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Where leaping to conclusions is my primary form of forward motion.
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Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Senator Johnny Isakson on Bankruptcy
Below is the response I received from Senator Isakson's office. Mr. Isakson was not nearly so loquacious as Mr Chambliss. But then, Mr. Chambliss is a lawyer (aka paid by the word), Mr. Isakson a real estate salesman (paid by developers.)I sent the same letter to both. It covered both the Bankruptcy Bill and the Real ID Act. Mr. Chambliss chose to respond to the Real ID Act only. Mr Isakson to the Bankruptcy Bill only.
At least neither Senator sent me the form letter that the Republicans were sending around after they passed the Bankruptcy Bill. A friend in Texas got exactly the same letter from both his senators. Sad. If I get a response from my Congressman (none so far) I'll post it, as well. In fact, if you've gotten letters from any of your elected representatives send me copies and I'll post them. Would be interesting to see the collection of generalized, non-committal, "trust me" letters.Dear Mr. Frazier:Thank you for contacting my office regarding the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject and the opportunity to respond to you.
On March 10 th the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act.I voted in favor of this bill because there has become a disturbing trend of abuse in using bankruptcy provisions. Bankruptcy laws were put in place to assist individuals who have reached insolvency, not to serve as a crutch for those who purpose to avoid their obligations. Reform of our Bankruptcy code was necessary to address those issues of abuse.
Thank you again for your ideas and input on this issue. If I may ever be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Senator Johnny Isakson
Posted by: 
Terry Frazier at 3:19 PM
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Categories: Business & Finance, Policy & Regulation, Security
Terry Frazier at 3:19 PM
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Friday, May 6, 2005
Georgia's Gutless Politicians
Several years ago Georgia passed a requirement to have a thumbprint placed on every drivers license. This was done to improve security and make us all safer. But it didn't do either of those things. In fact, it made us less secure and safe. Why? Because after your initial visit to the DMV to "prove" your identity, you never had to prove it again. You could renew by mail and never have anyone check to see if the thumbprint was actually yours. Further, the DMV database was a mess. It wasn't connected to any other database, wasn't verified by anyone, and wasn't particularly secure. So this past legislative session the representatives of the Good People of Georgia drafted and signed a new drivers license law that did away with the thumbprint requirement.Of course, with the passage of HR1268 and the Real ID Act all that goes out the window. Now we get to stand in line as DMV clerks validate multiple proofs of identity. And guess what? All three federal repsentatives of my district - Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, and Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, voted FOR the Real ID Act.
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Westmoreland | Chambliss | Isakson | |||
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| Legislation | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N |
| Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act | X |
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X |
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X |
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| Real ID Act (Emergency Appropriations For Defense, WoT, and Tsunami Relief) | X |
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X |
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X |
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That's right, these three elected representatives of the people of Georgia voted expressly AGAINST what the State of Georgia clearly wanted. Now why could this be? Were they confused? Maybe they thought we didn't mean it. Or maybe they just thought we don't know what's good for us. So let's look at another bill -- S256, titled "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act" but more appropriately called the "Banking Industry Benevolence and Screw the Public Act." Again, all three of my Georgia representatives voted FOR the banking industry and in direct conflict with the interests of the middle and lower economic classes.
So what do we have here? Three Republican representatives, voting repeatedly against the interests and desires of their constituents. Amazing. Leads one to wonder, just what is motivating these guys to act this way? Money? Did they take payoffs in cash or political favors from the Banking industry? Did they just cave-in to partisan politics and vote the party line regardless of whether it was right or not? Or do they think they have some straight line to God that embues them with omnipotent knowledge of what's good and right inspite of what We The People think?
All three options are scary...
Posted by: Terry Frazier at 7:06 PM
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Categories: Business & Finance, Policy & Regulation, Security
Terry Frazier at 7:06 PM
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Monday, April 25, 2005
Why Was It a Great Strategy When Jack Welch Did It?
The strategy described below is almost identical to the strategy espoused by Jack Welch at GE. But Jack is chatting with Leno while Lay and Skilling chat with prosecutors. Hmm… (via Frank Patrick)
Tell Me How You'll Measure Me, And I'll Tell You How I'll Behave
Tell Me How You'll Measure Me, And I'll Tell You How I'll Behave -- Mark Frauenfelder writes about measures and behaviors at Enron, via a recent documentary film..."Every year, all employees were rated from 1 (best) to 5 (worst). The more money you made for the company, the better your rating. (Skilling was fond of saying that money was the only thing that motivated people). Skilling mandated that between 10 and 15 percent of the employees had to be rated as 5s. And to get a rating of 5 meant that you were fired. This review process was dubbed 'rank and yank.'Cause and effect, plain and simple.
"It's no surprise that this algorithm resulted in a corporate petri dish teeming with sociopaths who were taped in phone conversations laughing at the thought of stealing money from 'grandma millies' who were hit with unafforably high utility bills, and urging on the California wildfires by chanting 'burn baby, burn!.'"
Posted by: Terry Frazier at 11:20 PM
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Categories: Business & Finance, Strategy
Terry Frazier at 11:20 PM
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