The confusion of do gooding and fairness with achievement and success.

What ails the US economy and its education system is the constant desire to rationalize the idea of equal outcome.

By the nature of being human, you will always have a pecking order. Some will succeed more than others.

Having taught in a public school in New York City, it was clear years ago and clearer today, why our education and economic system are declining.

The focus on mediocrity. Pass students at all costs who were in 7th and 8th grade reading at 3rd and 4th grade levels.

The school unions were oppressive. The older teachers wanted a job. There was no merit system.

Today, we face the most insane economic policies led by a President and Congress determined to organize America into one big community ruled purely by

their

idea of fairness and what they determine is right for us.

The new King – what the constitution looked to protect against – is taxing us economically socially and educationally without true representation.

They encourage the all too familiar political gambit play the rich – and successful – against the taken advantage middle and poor.

In the name of fairness and mediocrity – rather than meritocracy – we are being overtaken by bureaucrats that believe to profit and succeed is evil – meaning unfair.

Yet, they soak the entire popular with their ridiculous salaries, pensions and benefits.

The country is crippled by a double standard where big is ok because they have the dollars to buy politicians through lobbyist and contributions. In turn, the politicians vote for them to get the votes and the backing.

The result is a Fed controlled by an academic who has little understanding of simple business. He is a political animal who lacks common sense. The believes we are reliving the Depression. Yet, all predictive models have been shown you cannot predict the future from the past. You can learn from it but the future will be different.

The idea that you can keep borrowing your way to prosperity following Keynesian models is a pipe drea. There are no free lunches.

What do I recommend seems more a wish list:

1. Get back to the basics of what made this country great – support small business and entrepreneurs
2. Foster true fairness by raising all school standards and facing that students are failing for a number of reasons – teaching methods, emotional issues, cultural circumstances, economic reasons and purely differences in intelligence.
3. Stop spending. Balance the budget. Everyone has to take less.
4. Stop raising taxes to cover up the wasteful, uncontrolled spending
5. Stop borrowing
6. Politicians and bureaucrats have to be put on a system based upon meritocracy not pork barreling. This means a reporting system on the internet of what they are doing which is understandable.
7. Have big business ally with education and small business so that they can incentivize innovation and job creation.
8. Give incentives to small businesses, entrepreneurs which will create more start ups, jobs and long term investment.
9. Create an atmosphere of greater economic certainty by honoring the successful and not bailing out the unsuccessful. It’s good to succeed and to be wealthy if done within the rules (rules that are not onerous)
10. Make the government stay as the referee not the participant.

Do I believe this will happen?

No.

Why?

Because we are appealing to the lowest common denominator – to fairness which sounds moral and wonderful. Fairness attracts very bright and idealistic people.

But only being realistic, facing the current reality going back to basics and taking our current medicine will return us to being the economic and social engine that the world has admired. By being the world’s policeman in the name of fairness, we are being unfair to the Americans we are supposedly trying to help.

Just think of the enormous waste of money going to wars, pork barrel, bureaucrats, entitlements etc.

It reminds me of failing companies where everyone gets around a table and says we can’t cut any expenses. But, we are losing money – lots of it.

Finally, the company faces the news – we are going under.

Suddenly, there are numerous proposals for cuts but often too late.

That’s our federal state governments today.

Fairness and mediocrity versus reality and meritocracy.

Bureaucracy versus Entrepreneurship.

Unfortunately, I believe its time to face we are going under. I hope it’s not too late.

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Step 1 Be a penny pincher

This seems obvious, but have you really looked at your spending? Apart from Suze Orman, even a dollar saved a day can help you several months down the road when no job may be available. The best place to save is at a credit union (find one near you at creditunion.org) since credit unions are able to give higher interest rates on savings accounts and offer free checking.

Step 2 Be on the lookout

Jobs are no longer stable no matter how solid yours may seem right now. Constantly apply to as many part-time jobs (these are easier to get since many people do not want them) as you can. You need to be able to have at least one job lined up after your current temp gig or part-time job runs out. Remember two part time job adds up to a full one.

