An essay and video from Governor Daniels here.
Indiana is still afloat. In fact, we’ve fared better than most. We continue to meet our obligations without raising taxes, and the reserves we carefully built and protected will get us through the downturn.
But as if we did not already have enough on our plates, the passage and implementation of Obamacare presents us with a whole new set of challenges and a costly to-do list.
I note with special sadness that first and foremost amongst the bill’s consequences will be the probable demise of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). This program is currently providing health insurance to 50,000 low-income Hoosiers. With its Health Savings Account-style personal accounts and numerous incentives for healthy lifestyle choices, it has been enormously popular and successful.
Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid, soon to cover one in every four citizens, will not only scoop up most of HIP’s participants, but will also cost the state between $3.1 and $3.9 billion over the next decade. It is hard to see how my successors as governor will be able to avoid a steep state tax increase to pay for it. Meanwhile, our medical device companies and small businesses will shed jobs as they wrestle with the taxes and penalties levied to help finance Washington’s “reforms.”
Now, this man is:
1. Not running for President.
2. Not a funny-looking guy on a motorcycle with American flags flying on his way to a Tea Party rally.
3. Not a guy living in Momma's basement who obsesses about Obama's birthplace or religious affiliation.
4. In other words, not Astro-Turf that the White House can dismiss.
He's responsible for running one of the largest states in the Union, with a budget larger than a lot of small countries. Geographically, Indiana stretches from the outskirts of Chicago (oh, joy!) to the southern reaches of Kentucky, where the accents and culture are very Dixie. It is a huge industrial state, a huge agricultural state, smack in the middle of the United States. Indiana is not Wyoming.
If we wonder why jobs are not being created, we would do well to read his words.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Beck Rally 8/28: This Gathering Will Be Covered
Last year, ObamaBob claimed not to have seen the tens of thousands of Tea-Party types who invaded the streets of Washington. "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!...'
It was pretty comical, but all in the White House and most of the mainstream media managed to keep that stiff upper lip going.
This time, it appears, coverage will occur--it's already occurring, actually.
Even the SEIU admits it's happening, and they're not happy about it.
OS doesn't know what to think about Mr. Beck, is not one of his breathless followers. But, the man certainly has struck a chord in the American psyche.
Here's hoping for an orderly, cheerful, peaceful day tomorrow. Al Sharpton is staging a counter-event nearby, which is not a prescription for order and good cheer.
Coverage will be on C-SPAN.
It was pretty comical, but all in the White House and most of the mainstream media managed to keep that stiff upper lip going.
This time, it appears, coverage will occur--it's already occurring, actually.
Even the SEIU admits it's happening, and they're not happy about it.
OS doesn't know what to think about Mr. Beck, is not one of his breathless followers. But, the man certainly has struck a chord in the American psyche.
Here's hoping for an orderly, cheerful, peaceful day tomorrow. Al Sharpton is staging a counter-event nearby, which is not a prescription for order and good cheer.
Coverage will be on C-SPAN.
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Mouse Teaches English: Disney In China
This from The Economist, and it bears a close read.
Lots of descriptive stuff about the experience that Disney offers, but here's the heart of the matter:
Disney’s focus groups find that for Chinese parents, “education means everything”. English, in particular, is viewed as a ticket to the wider world, says Mr Sugerman. Studies commissioned by Disney estimate that the market for children’s English-language education in China is growing by 12% annually and will reach $3.7 billion by 2012. That may be too modest. Adele Mao, an analyst at OLP Global, a research and consulting firm, reckons the market is already nearly $6 billion a year and is growing by 20%.
OS, in part of his life, works with students, teachers, parents and educational institutions. What he tries to convey, with only slow progress, is that parents and kids in places like China are laser-focused on education, especially in English. By contrast, OS deals with native English speakers who are illiterate in their native tongue. His friends who teach in universities are going bald, tearing out their hair over students who cannot write or speak English. Not the immigrant kids--the native born kids.
Disney gets it.
OS hopes more parents here will begin to, lest we end up like this guy:
Lots of descriptive stuff about the experience that Disney offers, but here's the heart of the matter:
Disney’s focus groups find that for Chinese parents, “education means everything”. English, in particular, is viewed as a ticket to the wider world, says Mr Sugerman. Studies commissioned by Disney estimate that the market for children’s English-language education in China is growing by 12% annually and will reach $3.7 billion by 2012. That may be too modest. Adele Mao, an analyst at OLP Global, a research and consulting firm, reckons the market is already nearly $6 billion a year and is growing by 20%.
