The taxpayer is that resource which is being over used

Jobs in America, are we being held down on purpose?

So what is the big deal about jobs and the unemployment rate in America?  First, let’s clear up the myth that just because the unemployment rate declines it means people are back to work.  On the contrary, these numbers are erroneous and do not reflect how many people are working.   It simply means fewer people are collecting or applying for unemployment.

You have to look at the workforce participation rate and the U.S. labor force participation rate in 2013 was the lowest since 1979.  So the people without a job, who have stopped looking for one are no longer counted as unemployed. 

That's why the U.S. unemployment rate dropped in despite weak hiring.  If the 496,000 who left the labor force last month had still been looking for jobs, the unemployment rate would have risen to 7.9 percent.

So what are we doing to put people back to work?  It is easier to answer what we are not doing to put people back to work.

Let’s start with the national debt which is at $17 Trillion http://www.usdebtclock.org/ this is money we have borrowed to cover expense of things we can't afford, including interest payments on the debt.  Keep in mind it does not count all of the unfunded obligations.  The current administration wants you to believe by borrowing money and pumping it into the economy adds jobs.  Here is one example of how they are wrong. 

Currently China owns 25% of our debt which is which is used to prop up both economies. The US wants to pump billions into the economy so it borrows it.  China does not want all that cash from the products we bought pouring into their economy because it would cause the value of their dollar to rise and make the products they sell to the US less affordable.  So they lend the US that money. Very Nice arrangement right?  Wrong… at least for the jobs in the US.

You see the US manufacturing level verses GDP have declined for years.  Imagine what would happen if China could not artificially devalue their dollar and if they would have to compete with the US for manufacturing.  Remember built in America.  Now it is just bought in America.

Let’s look at energy production in the US and how it might be hurting jobs and even helping terrorism.

1. By not using our oil and natural gas resources we must import more oil.  If we started producing more oil and using more natural gas it would have an impact on the global market, hitting Russia and the Middle East the hardest. 

This would put thousand to work in the US in our oil fields and refineries.  Where do you think most terrorist get their funding?  From oil rich nations and if the price of oil dropped below $70 a barrel they could no longer afford to rage war on the US.  This would cripple Iran.  Bam.. two birds with one stone.

2. By not exporting coal to China it cost jobs at the mines and the shipping ports.  We have enormous amounts of coal still in the ground and stock piled above the ground.  By not exporting it to China we have a double negative impact.  The mining industry has been cut in half and the loss of revenue from China.  If we shipped all this coal to China it would create thousands of jobs at the mines and ports and the sale to China would help balance out our GDP. By balancing our trade debt with China we would be able to pay down that debt we are leaving our children.  A Twofer

3. The new coal fired power plant regulation makes it more expensive if not impossible to produce power and will cause more manufacturing jobs to be moved offshore.   What is the one thing all manufacturing plants in the US use?  Electric power and they need lots of it and need to get it cheap.  So what about the impact on the environment?  If you shut down all the coal power plants it would reduce the carbon output by .02% 

4. Here is the weird one, using solar panels.  We are installing millions of solar panels each year and in the process, millions of pounds of polluted sludge and contaminated water are create through the manufacturing process.   Here is the twist, most of those panels are made in China and the failure rate is 5.5% to 22% over 18 months.  Here is an example of that, solar panels covering a vast warehouse roof in the sun-soaked Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles were only two years into their expected 25-year life span when they began to fail.  A Double whammy!

5. Ok so let’s produce our energy with wind, there is a problem there too.  They take up vast amounts of space and only produce power on windy days.  Wind farms can cause climate change, according to new research, that shows for the first time the new technology is already pushing up temperatures.  Manmade Global warming! 

What else is impacting jobs.

Taxes… that dirty little word.  When you tax people more and more of what they make they have less to spend on buying those things we manufacture or service we provide in the US.  So when we buy fewer things and services, the fewer things we build and the fewer services are needed.  I don’t call it trickle down, I call it the water fall effect and here is why.  Now we are all making less and paying fewer taxes but the government keeps spending at the same rate or higher, so they raise taxes on some groups to make up the difference and so it continues.  Farmers, Rancher and the American Indians all knew this, don’t over use your resources or soon you will not have enough to support the family.  The taxpayer is that resource which is being over used.

