What I am trying to do with this blog, and the other works I am involved in, is gather as much information as I possibly can and utilize available resources to project what I see happening in the future.
Over time we have seen a lot of local focus on "feel good" initiatives, such as the All-American City Award and Tennistown USA. The Google initiative had many positive attachments related to it, but in my opinion it was a no-brainer to chase that one. What I don't believe we have seen are any extraordinary steps taken towards outside of the box development. We have always followed the path of least resistance and picked the low hanging fruit.
I think that this area needs to change its focus. I keep hearing what we were and it is good to know our history -- our real history, not the propagands. This area used to be a hotbed for entrepreneurs. Look at the evidence along the railroad tracks and down Old Highway 70. The question isn't how do we get those specific industries back, but how do we get that Wild West economic gunslinging mindset back.
What is it that we want to be? We can't sit back and wait for this to develop or wait for investors to come to us, we have to create an environment. Nothing is going to fall into our laps. We have to get out front and lead on these economic development issues. What we should have learned by now, is that playing follow the leader will get us scraps and that is if we are lucky.
You know when we will know that Hickory has turned around? When other Municipalities and Industrial leaders are coming here to look at our successes!
And the trends show that we are going to have to learn how to deal with Global interests. I am for Fair Trade. I truly believe we should fight hard for Fair Trade, but the reality of today is that if we are going to make any economic progress, we are going to have to play with the cards we are dealt.
There are opportunities out there. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wanted to get back home to Kansas, so she got on the path to Oz. We want to get back home to prosperity and standing pat is not doing that. Identifying some opportunities and moving towards these goals is not going to pay off today, but we have to get on the path or it will never happen.
An example is Visionaire Jets. I had a person close to me say that Jim Rice, the CEO of Visionaire Jets, is a dreamer. It ticked me off, because Mr. Rice has been very open with me relating to the Visionaire project. If you ask him a question about the history of this project, he is very much forward about what has happened and his involvement in the project over the years. He'll tell you right up front that this project carries inherent risks and it isn't guaranteed, but if you allow him to demonstrate how this project is sequenced, structured, and the attention to detail devoted to it, then you know that the project is doable.
So that is what I want to relate to the open-minded people who follow this blog, because I believe that you are intelligent enough to understand this. All entrepreneurs are visionaries. They are people who are willing to take a risk, because they envision and believe that there is a need for a product or service that their mind and soul compel them create and be involved in.
When it comes to business, especially pertaining to innovation and ingenuity, it seems that people who are trying to lay a foundation to start a creative endeavor are labeled "Dreamers." And this label has a negative connotation. Only when entrepreneurs have found success are they labeled "Visionaries." But in the end are they not one and the same? You can be a dreamer who fails on your first four attempts, but if you succeed on the fifth, then you are a visionary and the first four failures get lumped in with he overall "Vision."
I want this area to become a hotbed of innovation and in order to make that happen we have to get past just talking about that as a desire. One of the key ingredients necessary to do that is to change people's thought processes and perceptions when it comes to business. I think we have turned businesses off (and away), when they witness the risk averse mindset that has permeated this area -- the same people who are quick to label people dreamers. Did those past generations who started the furniture and textile businesses in this area have that mindset?
If people want this area to move forward, then they are going to have to invest in upstart companies who are willing to be located in the Hickory region. I know that people don't have the equity that they had 5 to 10 years ago, because the value of their property has fallen, money market interest rates are ridiculously low, and the stock market has gone nowhere over the last decade. But, I think that lessons can be learned from all of this.
People have been all to willing to invest their money in blind faith and not have a direct interest in their personal assets. First things first, our economy has moved from Bubble to Bubble to Bubble with no real stability for a long, long time. Middle Class wealth was invested in banks who used it for Casino Style Derivatives that created no value and thus no wealth. All it has done is dilute the value of the dollar, further diluting individual net worth. The only people who have enjoyed success are Financial Administrators who can't lose. They make a percentage on the way up and they make a percentage on the way down.
Wall Street has taken your money and offshored it. They got their big bonuses and you saw a temporary uptick. They continued to get their bonuses and U.S. companies started to fail. The bonuses kept rolling, foreign companies started growing, and you lost your job, and started having to dig into your investments to survive. They still keep making their bonuses, the value of your assets have fallen, and now many people have nothing left.
But the people who do have assets need to take them away from Wall Street and the Mega-Banks and start investing it in the local community. That is what creates Base-Dynamism. That will get you a better return on your investment. We are to the point in this country where the Middle Class does not have much money left to invest. What capital we do have left is going to have to be invested wisely. I honestly feel that the wisest place to invest your money is in the local community.
I won't get into that today, but I would love to see a local micro-lending fund made up from local investors. I'd love to see a local stock market for local upstart companies. All of this would be done with signed guarantees that entrepreneurs would reinvest back into this community. That would create jobs in our area. That would create wealth and value for our community. That is my vision of what could be, which is a lot better than the vision of where I see us headed.
May God's Peace be with us all.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Reason to buy Local -- Gerald Celente
The Hounds pre-text Commentary: I have spoken many times of the voices that I follow and who I am learning from. These people include Catherine Austin Fitts, Gerald Celente, Bob Chapman, Warren Pollock, etc. All of these people tell you not to take their word for the gospel. They say that every person needs to figure things out for themselves and take care of themselves and the people close to them.
These people have a common thread. They believe that the American people need to detach themselves from the Mega-Corporate grid as much as possible. The Corporatocracy is poisoning us with the additives that they put in food, beverages, and even the water supply. These chemicals are taken into your system. Open you mind! Maybe the reason why you feel bad is because of the shortcuts and additive chemicals that are being put into your food! Maybe?
Food and Drinks are chemicals. We all know that if we take care of our property, think house or car, that it will last longer. Then why don't we take care of ourselves in much the same manner?
I see many locally owned restaurants that are currently struggling. People want cheap food and there is a cost to pay when you go that route. These corporate restaurants take short cuts. They use cheaper grades of food and mass produce their own food and ingredients. Most of it is convenience food. What many of us in the business call Frankenfood. Their wholesale food cost is 15% cheaper than Small-Business restaurants. That is hard for a small business to compete against. The Mega-Corporate restaurants' prices are going to be cheaper, but these corporate restaurants send their profits to Wall Street and Wall Street sends it offshore. Small businesses keep money in the community! I want you to remember that the next time you go out to eat. Buying local may cost a little more, but when you do so, you are investing in your community and thus your neighbors!
Gerald Celente : ...People are finally looking and seeing for themselves what's going on the second American revolution is under way , we call it the twenty percent solution ...twenty percent of the people out there , they do not buy corporate food they do not eat eggs from these factory farms ..that are like concentration camps for chickens the Auscwitz Farms mass produced , mass consumed mass murder.... Do Not go to Wall Mart , Cosco , support your local Merchant break the chains , literally and metaphorically , twenty percent can break the back of all the chains ...do not take another sip of Coca Cola , Pepsi Cola ...do not go to MacDonald do not go to Burger King , eat local support your local restaurant ...the country will turn around...
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.
“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”
“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”
“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”
“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”
The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.
“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News
“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist
“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today
“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
- CNBC
“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times
“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News
“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News
“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune
“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times
“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York Post
These people have a common thread. They believe that the American people need to detach themselves from the Mega-Corporate grid as much as possible. The Corporatocracy is poisoning us with the additives that they put in food, beverages, and even the water supply. These chemicals are taken into your system. Open you mind! Maybe the reason why you feel bad is because of the shortcuts and additive chemicals that are being put into your food! Maybe?
Food and Drinks are chemicals. We all know that if we take care of our property, think house or car, that it will last longer. Then why don't we take care of ourselves in much the same manner?
I see many locally owned restaurants that are currently struggling. People want cheap food and there is a cost to pay when you go that route. These corporate restaurants take short cuts. They use cheaper grades of food and mass produce their own food and ingredients. Most of it is convenience food. What many of us in the business call Frankenfood. Their wholesale food cost is 15% cheaper than Small-Business restaurants. That is hard for a small business to compete against. The Mega-Corporate restaurants' prices are going to be cheaper, but these corporate restaurants send their profits to Wall Street and Wall Street sends it offshore. Small businesses keep money in the community! I want you to remember that the next time you go out to eat. Buying local may cost a little more, but when you do so, you are investing in your community and thus your neighbors!
Gerald Celente : ...People are finally looking and seeing for themselves what's going on the second American revolution is under way , we call it the twenty percent solution ...twenty percent of the people out there , they do not buy corporate food they do not eat eggs from these factory farms ..that are like concentration camps for chickens the Auscwitz Farms mass produced , mass consumed mass murder.... Do Not go to Wall Mart , Cosco , support your local Merchant break the chains , literally and metaphorically , twenty percent can break the back of all the chains ...do not take another sip of Coca Cola , Pepsi Cola ...do not go to MacDonald do not go to Burger King , eat local support your local restaurant ...the country will turn around...
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.
“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”
“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”
“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”
“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”
The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.
“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News
“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist
“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today
“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
- CNBC
“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times
“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News
“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News
“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune
“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times
“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York Post
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 7, 2010
This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.
At right of this page under Main Information links is an Hickory's City Website link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the left of the page you will see the Agenda's and Minutes link you need to click. This will give you a choice of PDF files to upcoming and previous meetings.
You will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.
Here is a summary of the agenda of the 9/7/2010 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below
Invocation by Cindy Jordan, Spiritual Advisor Formerly of Catawba Valley Medical Center
Consent Agenda:
A. Proclamation Declaring the Week of September 12 - 18, 2010 as “National Assisted Living Week” in the City of Hickory
B. Approve Airport Concession Agreement With Teresa Rozzelle to Operate Restaurant Located in the Hickory Regional Airport Terminal Building - Teresa Rozzelle desires to locate Wingo’s at the Hickory Regional Airport Terminal Building; previously occupied by Froggy Pete’s Café. Said tenant will pay the City 6% of gross proceeds in excess of $30,000 annually and the lease will be for a term of three (3) years. With no commercial airline service currently at the airport, the commercial ramp outside the terminal can be used by private aircraft to access the restaurant. No significant changes have been made to the lease from the last three (3) tenants occupying this space. The tenant agrees to have the restaurant open during normal breakfast and lunch hours five (5) days a week. Two readings are being requested during the September 7, 2010 meeting so as to reopen the restaurant in a timely manner for the aviation community.
C. Approve Dedication of Right of Way to the NC Department of Transportation for Driveway Permit Located at the Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant - Said dedication of right of way is requested in association with the construction of the new Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant project, located at 310 Cloninger Mill Road. This will allow for the required new driveway permit. The existing driveway will be eliminated due to the new plant site layout. There is no cost or revenue associated with this dedication.
D. Approve Resolution and Interlocal Agreement in Support of Western Piedmont Council of government’s Acquisition of Real Property to Construct Office Facility and Secure Financing - The Western Piedmont Council of Government’s (WPCOG) Policy Board recently approved the Interlocal Agreement and gave authorization to receive approval from their member local governments so as to purchase real property and secure financing. Said agreement is intended to demonstrate to the NC Local Government Commission that WPCOG is a stable organization, capable of repaying the financing being requested from the US Department of Agriculture. This is not intended to be a legally binding commitment by local governments, but simply a statement of intent which collectively provides the Local Government Commission the needed assurances.