OS, in part of his life, works with students, teachers, parents and educational institutions. What he tries to convey, with only slow progress, is that parents and kids in places like China are laser-focused on education, especially in English. By contrast, OS deals with native English speakers who are illiterate in their native tongue. His friends who teach in universities are going bald, tearing out their hair over students who cannot write or speak English. Not the immigrant kids--the native born kids.
Disney gets it.
OS hopes more parents here will begin to, lest we end up like this guy:
Thursday, August 26, 2010
MIT Rolls Out Oil-Eating Bots: A Good Knock-On Effect Of The BP Spill
No one is happy that the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred.
But, America has this imaginative way of responding to challenges.
Let's hope this really works.
Let's also hope the White House Clown Show doesn't regulate them out of existence.
Because if they DO prove effective, a major hurdle in off-shore drilling can be cleared, e.g., What happens when things go awry?
This technology, therefore, will be targeted by ThePeopleInChargeOfMakingCertainTheEconomyFails.
It will allow energy production. Bad.
It will create jobs and private-sector wealth. Very bad.
It will, therefore, impinge upon the ability of the Environmental Left to shut down whole portions of the economy. Intolerable!
Three Cheers for MIT. Green Shoots Nominee.
But, America has this imaginative way of responding to challenges.
Let's hope this really works.
Let's also hope the White House Clown Show doesn't regulate them out of existence.
Because if they DO prove effective, a major hurdle in off-shore drilling can be cleared, e.g., What happens when things go awry?
This technology, therefore, will be targeted by ThePeopleInChargeOfMakingCertainTheEconomyFails.
It will allow energy production. Bad.
It will create jobs and private-sector wealth. Very bad.
It will, therefore, impinge upon the ability of the Environmental Left to shut down whole portions of the economy. Intolerable!
Three Cheers for MIT. Green Shoots Nominee.
Sometimes, Only Laughter Will Do: The Abraham Lincoln Ad
OS is, well, weary. The week is being spent on restoring the house post-flood, post-contractor, pre-academic year.
Yesterday was spent helping rescue an 80+ year old friend from the clutches of an auto dealer in Brentwood, Tennessee, who attempted to convince her that her lovely Caddy need $3500 of work, and that she needed to just get rid of it (e.g. trade it to us for about 2K or so), and buy another car (from us). OS drove it to his mechanic, who serviced it, replaced one tie rod end, replaced a piece of molding ($10 in supplies consumed), went over it with a fine-toothed comb, and charged her $233 for his efforts. The car has 70k miles on it, and drives showroom new.
When the propaganda about the 'New GM' begins to ratchet up, and the dealers pipe in about their 'new approaches to customer care', remember this little old lady. OS suggests we all run the other direction.
Another friend has lost a family member to a tragic drowning. A student is in the process of being tossed from her family, because she wishes to go to college, which is anathema in her world. Another friend was just summarily fired after eleven years, because the boss doesn't like him, and the organization he helped hold together (the church OS holds his membership in) is about to go through a period of chaos. OS lacks the energy to get involved, but he is anyway...
So, with nothing to say of value, OS offers a moment of dry, lovely humor. His readers in the US have seen this, but the readers from overseas likely haven't. Kudos to the creators of this little gem.
Yesterday was spent helping rescue an 80+ year old friend from the clutches of an auto dealer in Brentwood, Tennessee, who attempted to convince her that her lovely Caddy need $3500 of work, and that she needed to just get rid of it (e.g. trade it to us for about 2K or so), and buy another car (from us). OS drove it to his mechanic, who serviced it, replaced one tie rod end, replaced a piece of molding ($10 in supplies consumed), went over it with a fine-toothed comb, and charged her $233 for his efforts. The car has 70k miles on it, and drives showroom new.
When the propaganda about the 'New GM' begins to ratchet up, and the dealers pipe in about their 'new approaches to customer care', remember this little old lady. OS suggests we all run the other direction.
Another friend has lost a family member to a tragic drowning. A student is in the process of being tossed from her family, because she wishes to go to college, which is anathema in her world. Another friend was just summarily fired after eleven years, because the boss doesn't like him, and the organization he helped hold together (the church OS holds his membership in) is about to go through a period of chaos. OS lacks the energy to get involved, but he is anyway...