Government services are not unlimited and cannot sustain everyone, there is a tipping point. According to the Census Bureau, there are over 100 million people on welfare and another 8 million on Social Security Disability.  This is 1/3 of our population. 

So what do you do?  Change the system; everyone must be accountable for

their input and output.  It is OK to take out of the system if overall you put back more than you took.  I suggested that everyone on Welfare be retrained as part of their benefits and if they don’t participate, they lose their benefits.   This will get rid of the drug addicts, they won’t show.  Change the name officially to WorkFare, when not in training they are working, I see a lot of streets that need to be repaired and cleaned, sidewalks needing to be repaired, public housing needing renovation.  All of this work will give them self-esteem and new skills.

Education and the debt required to get a four year degree.  You want to invest in America, invest in our greatest resource, the people.  The greatest resource many countries have are the talents and brains of the population.  Do you realize we import 70,000 smart people every year thorough our H1 visa program.  These are the guys and gals running many of our corporate computer systems, among other things.  This does not count the talent we tap into from India and other countries because it is not available locally.  

So how do you pay for this investment in education? When you open up federal land for Oil and Gas exploration use the dividends from the Federal Oil wealth is to invest in education?  It is already being done.  Alaska citizens (man, women and child) receive between $800 and $2,000 every year from the permanent fund.

I am sure you heard this one.

Who do our children belong to? The parent or the Government?

Remember when the public schools in America were the shining example for the rest of the world to strive to become.  Me either...

Who is running our public schools... Wait, I mean our government schools? It sure is not the teachers or the parents. Why do I say government school? Because the government is telling you what your child is going to be taught, not the people who know your child the best. Why would the government want to control what is taught and how it is taught? They say it is so we all have the same common education. Oh I get it... Common Core, so they are all the same.   Is your child common, do they all learn the same? 

You would think the government would be all for improving our education system and allowing those who know and teach to build a better education system, even if they are private schools.  But apparently they don’t.  Here is one example: The Justice department filed suit against the State of Louisiana trying stop the voucher program they put in place in in 2012.  According to the DOJ, the program “impedes the desegregation progress” demanded by federal law.  On the contrary, this program Ninety percent of children in Louisiana’s program are African-American.  This program promises a voucher to students from families with incomes below 250 percent of poverty line whose kids attend schools graded C or below. The vouchers can be used to attend other public and most private schools.  Does the government want you child to excel?

Why is it teachers are not paid based on performance? The students are graded or judged by their performance every day and this is how they get into the best Universities. Many other professions have performance based pay so why is it we do not reward they best of the best and get rid of the poor performers. Using General Electric as an example, every year they get rid of the bottom 10% of their staff. Sounds like a good idea, hold teachers accountable for their performance and the product they produce. Why would we want less than the best teachers teaching the children of our future? Let teachers compete for their job.   What if schools had to compete for students?

Competition makes all the difference. Look at your smart phone you are

reading this on. If it wasn't for the breakup of the Ma Bell Monopoly creating competition among phone companies you might still have that dial phone on the wall in the kitchen.

Common Core… Really!  We need to break up the Government Education Monopoly.   Our kids are mutli-taskers, they live on technology, texting their friends, updating their status, playing video, all while ignoring their parent all without breaking a sweat.

Are teachers becoming facilitators?  I have to ask you why do the great teachers put up with this and even protect the bad teachers. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of a bad teacher? Do you know what happens to them if they are finally labeled as a bad teacher? Some call it the turkey trot; they are just moved from one school to another until they retire.   

In a report recently published by Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance American students ranked 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading.  This happened while the federal government poured  $89 billion in stimulus dollars to prevent teacher layoffs.    Maybe they should have pumped it into private schools. 