E. Approve Resolution Honoring Our Local Police, Fire, Emergency Services and Military Personnel to be Presented on September 11, 2010 at Lenoir-Rhyne University
F. Request From Hickory Downtown Development Association for Use of Union Square for 2010 Oktoberfest on October 8 – 10, 2010 from 7 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
G. Acceptance of 2010 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) in the Amount of $43,366 to Purchase Various Police Equipment - The City of Hickory and Catawba County have received notification of approval to receive a combined allocation of $57,921 under the 2010 JAG Program, which utilizes Uniform Crime Reporting statistics of all law enforcement agencies to determine eligibility for direct federal grant awards. Catawba County is eligible for a $14,555 grant and the City of Hickory is eligible for $43,366 with no match required. The City of Hickory has agreed to serve as lead agency in the grant application process. The grant funds will be used for a polygraph activity sensor seat, Crime Zone software, replacement camera and laptop computers, digital cameras, protective earmuffs, Lidar speed detection, Universal Forensic Extraction device and replacement treadmills.
H. Award Bid to Armstrong Ford in the Amount of $145,306 to Purchase Seven (7) Police Replacement Vehicles - Hickory Police Department requests approval to award bid to Armstrong Ford for the purchase of seven (7) 2011 Ford Crown Victoria specialized police package emergency vehicles in the amount of $145,306. These are rear wheel drive vehicles at a cost of $20,758 each. It has been determined that the Ford Crown Victoria best suits the needs of the department in order to operate the large number of electrical devices contained in the police vehicles. Armstrong Ford was the only company to submit a bid by closing date. Funds are budgeted for this item.
I. Approval to Award a Community Appearance Grant to Rick & Judy Greenhill for Property Located at 561 11th Street, NW in the Amount of $5,000 - The subject property is owned by Rick & Judy Greenhill who desire to improve the general appearance of their property by renovating and/or installing new roofing, exterior paint, gutters, lighting, doors and other related items to the structure. The cost of said improvements is estimated to be between $15,926.20 and $16,608. On August 23, 2010 the Community Appearance Commission unanimously voted to recommend grant funding in the amount of $5,000.
J. Approval to Award a Community Appearance Grant to Gavin Mitchell for Property Located at 15 2nd Avenue, NW in the Amount of $5,000 - The subject property is owned by Gavin Mitchell who desires to improve the general appearance of his property by replacing 30 windows and installing new vinyl siding to the structure. The cost of said improvements is estimated to be between $16,650 and $16,781. On August 23, 2010 the Community Appearance Commission unanimously voted to recommend grant funding in the amount of $5,000.
K. Approval of the FY 2009 – 2010 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) - The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development requires the City, as a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement funding recipient, to report on CDBG monies spent within the previous fiscal year. This report evaluates the effectiveness of the use of resources in addressing identified goals and objectives cited in the Annual Action Plan, which is prepared before the fiscal year begins.
L. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant “Operation No Vacancy” to Maximum Investments, Inc. for Property Located at 1545 Hwy 70, SW in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. Maximum Investments, Inc. has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the building by repaving the parking lot, replacement of the roof, painting the exterior while replacing and adding windows. The applicant’s total investment is estimated to be $57,400 and the renovation is planned to be used for a real estate and property management company along with a car dealership. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and voted to recommend approval of $25,000.
M. Award Bid to Neill Grading & Construction For Construction of Green Park Subdivision Along 5th Avenue, SW in the Amount of $272,000. - Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley purchased 4.68 acres from the City of Hickory for an affordable housing subdivision along 5th Avenue, SW; Green Park Subdivision. The City is to install roadway, sewer, water, curb, gutter and sidewalks for said subdivision. Eleven (11) homes will be constructed at this site, ranging in size from 1100 to 1400 sq. ft. valued at approximately $112,000.. The bid process was advertised on July 27 and August 10, 2010. Five (5) bids were received with Neill Grading and Construction Co., Inc. coming in as the low bidder at $272,200.
N. Amend the Traffic Ordinance by Reducing the Speed Limit From 35 mph to 25 mph Along 7th Ave, NE From the Intersection With 3rd St, NE East Approximately 1,670 Feet to the Intersection With 5th Ave Pl, NE, 4th St, NE From the Intersection With 7th Ave, NE North Approximately 660 Feet to the Intersection With 8th Ave, NE and 4th St, NE From the Intersection With 7th Ave, NE South Approximately 640 Feet to the Dead End - Under the City’s Traffic Calming Program an application was received for a speed limit reduction along 7th Ave, NE as indicated above and primarily serving the Combford Park residential area. Staff determined that a speed limit reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph would be acceptable, if the residents desired. The petition packages were received and were determined by Staff to be valid and met the 75% signature requirement.
O. Approve Piggyback Purchase of Cab, Chassis and Refuse Body by Resolutions From Southern Truck Service in the Amount of $124,167 and From Carolina Environmental Services in the Amount of $56,600 - Adoption of these Resolutions will allow the City of Hickory to piggyback purchase a cab, chassis and rear loading refuse body from a prior Town of Cary bid award pursuant to NC General Statute 143-129. The units purchased by the Town of Cary are the same specifications desired by Hickory Solid Waste Division. This in turn will save the City time in not having to go through the bid process. Southern Truck Service has agreed to a price decrease from the Town of Cary due to year-end incentives for the cab and chassis in the amount of $124,167. The refuse body will be purchased from Carolina Environmental Services in the amount of $56,600 for a grand total of $180,767. Funds are budgeted in the FY 2010-11 Solid Waste Budget.
P. Accept Grant from Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA) to Upgrade Recycling Convenience Center in the Amount of $11,119 - Acceptance of this grant from the DPPEA would allow the replacement of front loader dumpsters used to collect recyclables with hook lift dumpsters located at 1060 1st Avenue, SW, which is the City’s Transfer Station site. Replacement would cut the number of dumpsters to three (3) and still provide the same recycling options, while reducing the number of trips made to the GDS MRF and saving approximately $5,887.44 per year in fuel and labor. The City’s portion of said grant would be $2,224.
Q. Approve Contract With North Star Destination Strategies for Branding and Marketing Project in the Amount of $88,000 - The Business Development Committee recommended and City Council approved entering into a contract with North Star Destination Strategies to develop a comprehensive branding and marketing campaign for the City of Hickory. City Council will have final acceptance authority of the work performed and will be engaged periodically throughout the project for feedback. The project will focus on five (5) key elements to achieve the City’s objective through demographic data, marketing data, competitor data and interviews. The project will also include development of new logos for the CVB and EDC which will compliment the City of Hickory’s new logo. Both entities will contribute to the cost of the contract. Due to time constraints, staff is requesting two readings be held on September 7, 2010. A budget amendment is required.
R. Approval to Issue Pyrotechnic Display Permit to Lenoir-Rhyne University for Saturday, October 9, 2010 - Lenoir-Rhyne University requests permission to hold a public fireworks display to be presented by Pyro Shows Incorporated on Saturday, October 9, 2010 following the homecoming football game. The Fire Prevention Bureau has reviewed all required documentation and will inspect the display area prior to the event to ensure compliance with all guidelines.
S. Request From Spiritual Counseling Network for Use of Union Square for Spirit Fest 2010 on September 18, 2010 from 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
T. Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 4
1. To budget a $100 memorial donation in the Library Books line item for Ridgeview Library.
2. To budget a total of $400 of the Airports multi-purpose room rental Sales and Services Revenue in the Airport Department Supplies line item.
3. To appropriate $7,500 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Administration Contracted Services line item. This appropriation is to pay Catawba County Chamber of Commerce $7,500 for the Portal Website Development.
4. To appropriate $88,000 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Economic and Community Development Other Miscellaneous Expenditure line item. This appropriation is to pay North Star Destination Strategies, as recommended by the Business Development Committee (BDC), to develop a comprehensive branding and marketing campaign for the City of Hickory. The project will focus on the City seeking to grow its population through recruiting active adults, professionals and ntrepreneurs.
5. To re-appropriate $12,069 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Parks and Recreation Maintenance and Repair of Grounds line item. These funds are for the Hilton Gazebo project; however funds rolled into Fund Balance at the end of FY2010 and need to be re-appropriated for the new fiscal year.
6. To budget a $1,092 insurance claim check from Trident Insurance Company in the Parks and Recreation Maintenance and Grounds line item. This insurance claim is for lightening damage to the Henry Fork Park gate on 07-17-10.
7. To budget $1,818 of Local Government Revenue in the Police Department Overtime line item. This revenue is payment from Catawba County Mental Health for a portion of an Officers time spent when accompanying involuntary commitment patients.
8. To budget a $3,381 insurance claim check from GMAC Insurance Company in the Police Department Maintenance and Repair of Vehicle line item. This insurance claim is for damage to Police vehicle on 08-21-10.
9. To accept and budget a $29,578 materials reimbursement check from the Bethlehem Water District in the Water Lines account code. This reimbursement is for the payment of waterline materials used for the Teaguetown Rd Waterline Extension Project. The City of Hickory has completed the engineering design,
obtained permitting, and will perform the construction.
10. To increase the Transfer to Multi-Year Grant for the Brownfield Grant project by $156 and decrease the Economic and Community Development Department Supplies line item by $156. The Brownfield Grant does not cover food expenditures; therefore an amendment is necessary to cover the cost.
New Business - Public Hearings:
Proposed Ordinance Designating Hickory Station as a Local Landmark by Recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission - OHB Properties, LLC purchased Hickory Station, located at 232 Government Avenue, SW, from the City of Hickory in 2007 for a proposed restaurant. A deed restriction was placed on the purchase stating that the property was to be treated as a local historic landmark and all exterior changes would require a Certificate of Appropriateness to be issued by the Historic Preservation Commission, pursuant to Exhibit B, Section 3.f.2 of the Economic Development Agreement approved by City Council on August 7, 2007. Formally designating the property will help ensure the property owner’s due process rights and assist staff in administering the deed restriction in addition to allowing a 50% property tax deferral for the property owner pursuant to NC General Statute. On August 24, 2010 the Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the proposed Ordinance.
Dave Leonetti made the presentation. The building was constructed in 1912. It was the third building constructed for rail and the second devoted to passenger rail service. It was in operation until approximately 1970. The city purchased the building in 1972 and it was renovated for use as a restaurant in 1977. The building has been vacant since 2005. Their is a deed restriction on the building that states that the owners must receive permission to make any exterior changes to the building. The building fits the historical criteria, because it is associated with events that have contributed to the city’s history.
