Quote of the day--why is this so bloody rare in America?

"I just think people need to make a living wage with health benefits. It also puts more money back into the economy and creates a healthier country. It's really that simple." 

--Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco

Link to original article:

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Leads the Cheapest, Happiest Company in the World

American health care fact

 

Also the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US:

 

10 Leading Causes of Bankruptcy

 

Study Links Medical Costs and Personal Bankruptcy

 

But no, no, we don't need any fix to our health care system.

 

Heck, no.

Want to cut govenrment spending?

Want to shrink government?

Cut the biggest spender of money in the nation.

Cut the defense budget.

Folks, the military gets so much money in and from this nation, they can't even keep track of it all, literally.

To follow all this, you maybe need to go to this new article, out this week, over at Salon:

7 absurd ways the military wastes taxpayer dollars (link at bottom).

And then there's this from none other than The Wall Street Journal:

Wasteful Defense Spending Is a Clear and Present Danger
We could afford a stronger military if we implemented some contracting reforms

"When John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, he was flying an A4 Skyhawk. That jet cost $860,000.

Inflation has risen by 700% since then. So Mr. McCain's A4 cost $6.1 million in 2008 dollars. Applying a generous factor of three for technological improvements, the price for a 2008 Navy F18 fighter should be about $18 million. Instead, we are paying about $90 million for each new fighter. As a result, the Navy cannot buy sufficient numbers. This is disarmament without a treaty."

We see and hear and read of the obscene defense spending by us, by our country and it makes you want to ask, why do we still have American soldiers in Germany? Italy? It seems we are still, clearly fighting World War II. The US spends far, far more than any other nation on defense, inexplicably:

And then there's this:

The 'Red Dawn' Case for Cutting U.S. Defense Spending

The unsung remake of the Patrick Swayze movie, "Red Dawn," makes a case for cutting the defense budget

A Hollywood action movie, of all things, makes a case for cutting our defense budget. The article makes good points.

Links: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/12/7_absurd_ways_the_military_wastes_taxpayer_dollars/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124787043032160493.html

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-02/red-dawn-proves-the-u-dot-s-dot-should-cut-defense-spending

KC: No. 15 out of 50

Yes, it's been covered by The Pitch Magazine and likely elsewhere online, too, across town but I still think it's good to cover this story and point out a few things differently.

Kansas City was ranked a bit of a surprising number 15 out of a total of 50 cities, nationwide, out of Businessweek Magazines'--with an assist from Bloomberg Rankings, it says-- "50 Best Cities to Live." (See links at bottom).

So good for us but first things, first--where does this come from and what may it mean for us?

First, from where this ranking comes:

The magazines say the cities are "... evaluated 100 of the country’s largest cities based on leisure attributes (the number of restaurants, bars, libraries, museums, professional sports teams, and park acres by population); educational attributes (public school performance, the number of colleges, and graduate degree holders), economic factors (2011 income and June and July 2012 unemployment), crime, and air quality. Major professional league and minor league teams, as well as U.S.-based teams belonging to international leagues in that city were included. The greatest weighting was placed on leisure amenities, followed by educational metrics and economic metrics, and then crime and air quality."

So, all told, that should mean especially good things for us, being based on these items. It's good company--all those cities--good competition and great overall reasons to grant these rankings.

(It has to be noted that it sucks, here, on this list, to be Dallas or Los Angeles or Phoenix, too. Wow).

Next, let's take a pause here and see what the article has to say about us:

Rank: 15
Population: 458,064

Were it not for its high crime rate, Missouri’s largest city might rank even higher. Residents working in the city’s downtown area are watched over by the iconic Kansas City Power & Light Building, while shoppers can get lost in local shopping centers such as Country Club Plaza and the Legends at Village West. For a unique blend of technology, arts, and history, residents can always stop by the city’s old transportation hub, Union Station.

Bars: 113
Restaurants: 921
Museums: 28
Libraries: 19
Pro sports teams: 3
Park acres per 1,000 residents: 36
Colleges: 15
Percent with graduate degree: 7.3
Median household income: $59,980
Percent unemployed: 6.9

I think it's interesting that the ranking is specifically for Kansas City, Missouri, yet they mention the Legends at Village West. That's a cute oversight on their part.

So, finally, then, what does this mean for us?

I think it means a couple things, really, at least.

First, it means we're getting good, national attention and coverage and that's always good.

Second, I think it's clear that, without the arts, Kansas City would be nowhere near this list. The arts and our three national sports teams--baseball, football and now soccer. What's ironic is that that last one, the new, "fereign" one, soccer, is the one that wins more than the other two.

Third, I think we need to, once again, stop a moment here and thank all kinds of people but maybe especially the Kauffman family since, without Ewing, Marion and Julia, we would have neither the Royals Major League Baseball team nor the incredible, in so many ways, new Performing Arts Center. Those are two big factors on this ranking, I think.

Where we have to sit up and take note--what we have to work on, this ranking shows--is that we clearly need, as we all surely know, that we have to get the crime rate down and the shootings and killings to stop.

Now if we just knew how, right?

Here's another note, too and it's in our favor: St. Louis is ranked 47th and really took a beating in all this. They have the big, major league teams but, in the magazine's own words, "St. Louis rated the worst on this list...in crime."

Ouch.

