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Liberty is Free Not Cheap

August 7, 2009 by 13 Comments

by Gayle Plato

 

When we were all kids, teenagers wanting to gulp down the cup of life, we all longed for love.  Hearts beat with a passion for the unknown and a sense of self. We want to find love because there’s a moral imperative to know who we are.  Love is a shining light peering in to the holy alliance of a higher power, personal moral righting, and one’s earthly purpose.

 

Hopefully God blesses each of us with Love’s window into the soul.  As we mature, there is realism that Love is more than a desire for a significant other. Love’s beam of light through the window splits into a fractal of prismatic color. We learn to love in the abstract.  Soldiers talk of the moment, when on foreign soil, a deep ache, a want for America swells. There’s no place like home, and that love of one’s country is a mature love. Our love of God twinkles like a star on any given day, but can super nova in bursting awe as we see our newborn, during a personal epiphany, or even in quiet prayer.

 

Love of Liberty comes to each American, with Godspeed and deep regard. Sadly, it takes her threatened fate to awaken a protective love for Liberty.  So are we organizing at these rallies, tea party protests, town halls, and coffee chats with like minds because some big head told us so? NO.  Passion of this level cannot be conjured or bought. Whoring feigned devotion does not play with conservative souls.  When we give of our time, our hearts, our good names, we know what we give.  Our word means something.

 

Liberty is not for sale no more than love can be bought.  You can manufacture mourners, or pay goons for a beat down. You can buy trophy tarts or roll cause-induced celebrity cheerleaders on the liberal Astroturf.  Liberty is free for all true of heart, but she is not cheap.

 

Our Child Liberty is at-risk and the conservative souls feel you coming like registered predators released from the slammer.  Get this straight- our Child Liberty stands safely behind every single parent of freedom.  We owe it to our forefathers, who passed custodial rights of Liberty on, to stand beside her, and guide through the night with the light from above.

 

Filed Under: Freedom of Speech, History, Human Condition, Protests

Before Blood Shoots Outta Your Eyes…

August 3, 2009 by 20 Comments

by Gayle Plato

Glenn Beck– one of the best on TV and radio; he is totally electric and compelling. I learn a great deal and am convinced he’s onto something with the trails of paper, the complaints of government take over, and the history lessons on point. He’s ready to dump all of Congress, state, local—he wants all politicians gone.

But before we run to throw all of the bums out, let’s not lose sight of the prize. The forefathers he hugs were partisan hacks of the day, not afraid of a good political mudslinging. These men who signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote brilliantly, inspiring us all—they were not saints. Some lied to each other, cheated on their wives; heck, some had slaves. They were fallible and real. Conservatives teeter on the precipice of GOP demise every other election cycle. For years, the new Republicans have wanted to push the elephants over the edge and into a tar pit of GOP goo. It’s the RINO ram of the elephant as the asses kick up their heels.  But then, why is it that all of the Republicans turn over? Yet people like Ted Kennedy, Henry Waxman, Nancy Pelosi, or Chuck Schumer become Congressional fertilizer, feeding all of the green shoots and astroturfers of the liberal jungle?  Maybe it’s time to see the forest through the trees; maybe we need some deforestation.

All political parties evolve and in a pluralistic system, there is the longing to break free. Look at Sarah Palin’s team, and feel the vibe of the 90’s. Is it Ross Perot all over again? But wait, what did Ross Perot get us beyond the science fair fold-out, cardboard charts and great cartoons of little men with big ears? Oh yeah, I remember: Perot got us Bill Clinton!

United States presidential election, 1992

November 3, 1992
         

Nominee

Bill Clinton

George H. W. Bush

Ross Perot

Party

Democratic

Republican

Independent

Home state

Arkansas

Texas

Texas

Running mate

Al Gore

Dan Quayle

James Stockdale

Electoral vote

370

168

0

States carried

32 + DC

18

0

Popular vote

44,909,806

39,104,550

19,743,821

Percentage

43.0%

37.4%

18.9%
         

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Quayle, Blue denotes those won by Clinton/Gore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1992

 

As you look at the results, remember, the states Clinton won were due to the splitting Perot caused. It is not that Perot took away electoral votes; it’s that he pushed away George Bush’s count. Bill Clinton won with a minority of the popular vote, and the center-right nation split the pie for the liberals taking. Yet, I too voted for Perot, and I admired the idea, the planners.  I liked the story and the developing excitement. As I am older now though, I take a minute longer to see the field and look at all the players.