Alderman Seaver asked if there have been any further discussions about rail service? City Manager Berry stated that a group within NCDOT that works on passenger rail. There has been planning done for a passenger rail line from Salisbury to Asheville. He stated that it would be more of a touristy type of thing as opposed to commuter rail and that it would be very expensive. He stated that the people at DOT think that it will never happen. Alderman Seaver stated that he had seen where President Obama wants to build 4,000 miles of railroad as part of a nationwide infrastructure fix. He stated that at one time we were actively involved in having a stop there (at the old depot). Are we still going to try to use it? Manager Berry stated that in the deed restrictions that if passenger rail ever does materialize in Hickory that the owners (of the depot) have to make accommodations for the rail depot. Manager berry stated that that is not in the foreseeable future.
Alder Fox stated that the challenge 9is not with the owner. She stated that the challenge is to get our name back up in sight. Alderman Meisner stated that right now we are number 2 in the county – Conover. Manager Berry stated yeah, the state has these convoluted criteria for how they choose where stops will be and it has become a political process, if you will. He stated that the State would have to make concessions between Conover and Hickory and we have pushed it about as far as you can push it. He further stated that in talks with the COO Jim Trogdon of the DOT, that funding would not be coming down for that ever. Council Unanimously Consented.
6. Review and Consider Adoption of Proposed Ethics Code Required by North Carolina General Statute - North Carolina Legislature passed NC General Statute § 160A-86 requiring all North Carolina cities, counties, local boards of education, sanitary districts, unified governments and consolidated city-counties to adopt a resolution or policy containing a code of ethics, to be adopted by January 1, 2011. The Ethics Code must address five (5) areas:
The need to obey all applicable laws regarding official actions taken as a board member.
The need to uphold the integrity and independence of the board member’s office.
The need to avoid impropriety in the exercise of the board member’s official duties.
The need to faithfully perform the duties of the office.
The need to conduct the affairs of the governing board in an open and public manner.
The proposed code also incorporates the existing Conflict of Interests Policy previously approved by City Council. Staff Attorney Arnita Dula addressed the council on this issue. Council Unanimously Consented
RENTAL PROPERTY TASK FORCE - (Terms expire December 6, 2010)
Objective: Recommend approaches to City Council which will assist rental property owners in knowing and responding to illegal and nuisance behaviors being perpetrated by tenants. Recommend approaches to assist neighbors of rental property in reporting problems and understanding the City and rental owners’ response to concerns. Recommendations should be as simple and straightforward as possible and take into consideration impact on city staff and property owners, and the rights of citizens who rent property. This objective is to be completed in 90 days and will be assisted by City staff and the analysis of
crime and nuisance data. Council announced the people who will fill these positions.
Recognition of Persons Requesting To Be Heard - Jim Davis and Larry Pope readdressed the Ridgeview and Ivey Weaver Pools Issue
Citizens Of Ridgeview address the City Council about the City Pools Issue
Footcandle Film Society - screening Thursday night (9/9/2010) - "Please Give" - 7pm, Carolina Theater, Downtown Hickory. A well-reviewed film followed by and optional discussion. $5 at the door or free to current society members. All are welcome - spread the word!
At right of this page under Main Information links is an Hickory's City Website link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the left of the page you will see the Agenda's and Minutes link you need to click. This will give you a choice of PDF files to upcoming and previous meetings.
You will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.
Here is a summary of the agenda of the 9/7/2010 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below
Invocation by Cindy Jordan, Spiritual Advisor Formerly of Catawba Valley Medical Center
Consent Agenda:
A. Proclamation Declaring the Week of September 12 - 18, 2010 as “National Assisted Living Week” in the City of Hickory
B. Approve Airport Concession Agreement With Teresa Rozzelle to Operate Restaurant Located in the Hickory Regional Airport Terminal Building - Teresa Rozzelle desires to locate Wingo’s at the Hickory Regional Airport Terminal Building; previously occupied by Froggy Pete’s Café. Said tenant will pay the City 6% of gross proceeds in excess of $30,000 annually and the lease will be for a term of three (3) years. With no commercial airline service currently at the airport, the commercial ramp outside the terminal can be used by private aircraft to access the restaurant. No significant changes have been made to the lease from the last three (3) tenants occupying this space. The tenant agrees to have the restaurant open during normal breakfast and lunch hours five (5) days a week. Two readings are being requested during the September 7, 2010 meeting so as to reopen the restaurant in a timely manner for the aviation community.
C. Approve Dedication of Right of Way to the NC Department of Transportation for Driveway Permit Located at the Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant - Said dedication of right of way is requested in association with the construction of the new Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant project, located at 310 Cloninger Mill Road. This will allow for the required new driveway permit. The existing driveway will be eliminated due to the new plant site layout. There is no cost or revenue associated with this dedication.
D. Approve Resolution and Interlocal Agreement in Support of Western Piedmont Council of government’s Acquisition of Real Property to Construct Office Facility and Secure Financing - The Western Piedmont Council of Government’s (WPCOG) Policy Board recently approved the Interlocal Agreement and gave authorization to receive approval from their member local governments so as to purchase real property and secure financing. Said agreement is intended to demonstrate to the NC Local Government Commission that WPCOG is a stable organization, capable of repaying the financing being requested from the US Department of Agriculture. This is not intended to be a legally binding commitment by local governments, but simply a statement of intent which collectively provides the Local Government Commission the needed assurances.
E. Approve Resolution Honoring Our Local Police, Fire, Emergency Services and Military Personnel to be Presented on September 11, 2010 at Lenoir-Rhyne University
F. Request From Hickory Downtown Development Association for Use of Union Square for 2010 Oktoberfest on October 8 – 10, 2010 from 7 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
G. Acceptance of 2010 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) in the Amount of $43,366 to Purchase Various Police Equipment - The City of Hickory and Catawba County have received notification of approval to receive a combined allocation of $57,921 under the 2010 JAG Program, which utilizes Uniform Crime Reporting statistics of all law enforcement agencies to determine eligibility for direct federal grant awards. Catawba County is eligible for a $14,555 grant and the City of Hickory is eligible for $43,366 with no match required. The City of Hickory has agreed to serve as lead agency in the grant application process. The grant funds will be used for a polygraph activity sensor seat, Crime Zone software, replacement camera and laptop computers, digital cameras, protective earmuffs, Lidar speed detection, Universal Forensic Extraction device and replacement treadmills.
H. Award Bid to Armstrong Ford in the Amount of $145,306 to Purchase Seven (7) Police Replacement Vehicles - Hickory Police Department requests approval to award bid to Armstrong Ford for the purchase of seven (7) 2011 Ford Crown Victoria specialized police package emergency vehicles in the amount of $145,306. These are rear wheel drive vehicles at a cost of $20,758 each. It has been determined that the Ford Crown Victoria best suits the needs of the department in order to operate the large number of electrical devices contained in the police vehicles. Armstrong Ford was the only company to submit a bid by closing date. Funds are budgeted for this item.
I. Approval to Award a Community Appearance Grant to Rick & Judy Greenhill for Property Located at 561 11th Street, NW in the Amount of $5,000 - The subject property is owned by Rick & Judy Greenhill who desire to improve the general appearance of their property by renovating and/or installing new roofing, exterior paint, gutters, lighting, doors and other related items to the structure. The cost of said improvements is estimated to be between $15,926.20 and $16,608. On August 23, 2010 the Community Appearance Commission unanimously voted to recommend grant funding in the amount of $5,000.
J. Approval to Award a Community Appearance Grant to Gavin Mitchell for Property Located at 15 2nd Avenue, NW in the Amount of $5,000 - The subject property is owned by Gavin Mitchell who desires to improve the general appearance of his property by replacing 30 windows and installing new vinyl siding to the structure. The cost of said improvements is estimated to be between $16,650 and $16,781. On August 23, 2010 the Community Appearance Commission unanimously voted to recommend grant funding in the amount of $5,000.
K. Approval of the FY 2009 – 2010 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) - The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development requires the City, as a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement funding recipient, to report on CDBG monies spent within the previous fiscal year. This report evaluates the effectiveness of the use of resources in addressing identified goals and objectives cited in the Annual Action Plan, which is prepared before the fiscal year begins.
L. Approve Vacant Building Revitalization Grant “Operation No Vacancy” to Maximum Investments, Inc. for Property Located at 1545 Hwy 70, SW in the Amount of $25,000 - The Vacant Building Revitalization Grant Program was established by City Council in September, 2008 whereby the program provides matching funds up to $25,000 for projects seeking to renovate and rehabilitate vacant buildings and the demolition of substandard buildings. Maximum Investments, Inc. has applied for such a grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist in the renovation of the building by repaving the parking lot, replacement of the roof, painting the exterior while replacing and adding windows. The applicant’s total investment is estimated to be $57,400 and the renovation is planned to be used for a real estate and property management company along with a car dealership. The Redevelopment Committee reviewed the application and voted to recommend approval of $25,000.
M. Award Bid to Neill Grading & Construction For Construction of Green Park Subdivision Along 5th Avenue, SW in the Amount of $272,000. - Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley purchased 4.68 acres from the City of Hickory for an affordable housing subdivision along 5th Avenue, SW; Green Park Subdivision. The City is to install roadway, sewer, water, curb, gutter and sidewalks for said subdivision. Eleven (11) homes will be constructed at this site, ranging in size from 1100 to 1400 sq. ft. valued at approximately $112,000.. The bid process was advertised on July 27 and August 10, 2010. Five (5) bids were received with Neill Grading and Construction Co., Inc. coming in as the low bidder at $272,200.
N. Amend the Traffic Ordinance by Reducing the Speed Limit From 35 mph to 25 mph Along 7th Ave, NE From the Intersection With 3rd St, NE East Approximately 1,670 Feet to the Intersection With 5th Ave Pl, NE, 4th St, NE From the Intersection With 7th Ave, NE North Approximately 660 Feet to the Intersection With 8th Ave, NE and 4th St, NE From the Intersection With 7th Ave, NE South Approximately 640 Feet to the Dead End - Under the City’s Traffic Calming Program an application was received for a speed limit reduction along 7th Ave, NE as indicated above and primarily serving the Combford Park residential area. Staff determined that a speed limit reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph would be acceptable, if the residents desired. The petition packages were received and were determined by Staff to be valid and met the 75% signature requirement.
O. Approve Piggyback Purchase of Cab, Chassis and Refuse Body by Resolutions From Southern Truck Service in the Amount of $124,167 and From Carolina Environmental Services in the Amount of $56,600 - Adoption of these Resolutions will allow the City of Hickory to piggyback purchase a cab, chassis and rear loading refuse body from a prior Town of Cary bid award pursuant to NC General Statute 143-129. The units purchased by the Town of Cary are the same specifications desired by Hickory Solid Waste Division. This in turn will save the City time in not having to go through the bid process. Southern Truck Service has agreed to a price decrease from the Town of Cary due to year-end incentives for the cab and chassis in the amount of $124,167. The refuse body will be purchased from Carolina Environmental Services in the amount of $56,600 for a grand total of $180,767. Funds are budgeted in the FY 2010-11 Solid Waste Budget.