Step 3 Consider at home work

I know this may seem like a cliche, but there are many jobs that can be done at home and online. Go to virtualvocations.com and search through to see if there are jobs that match your background. When you work from home you can do three even four jobs at once, which will ease the burden.

Step 4 Go below

Often times many people are not willing to take lower jobs, such as being a nurses aide. However, there are plenty of these jobs available and the cetification process can be completed in as little as two weeks in most states. If you had a managerial position before and are now out of work, do not be afraid to take grocery clerk jobs and nurse aide positions because these are beneath your education level or work experience. If you need a job while you are still searching then try one of these positions.

Step 5. Get insurance

Go to insurance.com or omaha.com to find out about special temp insurance in the event that you are out of work. It can only keep you over for a few weeks, but every little bit counts. Also consider forming a LLC, which can then enable to to get company insurance in case your “firm” is not getting income. Many professional organizations have such insurance. Try ieee.org or nyscpa.org. Even if you are not an engineer or accountant, the dues are little to none and you get these benefits.

Keep the faith. The economy will waver for a while, but you can thrive. Please visit stepsto.com for more great business advice.

Inflation rate does affect our salary, but how to determine the effect of inflation on your salary is the question in everybody’s mind. If we could determine the effect of inflation on our salary, then we can plan our expenditure and savings accordingly. Let’s take a look.

Step 1 Use a calculator

Therefore, the best way to understand the inflation can be calculated by using the calculator CNN.Money.com. This tool was usually built to measure the inflation of pensions for seniors and as an educational tool for children, but can be used for any purpose.

Step 2 Look at the Consumer Price Index

Inflation is measured by examining the changes in the governments Consumer Price Index (CPI). Generally, economists note that the CPI changes over time. The CPI involves the price paid for a set of products, a representative list of the things that a person needs to buy on a regular basis, which usually includes food, clothing, medical costs, transportation, recreation, education and miscellaneous expenses. Therefore, for an average person, this list serves as a record for the raise and fall in various prices. After going through this, the CPI can only tell you whether a nation is suffering from inflation, but cannot tell who exactly would be affected in relation to salary. Hence, Step 3.

Step 3 Compare your salary from last year to this year

To determine whether your salary would be affected by inflation, you should know how much you were paid exactly a year ago and what is your salary now. You can also make comparisons about your purchasing power by comparing the prices of a product, for example, meat, one year ago and today. If you cannot afford meat as readily as you did a year ago, then although inflation has caused the prices of consumer goods to increase, your salary has not caught up with the rate of inflation. The reverse holds true. Generally, your salary increases since your employer must adjust your wages to meet the cost of living.

Remember, inflation is good and bad for the economy and for your wallet.

Step 1 Contact the State Department

Research the country’s currency of your visit. You can contact your travel agent or the State Department of the country can help you with the name and the three letter abbreviation of the currency you will need (e.g. USD for American dollars).

Step 2 Find the value of existing currency

Try to find out the existing value of your domestic currency. Then find out the current value of your planned currency in dollars based upon the chart that the state department will supply you with. You can also Visit XE.com for the current values of the main world currencies. You can find them in the chart displaying the value of the currencies in dollars.

Step 3 Compute using proportions

You can make use of the proportion and cross multiply them to calculate the conversions from dollars to other currencies. Proportions are expressed as two fractions connected by an equal sign. Make sure that the same currency is in the numerator of both fractions. For example, if you find that USD $1 equals CAN$0.987, then you can express the two as a ratio and calculate the total value of the domestic money into the foreign currency. Hence, if you were converting USD$500, then you would have CAN$493.50. In like manner, calculate the answer by multiplying the denominator of the first fraction, 0.69 Euros, by the numerator of the first fraction, $10. The answer is 6.9 Euros equals $10.

No matter whatever is the exchange rate, this is the method to calculate the dollars. Therefore, with a calculator you can easily determine the currencies exchange rate.

Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

What is the result of all of this spending? A manipulated artificial recovery at an enormous price:

1. Huge growing debts.
2. Incredible, beyond imagination deficits that will be larger than advertised.
3. Higher taxes on the middle class and the rich directly to fund out of control spending by Congress.
4. Continued buying of votes with back door deals.
5. A health care plan (that many government officials are exempt from) is a superficial political victory at a huge and unnecessary cost to the country. A much better plan would have worked out if politics were not the main motivation.
6. Structural unemployment rate because the bailouts are focused on politics, Wall Street and big players, and not small businesses and entrepreneurs where jobs are generated.
7. Growing inflationary forces that continue to reduce the purchasing power of the dollar.

Even if we get a “recovery”, the price we have paid is enormous. We have redistributed wealth from the entrepreneurial producers to the big money players, the unions and the bureaucrats.

If the economy had been allowed to deflate more naturally and we had taken our medicine for our excesses and living beyond our means, we would be in a much stronger real recovery.

We will have more and more manipulated recoveries until we destroy free capitalism under the idea that our government knows best how we should live our lives.

Instead of being a referee, the government wants to be the referee and the player at the same time.

We are left with the bedrocks of America under attack – the Constitution and its entrepreneurial spirit – in the name of moral superiority and do-gooder spiels aimed at getting votes and power using and manipulating our money and resources against us.

Until we understand behind all this rhetoric are simple basic principles of human interaction and finance, we will be overwhelmed by huge numbers and big words derived from political polls much to our personal and collective detriment.

In your smaller, less significant world, you have to find a way to make up for having less money.

Personally, you either make more money from your job or from some investment after tax to make up for your loss. Or, you borrow the money from someone or some company, most often to pay it back – unless it’s a long lost generous uncle. Or, you inherit the money.

Business-wise, you can borrow money, raise capital if you are lucky but give away some ownership, in the hopes that the business is or will become worth more than its debts, more than any preferred equity positions, if there are any, and still leave you some real value to put in your pocket or believe is there if you needed money.

But, in the new world of political economics, small, like you or me, is a curse. Because not only do we have too-big-to-fail, we have the strategy of the too-big-to-understand and too-big-to-do-anything-even-if-we-do-understand.

Here’s what makes the game so interesting: The government can print money if it loses money or it can tax you if Congress decides it has to make up for its losses.

The current recovery that Bernanke and the administration are taking so much “credit” for is a sham.

The administration supposedly saved us from the brink of financial disaster – and from the prior Bush administration’s folly.

In reality; the current administration has continued the Bush policies – of which the last 2 years were under a Democratic led Congress.

This is a true bipartisan economic absurdity. In effect, the government has with your money:
1. Bailed out the unsuccessful companies.
2. Bashed the successful for being successful.
3. Bailed out people with clunker cars.
4. Changed bankruptcy and creditor protection laws to bail out and pay off auto unions for votes.
5. Condoned bailouts of people who purchased houses using liar loans or just made bad speculative investments, while those who were fiscally prudent and made their payments pay for the dishonest and the losers.
6. Manipulated interest rates down so low that people who actually are financially prudent get almost a zero rate of return on their T-bill investments or savings.
7. The low manipulated rates allow banks and other financial institutions to borrow your money at almost zero and buy higher yielding instruments making the difference or spread, meaning a profit.
8. This low interest rate manipulation has fueled a bonanza for trading companies like Goldman Sachs and other bailed out banks who used your guarantees via the government to bail out their bad investments. In turn, they are picking up money so cheap (at such low interest rates) that they can make so much money on trading profits, that they can pay the government back.
9. The government boasts of how good their policies have been as these financial institutions raise capital based upon indirect subsidized profits from artificial low interest rates.
10. The artificially low interest rates cause investors to speculate to get higher yields – going in junk bonds.
11. the government, instead of competing for funds against the private market, funds its deficits by printing money – writing money out of thin air.
12. Meanwhile, the low interest rates mask the real cost of government debt.
13. The low interest rates manipulate the mortgage rates, incentivize purchases of homes at values propped up still by too low interest rates.
14. Tarp-type bailout money was simply a pork barrel fest where the money really required to create any recovery never was invested – and most of what was invested – will come at a time when the “recovery” will be underway from natural forces, not this artificial bailout.
15. The government continues to guarantee effectively purchases of homes to people that cannot afford them through a totally scandal ridden politically motivated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In my next article, Part 2, I will discuss the results of the current administration’s manipulated recovery.

