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11/20/2008 07:55 PM As a result of several years growing businesses in the private sector, my respect for Bean Counters fell as each year went by. Accountants/Bankers like balance sheets to be perfectly in balance and profit and loss statements to fit some model some expert came up with. They love perfect percentages-- labor is X%, cost of sales is Y%, gross profit is Z% and so on. I have no problem in tracking results, it's just Bean Counters always seemed oblivious as to how the beans they loved to count came into existence.
Beans (profits/revenue/jobs) make the world go round. But the world is being run by Bean Counters, not growers. Bean Counters are people on Wall Street. People like Secretary Paulson. They tend to think profits are a given. They just happen.
Trust me, they don't. How do I know? Because if they had faith in the Bean Growers, they would insist on fertilizer: In this case, fertilizer is tax cuts. You want profits? That is, you want Beans to count? Give the bean growers fertilizer, give businesses and people tax cuts.
Bean Counters are not entrepreneurs and have no understanding of the art of creating jobs. It is an art because it involves trial and error and a willingness to lose a lot of hard-earned cash in the process of perfecting the business. Bean Counters hate entrepreneurs in start up situations. So much is unknown and their books are always out of balance.
This bail out plan reminds me of something a genius Bean Counter might come up with. Many banks and investment houses had messy balance sheets and profit and loss statements due to bogus, assetless loans that were in default and the only way to fix these statements was to dispose of a bunch of worthless assets. If they could jus! t find a sap to take them off the books (taxpayers), everything would be in balance, and life would be good. For them. For now.
Bean counters would be happy when they looked at new balance sheets and they could give the green light for big time investors/lenders to borrow and lend again.
The only problem is I don't see how the brilliant Bean Counters have fixed the things that create the beans. Even if Bean Counters will let their clients lend and borrow money, someone has to want stuff and be able to pay for it.
It's great that we can borrow money for cars and homes, but it's better that people have the money to purchase cars and homes. Unemployment is up, inflation is up due to high energy costs, billions have been lost and companies are out of business due to Fannie and Freddie's collapse....But the Bean Counters didn't address that in the bail out plan. So the perfect balance sheets and profit and loss statements they have created will get messy again real soon because no one ! thought about the need to create new jobs to replace the ones that are declining or have been lost.
Businesses don't magically grow because Bean Counters in New York are happy. Businesses need disposable income. They need to keep more of their money.
The plan didn't demand drilling, building nuke and coal plants, it didn't cut taxes and it didn't eliminate counter productive regulations. And they didn't demand government cut spending.
It would also help to shut down the very institutions that created this mess since it will happen all over again some time in the future. Governments tend to screw up businesses, but Bean Counters don't know beans about that kind of thing.
I grew to hate Bean Counters because they don't understand how to create jobs. They just want sufficient beans delivered by the stupid people so they can put them in their perfect piles.
The bail out plan did nothing! to help the economy long term. The balance sheets and profit and loss statements need new businesses and current businesses to keep their percentages in line with what bean counters like to see. That means there are consumers out there who have the means to purchase what the producers produce. That's what conservatives could have added to these discussions. But they were shut out. The people who understand how beans are created and where they come from weren't a part of the "rescue."
I think this plan sucks. I think really smart Bean Counters put it together and in my experience that means trouble. The Bean Counters forgot about fertilizer. They forgot, or don't know about, tax cuts.