P. Accept Grant from Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA) to Upgrade Recycling Convenience Center in the Amount of $11,119 - Acceptance of this grant from the DPPEA would allow the replacement of front loader dumpsters used to collect recyclables with hook lift dumpsters located at 1060 1st Avenue, SW, which is the City’s Transfer Station site. Replacement would cut the number of dumpsters to three (3) and still provide the same recycling options, while reducing the number of trips made to the GDS MRF and saving approximately $5,887.44 per year in fuel and labor. The City’s portion of said grant would be $2,224.
Q. Approve Contract With North Star Destination Strategies for Branding and Marketing Project in the Amount of $88,000 - The Business Development Committee recommended and City Council approved entering into a contract with North Star Destination Strategies to develop a comprehensive branding and marketing campaign for the City of Hickory. City Council will have final acceptance authority of the work performed and will be engaged periodically throughout the project for feedback. The project will focus on five (5) key elements to achieve the City’s objective through demographic data, marketing data, competitor data and interviews. The project will also include development of new logos for the CVB and EDC which will compliment the City of Hickory’s new logo. Both entities will contribute to the cost of the contract. Due to time constraints, staff is requesting two readings be held on September 7, 2010. A budget amendment is required.
R. Approval to Issue Pyrotechnic Display Permit to Lenoir-Rhyne University for Saturday, October 9, 2010 - Lenoir-Rhyne University requests permission to hold a public fireworks display to be presented by Pyro Shows Incorporated on Saturday, October 9, 2010 following the homecoming football game. The Fire Prevention Bureau has reviewed all required documentation and will inspect the display area prior to the event to ensure compliance with all guidelines.
S. Request From Spiritual Counseling Network for Use of Union Square for Spirit Fest 2010 on September 18, 2010 from 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
T. Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 4
1. To budget a $100 memorial donation in the Library Books line item for Ridgeview Library.
2. To budget a total of $400 of the Airports multi-purpose room rental Sales and Services Revenue in the Airport Department Supplies line item.
3. To appropriate $7,500 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Administration Contracted Services line item. This appropriation is to pay Catawba County Chamber of Commerce $7,500 for the Portal Website Development.
4. To appropriate $88,000 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Economic and Community Development Other Miscellaneous Expenditure line item. This appropriation is to pay North Star Destination Strategies, as recommended by the Business Development Committee (BDC), to develop a comprehensive branding and marketing campaign for the City of Hickory. The project will focus on the City seeking to grow its population through recruiting active adults, professionals and ntrepreneurs.
5. To re-appropriate $12,069 of General Fund Balance Appropriated and budget in the Parks and Recreation Maintenance and Repair of Grounds line item. These funds are for the Hilton Gazebo project; however funds rolled into Fund Balance at the end of FY2010 and need to be re-appropriated for the new fiscal year.
6. To budget a $1,092 insurance claim check from Trident Insurance Company in the Parks and Recreation Maintenance and Grounds line item. This insurance claim is for lightening damage to the Henry Fork Park gate on 07-17-10.
7. To budget $1,818 of Local Government Revenue in the Police Department Overtime line item. This revenue is payment from Catawba County Mental Health for a portion of an Officers time spent when accompanying involuntary commitment patients.
8. To budget a $3,381 insurance claim check from GMAC Insurance Company in the Police Department Maintenance and Repair of Vehicle line item. This insurance claim is for damage to Police vehicle on 08-21-10.
9. To accept and budget a $29,578 materials reimbursement check from the Bethlehem Water District in the Water Lines account code. This reimbursement is for the payment of waterline materials used for the Teaguetown Rd Waterline Extension Project. The City of Hickory has completed the engineering design,
obtained permitting, and will perform the construction.
10. To increase the Transfer to Multi-Year Grant for the Brownfield Grant project by $156 and decrease the Economic and Community Development Department Supplies line item by $156. The Brownfield Grant does not cover food expenditures; therefore an amendment is necessary to cover the cost.
New Business - Public Hearings:
Proposed Ordinance Designating Hickory Station as a Local Landmark by Recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission - OHB Properties, LLC purchased Hickory Station, located at 232 Government Avenue, SW, from the City of Hickory in 2007 for a proposed restaurant. A deed restriction was placed on the purchase stating that the property was to be treated as a local historic landmark and all exterior changes would require a Certificate of Appropriateness to be issued by the Historic Preservation Commission, pursuant to Exhibit B, Section 3.f.2 of the Economic Development Agreement approved by City Council on August 7, 2007. Formally designating the property will help ensure the property owner’s due process rights and assist staff in administering the deed restriction in addition to allowing a 50% property tax deferral for the property owner pursuant to NC General Statute. On August 24, 2010 the Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the proposed Ordinance.
Dave Leonetti made the presentation. The building was constructed in 1912. It was the third building constructed for rail and the second devoted to passenger rail service. It was in operation until approximately 1970. The city purchased the building in 1972 and it was renovated for use as a restaurant in 1977. The building has been vacant since 2005. Their is a deed restriction on the building that states that the owners must receive permission to make any exterior changes to the building. The building fits the historical criteria, because it is associated with events that have contributed to the city’s history.
Alderman Seaver asked if there have been any further discussions about rail service? City Manager Berry stated that a group within NCDOT that works on passenger rail. There has been planning done for a passenger rail line from Salisbury to Asheville. He stated that it would be more of a touristy type of thing as opposed to commuter rail and that it would be very expensive. He stated that the people at DOT think that it will never happen. Alderman Seaver stated that he had seen where President Obama wants to build 4,000 miles of railroad as part of a nationwide infrastructure fix. He stated that at one time we were actively involved in having a stop there (at the old depot). Are we still going to try to use it? Manager Berry stated that in the deed restrictions that if passenger rail ever does materialize in Hickory that the owners (of the depot) have to make accommodations for the rail depot. Manager berry stated that that is not in the foreseeable future.
Alder Fox stated that the challenge 9is not with the owner. She stated that the challenge is to get our name back up in sight. Alderman Meisner stated that right now we are number 2 in the county – Conover. Manager Berry stated yeah, the state has these convoluted criteria for how they choose where stops will be and it has become a political process, if you will. He stated that the State would have to make concessions between Conover and Hickory and we have pushed it about as far as you can push it. He further stated that in talks with the COO Jim Trogdon of the DOT, that funding would not be coming down for that ever. Council Unanimously Consented.
The Hound certainly hopes that this will kickstart whatever the plans are for the Station. The place has been empty for way too long and I believe that it is a focal point of Downtown. As I have heard from Mrs. Fox before, we need to worry about the appearance of our entry points in the city. I will carry that thought process a step further. We need to worry about the appearance of our Historical Heritage Landmarks in our City. That building standing empty is a metaphor and representation of business and economic activity downtown. It always has been.
As far as Manager Berry's assertions involving possible passenger rail in this area. That boat done sailed!
What we see here is the total lack of vision that is Hickory. Always looking at the reason why we couldn't, shouldn't, and wouldn't do something. Any opportunity to ever get passenger rail -- part of our heritage -- back in Hickory has been p-tossed away. And I saw the angst in the body language from Mr. Seaver, Mrs. Fox, and Mr. Meisner when they discussed this issue.
Conover has the vision. everyone sees what they are doing at the old Broyhill plant. That is strategic proactive planning. Not some defeatist-defensive mindset. That is the Can-Do spirit that Hickory better get back to, if it wants to ever get out of this quagmire of malaise that we have been rolling in over the last decade.
I think the majority of people in Hickory want to see some form of rail come back. Vision = Dream. I don't agree with anyone who says that it will never happen. I can't believe anyone says never about anything. You always need to have contingencies. I believe it most certainly will happen. Not today or tomorrow, but in the next 20 to 50 years it will definitely happen and that all depends on where we head with fossil fuels and the automobile. It is about the necessity of a transportation network and the current system is unsustainable.
I have also been told that the Asheville to Salisbury route is supposed to connect people to Amtrak. Saying that it is touristy is like saying that airplane flights are touristy. That may be a component, but to infer that it wouldn't have any relation to commuting is ridiculous. And the airline industry isn't fairing so well these days, is it? It isn't only the elasticity of the cost of fuel, but it is also about population growth and the maintenance of roads and vehicles in relation to individual personal income. People want convenience and independence when it comes to travel, but there are aspects of rail travel that incorporate those ideals also. Is it convenient to drive a car to Atlanta or Washington and then have to arrange to park it everywhere you go? What about the time and cost factor involved in that?
It is more than obvious that we have governance so attached to personal feelings that they are not looking at the trends that surround them. It isn't about what we want to impose as individuals. It is about the evolution of the collective culture and our relationship as individuals to that collective culture. And that does not mean giving up ones individual rights. It means enhancing and empowering ones individual being. As long as we are striving for excellence, then we will move closer to that goal, but if we choose to strive towards the Least Common Denominator, then we will eventually get to the Least Common Denominator, which is nothing.
New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Second Reading - Approve Airport Concession Agreement With Teresa Rozzelle to Operate Restaurant Located in the Hickory Regional Airport Terminal Building. - Two readings are being requested during the September 7, 2010 meeting so as to reopen the restaurant in a timely manner for the aviation community. Council Unanimously Consented.
2. Second Reading - Award Bid to Neill Grading & Construction For Construction of Green Park Subdivision Along 5th Avenue, SW in the Amount of $272,000 - Two readings are being requested to be held on September 7, 2010 to allow construction to be completed prior to any possible winter weather delays. Council Unanimously Consented.
3. Second Reading - Approve Contract With North Star Destination Strategies for Branding and Marketing Project in the Amount of $88,000 Due to time constraints, staff is requesting two readings be held on September 7, 2010. Council Unanimously Consented.
4. Authorize the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG) Submission of EDA Grant Application on Behalf of the City of Hickory for Construction of Parking Deck at the Greater Hickory Metro Convention Center in the Amount of $1 Million - On August 4, 2009 the City adopted Resolution No. 09-25 enacting an additional 1% occupancy tax to become effective October 1, 2009. Said occupancy tax increase was sought to create funding for a parking deck at the convention center. Due to expansion in 2005 the convention center became capable of handling larger and more concurrent events. Temporary parking was established but a parking deck was determined to be necessary long term. The estimated cost of the parking deck is $4.3 million and would be constructed to look like an extension of the existing facility. The $1 million EDA grant is critical to the convention centers ability to fund the parking deck and create private sector jobs and investment. The $3.3 million balance would be borrowed by the City as the owner of the convention center and repaid by the occupancy tax, being completely independent of general City tax revenues.
Bebe Leitch, President of the Tourism and Development Authority made the presentation. The convention center is completely self-supportive. She stated that they are excited about their location and they are a great corridor for people and business to pass through. She showed the original facility which in the year 2000 had 44,000 square feet of space. In 2005 the Center was expanded by 25,000 square feet. In 2006 additional parking space was added. There have been several businesses which have located in the area surrounding the convention center including Carmax, Harley-Davidson, Restaurants, and hotels.
The reason why they need a parking deck is because there is no space available for parking expansion. There are 42 events currently held that do not have adequate parking. They are turning away events and cannot do multiple events. There are limitations that can be eliminated. She showed pictures of the proposed parking deck. This will afford a nice entrance and open area. This will allow easy access and availability to walk in the front door. The facilty will look like a structure with windows. She stated that this will be an icon for Hickory. It will provide a WOW effect. This will allow an increase of 327 spaces from the present 700. She feels that the niche market for this area is 400 to 600. This will give the opportunity to recruit more events and multiple events. Currently there are 700 hotel rooms located around the Convention Center. There are a total of around 1,900 in Hickory and Conover.