Democrats stay in office, holding on to their local yokels, and we republicans shoot at the center bulls-eye, walking on the carcasses left in the middle of the road. We then walk up to the Hill, all thousand points of light flickering like Zippos at yet another reunion tour of ‘The Who’. Just remember that there are plenty of good conservatives, mad as hell, and running for the exit. All that the ship jumping does is overload the rescue and the rebuilding effort. Simply put, before I run on the party (a thought I’ve pondered and now rejected) I want to see a clear list of all of the Democrats in Congress who are going home to private life. I want the numbers because otherwise, we’re going to turn the compost only to release a huge methane bubble that plain stinks.  We’ll be taking out ANOTHER Contract that was so simple and elegant, turning it into yesterday’s news.

 

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Political Parties, Polls

AZ Education Budget: Antiquated Allocation Bankrupts All

July 29, 2009 by 17 Comments

by Gayle Plato, M. Ed.

Education funding, the liberal’s beaten poster child, never reflects reality nor sees the light of day. Ask any state legislator, “How does the state actually fund money for schools”, and you’ll get a description of per-pupil base support, phrases like large capital (the buildings and big stuff), soft capital for desks, and transportation. In addition, when you say things like, “Why don’t we dictate how many ___ or fire all of the ____,” their eyes glaze. Your cracked pot on which you stand is crumbling like art of Piestewa Area 51 notoriety. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Of course not. Because the average citizen cannot just look up the state budget for education and have ANY clear picture of how the money is allocated. At a recent town hall meeting of Americans for Prosperity, I heard two budget experts trying to explain the line item veto in regards to programs that Governor Brewer crossed out. The experts were confused, and they read this every day. I challenge anyone reading this with a child in an Arizona public school: please tell me how much your child’s district gets for your student? Nobody truly knows. Yet the teachers’ unions are screaming, the liberal lobbying groups including our beloved Arizona Republic complain daily about the state being near the bottom in spending. Since when, in the history of public funding, is spending less a BAD THING? I want to know if amount spent is showing a return! Why invest more in a system rising in cost and producing lousy products? Students in Arizona are GMs-SUV gas guzzling Jimmys.  We are the ones going bankrupt to build these lousy products.

“Following the formula through state financial documents, however, is
complicated. For example, in the Statement of Revenues and Expenditures in the Arizona Superintendent’s Annual Financial Report for 2006-07, state revenues received by school districts are reported according to enrollment-based formulas, categories of spending and Proposition 301 funds collected from a 2000 tax increase to be used specifically for teacher base pay increases, teacher performance pay and certain maintenance and operations programs.3 Within the Statutory Formula Programs section is the Basic State Aid, as well as additional enrollment determined categories. However, in the State Summary of Financial Data, Basic State Aid is not a line item. Rather, state revenues for the classroom are categorized as Maintenance & Operations, Classroom Site Fund, and Instructional Improvement Fund. There is no direct link between the two. Further, some of the statutory formula funds, such as for soft capital outlay, are broken out separately. This is all very convoluted, but the point is that the system lacks transparency and,therefore, accountability.”  (http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/3170)

We spend approximately half of our state budget on education: the cost problem is simple. Throw out the formula as it is not relevant. During a state time of open enrollment, where children can move freely between districts, per-pupil costs get muddy. Do we properly track transportation costs? My son cannot take a bus as he’s from ‘out of district’. Where do his travel bucks go? Doesn’t seem they go with him, and when I asked at the districts, no one seemed to have a clue. Price per desks, cost of books, transportation based on district boundaries: the terms themselves are not current. Kids don’t sit in individual desks all in row reading Dick and Jane. North Phoenix /Scottsdale schools use smart boards and lap tops, while lower income classes are still huffing dry erase pens in stuffy portables, sharing antiquated IT in backwards labs. Who are we kidding about equalization of funding?

This is not Left v. Right. This is the Past v. Present. We are using formulas that carry over from a time when tabulation was done by hand. We can track every child and know where he is sitting every hour, put it in a data file, and have to the state by the close of the school day. Technology is supposed to HELP STREAMLINE.

Options

Regular Education: Offer a flat rate per child and let the districts sort it out.

All problems and costs beyond a flat rate based on the per student funding are up to the local citizens. Our Constitution mandates and recommends fiscal debate be with the majority of the people it impacts. Define the state amount based on pupil attendance. Determine an average cost for elementary and secondary regular education. Let them levy, bond, budget cut, or have bake sales. As a libs would say—buy and sell local.