Norway and South Korea are ranked at the top and when asked about the dropout rate in they said "what dropout rate".  Both countries have virtually a zero dropout rate.  In America, many states the dropout rate is near 30%.  Do you want fry's with that?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, from 1970-2009, funding per pupil for K-12 has increased 300 percent in real dollars. Now the United States spends more per pupil than any country in the world; 30 percent more than a decade ago. That is $859.9 billion on public education in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s a 30.1 percent increase from $660.5 billion (adjusted for inflation) that the U.S. spent in 2000.    All this and teachers are buying supplies out of their own pocket.

The next time someone says to you the problem is we don’t spend enough on our schools, ask them how much is enough and what will we do with that money.  We continue to spend more and more and the only people who benefits is the politicians and the unions.  

Is there a way to change the Education system from the ground up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Why are we the taxpayers standing for paying more for less.  Remember Hilary Clinton's book  “It takes a Village”  Did she mean a village of idiots?  I say it takes involved parents.

Am I talking to myself?

People are asked to perform like circus animals.

Motivation and incentive are difficult to define, but be sure they are very different.  

Webster defines motivates as the condition of being eager to act or work

Incentive is what you are given to perform a given task in a defined period of time.  Webster defines incentive as a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something.  

Some studies have shown when you pay someone for a task, such as solving a puzzle the amount of the incentive does not entice them to solve the puzzle better or faster.  In one study they observed people over three days and paid them for the first two days and the observers were surprised at the results. When the incentive pay was taken away on the third day, in most cases, they lost interest in solving the puzzles.  However, a second group was challenged to solve puzzles for no incentive pay, they observed over three days, the interests was maintained and in some cases increase by the third day.

Kenny Easley, a onetime football great and 5 time pro-bowl nominee, once said for $1.7 million I can play good football, but for $2.3 million he could play great football.  His career fizzled shortly after making this statement.

Our children are not learning about achievement and the pride of accomplishment. One example is they play baseball or soccer and everyone gets a trophy, the same trophy, I guess for participation.  So what motivated the top achievers of those teams?   Maybe it was the parents or maybe the desire to achieve.  Sometimes it is as simple as setting a goal, with a reward at the end.  Is this case, is the reward winning or being the best?

Look at the world today, you will see this in our everyday life, and the best example is the welfare and unemployment systems.  When people were required to follow certain guidelines and be accountable for their actions,  to ensure they continue to get paid, they followed them to the letter.  Under the unemployment rules, you are required to show your efforts to find employment, attend classes and sit through several reviews, to get paid.  Miss one of these and your benefits are cut off.  Welfare once had similar requirements and the number of people receiving welfare, as a percentage of the population, stayed fairly constant.  Over the past four years those requirements were eased or lifted completely.  So what happened when the accountability was removed; the number of people receiving assistance doubled? Some of this can be blamed on the economy, but most is because the accountability was removed. 

In reality the government provides incentive not to work and blames it on corporate America and accusing them of being greedy.  If you did not have the skills to make more than minimum wage why would you work, if you can lie on the couch and get paid the same, and never be held accountable?  Drive by homes of many on assistance and not working, look at the condition of their property, their lawns are knee high and trash all over.  Look inside the house and you will find more of the same.  They have the time, so what is the issue; lack of motivation or incentive?

Our Parks Department understand this very well.  What happens when you feed animals, they become dependent and the same happens to humans?   When you provide them with, food, clothes, education, and housing, and no way out, they become dependent. 

This leaves the remaining population to fund the government incentives, while continuing to fight through the hard times, getting additional training, working more hours, changing careers and refusing assistance.  This is because of motivation and not incentive.  Motivation comes from personal pride, pride in doing their part, doing better for their family, not accepting their level on the ladder as the norm.  They do not define their destiny by what others say or do.  They do not complain about having to work while other lay on the couch or sail the world on a yacht.  Instead, the dream of being that person on that yacht, setting their sails toward their goals, never saying this is good enough.  Instead, they complain about how much they have to give up because of those unwilling to get off the couch.