And until they happen, this market will never recover. Rusty Humphries
11/11/2008 01:01 PM By Rusty Humphries
© 2008
I love Thanksgiving! However, as the true conservative that I am, I don't outsource my cooking like John Edwards outsources his Christmas shopping for his kid's Playstation 3. I roll up my sleeves, get my hands dirty and destroy the kitchen because that's the way my American ancestors wanted it. Through trial, error antd much tribulation, I have re-captured the Thanksgiving spirit and hope to inspire you to do the same. Here's the secret: it all centers around cooking the perfect Thanksgiving Day turkey.Like the war in Iraq, it's been a long slog. However, to admit defeat now would be an unmitigated disaster. What kind of lesson would that be for my kids? My name would be "Mud" in the neighborhood,– Christmas dinner would be non-negotiable and Fourth of July cookouts might come to an end, as well. There is a lot at stake every time I do battle with Tom Turkey, but make no mistake, I am up to the task. Sure, there have been setbacks along the way. When any battle plan meets the enemy, everything changes. The Thanksgiving of 1996 comes to mind. It was just after Bill Clinton had won re-election over the great World War II hero, Bob Dole. I was despondent for my country and myself. Neither Bill nor Hillary had shown America any leadership in tax cutting, morality or cooking (Bill was hung up on Big Macs), and I knew the only way to improve upon my patriotic spirit was to honor the Pilgrims and Native Americans (I was born here, that makes me a "Native American" doesn't it? Note to self: save for later column) by preparing my first Thanksgiving feast. I didn't need help from friends, relatives, local restaurants, and especially no help from Swansons Hungry Man TV dinners. No, like our brave forefathers who struggled mightily against the elements, disease, famine and their own horrific sense of fashion (they put the "grim" in "Pilgrim"), I was determined to spend the entire Thanksgiving day doing for myself. No more wallowing in sorrow over the Clintons attempts to socialize medicine or promote "Midnight Basketball" – perhaps the shallowest idea from a thoroughly shallow administration. I was determined to honor the American spirit and celebrate my individualism. It was my first imperfect step toward perfecting a self-made Thanksgiving turkey. Having lived in two of the great barbecue capitals of the world, Kansas City and Dallas, I had developed a fondness for barbecue (second note to self – column on what style of barbecue is best Texas, Kansas City or Carolina – a debate second only to abortion in intensity). In my mind, slow-smoking meat added flavors that could mask any mistakes an amateur like me might make: Poor choice of turkey, cooking a turkey that's not completely thawed, unbalanced seasonings. These things would be lost/covered up in the wonderful taste of hickory-smoked turkey. Nevertheless, I suffered a rather grievous defeat. I admitted my mistake and slogged on. Frankly, I had not calculated the "dryness" factor in slow-cooking. Turkey is a lean meat and I learned why gravy has become the universal cure-all for slow-cookers. Seeking a moist, succulent turkey is a counter-intuitive journey. In an effort to create such a delicacy, we baste, we employ the use of foil, embedded thermometers. Everything except the use of a Cross to ward off whatever Dracula-like force sucks the moisture out of our once-a-year dinners (third note to self – try asbestos Cross next year). Like the persistent Pilgrims who sacrificed everything so you and I could have a much-needed four-day weekend, I stuck with my Turkey Day experimentations in the kitchen and have created the perfect Thanksgiving Day turkey recipe for you and yours. I have countered the counter-intuitive problem of cooking lean meat and preserving what little moisture it has. As a result, I now use gravy as a flavor enhancement and not a moisture-delivery system. Here's the secret: Cook your turkey at a very high temperature. Cooking your bird faster is the only way to successfully combat the moisture riddle wrapped in a mystery inside your oven. It is the answer to all your gravy-fixing problems. Rusty's Roast Turkey Equipment Roasting Pan
Meat Thermometer
Aluminum foil
Kitchen string Ingredients 16-18 pound turkey, tops. Heavier birds are still a work in progress
2 teaspoons kosher salt and black pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 cups turkey or chicken broth
1/2 lemon
3 cloves garlic (whole)
3 sprigs of fresh thyme Quick, and necessary tips: Basting is not allowed. This discourages skin caramelization and creates wild fluctuations in cooking temperatures (thank you Thanksgiving of 1999). Also, and most important, make sure your turkey is completely thawed (credit Thanksgiving 2001). Procedure Dry your thawed turkey, inside and out. Use a paper towel, not a hair dryer (Thanksgiving 2003). Preheat oven to 475F. Mix the vegetable oil, salt and pepper together and then brush on or rub the oil and seasonings mix on the turkey – inside and out. Put the 1/2 lemon, 3 cloves of garlic, and the 3 sprigs of fresh thyme inside the cavity. Fold neck skin under body and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string. Pour the broth in the roasting pan and then place the seasoned turkey in the pan. Cover, do not wrap, the turkey with aluminum foil. Put the pan on a rack in the 475F oven and cook for two hours. Cook the stuffing in a pan, not the bird. While the turkey is cooking, fight the urge to baste it. To take your mind off this unnecessary and harmful practice, read the Declaration of Independence. It will demoralize any liberals you might have mistakenly invited over. Then, read the Constitution. That will really tick them off and you will forget about the basting no-no! After two hours, open the over for the first time and don't baste anything! Just take out the aluminum foil and cook at 425F for 20 minutes to brown the skin. Thigh meat should register 170F at this time. Let stand 20 minutes before carving/bragging. Cut the string, thank me and tell all your friends to listen to The Rusty Humphries Show.
11/03/2008 07:59 PM What We Know About ObamaThe illusion of pragmatism advances far-left goals, in baby steps.