Special Education: Get the state out of the way.

Federal funding tabulation does not need to go through the state as districts could submit data directly and get monies according to programs and students. Why do we filter all programs? Bureaucracy is the problem, with lots of made up jobs of cheese movers and crumb counters. Budget analysis is antiquated and fraught with waste.

Funds Follow Students

We are paying for kids to learn. The flat rate follows the child, and this should be accomplished in darn near real time. If the IRS moves to a majority of us electronically filing, with greater accuracy and less fraud, our education allocation can handle monitoring of students on a state level.

Emergency Funds are Temporary

Any school failing, falling down, feverishly growing, or facing crisis, needs to fill out specific requests with absolute cost analysis and face detailed scrutiny. This is the key for all state allocation problems. Our state gets in the middle of programming issues and temporary concerns, and then NEVER moves. We move the cheese and then let it mold.

No one, on a state level can mandate district decisions, but we are forced to pay for district mistakes. When any blogger writes, let’s fire all of the low-end administrators (yes I said that basically), all state level politicians literally laugh. Why? Because our ocean of debt is infiltrated by schools of jellyfish: endomorphic gelatinous blobs that float where they please, with far-reaching tentacles that sting all that swim. We allow schools to bite the hands that feed them. Make the districts grow up and balance the books, or the parents will vote the boards out and down all bonds.

Arizona creates odd mandates of building funds or programs like all-day Kindergarten. We allocate for a temporary need or local desire but then do not allow oversight, limits on pilot funds, or change as needed. If a district needs help with old buildings, let’s give official options for the emergency—not ongoing support. If a district wants all-day Kindergarten, we cannot line item it in for political points one year, but then not have ANY state control for fear of getting voted out.   That fear is the sting that’s killing us all.

Filed Under: Education, Spending, State Budget

Citizen Action Grows as Federal Takeover Flounders

July 24, 2009 by 11 Comments
by Gayle Plato, M. Ed.
Grayhawk Country Club sits in Northeast Phoenix, upper middle class homes, and lots of active voters. Americans For Prosperity (AFP) hosted a town hall open forum last night attended by 200-300 local citizens. AFP hosts town halls all over Arizona as do other watchdog groups. Dr. Byron Schlomach of the Goldwater Institute, a patients’ rights advocate Dr. Lee Vliet, along with AZ Representative Sam Crump and Senator Jack Harper, frankly discussed Arizona’s budget, education issues, and the evolution of Obama’s health care plan.
At about 8:30 pm last night, an elderly man, leaning on a cane, lunged from his seat, yelling like an umpire ready to toss a coach. He exploded at the liberal lady next to me.  At least thirty other attendees followed his lead with raised voices.  The audience was predominantly older people, community staples, men and women on Medicare or soon to be with a deep respect for the law.  These people played by the rules, and worked hard raising families. The man’s outburst was not an isolated incident. Dogmatic liberals tried talking points on taxpaying elders and worried baby boomers who have had it, they are mad as hell, and not going to take it any more.
I’ve been at a number of political actions: social meetings, city council sessions, school board heated debates, local community group caucusing, and the tea parties. Debate and frustration is the norm.  Last night was unusual; the tea party vibe grows as we see ineptitude and political thievery.  My specialty in counseling is group therapy for at-risk teens; I’m wired to hear agitation as my job in group sessions is to talk down raging teens and help guide the process to solution.  But most people who are scared, feeling cornered need to emotionally dump, throwing off the oppressiveness. This room was throbbing with a tone of fear.
As the Congressional debate goes back and forth regarding this vote, this Obamacare crisis of control, people cannot give in.  Dr. Lee Vliet gave the most cogent advice: keep the pressure on by calling and writing to all elected officials, and attend the rallies ( See information regarding Code Blue #2- http://arizonateaparty.ning.com/http://arizonateaparty.ning.com/).  Make every effort to announce your vote is in tact.  You vote will go to the just leaders and will swiftly be cast against the misguided gaming of liberal power machine politicians. There are many state and national watchdog, political action organizations pooling efforts; the Congress is feeling the heat and the pressure matters.
There is proof that the liberal leaders are cracking:

“The seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stormed out of a Friday meeting with their committee chairman, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying Waxman had been negotiating in bad faith over a number of provisions Blue Dogs demanded be changed in the stalled healthcare bill.”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-healthcare-talks-break-down-in-anger-2009-07-24.html

Congressional Republicans have come together around a common message. It’s critical to honor the message, delivering it so the average person feels validated.  Top Presidential advisers David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel held a closed door meeting, as they knew the Republicans were not giving up easily.

