Auto industry website www.edmonds.com released results of a study it conducted on the C4C program. What they found was that of the 690,000 cars sold under the program, 565,000 were cars that the owners intended to replace without the C4C program sometime during the second half of 2009. That means that C4C only generated 125,000 new car sales that wouldn’t have occurred without the incentive. Therefore, if the purpose of the program was to generate new car sales, the $3 billion taxpayer subsidy cost you and your neighbors a whopping $22,080 per marginal new car sold.

How does it feel to look next door and know that your neighbor took $4,000 from you to buy his new car? This didn’t help business and didn’t help the country. Showrooms are now devoid of customers, repairable vehicles are destroyed, and businesses that repair vehicles lost 690,000 potential customers. If this is stimulus, I need a strong drink!

I received this information in an email today.

The stated price tag for [Obama-care] coverage is estimated at only $894 billion. This $894 billion dollar boondoggle is the result of trying to cover 25 million un-insured with health INSURANCE. Do the math. That is $35,760 for each un-insured. Hey, it’s a government program so what did you expect? A bargain? Consider this. The ancestors of today’s demo goons thought social security would only require $30 per worker per year. Today, the payroll tax bite for that little gem and its offspring Medicare is up to $15,300 per worker per year which is I guess just a Washington style rounding error from the original $30 per year estimate.

Even if you believe that we need to insure the uninsured, does this plan seem like a good way to do it?

I’m torn. I didn’t like the corporate bailouts and thought troubled corporations should use the bankruptcy if they were insolvent. Bankruptcy is a government sanctioned bailout designed to give businesses some breathing room while they reorganize themselves. It forces them to make tough decisions and enables them to correct some previously made bad decisions. Instead, taxpayers committed billions of dollars we didn’t have to prop up weak balance sheets. Many of the companies who were weak then are weak now.

Yesterday, Obama’s pay czar announced compensation changes for those bailout recipients who’ve yet to repay the money. There is logic to the argument that by taking the money these companies opened themselves up for this. As the majority shareholder, the government is exercising the kind of power that a private shareholder might exercise.

The unintended consequences might cause this move to backfire. GM is already having a difficult time finding a permanent CEO; the headaches of working with government involvement is keeping many of the best candidates away. Take away the financial rewards and there is little to attract good candidates. Should a new senior executive, not involved in the financial problems, be forced to pay the price for her predecessor’s bad decisions?

The government does not have clean hands. The loose credit that led to the financial meltdown was forced upon lenders by the government. Business leaders took advantage of the easy credit making business decisions that turned disasterous when the house of cards collapsed.

Who should bear the burden of the corporate bailouts? Help me clarify my thinking on this topic and send me your thoughts.

Many of our neighbors and the politicians they elected have mistaken “land of the free and home of the brave” to mean “land of the victim and home of the government handout”.  The time has come for us to politely, respectfully, but firmly show them the error of their ways and the danger of their belief.  “Equal opportunity” does not mean “Equal outcome” and the discomfort of personal accountability when things go wrong is what motivates us to work hard and keep moving forward.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

We are beginning to hear reports that the economy is turning around. I’m not an economist, though I like to play one in my blog! What I do know is that if you want to see a recovery, then you will find one whether or not it exists.

Many of the claims of a turn around are accompanied by qualifying statements, like “it seems”, “it’s possible”, etc. Let’s hope these predictions are true, but don’t get too euphoric just yet.

Those predictions sound more like a bottoming, or a very slight increase in economic activity. The real anchor on the economy continues to be the Obama policies of taxing the productive members of society and giving freebies to the undeserving. The proposals to pay for a universal health care is just the latest version. Cap and trade, government bail-outs, the stimulus package all create a headwind for the economy that is difficult to overcome.

Spend wisely, plan well, forge ahead and be smart with your business and, like my clients, you can remain profitable.

I’ve been away from the blog for several months.  There are many reasons for this, but I won’t bore you with any of details.  Let’s just say that the economy and demands of business have consumed my time as I’ve been working on a business plan for the next year.

