STUFF POTUS left out of SOTU

"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary ..."-Article II, Sect. 3 of the United States Constitution.

Essentially what this means, and with help from Kenny Rogers, the President drops in to tell us what condition our condition is in.

In reality it's become an evening of pomp and circumstance with little in the way of substance. Afterwards a representative of the "Loyal Opposition" gives their take on things followed by hours of punditry by Washington Insiders who explain to us folks on Main Street USA what was really said. That crowd long ago forgot we can think for ourselves.

An evening of Hoo-Hah. Ho-Hum.

So with help from some pretty smart folks including a recent presentation by Greg Anton, a nationally recognized CPA, here are the parts the President left out, at least about the deficit. Mr. Anton has even been invited to the White House for his input on our growing financial mess. He said they were polite but didn't pay much attention.

A bit of a preamble is in order. I'll be using the word "Trillion" a lot here as in dollars. So just how much is a Trillion?

• One Trillion Dollars is $1,000,000,000,000.
• A trillion dollar bills stacked on top of each other would reach 68,000 miles. That's a third of a way to the moon. Ask Gene Cernan, he's been there.
• A trillion seconds is 32,000 (thirty-two thousand) years. That's a long time.

OK, hopefully this helps you understand just how big a number a trillion really is.

When President Obama took office, the National Deficit, at least according to the way the government tracks such things was 11.5 trillion dollars. Now it's about 16.5 trillion dollars. The Republicans make a big deal about this. But a fellow by the name of George Bush helped get us to the 11.5 trillion figure and despite all the blather about Bill Clinton and his "Budget Surplus" he chipped in too. This scam has been going on for decades.

So here we sit with a National Deficit of $16,700,000,000,000. Or so the government tell us. Actually they're fibbing a bit. OK, they're fibbing a lot.

Folks like Greg Anton who understand things like balance and loss sheets put the actual deficit at over SIXTY-SEVEN TRILLION DOLLARS! (All caps for emphasis and assuming you've grasped the earlier bullet points by this time)

You see, the government doesn't do its books like we have to here on Main Street. They get to leave out all sorts of short and long term liabilities and stuff. Like, Social Security and Medicare. Well, they are listed, but as footnotes and in no way reflected as liabilities. So a lot of money is "off the books." If we filed our taxes that way, we'd end up in jail.

Here's where we're really at: (Bullet point alert!!)

• The net worth of all the households here in the United States, houses, cars, lawnmowers and assorted knick knacks etc is around $65 Trillion. 
•  Our real debt, including real obligations as a nation is the aforementioned $67.7 Trillion.

If the United States was a mortgage, we'd be underwater. We owe more than the country is worth. So we are underwater. The amount we owe continues to grow, despite what you heard last night and what you've been hearing for years and years and years. It's growing so fast in fact, that countries like China are having a harder and harder time buying up our debt. There's simply too much of it.

I'll be blunt. Our government, both the Executive and Legislative Branches have been misleading us. An irony because they were elected to ...lead us instead. Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you'd really like to dig into all this, check out a non-partisan group of caring Americans at www.FixTheDebt.org. 

I urge you to spend some time and do your own research. You might also want to read the findings and solutions of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Reform. It's about 65 pages long and as they say, a "Real page-turner." Senator Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyoming) and Erskine Bowles (Former Clinton Chief-of-Staff) chaired the bi-partisan group at the request of President Obama. They did their job, presented the report to the President who then stuck it in a drawer after the photo-op.

The report does offer solutions. But there is little if any sugar to help the medicine go down. It's going to take more than Warren Buffett paying more taxes. With around 50% of the population not paying any Federal Income Tax, most will have to start paying something.

Social Security is secure, although retirement ages will have to be raised in the coming years. There will also have to be means testing. Sorry Warren, no Social Security for you or your secretary. As for Medicare and Medicaid, we have simply over-promised far too long. There just is no way to meet coming demands. Defense will have to be cut. Before you get all lathered up over that, we spend more on defense than any country in the world. According to folks like Al Simpson and Erskine Bowles we spend more on defense than the next 15 nations below us combined. And most of them are allies! Also look for stuff like the tax deduction on mortgage interest to be phased out. As a bit of a sidebar, Canada has never had that deduction or anything like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Snoop Snoop Poopy Dog. Yet they have a higher percentage of home ownership than we do.

To be absolutely clear, we have no choice in the matter. Well, unless we want to end up like Greece with 25% unemployment and rioting in the streets. Sadly, it might take something that drastic to really get our attention.

So, all stuff left out last night.