The brilliant memo,  scaring the libs, was by pollster Dr. Frank Luntz.  He deserves a thank you note from all conservatives if this Obamacare bill flounders.  The recommendations of this message rattled the cage to the point that liberal spin doctor of the Clintonian years, Paul Begala, was called in to write a strange and desperate rebuttal.

Please see the link from Hannity on FOX TV for Dr. Luntz’ recent appearance regarding the key points all Americans and leaders need to consider when talking about the fears of single-pay health care. This is a compelling review because Dr. Luntz doesn’t just talk of his view or how he heard this or that. He brings the facts, he tabulates the views, and offers cutting edge insight about people’s worries. He is the one who has turned this around, and instrumentally tailored the cohesive message of the conservative fight against Obamacare. The subtle message is that the average citizen does matter and civil debate, standing up for beliefs can still affect change in this democracy.

Filed Under: Health Care, Uncategorized

TARP Treasury Secret 24 Trillion Dollar Question

July 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

by Gayle Plato

Another Inspector General best get ready to ‘retire’ as The Hill  is reporting that Neil Barofsky, an IG overseeing the workings of the asset relief nightmare known as TARP, says the United States is being kept in the dark about the bailout.  He has repeatedly recommended that the US Treasury provide more transparent actions, but to no avail.

I’ve written at Sonoran Alliance  of the quantitative easing going on, the credit-default swaps loss backing scams of AIG as related to Goldman Sachs.  Today’s news is nothing less than an economic global killer if this turns out to be true. Our Treasury Department along with apparent complicity of the Federal Reserve Bank, has committed bailout funds of exponentially more amounts than approved by Congress.  If the IG is accurate,  this is completely unconstitutional and we are not obligated to this debt commitment that’s twice the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

We, along with teetering European Central Banks, the International Monetary Fund working overtime to bailout entire countries, and the Chinese paper torture of the often crooked and manipulative Chinese fiscal practices,  cannot back the dollar on faith.  The deus ex machina Obama and his economic advisers are losing all credibility. We then pay the price.

“Barofsky said that while the TARP program that Congress passed amounts to $700 billion, the total federal government support since 2007 for the economy and the financial sector could reach a far higher figure of $23.7 trillion. The government has committed significantly more money through a variety of other federal agencies and programs.”
(http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/watchdog-treasury-has-failed-to-adopt-bailout-safeguards-2009-07-20.html)

Filed Under: Economics, Ethics, Federal Budget

Open Letter to President Obama: Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl Deserves A Leader

July 19, 2009 by 36 Comments


“Soldier who was captured in Afghanistan and then seen in a Taliban video posted online is identified as 23-year-old Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl from Idaho.” (http://www.foxnews.com/)

Dear President Barack Obama,

I will get right to my point. Sir, your decisions astound me. I am in awe of you. I am in awe of your abject cruelty and disregard for our people. Every day I see examples of your flippant attitude, and wimpy reactions to strife. You encourage the Congress to hurry up legislation worthy of deep thought and debate; you allow top economic advisers to run wild with fringe theories of extremist liberal spending. You allow your staff to stomp on the system of Checks and Balances, sacred to the Constitution, making sweeping policy change without even an Executive nod. Our families are going broke, while you push more taxes. Legislation is being pushed through without ANY light of day, no debate, and total secrecy. Where is the transparency sir? I am amazed by your indifference.

But today I see you in the Huffington Post, images from yet another ‘date night’ or celebrity party. Time with your family I understand, but the rest of the world cannot take night after night to party. Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, captured and with the Taliban, is not getting to party. He’s begging God to stay alive, and you are having a cocktail. Mr. President, I do not want to see one more luau, image of you shooting hoops, hugs and snuggles with Hollywood Celebrity sycophants, nor you taking a breather. You are heartless to blatantly party when our men and women in uniform are being held hostage.

What exactly are you doing for this family, for this young man who just wants to come home?

I can see through your drink glass to the other side that you do not see. The world is watching this young man, sitting in wait for YOU. The world loves you and listens to your every word. So Mr. Obama, where is your pressure and charm? The citizens of this country see you dancing with the stars, voting present on all matters, allowing advising trolls to run the government. We hear your silence rising.

