Skarp endorses...

[J Fierce]

Blackwidow I may regret asking this but who would be your pick the the next president of the U S

Ray Ray?

[SitOnTheBench]

Very, very impressive, background facts little known to the general public - a lot to consider.

Herman Cain is running for president. He’s not a career politician (in fact he has never held political office). He’s known as a pizza guy, but there’s a lot more to him. He’s also a computer guy, a banker guy, and a rocket scientist guy.

Here’s his bio:

Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
Master’s degree in Computer Science.
Mathematician for the Navy, where he worked on missile ballistics (making him a rocket scientist).
Computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola.
VP of Corporate Data Systems and Services for Pillsbury (this is the top of the ladder in the computer world, being in charge of information systems for a major corporation).
All achieved before reaching the age of 35. Since he reached the top of the information systems world, he changed careers!

Business Manager. Took charge of Pillsbury’s 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philadelphia area, which were the company’s poorest performers in the country. Spent the first nine months learning the business from the ground up, cooking hamburger and yes, cleaning toilets. After three years he had turned them into the company’s best performers.
Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Was asked by Pillsbury to take charge of their Godfather’s Pizza chain (which was on the verge of bankruptcy). He made it profitable in 14 months.
In 1988 he led a buyout of the Godfather’s Pizza chain from Pillsbury. He was now the owner of a restaurant chain. Again he reached the top of the ladder of another industry.
He was also chairman of the National Restaurant Association during this time. This is a group that interacts with government on behalf of the restaurant industry, and it gave him political experience from the non-politician side.
Having reached the top of a second industry, he changed careers again!

Adviser to the Federal Reserve System. Herman Cain went to work for the Federal Reserve Banking System advising them on how monetary policy changes would affect American businesses.
Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He worked his way up to the chairmanship of a regional Federal Reserve bank. This is only one step below the chairmanship of the entire Federal Reserve System (the top banking position in the country). This position allowed him to see how monetary policy is made from the inside, and understand the political forces that impact the monetary system.
After reaching the top of the banking industry, he changed careers for a fourth time!

Writer and public speaker. He then started to write and speak on leadership. His books include Speak as a Leader, CEO of Self, Leadership is Common Sense, and They Think You’re Stupid.
Radio Host. Around 2007—after a remarkable 40 year career—he started hosting a radio show on WSB in Atlanta (the largest talk radio station in the country).
He did all this starting from rock bottom (his father was a chauffeur and his mother was a maid). When you add up his accomplishments in his life—including reaching the top of three unrelated industries: information systems, business management, and banking—Herman Cain may have the most impressive resume of anyone that has run for the presidency in the last half century.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain

Big Deal.... Obama was a Community Organizer. Community Organizer

[SitOnTheBench]

Blackwidow I may regret asking this but who would be your pick the the next president of the U S

Jeremiah Wright

[GIMNEPIWO]

I agree that Cain appears to be the best choice ... I have always felt that the country should be run more like a business and he has the experience ... But, to indicate that Wall street did not have a hand in the financial crisis is off base ...

[sofbal1234]

Very, very impressive, background facts little known to the general public - a lot to consider.

Herman Cain is running for president. He’s not a career politician (in fact he has never held political office). He’s known as a pizza guy, but there’s a lot more to him. He’s also a computer guy, a banker guy, and a rocket scientist guy.

Here’s his bio:

Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
Master’s degree in Computer Science.
Mathematician for the Navy, where he worked on missile ballistics (making him a rocket scientist).
Computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola.
VP of Corporate Data Systems and Services for Pillsbury (this is the top of the ladder in the computer world, being in charge of information systems for a major corporation).
All achieved before reaching the age of 35. Since he reached the top of the information systems world, he changed careers!

Business Manager. Took charge of Pillsbury’s 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philadelphia area, which were the company’s poorest performers in the country. Spent the first nine months learning the business from the ground up, cooking hamburger and yes, cleaning toilets. After three years he had turned them into the company’s best performers.
Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Was asked by Pillsbury to take charge of their Godfather’s Pizza chain (which was on the verge of bankruptcy). He made it profitable in 14 months.
In 1988 he led a buyout of the Godfather’s Pizza chain from Pillsbury. He was now the owner of a restaurant chain. Again he reached the top of the ladder of another industry.
He was also chairman of the National Restaurant Association during this time. This is a group that interacts with government on behalf of the restaurant industry, and it gave him political experience from the non-politician side.
Having reached the top of a second industry, he changed careers again!

Adviser to the Federal Reserve System. Herman Cain went to work for the Federal Reserve Banking System advising them on how monetary policy changes would affect American businesses.
Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He worked his way up to the chairmanship of a regional Federal Reserve bank. This is only one step below the chairmanship of the entire Federal Reserve System (the top banking position in the country). This position allowed him to see how monetary policy is made from the inside, and understand the political forces that impact the monetary system.
After reaching the top of the banking industry, he changed careers for a fourth time!

Writer and public speaker. He then started to write and speak on leadership. His books include Speak as a Leader, CEO of Self, Leadership is Common Sense, and They Think You’re Stupid.
Radio Host. Around 2007—after a remarkable 40 year career—he started hosting a radio show on WSB in Atlanta (the largest talk radio station in the country).
He did all this starting from rock bottom (his father was a chauffeur and his mother was a maid). When you add up his accomplishments in his life—including reaching the top of three unrelated industries: information systems, business management, and banking—Herman Cain may have the most impressive resume of anyone that has run for the presidency in the last half century.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain

Big Deal.... Obama was a Community Organizer. Community Organizer

Bwahahahahaha

[Skarp]

I agree that Cain appears to be the best choice ... I have always felt that the country should be run more like a business and he has the experience ... But, to indicate that Wall street did not have a hand in the financial crisis is off base ...