So, not only does this give us some bragging rights and some things for the Chamber of Commerce to crow about and promote and advertise, but it also gives us something to work on and for. Maybe if we get that crime rate down and the shootings and killings to decrease or, better yet, stop, we'll climb up this list even higher.

Here's hoping.

Congratulations, Kansas City. You got some good to great press here. Now let's get out there and get even better.


Links: http://www.pitch.com/plog/archives/2012/10/05/kc-is-americas-15th-best-city-says-businessweek

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/2012-09-26/americas-50-best-cities.html

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-26/san-francisco-is-americas-best-city-in-2012

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/2012-09-26/americas-50-best-cities.html#slide37

The American public is being bought and sold, no exaggeration

We're being sold you and I--the citizens of the US--by our representatives in Washington DC and our own state houses, to corporations and no doubt in lots and lots of different ways. This is just one of the latest:

Monsanto Crop Bans by Courts Would Be Reversed in Bill

"A House of Representatives committee voted to let farmers grow genetically modified crops developed by Monsanto Co. (MON) (MON) and its competitors during legal appeals of the approval process.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture would be required to permit modified crops to be planted and sold into the food supply after the agency’s approvals have been invalidated by a court, under a provision in the fiscal 2013 agriculture spending bill approved by the House Appropriations committee today."

So rather than protect the American people, the public, you and I, our representatives in Washington, in the House of Representatives, in this case, are, instead, protecting Monsanto because, you know, there's all that money Monsanto can give our representatives for their "campaigns."

Nice, huh?

The Justice Department, the courts, nearly protected us but then the House of Representatives jumped in so they could protect corporate Monsanto, instead.

How does it feel to be bought and sold, America?

When are we all going to get really mad and see to it we kill campaign contributions?

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/house-bill-would-override-court-bans-on-planting-monsanto-crops

Tuesday morning rankings to kick off the work week

Today it's Bloomberg's Businessweek magazine, ranking "America's Best Affordable Places 2011".  What it shows is what county is the "most affordable", per state.

They show Kansas at number 17 (but I can't tell if that has any meaning, compared to the rest of the states or not.

Great, affordable places to live

Best Affordable Place in Kansas: McPherson County

Population: 28,851
Median family income: $64,280
Households spending more than 30 percent income on housing: 19.5 percent
Unemployment: 5.4 percent
Adult population with bachelor's degrees: 24.3 percent
Major cities: McPherson, Lindsborg

Manufacturing and health care are the major employers in McPherson County, show U.S. Census data. The city of McPherson is the county's largest city, located about 60 miles north of Wichita. It has a safe, family-friendly atmosphere and offers 12 parks, two golf courses, and a country club for recreation, according to the city website. The McPherson Unified School District 418 is one of the leading school districts in Kansas, according to the district website.

Then they show Missouri at number 26:

Best Affordable Place in Missouri: Cole County

Population: 75,943
Median family income: $68,482
Households spending more than 30 percent income on housing: 21.6 percent
Unemployment: 7.5 percent
Adult population with bachelor's degrees: 30.4 percent
Major cities: Jefferson City, Saint Martins

Cole County, in central Missouri, is home to the state capital, Jefferson City. Government, health care, and education are major employers in the area, show U.S. Census data. Cole County's cost of living is 12.5 percent lower than the U.S. average, according to Sperling's BestPlaces.

If you look at the entire list, you can see that each county is "most affordable" because they are usually out in the middle of nowhere, with the exception of some places like California's, which ranked Orange County as their most affordable.  That stunned me but then California is a whole different market, for sure.

Sadly, there's another list and Kansas City's not on this one:

America's best cities for burgers

Maybe next year.

Have a great week, y'all.

Airlines making profits--and how that effects you and me

Have you seen, this week, how airlines are finally making profits? Wow. How long has that been? I don't know when the last time was I saw where an airline--other than Southwest--made money. Check it out: Delta, United and US Airways all reported profits. American Airlines, sadly, missed out on the little party--can you imagine the heck that's being raised over there, in their boardrooms? I love this quote from Deseret News: "American parent AMR Corp. lost $10.7 million in the second quarter, a huge improvement over the loss of $390 million in the same period last year. Still, the loss stuck out compared with the combined $1 billion in profits reported by US Airways, Delta Air Lines Inc. and United parent UAL Corp." Ouch. Anyway, the way this effects you and me back down here on Main Street is that this came about in two ways: the airlines have cut capacity so there are fewer seats up there, meaning we'll be more crowded on the planes--and those charges for your bags are definitely not going away. Links to associated posts: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/delta-may-lead-airlines-profit-with-more-fliers-fewer-seats.html http://www.deseretnews.com/mobile/article/700049978/Airline-profits-up-except-for-American.html

What we--the US--are really good at

Okay, so in the last few months, I've put up different evaluations of nations about "best places to live", as determined by Forbes Magazine and others and now here's one from Business Week. It tells of what nations have the most millionaires. And this, of course, is what the US is really good at. Yes, we're at the top for creating millionaires. Yippee. Sure, there should be good ways for smart, hard-working people to achieve, excel and get ahead in the commerical world and lots of millionaires could be just fine, sure. What's bad and unfair and wrong and inappropriate is when the wealthy class gets big and then bigger and bigger, while the middle class is shrinking and the lowest classes are rising. That's a recipe for disaster and defeat for a country. And it's, statistically, where we've been headed. Link to original story: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109838/countries-with-the-most-millionaires?mod=career-work