. My other bias is for the local mom and pop pizza shops like, "Fat Tony's Pizza Cave" , which doesn't exist but I would eat there just because of its name -- wouldn't you? So while I am not a huge fan of the multi-location, chain pizza operations I will admit that I think the "Pizza Ranch" chain operation has a great product but clearly is not an industry leader yet but your pizza lovers out there should be watching for opportunities to eat at the ranch.

Regarding the seven pizza operations noted on the list above I have eaten at all of them except for #5 -- Cici's Pizza, www.cicispizza.com -- so I was intrigued to know more about this company. Cici's was formed in 1985 in Plano, Texas (Ross Perot country!!) and today has stores in 29 states primarily across the southeastern/south central USA. Their expansion plans include heading north to create locations in Minnesota so I will likely see them soon in my area.

Speaking of local pizza -- Roasted Pear restaurant in Burnsville, Minnesota serves some very tasty wood fire grilled pizza. Their corned beef pizza served around St. Patrick's Day (March 17) is a nice break from the same old pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut that millions of Americans eat.

Seek variety,

Todd

Times Have Changed

2008-03-10T10:40:00.003-05:00

Years ago while walking through an airport I purchased a copy of Rolling Stone magazine which featured a young, female singer I had never heard of before. As it turns out it the singer was Britney Rehab Spears and it was the same day I noticed that I was clearly an old man since I felt completely out of the loop.

Now at age 42 I recently had my second, "0kay I am clearly getting old now........." moment this past Friday night when I participated in my first Eagle Scout Board of Review (BOR) for the local Boy Scouts of America here in Minnesota. The BOR is the last stage in approval for a Boy Scout to receive Scouting's highest honor -- the Eagle Scout award. Statistics show that only about 3% of all Boy Scouts achieve the Eagle rank.

One element of the BOR is a discussion of the Boy Scout's "service project" required for the Eagle award. Our scout that evening had organized and managed a city park landscaping project. However, while reviewing his paperwork the thing that caught my attention was the "liability waiver form" that he had all volunteers for this project sign.

My own Eagle Scout service project was completed nearly 30 years ago but I can clearly remember that we did not have everyone sign liability waiver forms. My goodness today's world has changed - for the worse in this case since society is so lawsuit prone.

The one positive thing is that today's young men still strive to achieve the Eagle Scout award which has been earned by some great Americans who recently passed away -- former USA President Gerald Ford and explorer Steve Fossett.

They will be missed,

Todd

Party of the Common Man

2008-03-07T16:15:00.003-06:00

As the USA's presidential campaign continued this week with primary elections/caucuses in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island several things became clear/official:

US Senator John McCain (Arizona) will officially become the Republican Party's nominee at their September 2008 convention

The fight for the Democratic Party's nomination between US Senators Barack Obama and Billary Clinton is still very competitive and is likely to go on until at least the April primary in Pennsylvania

All the people concerned with the "front loading" of states leap frogging each other to host their primaries even earlier assumed a front runner would win the nominations in February but clearly the races are more competitive than was anticipated

American voters will have to choose their next president from one of two US Senators in November (McCain, Obama, Clinton) so for all the talk of the need for "change" in Washington DC voters have opted to move a current insider from the US Senate down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House instead of choosing a complete outsider to the Washington DC Beltway

But for me what stands out from all the other elements here is the fact that the "Party of the Common Man" -- the Democratic Party -- has a group of "super-delegates" who are delegates to the national convention (Denver this year) by virtue of their party/political office position not because voters empowered them by casting their primary votes for Obama or Clinton. This "super-delegate" system can not be more elitist within the party of the common man. Essentially you have about 900 people not accountable to any voters in any direct manner free to anoint the 2008 Democratic Party nominee.

So there are two campaigns going on -- the photo opportunities and supporter rallies in diners and schools around the country by Obama and Clinton to gain the popular vote coupled with a behind the scenes lobbying campaign of the "super-delegates" since they have enough votes as a group to swing the party nomination to either Obama or Clinton based on the current delegate count.

This is the same Democratic Party that always celebrated its "Jefferson-Jackson Day" dinners while failing to remember that Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson hated powerful elites like "super-delegates" wielding so much power. The Democratic Party should end its hypocrisy by either:

eliminating primary elections, or
eliminating its super-delegate/the elites know better system

Now that is what I call progressive thinking :-)

Todd

Skol Favre!