But this boy who’s more a man than you, he’s just trying to get home. He’s out there defending you! Where ARE YOU? He’s been held since June 30th, and you’re throwing out the first All-Star pitch? You get Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl home; get on TV tonight NOT to peddle socialized medicine. Get on TV and let the Taliban know that either he’s released or the United States is coming. No games, no meadow muffin policy. Get up, stand up! FIGHT FOR US! Have just a momentary twinkle of integrity and a blink of the bravery of Bowe; tell him you’re going in and getting him home.

Mr. President, if you cannot take lead, you must resign. Otherwise, I can promise you Mr. President, every one us us that’s a mom or dad, that’s watching you dance, we will remember this horror come election day. Waffling cowards are not fit to lead the greatest nation on earth.

Sincerely,

Ms. Gayle Plato, M. Ed.
Phoenix, AZ
platobesley@gmail.com

Filed Under: Freedom of Speech, Military

Code Blues? Give Liberty Its Due

July 18, 2009 by 6 Comments
by Gayle Plato

After the Code Blue rallies, protesting Obamacare and the sweeping costs, many may decide that none of this citizen activism matters. It feels hopeless in view of the crazy designs by liberal architects.  But remember the men and women who face battle every day as soldiers; remember the freedom-loving young people dying in the streets of Tehran.  Remember that all honest underdogs feel the desperation of lost cause just before the win.  It’s lonely and deflating; especially when dripping under the Arizona Sun.  Know though, that each voice deserves it’s sound, words of limitation rise up to a collective guttural yowl of STOP.  Success is in the numbers: Arizonateaparty.com tracked conservatively, 2000 people across 14 congressional offices, during one of hottest days of the year. Running full steam ahead makes sense.
Freedom is NOT about running amok; it’s about choosing a path, choosing to walk the less traveled road, or to take the beaten path. Freedom is about personal best not group think; it’s local, home grown values tailored to our families and friends.  Drive-thru politics and drive-by legislators that take out our ways and blast our family values are machines. What you say matters.

Attack of the Machines

Cyborgs of machine driven biologicals, under group think mind control are like swarming bees. Remember the Borg of Star Trek the Next Generation fame; their tag line is “Resistance is Futile”  This is the way of the Obama Administration.  The proof is in the collectivism politics, the sweeping control of the democrats, the wooing of the young, plugging them in to the mindset with simple cola ad platitudes like ‘Hope and Change’.  But the Borg have already metastasized. The Obama Czars, the Drone Democrats in Congress move like Transformers. Decepticons shape-shifting into attack dogs, with all loyalty of the underlings and power emanating from the Cube.

Megatron Obamacratic Control Requires a Stand of Freedom

We are the thin Red, White, and Blue line. We are not trying to get our way but make a stand for what is right.  This is not a game to win; it’s our home and out way of life being yanked away in a sweeping tsunami of change.  You may not convince everyone, but we can shine the light of liberty on the lies. You can also thank the few elected officials left who are fighting out there on the front lines of political battle against the gyrating whirly gig spin masters at the helm.
Czar staffers are extremist esoterics with deeply disturbing views. This week, emphasis is being placed on Science Adviser, John Holdren.  No matter the complaints against our protests, the facts about one like this man cause alarm. His 30-plus year position of the zero population growth seeds includes forced abortions if needed, or people seen as ones who “contribute to social deterioration” (i.e. undesirables) “can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility” — in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized [http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/].  This is a top adviser.  Obama surrounds himself with Ivy League liberals, who have long paper trails of extreme.
Barack Obama Promised Transparency

President Obama is lying. The Democratic party leadership is lying. At the witching hours, around three a.m. in Washington D.C., Harry Reid and other Congressional leaders pushed through the committee level approvals of the Obamacare plan. I sat in Republican Representative John Shadegg’s Phoenix office yesterday as he spoke to us via teleconference.  Mr. Shadegg told us that the Democrat leaders want to push through this bill in the next two weeks.


United We Stand

Congressman Shadegg did not lie.  Running to catch a plane home from the crazy of Washington, he stopped, told us his truth, and he thanked us. Mr. Shadegg is leading Congressional Republicans with a bill offering health care choice, and competitive options.  [See previous article http://tinyurl.com/rightwoman-GOP-plan]

He is not giving up nor storming out. Mr. Shadegg is taking a stand, knowing full well his bill, this length of a term paper, up against the Obamacare plan, over a foot thick, with sweeping amendments plopped in,  is outgunned.