The TDA is not authorized to take out a loan. The City of Hickory takes out the loan and the TDA repays the loan on a monthly basis.The debt on the original structure will be paid off by 2019. The debt on this loan will be repaid by utilizing the monies collected from the increased occupancy tax and increased event revenues She also stated that if they do not get the grant, then they will step back on the size of the parking deck Alder patton asked about the timeframe of the grant. Mrs. Leitch stated that they would like to submit it at the end of October- beginning of November and then they would have 2 years to spend the money..
The Hound can only say good things about what I have seen from Mrs. Leitch and the direction of the TVA. we definitely need to try to expand our interests in the Tourism and Convention business sprectrum. It is obvious that there is not enough parking space for all of the activity taking place in that area and since it will essentially pay for itself, it is a no-brainer. You have to admire the vision of Mrs. Leitch and the people invoilved with the TVA. Look at what has taken place in that area from its inception up until now. If we could have growth in the rest of Hickory like we have seen under Mrs. Leitch's direction, then we would have no issues with our local economy.
6. Review and Consider Adoption of Proposed Ethics Code Required by North Carolina General Statute - North Carolina Legislature passed NC General Statute § 160A-86 requiring all North Carolina cities, counties, local boards of education, sanitary districts, unified governments and consolidated city-counties to adopt a resolution or policy containing a code of ethics, to be adopted by January 1, 2011. The Ethics Code must address five (5) areas:
The need to obey all applicable laws regarding official actions taken as a board member.
The need to uphold the integrity and independence of the board member’s office.
The need to avoid impropriety in the exercise of the board member’s official duties.
The need to faithfully perform the duties of the office.
The need to conduct the affairs of the governing board in an open and public manner.
The proposed code also incorporates the existing Conflict of Interests Policy previously approved by City Council. Staff Attorney Arnita Dula addressed the council on this issue. Council Unanimously Consented
RENTAL PROPERTY TASK FORCE - (Terms expire December 6, 2010)
Objective: Recommend approaches to City Council which will assist rental property owners in knowing and responding to illegal and nuisance behaviors being perpetrated by tenants. Recommend approaches to assist neighbors of rental property in reporting problems and understanding the City and rental owners’ response to concerns. Recommendations should be as simple and straightforward as possible and take into consideration impact on city staff and property owners, and the rights of citizens who rent property. This objective is to be completed in 90 days and will be assisted by City staff and the analysis of
crime and nuisance data. Council announced the people who will fill these positions.
Recognition of Persons Requesting To Be Heard - Jim Davis and Larry Pope readdressed the Ridgeview and Ivey Weaver Pools Issue
Citizens Of Ridgeview address the City Council about the City Pools Issue
Footcandle Film Society - screening Thursday night (9/9/2010) - "Please Give" - 7pm, Carolina Theater, Downtown Hickory. A well-reviewed film followed by and optional discussion. $5 at the door or free to current society members. All are welcome - spread the word!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Citizens Of Ridgeview address the City Council about the City Pools Issue
I will do a full report on the City Council meeting held tonight, tomorrow. The most pertinent issue involving the meeting was the addresses to Council (Citizens Requested to be heard) made by Jim Davis and Larry Pope involving their findings relating to the Ridgeview Pool issue. The recording is available below.
The recording is excellent after a little modulation had to be done via software. One of the issues that really bothers me is that I look at the money spent in the City of Hickory on superfluous issues and expenses. Thousands of dollars are spent on awnings, landscaping, cleaning up other's private property, etc., yet we can't have a decent audio system in the Council Chambers. Many times what the council members say is inaudible. I wonder sometimes if this is on purpose.
We are almost to the year 2011. These meetings need to be webcammed, recorded, and archived for public view and the sound in the council chambers should be audible. Lenoir and Caldwell County do this and their meetings are shown on public access television. We are living in a technological age when governmental access to the citizenry is solved simply and should always be encouraged. Are the people who run Hickory scared to be seen and heard? Are they shy? Are they trying to hide from the public?
The costs to outfit the chamber with something decent would be a maximum of a few thousand dollars, if people that work for the city install the system. Nothing elaborate needs to be done, but something adequate should be done. This is an issue whose relevance and time has come!
There are many questions that need to be answered pertaining these pools. The Baker act that has been cited many times. I had no idea from listening to the people from the city that it has been modified. Are the city people who have been providing information out of touch or are they slanting the view to meet their agenda?
We still don't know where the original reported $800,000 number came from. It is easy to understand Mr. Pope, Mr. Davis, and the people of the south side of Hickory. The well has been poisoned because of their dealings with the city in the past. A little good will certainly goes a long way, but when people are playing politics all the time, then that can be very hard to come by.
I think Alan Jackson is very reliable and honorable. For Alan this would be a job, but I can also understand Mr. Pope's concerns on the issue of the phone polls. I know the mentality of the people in this area and especially with the current economic status (or lack there of) of this area. I think such a poll is wrong and certainly points to a lack of sensitivity on the City's behalf. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the charettes will simply be charades.
We know the city has made up its mind, they always have their mind made up before processes begin, and frankly the only way to change that mindset is to change the input into the processes and agendas that control this city. Did I put that politically correct enough to not get attacked for my opinion? I think y'all know what I am saying.
The recording is excellent after a little modulation had to be done via software. One of the issues that really bothers me is that I look at the money spent in the City of Hickory on superfluous issues and expenses. Thousands of dollars are spent on awnings, landscaping, cleaning up other's private property, etc., yet we can't have a decent audio system in the Council Chambers. Many times what the council members say is inaudible. I wonder sometimes if this is on purpose.
We are almost to the year 2011. These meetings need to be webcammed, recorded, and archived for public view and the sound in the council chambers should be audible. Lenoir and Caldwell County do this and their meetings are shown on public access television. We are living in a technological age when governmental access to the citizenry is solved simply and should always be encouraged. Are the people who run Hickory scared to be seen and heard? Are they shy? Are they trying to hide from the public?
The costs to outfit the chamber with something decent would be a maximum of a few thousand dollars, if people that work for the city install the system. Nothing elaborate needs to be done, but something adequate should be done. This is an issue whose relevance and time has come!
There are many questions that need to be answered pertaining these pools. The Baker act that has been cited many times. I had no idea from listening to the people from the city that it has been modified. Are the city people who have been providing information out of touch or are they slanting the view to meet their agenda?
We still don't know where the original reported $800,000 number came from. It is easy to understand Mr. Pope, Mr. Davis, and the people of the south side of Hickory. The well has been poisoned because of their dealings with the city in the past. A little good will certainly goes a long way, but when people are playing politics all the time, then that can be very hard to come by.
I think Alan Jackson is very reliable and honorable. For Alan this would be a job, but I can also understand Mr. Pope's concerns on the issue of the phone polls. I know the mentality of the people in this area and especially with the current economic status (or lack there of) of this area. I think such a poll is wrong and certainly points to a lack of sensitivity on the City's behalf. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, the charettes will simply be charades.
We know the city has made up its mind, they always have their mind made up before processes begin, and frankly the only way to change that mindset is to change the input into the processes and agendas that control this city. Did I put that politically correct enough to not get attacked for my opinion? I think y'all know what I am saying.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Reckless Mess Created by the Federal Reserve by Bob Chapman - The International Forecaster
The Hounds pre-text Commentary: Bob Chapman is an Economic Analyst with 50+ years of experience trading commodities and analyzing World economics. He is followed by millions of investors all over the World and appears as a guest on various Radio shows every week throughout the year. He has a newsletter The International Forecaster and you can subscribe to his bi-weekly outputs of information.
Below you can put 2 and 2 together to see what is going on. The Fed is going to pump more money into the economy and Obama has announced this $50 billion injection into the economy --hmmm co-inky-dink, I don't think so!
It will not work, because the corruption that is at the heart of the system, that has wasted trillions of dollars, is still in control and they will waste this money also. We would be better to cut the money pumping out until we deal honestly with the corruption. We need to see the Federal Reserve System audited. We need to honestly assess where the banks stand and then we need to recoup what has been stolen and invest it in our nation's infrastructure. We need money generated from Fees and Tariffs on imports from countries that do not comply with American standards. It is time to stop this race to the bottom and the only way that we can do that is by ending this unfair trade imbalance. You say that will start a trade war. These countries are already being used as weapons against us by the world's elite financiers. You better wake up or we will be serfs like the people in those countries who many of you look down upon!
The Reckless Mess Created by the Federal Reserve by Bob Chapman
Almost two years ago the US Treasury was selling large amounts of short-term Treasury bills to fund bailouts and stimulus. That caused a major increase in debt. Most of that paper was 2-year bills and it is coming due for rollover shortly. While that transpires, October will report the annual fiscal deficit of 9/30/10 of about $1.5 trillion, a figure thought impossible just 1-1/2 to 2 years ago.
This time around the Treasury will have to depend on the Fed and US banks and institutions to fund this mountain of paper. China has reduced its holdings of Treasury debt by about 6%, or by about $6 billion over ten months, or by about 10% or almost $100 billion over the past year or so. We know these figures are estimates because the Chinese government has the same trouble the US government has, it cannot discern truth from fiction.
Now that the effect of the first quantitative easing is behind us the economy is facing a hangover even with zero interest rates and a 2.42% ten-year T-note. It was just months ago that those rates were close to 4%. The sale of Treasuries for the past six months was easy with a strong US dollar caused by a manufactured crisis in Greece and in the euro. As we look back we can see almost the whole picture. We saw major NYC banks going very long the dollar and short the euro beginning in late October of last year. At the time we couldn’t figure out what they were up too, but it became apparent this past March. The contrived attack on Greece and the euro was to allow the Treasury to fund its debt and to make the banks, which own the Fed, a fortune. 100 to 1 leverage is a lock when you have inside information and are creating the crisis. Except for Greece, Euro Zone members numbers welcomed the 17% fall in the euro vs. the dollar, because their exports were cheaper and more price competitive. What is there not to like about that? As a result the bond vigilantes went into hiding, because they were afraid to go head to head with the Treasury and the Fed. This wasn’t the old days when these entities did not rig the markets. This was today, when they rig every market 24/7, under the Executive Order that created “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.” This is a page out of the national Socialist handbook of Germany in the 1930s. Government and markets by regulation known as corporatist fascism aided by collectivist Keynesian economics. The result has been 17 months of net financial inflows, part of which was aided by the Fed in their secret offshore operations. It is no wonder they do not want to be audited and investigated. Now we are back to square one again. We announced two months ago that QE2 (Quantitative Easing 2) was on the way, but as usual few were listening. Monetization is the name of the game.