So, with nothing to say of value, OS offers a moment of dry, lovely humor. His readers in the US have seen this, but the readers from overseas likely haven't. Kudos to the creators of this little gem.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Words Matter: Despite/Because, Because/Despite--NPR Story On Lotteries
The headline from NPR is: More People Buying Lottery Tickets Despite Recession.
Or, perhaps, is it because? When people lose the existential connection that work, effort, thrift, and virtue create wealth, they lose hope. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
When people see the worst sort of hustlers enrich themselves, leaving the wreckage behind for others to clean up, they lose faith. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me. At least I didn't toss the economy over the cliff in the process.
When people see governments selling lottery tickets, they hear the message: Wealth happens via the lightning strike, mere capricious fortune, so instead of going to the bookie or the numbers game, we'll run numbers instead. The sense of integrity departs the culture. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
(Besides, it's fer educashun--can't argew with educashun, can we?)
Despite.
Because.
In any case, it is heartbreaking to walk into convenience stores and see dispirited-looking people handing over cash for a 1 in 40-million chance of hitting the magical number that changes everything for them.
Or, perhaps, is it because? When people lose the existential connection that work, effort, thrift, and virtue create wealth, they lose hope. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
When people see the worst sort of hustlers enrich themselves, leaving the wreckage behind for others to clean up, they lose faith. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me. At least I didn't toss the economy over the cliff in the process.
When people see governments selling lottery tickets, they hear the message: Wealth happens via the lightning strike, mere capricious fortune, so instead of going to the bookie or the numbers game, we'll run numbers instead. The sense of integrity departs the culture. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
(Besides, it's fer educashun--can't argew with educashun, can we?)
Despite.
Because.
In any case, it is heartbreaking to walk into convenience stores and see dispirited-looking people handing over cash for a 1 in 40-million chance of hitting the magical number that changes everything for them.
If You Pull Demand Forward....It Falls Down Later: July House Sale Numbers
It's breathtaking to watch ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings commit such obvious knucklehead mistakes.
If you bribe people 8K to buy houses, and then stop bribing them, they'll stop buying.
This is a bit like watching a train wreck from a distance. One can jump up and down, wave the arms and scream, but those two locomotives will meet on the same track, nonetheless.
This is about the culture, which shapes the economy. This approach to human behavior is destructive, of people, of culture, and of the economy at the last.
Heaven have mercy on us.
If you bribe people 8K to buy houses, and then stop bribing them, they'll stop buying.
This is a bit like watching a train wreck from a distance. One can jump up and down, wave the arms and scream, but those two locomotives will meet on the same track, nonetheless.
This is about the culture, which shapes the economy. This approach to human behavior is destructive, of people, of culture, and of the economy at the last.
Heaven have mercy on us.
Someone, Somewhere Needs To Get A Life: Juli Inkster Tossed On A Golf Rules Violation
Were it not so heartbreaking for a classy athlete, it would be funny. But, it's not.
Somebody, with too much time on his hands, and a detailed knowledge of the rules of golf, spotted Juli Inkster taking some warm up swings on the tenth tee, using a weight on her club. From his television set. She had been waiting for half an hour to tee off, and was loosening up.
So, he calls the golf tournament, to bust her. And the tournament officials take the call! Why? What on earth were they thinking?
They let her finish the back nine, and then tell she's been DQ'd. It's heartbreaking, because she was in the hunt for the lead when they tossed her.
This is idiocy. Does baseball allow fans to phone in if they suspect a balk? Or allow TV viewers to report a corked bat? Do hockey fans get to call in high-stick penalties on a game in San Diego from a bar in Boston?
This sort of stuff poisons the well. The game is on the course, between the ropes. The TV audience, as much as some individuals may wish it, is not a participant in the tournament. If they wanna play, they need to make it through Q-School, on their own merits.
How's about a new rule in that arcane book that prohibits tournament officials from taking phone calls from wing-nuts?
OS hopes the players raise hell with tourney officials. Perhaps if some notables begin pointedly not showing up, the point may be made. Let ticket sales tank on a few events, and a new spirit of reason may yet take root.
OS also hopes the no-life twit who decided the LPGA couldn't live without him reads this. You, bubba, are the definition of a loser.
Take a hint: Most forty-year-old men have jobs and don't live in momma's basement.
