Despite the low low odds of running against incumbents, and the fact that she was fighting the "old boys network" in which the Mayor of Highland Park endorsed a slate of men who had been serving on the City Council for many years, Nancy Rodkin-Rotering won election to the City Council last night.
Not only did she win . . . she came in FIRST out of the four candidates.
Congratulations to Nancy and, keep an eye on her, because Nancy is a winner and she could be moving up to higher office in the future.
Woldy
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Something is not right . . .
Dare I say that something is amiss when the President fires the CEO of a major American corporation, as President Obama did with the CEO of GM? Even though the U.S. Government is loaning that corporation money, and even though it is possible that Rick Waggoner was not the most wonderful CEO on the face of the planet, it still strikes me as untenable a situation in which corporate CEO's answer to the President. This is not good for our economy or our country.
Why? Because that is not how our economic system should work. We don't have a nationalized economy, like the Soviet Union was. We made a societal decision long long ago that that type of economic system is not what we wanted in this country. It seems that this is being tested now. Isn't it ironic that China is moving in the direction of having a free economy while we move in the opposite direction?
I will tell you another reason it is not a good idea to have the President firing CEOs. The President is an elected official, a political animal. The drivers for the President are political calculations. That is the nature of the beast. Always has been. Always will be. On the other hand, the drivers for corporate CEOs are (supposed to be) delivering value to shareholder-owners and creating profits from economic activity. These two sets of drivers do not necessarily align.
It strikes me as obvious why we want them separated. They need to perform different roles in our country.
Woldy
Why? Because that is not how our economic system should work. We don't have a nationalized economy, like the Soviet Union was. We made a societal decision long long ago that that type of economic system is not what we wanted in this country. It seems that this is being tested now. Isn't it ironic that China is moving in the direction of having a free economy while we move in the opposite direction?
I will tell you another reason it is not a good idea to have the President firing CEOs. The President is an elected official, a political animal. The drivers for the President are political calculations. That is the nature of the beast. Always has been. Always will be. On the other hand, the drivers for corporate CEOs are (supposed to be) delivering value to shareholder-owners and creating profits from economic activity. These two sets of drivers do not necessarily align.
It strikes me as obvious why we want them separated. They need to perform different roles in our country.
Woldy
Friday, April 3, 2009
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
N. Korea Bullying Tactics Belie Weakness
The best way to get past a bully is to confront them. Call their bluff.
Case in Point: before Israel responded to the rain of Hamas rockets by invading Gaza in December '08, Hamas was talking about how tough they were, how they were going to slaughter the Israeli soldiers who dared step over that line. When Israeli troops showed up on their doorsteps, however, they lost their voice and found a nice warm bunker to hide in. They literally would not come out and fight.
Same thing will happen with North Korea. Aren't you sick and tired of hearing about how they are going to rain down rockets on Seoul or kill American troops? Or, blah, blah, blah, as they continue to defy the UN, international community, and the norms of human dignity in their own country? Today, North Korea says that if Japan shoots down a rocket they fire (possibly at/over Japan, again, as they have done in the past), then North Korea will "rain down" death and destruction on Japan and other targets.
It is time for this to end. If North Korea shoots a rocket at or anywhere near Japan, they have every right to shoot it down (if they can). And, if North Korea decides to respond by attacking Japan, we should respond as if they attacked San Francisco or LA. The bullying must stop.
W
Case in Point: before Israel responded to the rain of Hamas rockets by invading Gaza in December '08, Hamas was talking about how tough they were, how they were going to slaughter the Israeli soldiers who dared step over that line. When Israeli troops showed up on their doorsteps, however, they lost their voice and found a nice warm bunker to hide in. They literally would not come out and fight.
Same thing will happen with North Korea. Aren't you sick and tired of hearing about how they are going to rain down rockets on Seoul or kill American troops? Or, blah, blah, blah, as they continue to defy the UN, international community, and the norms of human dignity in their own country? Today, North Korea says that if Japan shoots down a rocket they fire (possibly at/over Japan, again, as they have done in the past), then North Korea will "rain down" death and destruction on Japan and other targets.