2008-03-05T11:32:00.002-06:00

Well it is official -- Green Bay Packers quarterback, Brett Favre, announced his retirement from the National Football League yesterday. I have to admit that while I am a Minnesota Vikings fan I always had great respect for the way Mr. Favre played the game.

So here is the opportunity for the Vikings given our poor roster of quarterbacks -- sign Brett Favre to a one year contract!! Yes I know the die hard, hate the Packers more than cancer, crowd will shout in protest but stop to think about it for a minute.

As a starting quarterback Favre has a 17 wins and 14 losses record in terms of the Packers vs. Vikings. Imagine the media and fan response to such a deal -- some Packer fans would be heartbroken that he signed with the arch-rival Vikings but others would be glad just to see him playing again. As for Viking fans -- if we were smart we would celebrate this contract. Beyond the quality it would add on the field just imagine how many #4 purple and gold football jerseys the Vikings would sell!! Hell, they might make enough money in jersey sales and season ticket sales to be able to pay for their own stadium versus asking taxpayers to contribute.

Some sports writers might say such a deal would be more public relations than offensive firepower but I think Favre still has enough gas in the tank to move the Vikings into the promised land of the playoff season.

With such a small chance of such a deal being completed I must be an adult about it to wish Mr. Favre a happy and restful retirement. I barely can walk after a few racquetball games so my respect for what he can do on the field after being sacked by 300 pound plus defenders is enormous.

Best wishes Brett,

Todd

Social Security and Marijuana

2008-02-29T16:05:00.003-06:00

Today's newspaper featured a crime story from a neighboring community - Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Apparently, Doanzell Geiddarr Johnson , AGE 37 (thirty seven years is key here), was arrested for possession - he says delivery only since he did not own it -- of 213 pounds of marijuana.

Now Mr. Johnson is defending himself as being a simple "delivery man" who picked up the boxes at a UPS store in St. Paul, Minnesota with no intention of selling it himself. He defended himself by telling the police that he was, "doing it for the money -- $200 a box -- as he is a student and living on Social Security." Unfortunately for Mr. Johnson's defense he was caught carrying $5400 while driving a Hummer H2 vehicle.

Not bad for a student "living on Social Security"!! What the reporter failed to tell us is -- why is a 37 year old living on Social Security? I thought when President Franklin Roosevelt's socialist administration/politburo created Social Security it was simply meant to be a safety net to help senior citizens retire so they did not have to live in poverty.

Now this highlights the number one problem with government programs -- mission creep. Social Security has constantly been expanded over the last 70 years to the point where it is completely broken. I might sound heartless and ignorant of Mr. Johnson's life details when I say it -- but a 37 year old with $5400 in cash and driving a Hummer probably can live a decent life without Social Security payments don't you think?

Coupled with Social Security reform our government should give serious consideration to drug law reform because legalization of drugs will not only help to reduce crime but it will also reduce the tax burden the rest of us face being forced to pay for the police state to "fight the war on drugs." Lastly, if Mr. Johnson could legally sell these 213 pounds of marijuana it would be a taxable business transaction subject to sales tax and income taxes -- tax revenues that could help make the Social Security system solvent. Even though I want the Social Security system dismantled not returned to solvency -- with the current taxes returned to our pockets.

Today's crime stories reflect not only our societal problems but also the need for government reform.

Todd

Census for 2010

2008-02-25T15:22:00.002-06:00

In the year 2012 the US House of Representatives elections will be conducted within new congressional districts created by the various state governments based on the 2010 US Census data. This is a once every ten year process known as "reapportionment."

Based on a recent newspaper article I read here is a list of the states expected to gain and lose US House seats based on our shifting national population:

WINNERS:

Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon

LOSERS:

New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana, and California

At first glance an obvious trend becomes very clear - America's population centers are moving away from cold, northern states to warm, southern states. Now if global warming is getting so bad that we are all going to die -- except for the celebrities flying in their private jets to global warming conferences apparently -- why are people moving to warm weather states? But more importantly I need to note that people are moving to states with NO personal income taxes -- Texas, Florida, and Nevada are in the "winners" list above in terms of state that will gain seats in the US House of Representatives.

So even though my "home states" of Iowa and Minnesota will likely lose clout in the US House of Representatives the one positive is that states free of state income taxes will gain more votes thus putting their Congressman in potential leadership positions to push for federal income tax reform.

We have to wait nearly 5 years yet (January 2013 when the new Congress is sworn in) to see the impact of these demographic shifts but so far it is encouraging from a tax reform standpoint.

Todd