Somebody, with too much time on his hands, and a detailed knowledge of the rules of golf, spotted Juli Inkster taking some warm up swings on the tenth tee, using a weight on her club. From his television set. She had been waiting for half an hour to tee off, and was loosening up.
So, he calls the golf tournament, to bust her. And the tournament officials take the call! Why? What on earth were they thinking?
They let her finish the back nine, and then tell she's been DQ'd. It's heartbreaking, because she was in the hunt for the lead when they tossed her.
This is idiocy. Does baseball allow fans to phone in if they suspect a balk? Or allow TV viewers to report a corked bat? Do hockey fans get to call in high-stick penalties on a game in San Diego from a bar in Boston?
This sort of stuff poisons the well. The game is on the course, between the ropes. The TV audience, as much as some individuals may wish it, is not a participant in the tournament. If they wanna play, they need to make it through Q-School, on their own merits.
How's about a new rule in that arcane book that prohibits tournament officials from taking phone calls from wing-nuts?
OS hopes the players raise hell with tourney officials. Perhaps if some notables begin pointedly not showing up, the point may be made. Let ticket sales tank on a few events, and a new spirit of reason may yet take root.
OS also hopes the no-life twit who decided the LPGA couldn't live without him reads this. You, bubba, are the definition of a loser.
Take a hint: Most forty-year-old men have jobs and don't live in momma's basement.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Say What?: The ShoreBank 'Closure'
Mish shares this from the WSJ:
Regulators seized ShoreBank Corp. on Friday and agreed to sell assets to a team led by the community lender's executives and backed by several large U.S. financial firms.
The bank closure, among the 118 failures in the U.S. this year, caps months of uncertainty for a $2.16 billion Chicago bank that had ties to the Obama administration and deep roots on Chicago's South Side. The new institution will be known as Urban Partnership Bank and led by William Farrow, a former First Chicago Corp. executive who was ShoreBank's president and chief operating officer at the time of its failure.
The decision to sell to management is a rare move by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which generally bars investors who own more than 10% of the failed bank from bidding on its assets. The FDIC also typically wants to know if bidders have "ever been an officer or director of a failed institution" and "participated in a material way in one or more transactions that caused a substantial loss to any such failed institution," according to an FDIC document.
The structure of the deal "is unusual," said Atlanta banking attorney Chip MacDonald.
The holding company will remain intact, according to a person familiar with the deal. Urban Partnership is backed by a consortium of large U.S. financial institutions, including Bank of AmericaCorp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
This stinks to high heaven.
In the 1980's, Tennessee went through a bank scandal with Jake Butcher and his family and cronies. Jake went to the pen, spent seven years behind bars. Lost everything, had to rebuild his life from the ground up.
These folks get bailed, and handed the bank back.
Somebody owes Jake an apology. His only mistake was that he only stole millions, unlike the backers of Urban Partnership.
Regulators seized ShoreBank Corp. on Friday and agreed to sell assets to a team led by the community lender's executives and backed by several large U.S. financial firms.
The bank closure, among the 118 failures in the U.S. this year, caps months of uncertainty for a $2.16 billion Chicago bank that had ties to the Obama administration and deep roots on Chicago's South Side. The new institution will be known as Urban Partnership Bank and led by William Farrow, a former First Chicago Corp. executive who was ShoreBank's president and chief operating officer at the time of its failure.
The decision to sell to management is a rare move by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which generally bars investors who own more than 10% of the failed bank from bidding on its assets. The FDIC also typically wants to know if bidders have "ever been an officer or director of a failed institution" and "participated in a material way in one or more transactions that caused a substantial loss to any such failed institution," according to an FDIC document.
The structure of the deal "is unusual," said Atlanta banking attorney Chip MacDonald.
The holding company will remain intact, according to a person familiar with the deal. Urban Partnership is backed by a consortium of large U.S. financial institutions, including Bank of AmericaCorp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
This stinks to high heaven.
In the 1980's, Tennessee went through a bank scandal with Jake Butcher and his family and cronies. Jake went to the pen, spent seven years behind bars. Lost everything, had to rebuild his life from the ground up.
These folks get bailed, and handed the bank back.
Somebody owes Jake an apology. His only mistake was that he only stole millions, unlike the backers of Urban Partnership.
The 9/11 Hard-Hat Pledge
This item is beginning to circulate, and OS passes it along for consideration.
