Buy American; Hire American

 Sounds good but, isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?  And…this better be written very carefully because, there are some seasonal workers, among others working for the Trump family.

Cart before the horse?  

Chart after chart illustrates increases in corporate profit while there is a continual decrease in the average American wage earner’s compensation.

CEOs continue to be well taken care of to the tune of up to 300% and more compared to the average employee.

How are we going to do that when, Wall Street demands increased corporate profit every quarter?  A stock could declare increased profit quarter after quarter as investors eat up increased stock price.  As soon as they declare an even number compared to the last or, worse yet profits drop…..so goes the stock.

What happens then?  The CEO usually continues as is, and the person who makes an obscene amount of money looks at the expense sheet.

Wow!  Look at the biggest expense!  Freeze it, immediately.  That gigantic expense is payroll.  The people responsible for the day to day operations are the big negative ledger entry.  Well, it is a quantity of people; The employees.

The CEO, and Senior Executive payroll entry is deemed a necessary expense.  Really?  At 300% or more of any one of those listed as a bother.  The employee.

It becomes necessary to initiate a hiring freeze, and a wage containment at that level.  Go ahead, and give that long time employee earning $10.00/hr. a 2.5% raise but, that’s it.  Don’t overdo that hourly increase.  That’s our biggest expense.  It is the easiest expense to cut so, the way out is the easy way.

The necessary cuts are made the easy way.  The CEO, and Senior Executives many times receive an easy way payroll reward. 

The emphasis on corporate profits is so intensely high, and Senior Executive compensation is also as intense, and so far out of the economical climate where they live ‘high on the hog’ in any comparison to the average American employee, considered the big negative on the expense ledger. 

Bottom line, The corporations and Senior Executives are over paid.  Wall Street has to amend the way it rewards the stocks of companies who maintain a profit for the entire economic climate.

Wall Street must understand that corporations have more profit than deserved in recent years because, in this economic climate they have made their profits on the backs of their employees.

In other words, the only reason they have the profit they do is because, employees are not paid their fair share.

Wall Street, and individual companies must readjust to new expectations as the payroll expense becomes fairly compensated.

Calculations must be based on, all in on a fair deal.

What we don’t need is a new minimum wage.  What we do need are companies well vested in those involved with its’ day to day operation.

Buy American, Hire American.  I’ve dealt with the Hire American part of the decree. 

Who is going to deal with Buy American?  One of the pre-existing necessities would be  factories who manufacture product right here at home.  Factories with management that understand they were never due the obscene profits shown off on Wall Street today.  They’re not the real profits.  They are based on the current wages paid in this economic environment.

There needs to be common recognition that Senior Executives were never meant to be given the store while the ‘slaves’ labor.

President Trump has taken the easy way in declaring Buy American, Hire American with an Executive Order.  Sounds good until you realize he’s done little to make Buy American, Hire American functional.  That’s hard work.

Repeal & Replace

Well, I got what I deserved.

I thought I was making my own statement of protest against the Republicans, and Democrats by not voting in the last Presidential election.

How dare they put up two sub-standard candidates.  So, I didn’t vote.

Now look what we have.  Yes, there is some fake news out there.  Now we have a second class tv host who enjoyed the words, ‘you’re fired’ so much, he was hoping to copyright the phrase as our ‘fake’ president.  A President spending more time on Twitter at public expense than tending to his presidential duties.

The Trump campaign displayed a candidate who was looking forward to adding the United States of America to a list of companies owned by, Trump.  That is part of the reason he is having a tough time.  

His resume of companies will not include the USA but, does include the now defunct, Trump University.

Trump presents himself as a successful businessman.  No, not true.  He inherited his fortune, and parlayed the fortune in to a business bankruptcy four times.  That is to say he was smart enough to move money around properly to enable the bankruptcy moves.

What about Trump’s taxes?  Where did it all go?

Trump looked good, and sounded good on the campaign trail.  All the crowds showing strong support.  This is the environment he so enjoyed, and appeared at his best.  He was good at campaigning.

Unfortunately for Trump he doesn’t work as well when there is some resistance.  In actually obtaining the job he doesn’t do as well without crowd adoration.

There was plenty of baggage being carried by, Hilary Clinton but, the second class tv host who has become the President of the USA is working diligently at cooling relationships with world leaders who represent friendly nations to the United States.

Ask yourself as I have; Is it more important being partisan or, American?  The answer was obvious for me.

Since I got what I deserve, how do I feel about voting mid-term?   I will be there to consider repealing, and replacing that which doesn’t work.