Then in comes the government and says it is not fair you have so much while others have so little.  You must give up some of your blood sweet and

tears to help out those less fortunate.  Are they less fortunate or less motivated?  Some are less fortunate, but most are just lazy and unwilling to do for themselves, why should they let the couch get cold if they can get it for free. 

When someone comes into your home, your wallet, your bank and takes what you have sacrificed for to give to others who will not even give up their place on the couch, how do you stay motivated?  Many don’t stay motivated, because the incentive becomes too great not be motivated.  Let me ask you if you took years to build a home with the most beautiful view in the world, but if a dam was built near you which caused your property to wash away every year.  How long before you would just give up and stop rebuilding?  I am not meaning to demean anyone who needs help, I have been there, and needed the help. I know how difficult and challenging it is to climb out of that hole.

Humans are design to be free and to be challenged.  When we are no longer free and are no longer challenged we give up or act out.  Zoo keepers spend years training animals to listen to, and obey their every command and to do so use food as the incentive.  What happens when the incentive loses its significance?  How many times have you heard about a lions, tigers or elephants attacking the trainer after being so compliant and docile for years?  

What do you think happens to humans, the same thing; they give up, lash out or go crazy. 

Be careful when you create a society who has everything handed to them and are asked to perform like circus animals.  

I am not sure you heard me.

We are striking out at others... instead of reaching out.

What is the real problem we are facing in America and what are the effects of this problem?  

The real problem is lack of accountability and purpose.  When people do not feel they have a purpose they become lost and if they are not held accountable they go astray.   When people are lost and don’t have purpose they easily become addicted and afflicted.   

When did we stop caring about others and holding them accountable for their actions and the harm they do to others?  Maybe we didn’t stop caring; we just stop doing anything about it.  That happened when the government said it was their job and we said OK I will take a nap.  Well look how well that has worked out

Look around you, there are too many people in the world who are hurting and hurting others.  Many are too ashamed to admit they are hurting, they just live with their pain and that pain causes a lot of hurts, habits and hang-up’s.  Which causes them to do things and act in ways they normally would not. 

We are striking out at others... instead of reaching out.  

All we hear from the media, politicians and celebrities are the cries for stricter gun laws, while ignoring the real problem.  The real problem is the pain people are in and it is getting worse.  

Look at how we treat people with mental illness, they are, ignored or treated as a pariah, instead understood, loved and treated.  When you look at the recent mass shootings and all have a history of mental illness and most had clear signals that those around them covered it up and denied. 

Do you think for a moment anyone who takes a gun and kills people at random because they are happy and feeling good?  Of course not, they feel trapped, partly by the stigma we place on people who are addicted and afflicted by something we cannot see or understand.  Look at mental illness, alcohol and drug addiction, when was the last time a friend of yours said I need you to pray for me or hold my hand, because I am suffering from drug addiction or mental illness.  The answer may be never.  People don’t think twice about asking you to pray for them or sit with them when they have cancer or heart problems. 

Do you realize how many people die from drugs, alcohol and mental illness and how many families are impacted each year? 

In 2010

·        Alcohol-Induced Deaths 25,692

·        Drug-Induced Deaths 40,393

·        Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) 38,364   

·        Homicide 16,259

The greatest problem may be denial of the real problem.  No one wants to admit they are addicted or afflicted and no one wants to admit someone they love has a problem.  Instead we hide it, deny it, and excuse it, instead of confronting it. 

Look at what is happening to our children.  Why do you think drug use among teens has increased dramatically? No accountability, societal pressures, their lives on social media on display and acceptance of drug use? Are they trying to escape or cope?

In 2012, 6.5 percent of 8th graders, 17.0 percent of 10^th graders, and 22.9 percent of 12^th  graders used marijuana in the past month—an increase among 10th and 12^th graders from 14.2 percent, and 18.8 percent in 2007.  

