The plan gets a B+ grade. Yesterday we heard a 30 minute speech by the President--some of which was political posturing, no doubt about that--so there will be many more details to be released over the next few days. Perhaps the grade will eventually change in one direction or the other. It depends on the revealed details, as well as the quality and effectiveness of upcoming actions as follow-ups to the articulation of the plan.
Even so, the amount of content packed into the allotted time is impressive. The White House released a transcript of the speech which forms the basis for this writing. In the summary below, the terminology is extracted directly from the transcript as much as possible, while omitting the interpolated (applause) and (laughter). Why do they put those things in there, anyway? Thankfully, they leave out things like (yawn) and (burp) and (cough).
In case you haven't yet heard, the price tag is quoted as $447 billion, about half of which is attributed to a continued and expanded payroll tax reduction. Those figures do not show up in the transcript of the speech. Somebody with an MBA probably took the numbers that were included in the speech and plugged them into a spreadsheet to come up with the total. Somebody else without an MBA--or maybe in wanting to check the spreadsheet's results, the MBA person did this, too--likely pulled out a calculator and did the mathematics using that tool and came up with the same answer.
Showing posts with label jobs plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jobs plan. Show all posts
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
DAMN the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
During the 19th Century, including the American Civil War, the word "torpedo" referred to any explosive charge. Today--and since the end of that century--the word "mine" has replaced it when referring to explosives that are hidden in the ground or are mostly out of view by floating somewhere under water.
By mid-1864 Mobile Bay, Alabama was the last major seaport still in Confederate hands. Admiral David Farragut, local commander of the US Navy, was determined to reclaim the Bay and the surrounding territory for the Union as part of the strategy to bring the Civil Way to its conclusion. Confederate forces defending Mobile Bay had thoroughly saturated those waters with floating mines--"torpedoes" by the standards of the day. The torpedoes were cleverly placed so that any ships entering the bay would have to pass directly under the guns of Fort Morgan in order to avoid sailing through the line of torpedoes. Any ships able to successfully pass the fort would next encounter the powerful Confederate ironclad Tennessee.
On August 5, 1864 Admiral Farragut's naval force entered the channel leading into Mobile Bay. The lead ship in the line of battle was quickly disabled after colliding with one of the torpedoes, and all of his remaining warships slowed, lost headway, and began drifting under the guns of Fort Morgan. As disaster loomed for the attacking Union squadron, Admiral Farragut shouted out to the captains of the surviving ships "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The torpedoes encountered by the first ships failed to explode; the remaining ships in the line followed in their wakes, overwhelmed the defenders and soon took control of Mobile Bay for the Union.
He was bold. He got lucky. He won.
By mid-1864 Mobile Bay, Alabama was the last major seaport still in Confederate hands. Admiral David Farragut, local commander of the US Navy, was determined to reclaim the Bay and the surrounding territory for the Union as part of the strategy to bring the Civil Way to its conclusion. Confederate forces defending Mobile Bay had thoroughly saturated those waters with floating mines--"torpedoes" by the standards of the day. The torpedoes were cleverly placed so that any ships entering the bay would have to pass directly under the guns of Fort Morgan in order to avoid sailing through the line of torpedoes. Any ships able to successfully pass the fort would next encounter the powerful Confederate ironclad Tennessee.
On August 5, 1864 Admiral Farragut's naval force entered the channel leading into Mobile Bay. The lead ship in the line of battle was quickly disabled after colliding with one of the torpedoes, and all of his remaining warships slowed, lost headway, and began drifting under the guns of Fort Morgan. As disaster loomed for the attacking Union squadron, Admiral Farragut shouted out to the captains of the surviving ships "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The torpedoes encountered by the first ships failed to explode; the remaining ships in the line followed in their wakes, overwhelmed the defenders and soon took control of Mobile Bay for the Union.
He was bold. He got lucky. He won.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tom Campbell's "Jobs Plan"
Tom Campbell's "Jobs Plan" as presented in his recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times has merit and should be given respectful consideration by leaders in government and business.
This is not to say that I agree with all that he wrote the other day. Mr. Campbell is a law school Dean and former Republican Congressman from California. By any measure he is a highly-accomplished individual with a lengthy career in law, scholarship, politics and government, but apparently with scant--if any--business experience. Nonetheless, his ideas to encourage job creation in the nation's economy deserve attention by business leaders and by our nation's governmental leadership.
Briefly, Mr. Campbell is suggesting that the Federal Government provide businesses with salary subsidies for hiring new workers from among the pool of people who have been out of work for at least six months. He suggests certain conditions and requirements be attached to the subsidy so that it is properly used. According to his logic, the goal is to have more people gainfully earning money so that they are able to become more active consumers once again. Increased consumer spending begets increased demand for more services and products which begets a need for yet additional employment, thereby creating a positive feedback loop for the economy.
This is not to say that I agree with all that he wrote the other day. Mr. Campbell is a law school Dean and former Republican Congressman from California. By any measure he is a highly-accomplished individual with a lengthy career in law, scholarship, politics and government, but apparently with scant--if any--business experience. Nonetheless, his ideas to encourage job creation in the nation's economy deserve attention by business leaders and by our nation's governmental leadership.
Briefly, Mr. Campbell is suggesting that the Federal Government provide businesses with salary subsidies for hiring new workers from among the pool of people who have been out of work for at least six months. He suggests certain conditions and requirements be attached to the subsidy so that it is properly used. According to his logic, the goal is to have more people gainfully earning money so that they are able to become more active consumers once again. Increased consumer spending begets increased demand for more services and products which begets a need for yet additional employment, thereby creating a positive feedback loop for the economy.
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