Structural Economic Change is being reflected by:

1. Increasing oil and gas prices
2. Declining home prices
3. Lose of jobs
4. Competition for strategic metals
5. Shift in economic power
6. Depreciation of the dollar
7. Sell off of U.S. assets to foreigners

In this fast changing economy, you need to understand and create a flexible plan that protects your downside gives you maximum staying power and takes into account the following:

1. Paper money is rapidly depreciating.
2. Inflation is higher than stated.
3. Changes in U.S. oil policies will take many years to implement.
4. Real Estate home prices will adjust downward to the long-term trend life of home price compared to rent ratios.
5. Stock market returns will not compensate for inflation and taxes.
6. Proposed economic plans by politicians will require an increase in tax rates.
7. There will be a desire to tax the rich as a deflection from the real issues of oil dependency, overspending and exporting jobs.
8. Increased gas prices will affect all areas of life and change business and lifestyle patterns.

15 Steps to Create Wealth in Uncertain Times:

Step 1. Use leverage in every area of your business.
Step 2. Exchange your talents, knowledge and skills for equity.
Step 3. Use networking and collaboration to test every aspect of your business before you launch.
Step 4. Wherever possible do not take on any long-term commitments such as office space or loans.
Step 5. Review every expense as if it were too high and had to be lowered to survive.
Step 6. Partner with groups that can spread your products and services quickly in exchange for a share of the revenue.
Step 7. Review all potential exposure to your assets especially legally.
Step 8. Assess all commitments and prioritize those that will give you the greatest rate of return for the least input.
Step 9. Build flexibility into your business so that almost all costs are variable and can be reduced quickly if your investment is not giving you the best rate of return.
Step 10. Be bold.
Step 11. Do not fear to take calculated risks.
Step 12. Be prepared to cut your losses and admit you’ve made a mistake.
Step 13. Learn quickly from the mistakes and immediately try again.
Step 14. Keep pushing forward.
Step 15. Constantly build resources so you can take advantage of the many opportunities that will be occurring as the marketplace changes rapidly.

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Politicians and financial institutions continue to lower standards and appeal to human greed and lust.

The end result is a vastly weakened American political and economic foundation.

The Good News for America:

Historically, when Americans understand the true war at hand they always rally together to defeat the enemy. The government, the politicians, and certain financial institutions purport to be our friends and give us the short term pleasures in exchange for ripping apart the fundamentals upon which America is built. We are now beginning to see that our friends have been our enemies.

We are now beginning to realize that many banks are predatory lenders that issued mortgages that people could not afford and continue to issue credit cards at effectively usurious rates. We are becoming aware that banks promote and issue credit cards like someone would promote drugs or gambling. People are besieged all day to spend on goods and services that have little economic value for them. Banks and credit card companies issue credit cards aimed at many people’s vulnerability to consumption and lack of true financial literacy. Instead of counseling financial discipline, institutions do the opposite.

We are becoming aware that historically any nation that sells off or outsources its manufacturing capabilities will go into decline.

We are becoming aware that with the instant gratification and manipulation of the money supply by the Fed we are constantly undermining the value of our currency and the underpinning of the American economy.

We are becoming more aware that our infrastructure is in decline.

We are also realizing that politicians are promoting economic plans that any person with reasonable financial common sense knows are effectively band aids. They try to buy people off and distract from the reality of our continual economic destruction by promising everybody something to keep them quiet for as long as possible.

11 Steps America Should Take:

Step 1. Let the economy sink to its real value.

Step 2. We should stop writing short term checks to people which have no long term value.