By Stanley Kurtz
Posted: Monday, November 3, 2008
ARTICLE
National Review Online
Publication Date: November 3, 2008 Reflecting on all that I've written about Barack Obama over these past six months, four inter-related points stand out: Obama's radicalism, his stealthy incrementalism, his interest in funding and organization-building, and his willingness to use -- or quietly support -- Alinskyite intimidation tactics. Since we stand on the cusp of the election, I’ll lay out the bottom line. For those who want to know more, go back and read the detailed studies on which I base these conclusions. Obama's troubling associations are more than isolated friendships or instances of bad judgment. His ties to Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Rashid Khalidi, Michael Pfleger, James Meeks, ACORN, the New Party, and the Gamaliel Foundation all reflect Obama's sympathy with radical-left ideas and causes -- wealth redistribution prominent among them. At both the Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, for example, Obama and Ayers channeled money into ACORN's coffers. ACORN, a militant group pursuing economic redistribution, succeeded in undermining credit standards throughout the banking system, thereby modeling the New Party's plans to tame capitalism itself. So the association with Ayers is not an outlier issue, but part and parcel of a network of radical ties through which Obama's supported "major redistributive change." Via ACORN, that project has already nearly wrecked our economy. What will happen when it's generalized? Similarly, Obama's "association" with Wright was far more than a mere pastor-parishioner -- or even mentor-protégé -- relationship. Obama's work with the Gamaliel Foundation required him to "organize" left-leaning churches into a larger political force. His real interest in Wright, Pfleger, and Meeks was to turn them into the nucleus of a far broader politicized coalition of radical black churches -- as shown, for example, by his work with them on the Illinois racial-profiling bill. Again, we are not dealing with mere "associations," but with intentional political partnerships. Although media malfeasance is at the heart of our ignorance about these broader patterns, Obama's absorption of Alinskyite strategies of stealthy incrementalism have helped to hide the truth. Following well-worn organizer strategies, Obama knows how to wrap ideological radicalism in the soothing rhetoric of "pragmatism" and classic American values. There is a kernel of truth to the pragmatism, however. Radical though his ultimate goals may be, Obama follows classic organizer strategy -- pursuing his ends in tiny, incremental, and cumulative baby-steps. The municipal "living wage" campaigns supported by Obama, Wright, and groups like ACORN and the New Party were never designed, in themselves, to bring fundamental economic change. These ordinances actually applied to only a very small number of companies. The broader purpose of these battles was to build coalitions for deeper structural change on the national level, when the moment was right. Obama would likely hew to this incrementalism in power, with the same radical long-term goals in mind. Obama was a master at channeling funding to his organizer allies. He was the key force turning the Woods Fund toward a major increase in support for community organizers, at a moment when other foundations shied away from funding the militant and confrontational tactics of groups like ACORN. In his now infamous 2001 radio remarks, Obama's preferred strategy for promoting "major redistributive change" was through society-wide organizing from below. As president, Obama would connect his massive youth-volunteer program to his favorite community-organizer groups, thereby creating a political force for long-term restructuring of the American economy. This was the program of the New Party, and I believe it is still Obama's long-term goal. In pursuit of his goals, Obama has shown himself willing to quietly support, and sometimes to openly use, radical Alinskyite tactics. At the Woods Fund, Obama's allies bragged about the way their "post-ideological" cover had allowed them to fund ACORN's confrontational tactics, while escaping public criticism. Obama has shamelessly used Alinskyite "direct action" to silence and intimidate political foes during the current campaign (a matter well-known to conservatives, yet little noted by the mainstream press). Victory would only cement the conviction in Obama and his allies that these tactics had "won," and therefore should be used again. Has Obama changed? Was he merely using his radical Chicago allies to gain national renown, and thereby an opening for a more moderate political program? I find this view unconvincing. Obama has often claimed that his early community organizing, and his redistributive legislative work, were at the very core of his political identity. We've heard his radicalism on the radio in 2001. Does anyone really believe that he's changed in 2008? Obama's political radicalism consolidated his shaky personal identity. It formed him as an adult. He cannot abandon that inner stance without losing hold of an already precarious self. Obama chose to live in Hyde Park -- chose that radical setting as the site of his adult self-creation. Hyde Park was never the place Obama needed to conquer in order to escape. On the contrary, it was the personally chosen home he now hopes to nationalize by spreading his organizing gospel to America's youth. Obama is clever and pragmatic, it's true. But his pragmatism is deployed on behalf of radical goals. Obama's heart is, and will remain, with the Far Left. Yet he will surely be cautious about grasping for more, at any given moment, than the political traffic will bear. That should not be mistaken for genuine moderation. It will merely be the beginning stages of a habitually incremental radicalism. In his heart and soul, Barack Obama was and remains a radical-stealthy, organizationally sophisticated, and -- when necessary -- tactically ruthless. The real Obama -- the man beyond the feel-good symbol -- is no mystery. He's there for anyone willing to look. Sad to say, few are. -- Stanley Kurtz is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
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