Nonetheless, Congressman John Shadegg signed this, and gave every Code Blue protester one as a pledge of faith, and out of respect to us:

Filed Under: Federal Budget, Freedom of Speech, Health Care

Tax Us or Tailor it

July 9, 2009 by 3 Comments

by Gayle Plato

The Arizona Budget Debacle

What else has not been discussed about this highly contentious plan?  All players in the government battlefield are grousing about either HOW are we going to pay for all of the programs, or WHICH elected official is going to fall on a sword and eat the increased spending?

What happened to WHY are we spending more every year when the rest of the state is going broke, and private industry is stretching every dollar?

Apollo 13 Style- Square Peg in Round Hole Time

The story and movie about Apollo 13 is a fantastic analogy. We need the smartest people in the room, coming up with the best solutions that are so outside of the normal scope and sequence; otherwise, the state is literally going to fiscally implode. We are outta amps and we gotta get the crew home.

Stimulus and Pick Anyone?

Work with federal stimulus funds and ask that they be re-issued from pet project expenses to other transportation like  alt-fuel buses and state roads. Do not assume we must take the stimulus money handed to us without a state review.  I do not care if it’s already been allocated. The 10th Amendment overrides all Congressional Revenue Packaging.  Look it up.

Get the good Governor and lege to write an appeal to the POTUS Administration and put the appeal on every website with a big press conference.  GO on FOX, CNBC, CNN, every blog, and even the mindless local news.

We need to ask voters  to approve a new lottery game, not a new tax.  With that, we can either rewrite or restructure legislation currently authorizing lottery funds that go to transportation.  All of that money should be re-issued to vital social services. There are 250-500 million dollars of potential needed right now.  Add a  major game to counter the expenses.  Most of that money is currently going to transportation, and that stimulus money AZ is taking should be supplementing transportation this year.

We need a program audit with a five point rubric.

All social services will be required to determine a treatment plan track for all recipients.   Review every agency by letting them know all funds are suspended, with IOUs only until they submit clear reports of expenditures and goals met. From state educational remediation to local counseling stopping criminal recidivism of teens, all programs need exit plans for all clients.  Within the year, if said programs do not meet criteria, meet the quota of graduated clients, the programs are either limited and on notice or cut completely. The audit, if a rubric, will offer simple and straightforward alignment. Clients must move out, make room for new, and help others.

Use all money for ONLY the programming proven to meet criteria. Every single agency goes on probation with 12, 18, and 24 month goals. No exceptions.  Think of it as No Tax Dollar Left Behind.

Audit repetition and eliminate it.

We need one clearing house of state social services and look for doubling up. If the IRS can find under/over expenses, we can screen.  With that, all programs need to meet mission statements and flow chart templates.  MANY agencies are complete mysteries and absolute clusters of mess.  Many agencies have no accountability.  NO private business would survive doing this.  Look at the highly successful University of Phoenix.  It thrives on scrutiny, highly structured programs, job descriptions of minute detail, and yet a McDonald’s approach to service and product.  Everything is designed with clear scripting.  Human services becomes interchangeable parts and those that produce get perks.  That’s why they work, and are growing like crazy, yet can charge very high tuition.  Employees are watched by the all-seeing eye with continuous audit.  They created a niche and tailored a new Big Mac of Education.  It pays and the model of development is a masterpiece of MBA-style machination.  U of Phx could revamp and tailor social services, even getting it in the black within a few years.

Finally, tell the agencies that they must cut more.  Period.

Some of the money MUST go to an audit, but have it run by a small commission panel of investigators.  All programs funded must either show client graduation from services and levels of functioning.  We need to foster self-sufficiency or the social servicing is not solving anything.

The federal government is creating a census of how many times we turn on the lights or how often you drive to the corner.  It’s a huge invasion being created as a data base of citizen activity.  We can definitely audit the money usage we pay.  We are the boss and the legislature needs to respect the job of watchdog.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Run Sarah Run

July 7, 2009 by 15 Comments

by Gayle Plato

Blog chatter seems extra cheesy and sharp regarding the prospects of resigning Governor Sarah Palin. Politically she’s dead, disheartened, not listening to staff. Is this the same staff pool who helped Levi the boyfriend get on Larry King? Could it be the crew from John McCain’s camp that drove the bus over Sarah, and the Bloomie’s bag full of clothes they snidely purchased for her during a late night What Not To Wear GOP Meet and Greet?