Quantitative easing will put the American public at ease, at least temporarily. They do not realize it but the American and world economies are in a deliberate state of slow collapse. Yes, the Fed has created a terrible mess. They have been totally unprofessional and reckless. The result has been, even after five quarters, averaging 3-1/4% growth, sales of new and used homes are dismal with no hope in sight for improvement, unemployment just under its highs, record debt, slight wage increases, lost purchasing power due to inflation and few prospects for improvement. Inventory is all in place, so that can no longer be a plus.
What the Fed has been approaching since June is a “liquidity trap.” That is when loans are offered to business and they refuse to borrow. They stop using credit because they question the future of the economy, their government and the specter of new taxes in the future. Money and credit is available, but few want to assume the risks to borrow.
Between stimulus and federal government hiring there has been nothing sustainable about the economy. It’s on federal life support with assistance from the Fed.
This market is the exact opposite of the gold and silver markets, which are in an 11-year bull market. The metals separated from the dollar 15 months ago and they have already won the battle of the world’s only real currency. Gold has gained 15% a year for those last 7 years. This is a secular bull market and cannot be denied. Further, gold has appreciated annually against every currency.
One of the things we find extremely interesting is that many well-meaning, bright professionals do not really understand what this is all about. They do not know the ulterior motives of those in power behind the scenes. They do not know who really pulls the strings politically, in government, at the Fed, and even on Wall Street and in banking and insurance. They do not understand the hidden agendas of enrichment and power. They do not know the real goals of legislation for Cap & Trade and Carbon Taxes when it has been proven, without a doubt, that global warming is a fraud. If they knew of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, or the Bilderberg Group, and these men and women express their ideas and nothing more at their meetings and in their committees, but that is not the way it works. These people and groups set policy for government and the shape the future of our country and the world. We have been reading their publications for more than 50 years, so we feel qualified to express our opinion. Just look at one of their recent failures, the North American Union. This was an attempt to merge Canada, the US and Mexico into one country. It’s a matter of record, their records, that the planning for this project began in the early 1990s in conjunction with the sister organization, the Royal Institute of London. They laid all the plans out to set up the NAU to eventually merge it into a world government. They admit this, but the brightest on Wall Street, in banking, etc., don’t get it.
They don’t understand, or want to understand the control these people have and how they shape the world’s future. What difference does it make if they really do not understand the problem. Who really pulls the strings and how the game works. Is Obama better than Bush, or Bloomberg, etc.? No, because they all take their order from different factions of the same group of people. We understand what these people are up too and that is how we are able to back into what they are trying to accomplish. That is why we are right so often. We understand who they are and what their game is. We know why intelligent people and newsletter writers are wrong so often. They do not understand who is really in charge and who pulls the strings and what their final goals are.
As an example, we witnessed an annual meeting put on by these people at Jackson Hole, Wyo. It is a showcase to present a path, which is to be followed for the next two years. They didn’t tell you that. They presented it as a showcase of ideas. The meeting was far from that. All the players had their marching orders. The results were preordained. We wrote about what would happen and why before it ever happened, just as we forecast two month ago that those behind the scenes had decided that quantitative easing was the only option they had for the future to keep the financial and economic system from collapsing even though that process is only temporary. All we can say is we will never understand how bright people miss the obvious. There is no logic here, only agenda.
The 3-card Monte game continues. The Fed desires to free up its balance sheet in order to have money and credit available; the Fed will sell mortgage backed securities they paid banks $0.70 to $0.80 on the dollar for, back to them for $0.20 on the dollar. This allows the banks to carry this paper on their good books at market value and allows the taxpayer to pay the difference, and the Fed cleans up their books. They do not have to do this, but they are going to do so. The losses will be about $1.2 trillion. That is why, among other things, the Fed does not want to be audited. That is why they paid billions to Congress to kill the legislation. That is why the incumbents have to be removed in November. Incidentally, the banks won’t mark their newly acquired paper to market. They will mark it to model, and gain even more profits, which, of course, are just an illusion. This gives the Fed a year of QE (Quantitive Easing), while the sheep sleep.
The bond market is a bubble and it could last another two years or more, so do not short it. Those seeking safety and stability are being deceived by an investment that every day loses purchasing power to gold and silver. In fact, the investors are so misled that market sentiment is 73% bullish on bonds. They will fall as interest rates rise, but no one knows when. The bond market has continued to attract funds. Recently almost $8 billion flowed in one week into bonds, as equity funds lost almost $3 billion. This means the dollar carry trade will flourish and the stock market will remain under pressure. Why not, earnings will be weaker next year among the higher rated companies and even with QE, GDP growth probably will be even to 1% better. At the same time inflation will rage. The worst of all investment worlds, except for those in gold and silver related assets. Just as an example, during the period from 1929 to 1936, gold doubled and gold and silver shares rose over 500% in a deflationary period. Between 1978 and 1981, during an inflationary recession the average gold and silver share appreciated 40 times the price of gold bullion. We ask you, who would want to be in bonds while we witness the greatest gold and silver bull market in history? This certainly is a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been proven for the past 11 years.
What we are seeing in bonds we saw in late 2008, as the first QE began. Ten-year note yields fell to close to 2% and a short covering market rally began at Dow (DJIA) 8,500 causing massive short covering. The reality of the following time frame was that GDP only grew an average of 3 to 3-1/4%, or 1% in inventory is extracted. The result has been little sustainability. Now here comes QE2, but this time the growth will be less with inflation higher and higher gold and silver prices. The credit contraction continues, feeding deflation and a liquidity trap, which will be held at bay by a $2.5 trillion injection annually. We still presently have core inflation above 2% and real inflation over 7%. We show official inflation at 9.5%, versus 7.4% in 2008, while real unemployment is 21-1/2%. The economy cannot extricate itself from that dilemma. On top of this we’ll have a further falling dollar. All we can say is this is terrible and it is going to get worse.
As far as the Fed is concerned what does it do in a liquidity trap. That is when interest rates are very low and both people won’t buy homes for fear of lower prices and businesses won’t borrow for fear of falling growth and higher unemployment. It is simple the Fed just creates more money and credit out of thin air. But, for rising government employment and war spending the economy would be like a wet noodle.
What is equally tragic about all this is that 1/3rd of experts, economists, analysts and newsletter writers have not been correct. How do they get so incompetent?
How do lending institutions sell off a 3-1/2 year inventory of homes when four months is normal? Yes, we know official figures are far less than that, but they are usually wrong. Look at their horrible track records. The high-end market in homes is virtually non-existent. No sales for the past two months. Only 1,000 units priced over $500,000 were sold. Even in new homes 80% that were sold were priced under $300,000. If it were not for the activities of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA making a great many subprime loans, there would be very little buying activity at all.
There you have it, and it is quite a mess. Unfortunately it is going to get worse.
Below you can put 2 and 2 together to see what is going on. The Fed is going to pump more money into the economy and Obama has announced this $50 billion injection into the economy --hmmm co-inky-dink, I don't think so!
It will not work, because the corruption that is at the heart of the system, that has wasted trillions of dollars, is still in control and they will waste this money also. We would be better to cut the money pumping out until we deal honestly with the corruption. We need to see the Federal Reserve System audited. We need to honestly assess where the banks stand and then we need to recoup what has been stolen and invest it in our nation's infrastructure. We need money generated from Fees and Tariffs on imports from countries that do not comply with American standards. It is time to stop this race to the bottom and the only way that we can do that is by ending this unfair trade imbalance. You say that will start a trade war. These countries are already being used as weapons against us by the world's elite financiers. You better wake up or we will be serfs like the people in those countries who many of you look down upon!
The Reckless Mess Created by the Federal Reserve by Bob Chapman
Almost two years ago the US Treasury was selling large amounts of short-term Treasury bills to fund bailouts and stimulus. That caused a major increase in debt. Most of that paper was 2-year bills and it is coming due for rollover shortly. While that transpires, October will report the annual fiscal deficit of 9/30/10 of about $1.5 trillion, a figure thought impossible just 1-1/2 to 2 years ago.
This time around the Treasury will have to depend on the Fed and US banks and institutions to fund this mountain of paper. China has reduced its holdings of Treasury debt by about 6%, or by about $6 billion over ten months, or by about 10% or almost $100 billion over the past year or so. We know these figures are estimates because the Chinese government has the same trouble the US government has, it cannot discern truth from fiction.
Now that the effect of the first quantitative easing is behind us the economy is facing a hangover even with zero interest rates and a 2.42% ten-year T-note. It was just months ago that those rates were close to 4%. The sale of Treasuries for the past six months was easy with a strong US dollar caused by a manufactured crisis in Greece and in the euro. As we look back we can see almost the whole picture. We saw major NYC banks going very long the dollar and short the euro beginning in late October of last year. At the time we couldn’t figure out what they were up too, but it became apparent this past March. The contrived attack on Greece and the euro was to allow the Treasury to fund its debt and to make the banks, which own the Fed, a fortune. 100 to 1 leverage is a lock when you have inside information and are creating the crisis. Except for Greece, Euro Zone members numbers welcomed the 17% fall in the euro vs. the dollar, because their exports were cheaper and more price competitive. What is there not to like about that? As a result the bond vigilantes went into hiding, because they were afraid to go head to head with the Treasury and the Fed. This wasn’t the old days when these entities did not rig the markets. This was today, when they rig every market 24/7, under the Executive Order that created “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.” This is a page out of the national Socialist handbook of Germany in the 1930s. Government and markets by regulation known as corporatist fascism aided by collectivist Keynesian economics. The result has been 17 months of net financial inflows, part of which was aided by the Fed in their secret offshore operations. It is no wonder they do not want to be audited and investigated. Now we are back to square one again. We announced two months ago that QE2 (Quantitative Easing 2) was on the way, but as usual few were listening. Monetization is the name of the game.
Quantitative easing will put the American public at ease, at least temporarily. They do not realize it but the American and world economies are in a deliberate state of slow collapse. Yes, the Fed has created a terrible mess. They have been totally unprofessional and reckless. The result has been, even after five quarters, averaging 3-1/4% growth, sales of new and used homes are dismal with no hope in sight for improvement, unemployment just under its highs, record debt, slight wage increases, lost purchasing power due to inflation and few prospects for improvement. Inventory is all in place, so that can no longer be a plus.
What the Fed has been approaching since June is a “liquidity trap.” That is when loans are offered to business and they refuse to borrow. They stop using credit because they question the future of the economy, their government and the specter of new taxes in the future. Money and credit is available, but few want to assume the risks to borrow.
Between stimulus and federal government hiring there has been nothing sustainable about the economy. It’s on federal life support with assistance from the Fed.
This market is the exact opposite of the gold and silver markets, which are in an 11-year bull market. The metals separated from the dollar 15 months ago and they have already won the battle of the world’s only real currency. Gold has gained 15% a year for those last 7 years. This is a secular bull market and cannot be denied. Further, gold has appreciated annually against every currency.