Step 3. Anyone that has owned a company knows that to stay in business it has to produce a profit, which reflects typically good management and some market advantage for a period of time. A company, unlike the government, cannot print money to keep bailing itself out. We should demand the same sound fundamentals of our government and the people we elect.

Step 4. Government expenditures should be directed to train people to be able to survive and thrive in the knowledge economy.

Step 5. People who are in areas that lack jobs because of an eroding manufacturing base are typically very hard working. We should incentivize manufacturing capability to compete with China, India, and other low cost manufacturing companies.

Step 6. We should incentivize corporations to keep their production in the United States.

Step 7. We should run campaigns which champion Made in America and publicize companies that manufacture in America.

Step 8. We should limit the promotion of credit cards and the interest rates which can be charged by banks as well as disclosure of their hidden fees.

Step 9. For a defined group of mortgage holders we can issue preferred equity notes that would act like a preferred ownership ahead of any current mortgages. The equity notes would have a low interest rate and would be paid a percentage of the sale price of the home. The minimum rate of return would be estimated by the current return plus an ownership percentage that would be equivalent to the percentage ownership of the equity notes. These notes could be syndicated in the private markets where investors are looking for a current return and future ownership value.

Step 10. We would set new policies with China and finally get tough with China, rather than conceding that they will be the new economic power.

Step 11. We should set forth a policy to simplify all government regulations and a mandate that government workers are hired to work for us and can lose their jobs based upon a merit system.

America, under the policies that I am recommending, and obviously additional policies and refinements, would signal to the world that is still the true current and future leader of the world and democracy.

Remember:

· America was founded on sound work and ways-to-live ethics reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

· America must not concede or surrender its heritage and wealth to any country, political groups or financial groups.

· Americans should demand that the use of manipulative tactics promising instant gratification and appealing to greed and to lust is no longer an acceptable way to get their votes or their money.

· Instead, we should evaluate and test our assumptions based upon the sound political and economic fundamentals upon which America was founded.

Go to http://www.stepsto.com/home to learn how to turn your idea into a wealth generating asset. We have advised and evaluated 1000s of companies from start-ups to Fortune 500 Companies. Steps To combines this knowledge with 25 years of research on the steps the Greatest Minds in History took to achieve extraordinary success. Steps To gives you proven tools and action steps to immediately begin building your money machine and living the life you want!

The stigma of divorce used to be a large stigma. But, with women’s lib, mobility, the media and even abortion, divorce has become acceptable.

Now, we are facing the threat of another stigma – nonpayment of debts – becoming less and less a deterrent.

Here are 8 steps the Government and certain lending institutions have taken to assure this nonpayment movement will accelerate:

Step 1: Teach the populace that borrowing beyond your means is OK.

Step 2: Make phony promises – so why should anyone keep theirs to pay.

Step 3: Overcharge at exorbitant rates.

Step 4: Lower the standards to get credit, to get more and more fees on short-term profits.

Step 5: Forget long-term values for inflated stock prices, profits on stock options, golden parachutes and fat, undeserved bonuses.

Step 6: Change secured creditor laws to bail out unions and auto manufacturers to buy voters but undermine the laws of the nation.

Step 7: Penalize the successful to play off the frustration of the less successful.

Step 8: Jam through healthcare legislation that is morally, legally and financially a disaster because you believe you have the marginal votes – not because it’s right for the country.

Loosening up how divorce is viewed had its pluses – women (and men) were able to get out of relationships. The minuses – a terrible legal system that encourages a number of lawyers to prey on people, their finances, emotions and money.

But, the actions of the Government, the politicians and certain institutions are undermining the sanctity of contractual law and the legislative process.

“Monkey see, monkey do.”

Go to http://www.stepsto.com/home to learn how to turn your idea into a wealth generating asset. We have advised and evaluated 1000s of companies from start-ups to Fortune 500 Companies. Steps To combines this knowledge with 25 years of research on the steps the Greatest Minds in History took to achieve extraordinary success. Steps To gives you proven tools and action steps to immediately begin building your money machine and living the life you want!