Look at what Hollywood does, they accept drug abuse as a part of the business.  They celebrate those who die from it.  The recent Emmys held up Cory Monteith as an icon.  This is a guy who went to rehab and was sent right back to the wolves that catered to his addiction. Obviously he was in trouble, but did anyone doing anything to help him?  No, they just cried when he was gone.  What should have been done; he should have been helped and held accountable. Sit with him, hold his hand and say I am not letting you get away with this crap anymore because I care, and I am here with you.  The average addict goes to rehab 4 times and 70% relapse within 12 months unless they have a support system.

Would you build a house without a plan, would you start a business without a business plan, of course not?  So how do people recover from addiction and affliction without out a plan. They don’t, they die… Some die fast and some die slow.

Why is it getting worse?

The Entertainment industry has a lot of explaining to do.  They expose our children to more violence than most soldiers on active duty in the Middle East see in a four year tour.  They put violent games in their hands such as “Call of Duty,” a realistic military simulation that requires players to kill people, Grand Theft Auto V which made $800 million in the first day.  Yet they say they have no effect.  If that is the case then why did advertisers spend 2012 U.S. $139.5 billion in 2012 to influence our behavior?  I don't see anyone protesting this abuse of our children.

Have any of these simple slogans influenced you? Finger-lickin’ good - Taste the Rainbow - This Bud’s for you  

It is time we helped those in need by getting them the treatment they need and show them they are loved by holding them accountable.  If you want to get a handle on this problem you must begin to hold each other accountable.  This includes our children.  

Kick the Government to the curb... It's is our life and we need to take it back.

Can you hear me now?

When the fun stopped and reality came knocking

The rest of the story.. Now at age 10

Things started to go downhill, it was not uncommon for me to come downstairs in the morning and find things broken in the bar, like pool cues, dented napkin holders, beer bottles all because of fights the previous night.  One morning I found a wooden bar stool smashed to pieces in the middle of kitchen, no it wasn’t a fight… I found out later it was my dad’s doing, I guess he had a really bad night and took it out on the bar stool, which was nothing more than kindling now..   I can still see it scattered there in my mind 42 years later

I got to watch my parents drink all day while they worked behind the bar, seeing my dad taking shots of whiskey in the kitchen throughout the day.  None of this seemed to bother me at the time… or so I thought.  After all I could leave on my mini bike or horse in the morning and not return all day and no one cared.   

Then one day, while playing in the woods, I found my German Shepard…. London….he had been missing for 2 days; there he was tied to a tree with an extension cord… shot dead...  I found out later someone complained he had bitten them….. My dad took him out to the woods and shot him, never telling me about it.  What a thing for a 10 year old to find. 

I made a huge cross I mean this thing was huge… and buried London. Sure I had freedom, but at what cost… I had to grow up too fast

The first sign of trouble were my grades… They went from A’s to D’s… Along with the D’s came a lot of beatings from my mom, she would beat me with anything within reach.  Many years later, I found an old report card from the first year at the bar, and the note to my parents was “Eddie needs a lot more attention and it would be great if you could work with him this summer”.  Well there was no more attention, at least not the positive kind…   By this time my sister was long gone, a couple of days after she turned 18 she ran off and got married,  she married a guy who came into the bar all the time. 

Then came the moment as what I define as the night my life changed forever…. Or my big cause… one night when my parents came to bed in the large room we all shared in the winter, Of course they had been drinking all day and fighting.  My mom started to get me involved in whatever was going on and then got me to laugh at my dad.  A few days later… my dad attempted suicide by sticking a hose from the exhaust of the car into the back window.  If not for a stranger driving by and rescuing him he would have died that night.  A few months later he tried again and was again rescued by another stranger….  God was really looking out for him.  

This time he was admitted for psychiatric treatment where he remained for a few months and then released and for a while he lived in a horrible one room studio in Spokane.  I remember my brother and I used to go visit him he was very different. He never returned to the bar and it was sold and we moved to Spokane

While all this was going on…  I don’t remember anyone ever sitting us down and explaining to us what was going on.  We were just left to imagine…, what happened? I began to blame myself and feel the guilt for laughing at my dad.        