Wall Street responds to the incentives it is given, and it does so for the sole purpose of generating profits, which is the entire (and entirely legitimate) purpose for its existence. When government incentivizes market institutions to play fast and loose with sound financial principles, that is exactly what they will do--like night follows day. And they will do it again the next time. Protesting or crying about it is about as pointless as pointless gets. You have to align incentives correctly...which unfortunately happens in D.C.

The Wall Street financial institutions did not create the Community Reinvestment Act, which was intended to "encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate." The Carter era congress did. (And make no mistake, when liberal politicians pass legislation designed to "encourage" you to do something, it means they plan to take a bat to your head if you do not do that thing.) The depository institutions merely made the crappy loans that they were incentivized (i.e., required) to make, and, as any sane person would do under those circumstances, availed themselves of the government guarantees of those crappy loans offered through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The markets in turn bundled and sold these loans to institutional investors--again as they could be perfectly expected to do--and the problem thus spread through our system like a cancer.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, meanwhile, were almost wholly unsupervised and unregulated, and being run by the corrupt cronies of the lefty politicians who conceived of the CRA in the first place. When Republicans called for more oversight, and expressed concerns that Fannie and Freddie might be undercapitalized, and that the loans they were guaranteeing hand-over-fist might be problematic, the Democrats shut down that debate, and foreclosed those inquiries.

So cheap loans expanded affordability, which fueled higher demand, which in turn fueled dramatically rising prices, which in turn stimulated wide-scale speculative interest in real estate...which led to more and more loans being asked for and made. None of this should be remotely surprising to anyone who has had even an introductory economics class.

Wall Street is not some monolithic whole...it is a collection of individuals and institutions performing vital functions for our economy, and doing so for a purely profit motive. It is what they do. It is what they are FOR. And, in that sense, they are extremely useful idiots for shyster politicians, who can easily misalign incentives, help their cronies and themselves get fabulously wealthy, leave the taxpayers holding the bill, and then innocently point to Wall Street and cry foul...nay, cry for MORE regulations designed to misalign incentives, help them and their cronies get fabulously wealthy, etc., etc.

So Herman Cain is spot on in his remarks about the unwashed "Occupy" losers, and their misdirected stupidity. Period.

LISTEN to these people. Where's the news coverage on THIS? Unreal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi ... re=related

[Skarp]

Btw, I'm aware that some of the "cronies" I reference ARE the execs at big Wall Street institutions. All the more reason to not allow governmental manipulation of market incentives. The free market should decide who the winners and losers are. See if banks make negative-am loans without the government to bail them out. I don't think so.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Agree agree agree ... But I said " have a hand in " not completely at fault ...

A chemical company has a new product to use on corn that they say will improve yields and make corn cheaper to produce and more available to the masses ... The government approves it and endorses it ... The farmer uses it knowing that he must use it safely, but even so it is toxic and leaves a residue on the crops ... But since the government says it is okay and it does improve profits, being a good farmer he only mixes in a few ears in each dozen you buy ... But you can tell which ones have the new chemical on them and each time you buy a dozen you pick out the three and mix them together with 3 other poison ears and 6 good ones and sell them to your neighbor who does the same ... Eventually all you have is poison corn and many people had a hand in it ...

"Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself."

If you ate poison corn, blame yourself ? Just s few years ago we could say that most people that were out of work wanted to be out of work ... This sh*tball has been rolling down hill for a while and many people are caught up in it who had nothing to do with it ... Perhaps these "unwashed "Occupy" losers, and their misdirected stupidity " will help bring some issues to the fore front ...

[DonnieS]

... Perhaps these "unwashed "Occupy" losers, and their misdirected stupidity " will help bring some issues to the fore front ...

Forty something years ago, these same people's parents were marching and demonstrating about many of the same issues as their children are protesting about today. Then - like now - I am most everyone I knew were doing everything we could and then some to build ventures that we prayed would succeed - some of it was/is getting an education - some of it was/is building businesses. Today, some of my time is spent bulldozing (somewhat figuratively) today's crashes and disasters -and I guess it would be great to find something or somebody to blame my losses on. But like any of you, I can turn and point to my mistakes and my choices that should have been done differently and my time is better spent trying to find new mistakes to make. Dont get me wrong , I have spent time licking some pretty bad wounds, but they were caused by me. And no amount of marching , carrying signs or worst of all, hanging around with the same losers (and their offspring) today that I saw and smelled 40 something years ago are going to help me build my businesses back. That takes me and thank God I have a lot more at bats ahead of me.

[softballaddict]

It all goes back to the fact that you get more of the behavior you reward and less of the behavior you punish. Works with dogs, cats, kids, people, business, government. We need to stop rewarding foolish, counter-productive behavior and the results that inevitably follows. That goes for business AND government. We allow the politicians to do this, and just as Skarp pointed out that business follows the incentives, the politicians do as well. We need to remove the politicians' incentive and ability to incentivize stupidity. The more you interfere with Darwin, the worse your results are.