It is a well-used adage of business that you shouldn’t wear your politics on your sleeve.  To do so risks losing customers who don’t share your political views.  I understand this but, in my business, find it terribly difficult to do.  Especially now.

I’d love to hear from anyone with an opinion on posting political opinions on a company blog and their affect on business.

For example, it is irrefutable (just try searching the internet) that when tax rates are reduced, the economy grows and revenues to the government INCREASE.  Look to the Kennedy, Reagan, and W tax rate reductions for proof.  When tax rates are increased, the economy slows and government revenues DECREASE.  How do you explain the Keynsians who refuse to accept the data that disproves their theory of a demand-driven economy?

The economic stimulus package of $786 billion dollars is having little documentable benefit, except perhaps in protecting government jobs.  Had the federal government simply declared a tax holiday, a cessation of all business and personal income taxes, equal to that $786 billion the money would have been pumped directly into the economy through savings, investments, and jobs.  Unfortunately, that option doesn’t give control to the bureaucrats who want to tell us how to live by making spending decisions for us.

This is not a tax issue.  The real issue is personal freedom and liberty.  When the government taxes its citizens for non-essential services, the lefts traditional wealth transfer programs, it is engaging in nothing different than slavery.  US citizens are now obligated to work until mid-April every year turning everything they earn over to the government.  Business owners must step up and get engaged in this debate.  It is high time we let the world know that we will get the economy moving again, if the government would get out of our way and out of wallet.

Too many business owners tell themselves that they’re doing okay, really well even, so they don’t need a business advisor. Ask a really successful business owner and they’ll tell you that the best time to engage a coach is when things are going well. That is exactly when most owners get lazy, or careless, or complacent. The best benefit an owner receives from time spent with a coach is the obligation to support and justify your ideas and actions. A good coach is always asking you why…why do you do what you do, think the way you think, treat a person the way you treated them.

As an employee of someone else, you had to always be your best. After all, the boss was watching and that next promotion was on the line. Now that you’re the boss, avail yourself of a business coach and watch your performance improve. The ROI is amazing.

Every economic downturn generates a spurt of new business start-ups. Your experience as a senior manager may not prepare you for life as an entrepreneur. Here are 5 tips to get you started.

1. Why do you want to own a business? This is hard work, risky, and time consuming. If it doesn’t work out, you’re more stuck than you might realize.

2. What do you want to get out of ownership? Whether you want money, time, power, a legacy, make certain that the business you start can give you what you want.

3. Do you want to manage a business? Most people start a business for what the business does, not for the opportunity to manage a business. This is a recipe for disaster and disappointment.

4. Don’t think you can do it alone! Even if you do know everything you need to know, find an advisor to act as your devil’s advocate. In the corporate world, your boss and co-workers pushed you to perform better. It’s easy to get lazy and make bad decisions when your assumptions aren’t being challenged.

5. Plan for a year without income. The number one reason for business failure isn’t a bad idea or inept ownership. Companies just run out of money, then cut sales and marketing corners before establishing themselves.

Owning your own business can be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done. But ownership is completely different than being an employee – at any level. Good luck!

Yesterday was historic.  The President of the United States fires the CEO of a private corporation, installs his own guy, and demands that the management team put together a business plan that satisfies the Obama vision of the world, including a line-up of vehicles HE believes we should drive.

To make matters worse (as if that was possible), he declared that the United States government is now backing the warranty on a GM vehicle.  Are you kidding me?!?  Did the president just become a used car salesman?  Join me in pledging NEVER to buy a Government Motors vehicle.

We all know the story of the frog in the pot.  Put the frog in a pot of boiling water and the frog will leap out.  But put the frog in cold water slowly turning up the heat and the frog will boil to death.  I’m afraid Americans have become too soft to deal with this nonsense.  This is frightening, folks.  The Venezuelans followed Chavez, Germans followed Hitler.

Americans cannot follow Obama!

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