Building a mosque in New York is no small thing. It requires people who specialize in the building trades, and that is a relatively small pool of people.
So, what happens if they refuse to take the job?
Building a mosque in New York is no small thing. It requires people who specialize in the building trades, and that is a relatively small pool of people.
So, what happens if they refuse to take the job?
Reasons to Smile On August 22, 2010
OS moans and groans. A lot.
However, there are good moments.
A country in meltdown and chaos doesn't get much golf in. Think about it. When's the last time we heard of a tournament held in Niger or Yemen?
Golf requires peace and quiet, and a level of order and prosperity that allows for leisure time. That's why it was gratifying to make the morning coffee, tune to the Golf Channel, and watch European PGA Golf live from the Czech Republic.
OS remembers where he was when he heard the news of the Russian tanks rolling into Prague in 1968, bringing the Prague Spring to an abrupt end. The Socialists in charge in Moscow weren't about to let freedom break out on their borders, by golly. The other serfs might get uppity.
It was an awful moment, even for a kid from Tennessee, a heart-in-the-throat/kick-in-the-stomach moment. The worst sort of people had run over the best sort of people. The US was not going to start a war in Europe over it, and everybody knew it.
So, it was sweet this morning to watch Miguel Angel Jimenez line up his putts in a free and prosperous Czech Republic.
Another good moment happened this week in Nashville.
Belmont University will be renovating one of the grand church buildings of the South for use as a classical concert hall, bringing its great Aeolian-Skinner organ back to its former glories in the process, and will allow the congregation to continue to use it as a house of worship.
It gives Nashville another world-class music venue, and will help Belmont (a non-denominational Christian institution) serve as a cultural counterweight against the relentless self-impressed secularism of both Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Symphony. It's located in a neighborhood, where people live and raise kids, not downtown amidst the hotels and clubs, or on a campus noted for its isolation from the city that surrounds it.
OS's parents were members of Belmont Heights Baptist as young marrieds, and OS was in and out of the place often in his youth. The sanctuary is a grand piece of architecture, a horseshoe design, and in its glory days the congregation sang the roof off the place. As the culture declined, the glory days departed, and it became painful to walk in the place, knowing what it had been and seeing what it had become.
It's inspiring to see this happen. This sort of thing is why we should all seek to build wealth, so we can do good things with the proceeds. It's why we need a culture that allows wealth to be built and encourages this sort of vision and generosity.
However, there are good moments.
A country in meltdown and chaos doesn't get much golf in. Think about it. When's the last time we heard of a tournament held in Niger or Yemen?
Golf requires peace and quiet, and a level of order and prosperity that allows for leisure time. That's why it was gratifying to make the morning coffee, tune to the Golf Channel, and watch European PGA Golf live from the Czech Republic.
OS remembers where he was when he heard the news of the Russian tanks rolling into Prague in 1968, bringing the Prague Spring to an abrupt end. The Socialists in charge in Moscow weren't about to let freedom break out on their borders, by golly. The other serfs might get uppity.
It was an awful moment, even for a kid from Tennessee, a heart-in-the-throat/kick-in-the-stomach moment. The worst sort of people had run over the best sort of people. The US was not going to start a war in Europe over it, and everybody knew it.
So, it was sweet this morning to watch Miguel Angel Jimenez line up his putts in a free and prosperous Czech Republic.
Another good moment happened this week in Nashville.
Belmont University will be renovating one of the grand church buildings of the South for use as a classical concert hall, bringing its great Aeolian-Skinner organ back to its former glories in the process, and will allow the congregation to continue to use it as a house of worship.
It gives Nashville another world-class music venue, and will help Belmont (a non-denominational Christian institution) serve as a cultural counterweight against the relentless self-impressed secularism of both Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Symphony. It's located in a neighborhood, where people live and raise kids, not downtown amidst the hotels and clubs, or on a campus noted for its isolation from the city that surrounds it.
OS's parents were members of Belmont Heights Baptist as young marrieds, and OS was in and out of the place often in his youth. The sanctuary is a grand piece of architecture, a horseshoe design, and in its glory days the congregation sang the roof off the place. As the culture declined, the glory days departed, and it became painful to walk in the place, knowing what it had been and seeing what it had become.
It's inspiring to see this happen. This sort of thing is why we should all seek to build wealth, so we can do good things with the proceeds. It's why we need a culture that allows wealth to be built and encourages this sort of vision and generosity.
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