One of the things we find extremely interesting is that many well-meaning, bright professionals do not really understand what this is all about. They do not know the ulterior motives of those in power behind the scenes. They do not know who really pulls the strings politically, in government, at the Fed, and even on Wall Street and in banking and insurance. They do not understand the hidden agendas of enrichment and power. They do not know the real goals of legislation for Cap & Trade and Carbon Taxes when it has been proven, without a doubt, that global warming is a fraud. If they knew of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, or the Bilderberg Group, and these men and women express their ideas and nothing more at their meetings and in their committees, but that is not the way it works. These people and groups set policy for government and the shape the future of our country and the world. We have been reading their publications for more than 50 years, so we feel qualified to express our opinion. Just look at one of their recent failures, the North American Union. This was an attempt to merge Canada, the US and Mexico into one country. It’s a matter of record, their records, that the planning for this project began in the early 1990s in conjunction with the sister organization, the Royal Institute of London. They laid all the plans out to set up the NAU to eventually merge it into a world government. They admit this, but the brightest on Wall Street, in banking, etc., don’t get it.
They don’t understand, or want to understand the control these people have and how they shape the world’s future. What difference does it make if they really do not understand the problem. Who really pulls the strings and how the game works. Is Obama better than Bush, or Bloomberg, etc.? No, because they all take their order from different factions of the same group of people. We understand what these people are up too and that is how we are able to back into what they are trying to accomplish. That is why we are right so often. We understand who they are and what their game is. We know why intelligent people and newsletter writers are wrong so often. They do not understand who is really in charge and who pulls the strings and what their final goals are.
As an example, we witnessed an annual meeting put on by these people at Jackson Hole, Wyo. It is a showcase to present a path, which is to be followed for the next two years. They didn’t tell you that. They presented it as a showcase of ideas. The meeting was far from that. All the players had their marching orders. The results were preordained. We wrote about what would happen and why before it ever happened, just as we forecast two month ago that those behind the scenes had decided that quantitative easing was the only option they had for the future to keep the financial and economic system from collapsing even though that process is only temporary. All we can say is we will never understand how bright people miss the obvious. There is no logic here, only agenda.
The 3-card Monte game continues. The Fed desires to free up its balance sheet in order to have money and credit available; the Fed will sell mortgage backed securities they paid banks $0.70 to $0.80 on the dollar for, back to them for $0.20 on the dollar. This allows the banks to carry this paper on their good books at market value and allows the taxpayer to pay the difference, and the Fed cleans up their books. They do not have to do this, but they are going to do so. The losses will be about $1.2 trillion. That is why, among other things, the Fed does not want to be audited. That is why they paid billions to Congress to kill the legislation. That is why the incumbents have to be removed in November. Incidentally, the banks won’t mark their newly acquired paper to market. They will mark it to model, and gain even more profits, which, of course, are just an illusion. This gives the Fed a year of QE (Quantitive Easing), while the sheep sleep.
The bond market is a bubble and it could last another two years or more, so do not short it. Those seeking safety and stability are being deceived by an investment that every day loses purchasing power to gold and silver. In fact, the investors are so misled that market sentiment is 73% bullish on bonds. They will fall as interest rates rise, but no one knows when. The bond market has continued to attract funds. Recently almost $8 billion flowed in one week into bonds, as equity funds lost almost $3 billion. This means the dollar carry trade will flourish and the stock market will remain under pressure. Why not, earnings will be weaker next year among the higher rated companies and even with QE, GDP growth probably will be even to 1% better. At the same time inflation will rage. The worst of all investment worlds, except for those in gold and silver related assets. Just as an example, during the period from 1929 to 1936, gold doubled and gold and silver shares rose over 500% in a deflationary period. Between 1978 and 1981, during an inflationary recession the average gold and silver share appreciated 40 times the price of gold bullion. We ask you, who would want to be in bonds while we witness the greatest gold and silver bull market in history? This certainly is a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been proven for the past 11 years.
What we are seeing in bonds we saw in late 2008, as the first QE began. Ten-year note yields fell to close to 2% and a short covering market rally began at Dow (DJIA) 8,500 causing massive short covering. The reality of the following time frame was that GDP only grew an average of 3 to 3-1/4%, or 1% in inventory is extracted. The result has been little sustainability. Now here comes QE2, but this time the growth will be less with inflation higher and higher gold and silver prices. The credit contraction continues, feeding deflation and a liquidity trap, which will be held at bay by a $2.5 trillion injection annually. We still presently have core inflation above 2% and real inflation over 7%. We show official inflation at 9.5%, versus 7.4% in 2008, while real unemployment is 21-1/2%. The economy cannot extricate itself from that dilemma. On top of this we’ll have a further falling dollar. All we can say is this is terrible and it is going to get worse.
As far as the Fed is concerned what does it do in a liquidity trap. That is when interest rates are very low and both people won’t buy homes for fear of lower prices and businesses won’t borrow for fear of falling growth and higher unemployment. It is simple the Fed just creates more money and credit out of thin air. But, for rising government employment and war spending the economy would be like a wet noodle.
What is equally tragic about all this is that 1/3rd of experts, economists, analysts and newsletter writers have not been correct. How do they get so incompetent?
How do lending institutions sell off a 3-1/2 year inventory of homes when four months is normal? Yes, we know official figures are far less than that, but they are usually wrong. Look at their horrible track records. The high-end market in homes is virtually non-existent. No sales for the past two months. Only 1,000 units priced over $500,000 were sold. Even in new homes 80% that were sold were priced under $300,000. If it were not for the activities of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA making a great many subprime loans, there would be very little buying activity at all.
There you have it, and it is quite a mess. Unfortunately it is going to get worse.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Politicians
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.... . The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power..
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.
Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest ChargesHunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? ' I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!!YOU can help it get there!!!GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!!
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.... . The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power..
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.
Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest ChargesHunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? ' I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!!YOU can help it get there!!!GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Catawba County Chamber of Commerce Forum on Health Care Reform - September 1, 2010
This event lasted for nearly four hours. I willingly attended this event, because I want to be informed on this issue. This issue is one of the most serious issues that our nation faces. There are no simple answers and there are no easy solutions. The people of our country are going to have to start taking care of their own health to the extent that they personally control.
People want to absolve themselves of responsibility. They want to drink, smoke, do drugs, and eat unhealthy foods in excess. All of these elements are input into your body and they have consequences. And then there are external environmental inputs that can have a negative consequence towards ones well being.
I will be up front with you in letting you know that this meeting made me angry in many ways. I thought that the presentations were professionally detailed and I believe during the forum that the businessmen asked appropriate questions pertaining to their specific industries. I realize that this was a Chamber Event and therefore it is tailored around business. What bothered me is that I really didn't feel like the average person was represented during this forum. They seem to have been forgotten during this discussion. I preface what I say below as a representative of the "Average Person" -- The Average Employee -- The Forgotten Man.
Lori Alala was the moderator of this forum, she is a partner with Carolina First Associates. She stated that their goal is to help businesses navigate the intracacies of Employee benefit plans. She stated that most of the regulations have not been written and so they weren't going to be able to answer many questions today. The legislation is evolutionary.
Many of the people in the room were associated with the Insurance industry. Mrs. Alala pointed out that these agents, brokers, and consultants are committed to their industry and making sure their clients are best served.
Peter Stein, who is a lobbyist with the National Association of Healthcare Underwriters went over the information for nearly 1 1/2 hours. Much of the subject was tedious and as Mrs. Alala stated, the regulations have not been written yet, so much of what Mr. Stein was addressing could be subjected to interpretation. When I boil it all down, it appears to me that the American people have two choices, the Republican's economic euthanasia plan or the Democrat's regulatory euthanasia plan.
Under the Republican plan, the average person isn't going to be able to afford catastrophic care and their premiums will continue to rise at their currently unfettered double-digit percentage rates. The Democrats on the other hand want to control your every move and choose whether you qualify for certain coverage and certain procedures and they want to play a cut and dried statistical game with your life.
It is really easy to break down a summary of what was presented at this forum and what construe the dynamics of this public discussion -
The Blame Game:
Doctors blame Lawyers, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Lawyers blame Doctors, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Government blames Lawyers, Doctors, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Big Pharma blames Doctors, Lawyers, Government, Insurance, and the people
The People blame Lawyers, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the Doctors
The truth is that it is all us. Paul wants Peter to pay his costs, but Peter is broke. The third party system is out of control and it benefits no one. The lawyers are looking to win the lottery through torte cases. Doctors enjoyed the fruits of this system in the beginning, but now the demographics are working against them. The Pharmaceutical companies will eventually be in the same boat as the doctors, but right now they are enjoying the fruits of their marketing efforts in relation to the public's unquenched desire to find magic cures. And the Insurance companies are part of the banking cabal. They have invested your premiums into investments that did not pan out. Now they want you to dig a little deeper and they have the government enforcing their wishes. They want to cut costs at all costs, which directly impacts the quality of care. Who will look out for the American people? Obviously the American People are going to have to look out for themselves.
2014 seems to be the magic date(year). That is the year when minimum amounts of coverage are mandated by the government. You will be forced to have an insurance policy by then or you will be fined. That is what really had frosted me. The attitudes and compartmentalized thought processes that I was hearing from Mrs. Alala, Mr. Stein, the Accountant Johnny Davidson, and the Blue Cross - Blue Shield representative Roy Watson really bothered me. There was no compassion for their real customer. They think that the company representatives are their customers, but the customers are the individual policy holders!
Many times they stated that the fines for not having health care insurance were not steep enough. God forbid, you might choose to not participate and accept the fine, instead of be racketeered into this new Insurance Extortion system, where it sure seems like participants are going to pay more premiums to receive reduced benefits. It honestly was making me sick to listen to these perverse attitudes. And I am not speaking of their character. I just don't think they understand the implications of this convoluted scheme and the effects it will have on small businesses and individuals, and thus the overall economy. I really don't want an Insurance Agent or representative to become an integral part of my life. That is what my doctor is for!
The only concern I have towards companies is that they need to realize that their most important asset is their human capital. The well-being of the employees should be imperative, it should not be an afterthought. Companies should work hard to ensure that their employees are properly taken care of. But honestly, I would like to see companies taken out of the equation when it comes to healthcare. It is too burdensome to strap companies down with all of these added regulations. It serves no ones interests other than the lawyers, the accountants, and the insurance companies. It is a way to turn companies into cash cows for these special interests and it has destroyed the American Job base.
We live in an age of a mobile workforce. People are constantly changing jobs. This scheme tries to shoehorn healthcare into an antiquated model that worked when healthcare insurance was cheap and when employees spent their careers with one company. In an age where I have seen people living on a mental edge because of COBRA payments, I say no way. Cut out the middle man. Simplify the system. Coverage should be between an individual and his provider.
Everyone understands that we should be looking at the underlying medical costs. At least the doctors on this panel were compassionate. My personal doctor is excellent and very compassionate. Many times the Bean counters and lobbyists get lost in the minutia and don't look at us as human beings and from the basic human needs angle. Life is precious. We should not be looked at as numbers in their game of Oligopoly. What if it is their life or a family member's life that is on the line? Are they going to be so cut and dried then?
One of the items that was reported is the fact that an individuals W-2 will now have the amount of Health Care Benefit paid on their behalf listed on their W-2. It was stated that this will not be reported for tax puposes (not taxable), but how long will it be until it does become taxable? And is that not how it always starts? More convoluted semantics and process. They really seem to think we are stupid or are they delusionally naive?