Question for die-hard partisans:  Have we arrived at the point where we should consider a Parliamentary Democracy that puts  the Electoral College out to pasture returning the power back to each voter, and possibly widening the field of nominees for public office?  

Do we need to force patriotism above partisanship?

Now that I think about it, doesn’t it appeal to every American?

 

Minimum Wage Shouldn’t Be Minimal

There are Chief Executive Officers who threaten job loss with a higher minimum wage.  They will not be able to afford the wage increase.

In a publicly traded company, it is admittedly difficult because of a continual expectation by Wall Street for each company to improve earnings every quarter. There is an expectation of a continual, endless expected non-stop spiral up in earnings every 3 months.

Wall Street needs to change their attitude on this upward earning spiral. 

I would prefer investing in a company that is continually profitable regardless of whether it is caught up in an occasional upward or, downward spiral.  With a way up the spiral, there is easily a way down.

Now for the minimum wage.

We have a mistaken value system in this country.  We have a higher regard for those who make the plans than those who must execute the plans.  There is a major error in our value system.

We need the visionaries but, without those putting the vision in to action we just have a lot of plans. 

The value system must change.  While there may still be a gap, this gap must become smaller. 

Somebody else needs to establish a metric for a tax penalty if the gap is too great between the highest paid executive, and the lowest paid worker including pay, stock options, and the value of any other compensation.

Tax the excessive gap, and raise the minimum wage.

Stand-up Comic, Presidential candidate, Donald Trump is all for keeping those at the bottom of the pay scale, no further up that scale than they are now.

The business mogul is so inventive as an executive, he looks no further than a stronghold on wages at the bottom.  It is all we can do to be competitive, so he said on a telephone interview on Monday’s (November 16) CNBC’s Squawk Box.

How inventive can the visionaries be under those circumstances?

To think there is a business or two that just might continue business as usual.  Costco is one of them.

CEOs Are Beginning To Hear My Message

Excuse me before I go any further because, I need to put my ego to rest, and my arm hurts from the stretch.  You know, patting myself on the back.

The message is beginning to take effect with some of the biggest company CEOs in the country.

I write.  They respond.  Okay so, maybe it isn’t necessarily ‘my’ message getting around but, the message is beginning to take hold. I’m just glad I can participate.

Truth be known at this point, I’m not caring why the message takes hold.  Only that it does.  You’ll note my previous entries on the business structure as we know it, including my
most recent, and then there was this one.

Within the past couple of weeks, Wal-Mart’s CEO has begun an entry in to bottom line better financial treatment of the in store personnel.

Just today, Target is cutting payroll but, not at the store level.

If I may maintain some sarcasm on this one, perhaps the CEO of Target sees that having a
Vice President of Shoe Laces being paid at the appropriate Vice-Presidential level may be better off saved or, at least partially re-invested in a better store experience with happy, better paid employees.

A $3b savings for Target with the elimination of unnecessary upper echelon corporate personnel.

We are possibly at a new beginning, and there are some CEOs ready to run the play, which when finely tuned looks more, and more like Costco.

Who Cares?

American tradition is gaining some momentum.

After searching a number of retailers on-line I have found some retailers who have issued statements of closure on Thanksgiving honoring a greater respect for a position at the upper echelon of family values for customers, and their employees.

Thanksgiving, and several other holidays celebrate America, and traditional American family values. Here are some retailers who are participating in that tradition by, closing their doors in favor of family celebrations for customers, and employees.

Please give the following listed retailers your support, and start dissing those open on holidays, forcing your discomfort in the middle of the night, and dictating holiday schedules for families.

Costco is first on the list, and among the statements issued from different retailers found their attitude to be the lead:  ‘Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Nothing more complicated than that.’

Marshalls consider themselves as associate friendly.  This apparently means they don’t expect them to be working on family holidays.

Barnes & Noble with respect for their booksellers, and their families.

Neiman Marcus, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, REI,  each echoing the family value sentiment.

Sam’s Club based their decision solely on customer feedback.

patagonia’s comment was simple: ‘It’s a holiday.  We’re closed.’

American Girl has never opened on Thanksgiving.

Gamestop gets a good try award as Black Friday begins at Midnight.  However, their Black Friday tends to manipulate the holiday for some people.

There’s a new cultural backlash, and finally the retailers are beginning to understand.  We’re not going to patronize anti-American family values.

It’s up to you to resist.  If you do, they will fail.  I cannot more vehemently support their failure.

There are some who still don’t get it, and hopefully you’ll dismiss them from your holiday shopping season.  They need to finally understand through dismal failure.  The American public does not buy-in. Let them understand they must patronize us; Their customers.

You want to sell me something?  You’re going to have to learn to do it at my convenience.