In Spokane we lived together in a small house on Bridge Street…  Then one night, very late, I was awakened to red lights flashing throughout the house and when I came downstairs I found several police officers and paramedics huddled around talking with my mom and dad.  It was really scary…. When I squeezed through and got closer, I could see my dad had his hunting rifle across his lap with the barrel pointed to his head.  His big toe was strumming the trigger.  I stood there for what seemed liked forever and no one seemed to notice me.  I felt invisible..  He finally gave up the rifle and they took him away… back for treatment.

A few months later he returned home and a short time later he began having seizures and spent most of two years in the hospital… and is where I spent most of my early teens… right by his side, wearing my welfare shoes.

My Dad was my best man at my wedding and was my best friend, he died 18 years ago.    One year and 13 days after my dad’s death my son was born.  I believe he was hand-picked by my Dad….  One day during my sons doctors visit where he got his first shots he began to cry..   Then I heard a song in my head which made me realize how big the effects were becoming.    The song was…. The Living Years and some of the lyric are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUdiQWxps5E

Every generation….  Blames the one before….  And all of their frustrations….  Come beating on your door 

I know that I'm a prisoner …… To all my Father held so dear ……. I know that I'm a hostage … To all his hopes and fears…

It goes on to say…. I think I caught his spirit…… Later that same year…. I'm sure I heard his echo In my baby's new born tears

I felt like my dad was speaking directly to me….   This song really affected me because for the first time I began to realize I was a lot like my dad… the good and the bad

I had the chance to tell my Dad in the living years… And he told me..  My Dad, with all his faults, was the smartest, hardest working man I ever met.  

This is my cause and effect.   This is why I have worked since I was 14… Put myself through college and even when I was married I was really a single parent while working my tail off.  I have had ups and downs.  I have been held accountable and I know what it did for me and I won’t let you off the hook.

So are you ready to talk now?

My cause and effect started 42 years ago...

My path is different from yours, yet in many ways is exactly the same.  Some of our paths are easier and some are harder.  The tough part is how to choose which path to follow.

It didn't take me long to find what path I would take… Heck I had it all figure out by the age of 7….

So if I had it figured out, how did I get where I am today?  Well, that took me a lot longer to figure out… So here is how I see it now…  There was the cause, what happened to me along the way…  Then the effect, how dealt with that effect,… what did I do because of what happened in my life….   and then the consequences…. What was the outcome of my actions?

Before we get started I would like to share with you a little about me with you….  Well it started out great.  I was born in small town… 

Leadville Colorado, which is called the 2 mile high city…10,252 ft

I have a sister who is 9 years older and a brother 5 years younger.. 

I was a great kid… and had a great life… My mom was a stay at home mom…. my dad worked for the local mine and we spent most of our time outdoors…  skiing, hunting and fishing….. I was a straight A student…. And according to my family liked to wear white pressed shirts to school.. Maybe that was my to keep my world in order… .  How perfect it seemed

I was always by my dad’s side, hunting, fishing, skiing and going to the bars, Heck I even remember the names.. The Silver Dollar Saloon and the Scarlet Inn.   

I remember when I was 8 or 9 and was out with my dad and his buddies, we were playing pool as usual. But this time it was late… I guess it must have been around 10 or 11 on a school night… my mom came looking for us…We were pretty easy to find… When she found us… as you can imagine she was pretty mad.  And then I made it worse, one of my dad’s buddies taught me a saying and when she tore into my dad for keeping me out so late on a school night I said “I am no fool, I don’t have to go to school, I can shoot pool” well that didn't go over well.  Believe me I almost lost an arm as she dragged me out of the bar.

A year or so later, the mine laid-off all of the old timers, along with my dad, he figured he would retire there and he was devastated. We had to move to North Idaho

When we got to Idaho my parents ended up buying a bar, Watsons Resort on Rose Lake and we lived upstairs and when not tending bar my dad worked at the local mines.  What a great time I had… I lived on a lake, had a horse named Chico and a Honda 50 mini bike…   What could be better?   

I was 10 and had all freedom a kid could want…

It is now 42 years later… So let’s talk