It was mentioned several times that research is being done to assess costs and look at the cost/benefit analysis of certain programs to make them more efficient. What will guarantee that research is not skewed towards corporate lobbying interests at a cost to Quality of Care or the Individual's personal welfare?
Free Choice vouchers are an example of this convoluted mess. Employers that offer coverage must provide a free choice voucher to employees with incomes less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level whose share of the premium exceeds 8 percent but is less than 9.8 percent of their income and who choose to enroll in a plan in the exchange. The voucher amount must be equal to what the employer would have paid to provide coverage to the employee under the employer’s plan. Employers providing free choice vouchers will not be subject to penalties for employees that receive premium credits in the exchange.
This is Junk Legislation. Should healthcare legislation cause companies to have to change the way that they operate. There are parts of this legislation, which will empirically cause businesses to decide not to grow, not to hire more full-time workers, reduce part-time workers, encourage seasonal hires, and constantly monitor their relationships with independent contractors (1099 workers).
The Insurance representatives were expressly supportive of penalties on small businesses and average Americans. The BCBS representative flat out stated that they pushed the individual mandate (forced purchasing of insurance). The lobbyists constantly touted the fact that they had a seat at the table, but didn't get everything they wanted. They kept mentioning that we needed to look at the IRS website and kept referring to the IRS website, as though it was sending a tingle down their leg. It was obvious that the insurance companies were instrumental in ramrodding this legislation through the Federal government.
The only thing they harped on not getting was torte reform and cost containment. Ummm-hmmm, blame the Doctors and the Lawyers. If they were honest, then they would admit that they got 90% of what they wanted. And torte-reform in the context of the current system will only pad the Insurance Syndicates pockets. If they were at the table, then they can surely accept the responsibility and consequences for this mess when it blows up.
This system is convoluted. It seems to create more problems than solutions. You don't straighten out a rope by tying it into more knots. The Health Finance system has a vested interest in insuring a continuation of the current contorted corporate structure in some form. They want to tie the system (and thus you) into more knots, so that you have to come to them to untie the knots and thus they continue to enhance their careers and make even more money.
I got the most out of this event during the last 45 minutes, when the audience was allowed to ask questions and Congressman Patrick McHenry spoke.
Chamber President Danny Hearn asked what role the Insurance Companies played in the crafting of this bill? I (Thom Shell) stated that the debate is not over. Special Interests are represented, but not the average person, and the issue of affordability has not been addressed. Dr. Clare Gray spoke eloquently about who the doctors are supposed to represent. Are they supposed to represent the State (Government) or the People? Photos copyright: ©2010 Pat Appleson Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Used By Permission
Congressman McHenry stated during his remarks that he does not support the current reform and the debate is not over and he will fight to get healthcare reform fixed to address the availability, cost, and affordability issues.
I want to thank the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce for holding this event. It helped to open my eyes further to see what I described above.
People want to absolve themselves of responsibility. They want to drink, smoke, do drugs, and eat unhealthy foods in excess. All of these elements are input into your body and they have consequences. And then there are external environmental inputs that can have a negative consequence towards ones well being.
I will be up front with you in letting you know that this meeting made me angry in many ways. I thought that the presentations were professionally detailed and I believe during the forum that the businessmen asked appropriate questions pertaining to their specific industries. I realize that this was a Chamber Event and therefore it is tailored around business. What bothered me is that I really didn't feel like the average person was represented during this forum. They seem to have been forgotten during this discussion. I preface what I say below as a representative of the "Average Person" -- The Average Employee -- The Forgotten Man.
Lori Alala was the moderator of this forum, she is a partner with Carolina First Associates. She stated that their goal is to help businesses navigate the intracacies of Employee benefit plans. She stated that most of the regulations have not been written and so they weren't going to be able to answer many questions today. The legislation is evolutionary.
Many of the people in the room were associated with the Insurance industry. Mrs. Alala pointed out that these agents, brokers, and consultants are committed to their industry and making sure their clients are best served.
Peter Stein, who is a lobbyist with the National Association of Healthcare Underwriters went over the information for nearly 1 1/2 hours. Much of the subject was tedious and as Mrs. Alala stated, the regulations have not been written yet, so much of what Mr. Stein was addressing could be subjected to interpretation. When I boil it all down, it appears to me that the American people have two choices, the Republican's economic euthanasia plan or the Democrat's regulatory euthanasia plan.
Under the Republican plan, the average person isn't going to be able to afford catastrophic care and their premiums will continue to rise at their currently unfettered double-digit percentage rates. The Democrats on the other hand want to control your every move and choose whether you qualify for certain coverage and certain procedures and they want to play a cut and dried statistical game with your life.
It is really easy to break down a summary of what was presented at this forum and what construe the dynamics of this public discussion -
The Blame Game:
Doctors blame Lawyers, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Lawyers blame Doctors, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Government blames Lawyers, Doctors, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the people
Big Pharma blames Doctors, Lawyers, Government, Insurance, and the people
The People blame Lawyers, Government, Insurance, Big Pharma, and the Doctors
The truth is that it is all us. Paul wants Peter to pay his costs, but Peter is broke. The third party system is out of control and it benefits no one. The lawyers are looking to win the lottery through torte cases. Doctors enjoyed the fruits of this system in the beginning, but now the demographics are working against them. The Pharmaceutical companies will eventually be in the same boat as the doctors, but right now they are enjoying the fruits of their marketing efforts in relation to the public's unquenched desire to find magic cures. And the Insurance companies are part of the banking cabal. They have invested your premiums into investments that did not pan out. Now they want you to dig a little deeper and they have the government enforcing their wishes. They want to cut costs at all costs, which directly impacts the quality of care. Who will look out for the American people? Obviously the American People are going to have to look out for themselves.
2014 seems to be the magic date(year). That is the year when minimum amounts of coverage are mandated by the government. You will be forced to have an insurance policy by then or you will be fined. That is what really had frosted me. The attitudes and compartmentalized thought processes that I was hearing from Mrs. Alala, Mr. Stein, the Accountant Johnny Davidson, and the Blue Cross - Blue Shield representative Roy Watson really bothered me. There was no compassion for their real customer. They think that the company representatives are their customers, but the customers are the individual policy holders!
Many times they stated that the fines for not having health care insurance were not steep enough. God forbid, you might choose to not participate and accept the fine, instead of be racketeered into this new Insurance Extortion system, where it sure seems like participants are going to pay more premiums to receive reduced benefits. It honestly was making me sick to listen to these perverse attitudes. And I am not speaking of their character. I just don't think they understand the implications of this convoluted scheme and the effects it will have on small businesses and individuals, and thus the overall economy. I really don't want an Insurance Agent or representative to become an integral part of my life. That is what my doctor is for!
The only concern I have towards companies is that they need to realize that their most important asset is their human capital. The well-being of the employees should be imperative, it should not be an afterthought. Companies should work hard to ensure that their employees are properly taken care of. But honestly, I would like to see companies taken out of the equation when it comes to healthcare. It is too burdensome to strap companies down with all of these added regulations. It serves no ones interests other than the lawyers, the accountants, and the insurance companies. It is a way to turn companies into cash cows for these special interests and it has destroyed the American Job base.
We live in an age of a mobile workforce. People are constantly changing jobs. This scheme tries to shoehorn healthcare into an antiquated model that worked when healthcare insurance was cheap and when employees spent their careers with one company. In an age where I have seen people living on a mental edge because of COBRA payments, I say no way. Cut out the middle man. Simplify the system. Coverage should be between an individual and his provider.
Everyone understands that we should be looking at the underlying medical costs. At least the doctors on this panel were compassionate. My personal doctor is excellent and very compassionate. Many times the Bean counters and lobbyists get lost in the minutia and don't look at us as human beings and from the basic human needs angle. Life is precious. We should not be looked at as numbers in their game of Oligopoly. What if it is their life or a family member's life that is on the line? Are they going to be so cut and dried then?
One of the items that was reported is the fact that an individuals W-2 will now have the amount of Health Care Benefit paid on their behalf listed on their W-2. It was stated that this will not be reported for tax puposes (not taxable), but how long will it be until it does become taxable? And is that not how it always starts? More convoluted semantics and process. They really seem to think we are stupid or are they delusionally naive?
It was mentioned several times that research is being done to assess costs and look at the cost/benefit analysis of certain programs to make them more efficient. What will guarantee that research is not skewed towards corporate lobbying interests at a cost to Quality of Care or the Individual's personal welfare?
Free Choice vouchers are an example of this convoluted mess. Employers that offer coverage must provide a free choice voucher to employees with incomes less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level whose share of the premium exceeds 8 percent but is less than 9.8 percent of their income and who choose to enroll in a plan in the exchange. The voucher amount must be equal to what the employer would have paid to provide coverage to the employee under the employer’s plan. Employers providing free choice vouchers will not be subject to penalties for employees that receive premium credits in the exchange.
This is Junk Legislation. Should healthcare legislation cause companies to have to change the way that they operate. There are parts of this legislation, which will empirically cause businesses to decide not to grow, not to hire more full-time workers, reduce part-time workers, encourage seasonal hires, and constantly monitor their relationships with independent contractors (1099 workers).
The Insurance representatives were expressly supportive of penalties on small businesses and average Americans. The BCBS representative flat out stated that they pushed the individual mandate (forced purchasing of insurance). The lobbyists constantly touted the fact that they had a seat at the table, but didn't get everything they wanted. They kept mentioning that we needed to look at the IRS website and kept referring to the IRS website, as though it was sending a tingle down their leg. It was obvious that the insurance companies were instrumental in ramrodding this legislation through the Federal government.
The only thing they harped on not getting was torte reform and cost containment. Ummm-hmmm, blame the Doctors and the Lawyers. If they were honest, then they would admit that they got 90% of what they wanted. And torte-reform in the context of the current system will only pad the Insurance Syndicates pockets. If they were at the table, then they can surely accept the responsibility and consequences for this mess when it blows up.
This system is convoluted. It seems to create more problems than solutions. You don't straighten out a rope by tying it into more knots. The Health Finance system has a vested interest in insuring a continuation of the current contorted corporate structure in some form. They want to tie the system (and thus you) into more knots, so that you have to come to them to untie the knots and thus they continue to enhance their careers and make even more money.
I got the most out of this event during the last 45 minutes, when the audience was allowed to ask questions and Congressman Patrick McHenry spoke.
Chamber President Danny Hearn asked what role the Insurance Companies played in the crafting of this bill? I (Thom Shell) stated that the debate is not over. Special Interests are represented, but not the average person, and the issue of affordability has not been addressed. Dr. Clare Gray spoke eloquently about who the doctors are supposed to represent. Are they supposed to represent the State (Government) or the People? Photos copyright: ©2010 Pat Appleson Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Used By Permission
Congressman McHenry stated during his remarks that he does not support the current reform and the debate is not over and he will fight to get healthcare reform fixed to address the availability, cost, and affordability issues.
I want to thank the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce for holding this event. It helped to open my eyes further to see what I described above.
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