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Posts Tagged ‘compromise’

Teamwork

November 15th, 2014 No comments

An IRS office was keeping a close eye on a small company with only a few employees.  The income reported by the small business on its annual income tax form seemed to the IRS to be more than could be expected by the company’s limited number of employees, unless there was a lot of overtime.  The problem was that the small business reported no overtime being paid to its employees.  Hence, an IRS agent was sent to look into the matter.

 

When he arrived, he introduced himself and explained to the owner that he wanted to take a look at his books.  The owner responded by laying out his books on his desk and inviting the agent to spend as much time as he wanted looking over all the figures.  The agent confirmed that no overtime was being paid, yet the income was more than seemed reasonable for the number of employees.  He decided to interview the owner. Read more…

Working or Fighting: Your Choice

October 30th, 2014 No comments

Leading up to next week’s elections—November 4—the mail, newspapers, radio, and TV are saturated with political ads.  Time and again, Democrats and Republicans say, “I’m going to fight for you.”  That’s the big problem we have on all levels of government—there’s just too much fighting.  I’m looking for the candidate who says, “I’m going to work for you.”   We need politicians who spend time “working”—not “fighting”—with their fellow legislators on the other side of the aisle. 

 

We hear political pundits—both the Democrats and Republicans—saying it is a mistake to compromise: “We must stand up and fight for what we believe in.”  It is important to hold firm on principles that are the very core of who you are, but in most instances, it is possible to reach consensus.  However, it takes “give” and “take”—and that takes work—it doesn’t just happen. Read more…

Ingenious Compromise: Reason for Hope

August 1st, 2014 No comments

Here are some headlines appearing in major newspapers recently:

  • “A Deeply Divided Supreme Court . . .”;
  • “Divided Congress is Deeply Fractionalized . . .”;
  • “The Deep Divide in Congress . . .”;
  • “Obama Warns a Divided Congress . . .”;
  • “The Sharp Political Divide in America . . .”;
  • “The Most Divided Congress Ever . . .” 

These stories all suggest that the United States today is so divided along political lines that the politicians are unable to pass meaningful legislation and that judges (even in the Supreme Court) are unable to make unbiased legal decisions.  But does a sharply divided America necessarily mean that no meaningful legislation can emerge from our political leaders on both sides of the aisle?  I don’t think so!  Read more…

The National Debt

February 24th, 2014 Comments off

Democrats and Republicans are blitzing us with propaganda about the national debt.? My purpose here is not to side with either political party, but to add understating to the subject. ?Contrary to what many people think, China is not our largest creditor.? Our largest creditor is our Social Security Trust Fund.? But, if that?s the case, are we really in debt?? Do we have to pay ourselves back?? To understand all of this, let?s take a very brief look at history.?

Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Treasurer, was also experienced in banking.? Each state had accumulated debt in helping finance the Revolutionary War (1775-1783).? In 1790, Hamilton instituted a program of repaying the war debt to each of the thirteen states.? The payments were from the federal treasury with a certain amount going to each state, earmarking how much was for interest and how much for principal.???

For the next one hundred twenty-five years, the primary debt our nation took on was for fighting wars?the War of 1812, Read more…

Please, Mr. President, Lead rather than Divide

February 1st, 2014 Comments off

When Mr. Obama campaigned for President of the United States in 2008, he assured voters that he would bring the county together and especially quell the gridlock in Washington that had made it difficult for the United States Congress to pass important legislation.? But, instead, the discord in Washington is greater than ever and has spread throughout our country.? How did this happen??

I realize that I am not a political science major and as just a regular citizen who has never run for office I may be guilty of being na?ve and oversimplifying politics.? That being said, it appears to me that President Obama almost goes out of his way at sowing discord rather than negotiating agreement.? For example, as recently as his State of the Union address earlier this week, the President started out on a very conciliatory note, but before too long he began to make threats of what he would do with his pen if the Republicans failed to pass certain legislation.? And the next day he began making campaign-type speeches in different states degrading Republicans, and especially the Republican held United States House of Representatives.? Such verbiage may please his Democratic base.? It certainly does not, however, bring about any type of unity, but further fuels discord in Washington. Read more…

If I Were President . . .

February 1st, 2014 Comments off

I received an e-mail on my Web site that features my latest book: The Big Ten of Grammar: Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors.? Of course, I liked the e-mail because of what it said about my book, but even more because of its general emphasis on a completely different and very important subject.

?The e-mail reads as follows:? Read more…