We can get out of this mess if we act now. As in immediately if not sooner. We have a role in all this. If like me, you belong to an organization like the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, you get to meet our elected representatives to Washington. Ask them, politely, to stop lying and start fixing and if they don't you'll work hard to make sure they lose their jobs.

You can also write, phone, e-mail these folks or best of all, show up to their Town Hall Meetings. Be polite, but firm. Tell them to stop lying and to start doing. Don't, I repeat don't count on many of the media to ask the questions. They're too, uh, obtuse to ask. One journalist I do recommend you read is Al Lewis of Dow Jones Newswires. He's done the math.

We're under water. Let's not let this nation drown. Like the Titanic, we're running out of lifeboats.

Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

My friend Al Lewis of Dow Jones Newswires has used the term "Drunken Sailor" more than once in describing the free-spending ways of Congress.

I'm always amazed that so many people blame Presidents for fiscal woes when it's Congress that controls spending. Only Congress can pass spending legislation. Granted, this can come with the huge influence of the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania, but it's Congress who spends our money. Like drunken sailors.

So what should we do with all these drunken sailors? The famous sea shanty offers these suggestions:

1. Put them in a longboat 'till they're sober
2. Keep them there and make them bail her
3. Shave their bellies with a rusty razor
4. Put them in bed with the captain's daughter. (Or son as appropriate)

A 5th option certainly would be to throw the bums out. All of them. The system is broken and both political parties have equally contributed to the mess also known as Washington, DC.

What is it about the system that turns the Mr. or Ms. Smith's that go to Washington into Mr. or Ms. Hyde instead? The fact they have to spend most of their waking hours on the phone raising money instead of legislating certainly doesn't help.

But we're accountable as well. We get all involved during election cycles, then let the system work, or in this case, not work until the next cycle. President Reagan famously said, "Trust but verify." When it comes to sending people to Congress I say, "Vote but verify."

Pay attention to what our reprentatives are doing. (Or not doing) Follow the news, learn the issues and above all know the system of representative government. They're our employees. When their work doesn't meet expectations, let them know about it by phone, e-mail or knocking on their district doors.

Be involved 365 days a year. Not just a few days every two years.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"

All the news that fits...

I try and start out each morning checking out my favorite news websites. It's good to start the day half-way informed. Normally none of this is blog material, and might not be but hey, it's my blog and I'll blog if I want to.

First out of the gate is this column by my friend and Dow Jones Newswires writer Al Lewis. It's about corporate brown-nosing, i.e. sucking up. Al has a knack for rooting out the problems and foibles of corporate America, and this column is no different. Sucking up works, which ends up with companies not working.

In other news...you might remember the story about a thief who tried to rip-off an iPad from a victim at a mall in Denver, darn near ripping off the victim's thumb at the same time. In an dictment of a lousy legal system, the crook then tried to order a hit on the victim from his jail cell. The crook was allowed access to all the victim's records connected to the case, even his home address. The charges have escalted from theft to attempted murder. But something is wrong with a system that allows criminals to order hits from jail. Something very wrong.

Finally from our "It takes all types to make a world" department, this story about a mother who thought it was funny to take a picture of her 11 month child with a bong. Ha ha! She even posted the picture on Facebook. Surprise, surprise, someone noticed and she got busted. You are what you post.

Maybe some or all of the above will get some conversations started. It's an interesting world.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We get the conversation started about you"

News you can use.

A few online articles caught my attention this morning that I want to share with you. The first is from columnist Al Lewis of Dow Jones Newswires. I've known Al for several years and frankly have no idea what his personal politics are But his points about the recent IPO of Tesla Motors are biting...and hit the mark. He's an equal opportunity shamer and goodness knows there's plenty of shame to go around these days.

Al has an uncanny way of sorting through the hype and delivering facts in a way that make you think...and laugh at the same time. (Ok, maybe cry too)

I should note that I read Al's column on my iPad,* later switching over to this article on Bloomberg Businessweek about the growing use of the device by companies like Wells Fargo and SAP. It took some of these companies years to figure out the iPhone was a must-have for staffers. It took them just weeks to start issuing iPads.

It's no wonder when you see the growing number of iPad Aps that are strictly for business. I recently was talking with a realtor who has a PC-based business and while liking the iPad, was hesitant to buy one because of compatibility. I think she'd like Remote Desktop.

Personally I'm finding more and more business uses for my iPad. Not the least of which it being a great way to demo videos and the like to clients. It's handy in a one-on-one session, and for larger groups you just plug it into a video projector.

Anyways, as Ellen Degeneres would say, a few articles worth sharing with you this morning.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We get the conversation started about you!"
* (I own Apple Stock)