It is time for this to end. If North Korea shoots a rocket at or anywhere near Japan, they have every right to shoot it down (if they can). And, if North Korea decides to respond by attacking Japan, we should respond as if they attacked San Francisco or LA. The bullying must stop.
W
Are Individual Liberties on the Run?
Are we, as a country, headed to a point in which the bedrock of individual liberty is starting to weaken?
Safety is Not a Partisan Issue
Yesterday, in an extraordinary example of our American Democracy, there was a Rally in favor of amending the CPSIA in the U.S. Capitol complex. As a reminder, the CPSIA is a law passed in haste by our Congress in response to a rash of toy recalls. Turns out that the law is inherently flawed and in need of amendment (for more see, www.amendthecpsia.com). The Rally was organized by Rick Woldenberg, Chairman of Learning Resources, a leading educational products manufacturer. The room was standing room only, with the crowd spilling out into the hallways.
The speakers included Senators, Congresspeople, representatives of trade groups, small businesspeople, toxicologists, authors of childrens books and concerned citizens. But, not a single elected Democrat showed up. Why, you may ask, would Democrats not come to at least hear what is being said about this law? Why would no Democrats speak at the Rally to defend the law, or otherwise address the law's shortcomings? For the same reason that there has been no progress to date in fixing this law.
They don't want to hear it. They literally do not want to hear from us. Rep Waxman even cancelled an appointment we had to speak to his staff yesterday. The Congressional Democrats are not interested in compromise. They have taken child safety law and politicized it. Rather than try to forge the most sensible public policy in this critical area, which is what we pay them for (to govern, that is), they are more interested in kicking around this political football.
We deserve better than this. We really do. And it is outrageous that our elected officials (who are supposed to work for us, remember, to run our country) will not even give us the courtesy of a hearing to listen to our concerns.
What concerns me even more than this is what this law, and the subsequent obstructionist manner in which the Democratic majority has acted, portend for the future. Not good news for us, folks. This trend, if allowed to continue, will result in a further concentration of power in Washington, where bureacrats can determine what is best for us, on a whole new level. This trend will become clearer over time, but you can see the outlines of it now.
The Congressional Democratic Majority is the best friend the Republican Party has right now. The Democratic Majority may actually save the Republicans from themselves. All the Republicans need to do is get out of the way (oh yeah, and they should also do somthing to stop Rush Limbaugh from defining what they stand for).
W
The speakers included Senators, Congresspeople, representatives of trade groups, small businesspeople, toxicologists, authors of childrens books and concerned citizens. But, not a single elected Democrat showed up. Why, you may ask, would Democrats not come to at least hear what is being said about this law? Why would no Democrats speak at the Rally to defend the law, or otherwise address the law's shortcomings? For the same reason that there has been no progress to date in fixing this law.
They don't want to hear it. They literally do not want to hear from us. Rep Waxman even cancelled an appointment we had to speak to his staff yesterday. The Congressional Democrats are not interested in compromise. They have taken child safety law and politicized it. Rather than try to forge the most sensible public policy in this critical area, which is what we pay them for (to govern, that is), they are more interested in kicking around this political football.
We deserve better than this. We really do. And it is outrageous that our elected officials (who are supposed to work for us, remember, to run our country) will not even give us the courtesy of a hearing to listen to our concerns.
What concerns me even more than this is what this law, and the subsequent obstructionist manner in which the Democratic majority has acted, portend for the future. Not good news for us, folks. This trend, if allowed to continue, will result in a further concentration of power in Washington, where bureacrats can determine what is best for us, on a whole new level. This trend will become clearer over time, but you can see the outlines of it now.
The Congressional Democratic Majority is the best friend the Republican Party has right now. The Democratic Majority may actually save the Republicans from themselves. All the Republicans need to do is get out of the way (oh yeah, and they should also do somthing to stop Rush Limbaugh from defining what they stand for).
W
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