Who Are These Bozos?!
Posted by: Gary Wiram | 09/29/2008 3:01 PM
The current debacle our nation's financial system is going through is outrageous and unacceptable. I don't care if you're a "Red" person or you're a "Blue" person, its time for every American to stand up to the "Captains of Industry" and every Buffoon inside the Beltway, pretending to be our Representatives and speak to them those famous words of "The Donald" ... YOU'RE FIRED!
Across the nation we continue to see disgraceful instances of CEO's incompetence resulting from their sole focus on lining their own pockets. Where I live, in Southwest Washington State, that's exemplified by Gregg Hammann, the former CEO of Nautilus. He took his millions and went to live in a luxurious home in Iowa (his home State) while what was once a stable, dependable employer in our community has laid off hundreds of hard working folks every six months. Of course, the despicable conduct of Hammann and his like pale in comparison to the present-day Robber Barons in our financial community. The reigning Chump is Alan Fishman, who walked away with 13 MILLION DOLLARS FOR 18 DAYS ON THE JOB, as CEO of WaMu!
And then there are our mutual heroes ... they call themselves President, Presidential Candidate, Senator, Congressman, etc. and they have the gall to call themselves our Representatives?! How is what they're doing (or more appropriately, FAILING TO DO) Representing US?! Surely there is more than one way of successfully addressing this matter that Warren Buffett (not exactly a guy who is worried about where his next meal is coming from) calls "facing financial Pearl Harbor." One, scheme that seems to merit consideration is Newt Gingrich's suggestion to cut the Capital Gains tax to Zero. When a White House Spokesman was asked about this, he said that Gingrich's idea made great sense but not in light of the reality that we have a Reid/Pelosi led Congress. Where the H... is the Representative Government in that?
And there's plenty of blame to go around in DC, beyond the current Dopes under the Dome. Reid/Pelosi was preceded by a Republican Majority whose hands are far from clean in this. Both Clinton and Bush bear responsibility too. Meanwhile we have one Presidential Candidate whose response is "Call me, if you need me" and the other Presidential Candidate, who I think is well-intended, is coming off as pretty bombastic.
So what are we to do? My suggestion is that we help out these Bozos by giving them a dose of reality ... let them know what its like to be unemployed these days!
And I have an excellent solution for how we replace these Clowns with competent leaders. There's a pool of very capable people available right here in the Portland/Vancouver area and I'll bet that's true in city after city across the country. I went into this year looking for a new job and ended up launching my own consulting practice. In the process, I've connected with hundreds of members of this local talent pool. Just this morning, I met with a neighbor who has an MBA and deep experience in business development and project management. He's been out of work since he was laid off at the beginning of the year. Yesterday, at church, I saw a friend who has been unable to find work since he returned from abroad, over two years ago, due to his father's failing health ... sadly, his Father has, since, passed away. This guy is a top-notch Financial Executive who has done things like start stock exchanges in former Soviet-satellite nations. Last week, I had lunch with the former CEO of a locally-based telecommunications company. He was with that company for 16 years, sort of working his way up from the bottom. He, too, has been out of work since the beginning of the year and is considering a COO position with a company on the Gulf Coast. I could go on and on like this but, trust me, the talent pool is very sizable.
Realistically, though, how can we take advantage of this vast talent resource? Well, first of all, don't talk to me about "realistic"! If this isn't a time for thinking that's "outside the box", I don't know what is. For goodness sake, our current "Leaders" have been considering a $700 BILLION bailout of our nation's present-day Robber-Barons and they're fumbling the ball in doing that! I say, "Look closely at each and every person you have access to vote for or against and if you think they've had a hand in this, whether by commission or omission, VOTE 'EM OUT! And if their opponent doesn't seem any more competent, seek out Write-In Candidates from your local pool of top-notch folks who are unemployed and give them the jobs of these Bozos. As opposed to the "None Of The Above" campaign, I'm calling this the "We Couldn't Do Worse" movement!
Across the nation we continue to see disgraceful instances of CEO's incompetence resulting from their sole focus on lining their own pockets. Where I live, in Southwest Washington State, that's exemplified by Gregg Hammann, the former CEO of Nautilus. He took his millions and went to live in a luxurious home in Iowa (his home State) while what was once a stable, dependable employer in our community has laid off hundreds of hard working folks every six months. Of course, the despicable conduct of Hammann and his like pale in comparison to the present-day Robber Barons in our financial community. The reigning Chump is Alan Fishman, who walked away with 13 MILLION DOLLARS FOR 18 DAYS ON THE JOB, as CEO of WaMu!
And then there are our mutual heroes ... they call themselves President, Presidential Candidate, Senator, Congressman, etc. and they have the gall to call themselves our Representatives?! How is what they're doing (or more appropriately, FAILING TO DO) Representing US?! Surely there is more than one way of successfully addressing this matter that Warren Buffett (not exactly a guy who is worried about where his next meal is coming from) calls "facing financial Pearl Harbor." One, scheme that seems to merit consideration is Newt Gingrich's suggestion to cut the Capital Gains tax to Zero. When a White House Spokesman was asked about this, he said that Gingrich's idea made great sense but not in light of the reality that we have a Reid/Pelosi led Congress. Where the H... is the Representative Government in that?
And there's plenty of blame to go around in DC, beyond the current Dopes under the Dome. Reid/Pelosi was preceded by a Republican Majority whose hands are far from clean in this. Both Clinton and Bush bear responsibility too. Meanwhile we have one Presidential Candidate whose response is "Call me, if you need me" and the other Presidential Candidate, who I think is well-intended, is coming off as pretty bombastic.
So what are we to do? My suggestion is that we help out these Bozos by giving them a dose of reality ... let them know what its like to be unemployed these days!
And I have an excellent solution for how we replace these Clowns with competent leaders. There's a pool of very capable people available right here in the Portland/Vancouver area and I'll bet that's true in city after city across the country. I went into this year looking for a new job and ended up launching my own consulting practice. In the process, I've connected with hundreds of members of this local talent pool. Just this morning, I met with a neighbor who has an MBA and deep experience in business development and project management. He's been out of work since he was laid off at the beginning of the year. Yesterday, at church, I saw a friend who has been unable to find work since he returned from abroad, over two years ago, due to his father's failing health ... sadly, his Father has, since, passed away. This guy is a top-notch Financial Executive who has done things like start stock exchanges in former Soviet-satellite nations. Last week, I had lunch with the former CEO of a locally-based telecommunications company. He was with that company for 16 years, sort of working his way up from the bottom. He, too, has been out of work since the beginning of the year and is considering a COO position with a company on the Gulf Coast. I could go on and on like this but, trust me, the talent pool is very sizable.
Realistically, though, how can we take advantage of this vast talent resource? Well, first of all, don't talk to me about "realistic"! If this isn't a time for thinking that's "outside the box", I don't know what is. For goodness sake, our current "Leaders" have been considering a $700 BILLION bailout of our nation's present-day Robber-Barons and they're fumbling the ball in doing that! I say, "Look closely at each and every person you have access to vote for or against and if you think they've had a hand in this, whether by commission or omission, VOTE 'EM OUT! And if their opponent doesn't seem any more competent, seek out Write-In Candidates from your local pool of top-notch folks who are unemployed and give them the jobs of these Bozos. As opposed to the "None Of The Above" campaign, I'm calling this the "We Couldn't Do Worse" movement!