Even I said Sarah was done, but I didn’t know how accurate that statement might be. I do not think the people around her understand Sarah’s savvy, the Palin ethic, nor the family. I also think she’s a bit rough for the pseudo nice-nice of a gentlemen’s game of poker. Let’s face it, the GOP hadn’t seen such excitement for a leader since Gerald Ford fell down the steps of Air Force One’s exit ramp. This lady does not need to bluff; she is the only game in town.

I don’t know who is more excited she’s quitting either- the Democratic snarkophiles of Daily Kos and HoffPo, or the dandy upper crusts cut off by the Middle America Mom power of warm apple pie. Sarah generates funding, fervor, and fear.

Did many of us AZ Republicans hold our noses and vote McCain last round? Many still talk of walking out with our conservative values, independent spirit and financial contributions.

Sarah says she’s going to fight for the people who are hard working, but she didn’t say HOW– Nor WHERE. Ross Perot never got crowds like Sarah, and he spent a lot of his own money. Maybe Sarah knows she’s had her hat handed to her, and she’s going to take it all the way to right. Run Sarah Run. You might be the one reason I’ll pull out of the GOP and go to the Conservative Party. It’s going to take more than a year or two to get it going. Maybe that’s why you pushed away from the table and said you were done.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

Goldman Sachs Secret Code Stolen

July 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment

 by Gayle Plato

Financial blogs jumped on this: Reuters’ Matthew Goldstein broke the story of a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey with all of the keys to the Goldman Sachs kingdom. Simply, one clever programmer seems to be the ‘lone gunman’ of IT Espionage, and the code to crack computerized trading is out. This is a Willie Wonka Golden Ticket in the hands of the bratty Varuca Salt screaming ‘I want more’.

“The allegations, if true, are big news because the codes the accused man, Sergey Aleynikov, tried to steal is the secret code to unlocking Goldman’s automated stocks and commodities trading businesses. Federal authorities allege the computer codes and related-trading files that Aleynikov uploaded to a German-based website help this major “financial institution” generate millions of dollars in profits each year.” (http://blogs.reuters.com/commentaries/2009/07/05/a-goldman-trading-scandal/)

But then, is he more than a patsy loner? Always look behind the screen for the wizards of Goldman-Sachs(GS) .  

How GS does what it does and gets away with it all is the least transparent shell game on the face of the planet.  It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. Even the players don’t know who’s in charge of what.

When the government makes credit available to try to stimulate the market, they make it available to big investment banks, but the investment companies also trade and are first in line to get the money. They get cheap money and borrow it all of the time and put that money to work. They fund other companies and to grease the financial machine. The Federal Reserve is the ‘bank of last resort; its purpose is to insure liquidity for the United States. The reason is that if you borrow short term and lend out long term, inherently you’ve a risk. In the short run, even if safely invested, there is a possibility of a run.

How investment banks like Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, the now dead Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch ( now part of Bank of America), and Goldman Sachs factor in this: GS and the others trade Treasury bonds for the United States. All the trades of most US stocks, bonds go through the DTCC, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. Computerized trading is managed by truly just a few investment houses; GS handles an immense amount of volume and last week everything went kooky.

While financial reporters look at the crime and tell you it’s a rogue trader looking to make a buck, think about the story a few weeks back. Counterfeit Treasury bonds worth 141 billion came over the Swiss-Italian border. A few crazy guys fake bonds-so no big deal? But to fake these, to look as good as they did, one needs to be in the presence of them. These bonds were said to be quite old, and likely in the bank drawer of some country.

What happens when some rogue gets the notion that he can sell the secrets of Goldman Sachs? Our market of computerized, milli-seconds quick, minute amounts traded in a super-conductor flux-capacitor manner makes for dangerous conditions. As speculated at www.zerohedge.blogspot.com, what do we do when one hacker holds the world hostage over a trading code that can blow up the dollar? I take it a step further, and say that maybe it is not just a rogue or a hacker, but a planned attack. Either way, the technology wins when we allow a few cloaked nerds to hold the keys.

The World Trade Center took months, heck years to build, and one small group of crazy zealots with a simple and evil desire, brought it all down in minutes, forever changing us. The next big boom won’t necessarily be as obvious as a plane flying into your office window; it might just be a byte at the virtual back door.

Filed Under: Economics, International Trade
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