BRIANSBUSINESSBLOG.COM

An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly

2011-04-26T14:10:00Z

Saving the No Spin Zone from Bill O’Reilly Blunders

Dear Bill,

I was and am a fan of Bill O’Reilly and the No Spin Zone. If you continue to blunder as you did last night I will not be a fan much longer.

Talking about coming attractions in your Monday, April 25^thshow you titillated the folks with:

”Gas prices are soaring, speculators are driving up the price of oil, energy companies are making excess profits on the backs of the folks, and Obama is right on this occasion to speak out against subsidies to big oil”

Cloaked in a shroud of partial truths you gave your audience the impression that Obama is a good President and doing the right thing. These statements and your segment on this subject represent spinning in the extreme. Presenting your prejudices about successful American businesses does a disservice to your ardent followers.

Let’s look at the facts. I refer you to the Exxon Mobil Annual report for 2010.

1) Revenue grew year over year 23.4% to $383.2 Billion. Good growth performance.

2) Net income after taxes was $31.4 Billion or 8.2% of revenue. Adequate but not good performance.

3) Crude oil and purchases rose 29.5% to $198 Billion. Result of Inflation.

4) All taxes including income tax were $86.2 billion or 22.5% of revenue. An unbelievable burden for the Company to manage and the consumer to pay. Especially when the Federal Government wastes Tax Payer $.

5) Subsidies for oil and gas, according to an EIA study amounted to 13% of $16.6 Billion, about $2.2 Billion for the whole industry. An insignificant amount compared to the $86.2 Billion the Company paid in total taxes.

Perhaps, Bill, your no spin, truthful message to the folks should have been “Gas prices are soaring because of incompetence by Obama, his administration, career politicians and prior administrations”

To get a better business competence for you and your staff I humbly suggest you read Bruce Henderson’s, (BCG), “Perspectives on Competition” and my book “Compete and Empower” published in 2010

Sincerely,

Brian Sear, Author and President VenRaD LLC. Go to Amazon or www.briansear.com for reference information.

Public Education is Another failed Government Program

2011-04-26T14:03:00Z

Educating Our Children, to be the best that they can be, must trump Partisan Politics.

Dear Friend,

Our citizens and their children in the year 2010 are well aware that our young people are being short changed by an education bureaucracy that calls out year after year for ever expanding cost per pupil with ever decreasing results.

We know what the problem is! So why don't we fix it?

This is not a new problem! It has been going on for 100 years. Robert J. Herbold, formerly COO of Microsoft, wrote an article on March 14, 2005 for Anchor Rising titled "The Deep Performance Problems With American Public Education." Among many criticisms he quotes from "A Nation at Risk" published 25 years ago:

"A Nation at Risk underestimated the resistance to change from the organized interest of the K-12 public education system, at the center of which were two big teachers unions as well as school administrators, colleges of education, state bureaucracies, school boards, and many others. These groups see any changes beyond the most marginal as threats to their own jealously guarded power."

As a nation we continue to complain but do nothing about it. Our children suffer the consequences of this inaction. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal dated February 24, 2004 said:

"A fact of political life today is that if you favor meaningful education reform, you can automatically count yourself a political enemy of two groups: the teachers' unions that prefer the status quo and too many politicians who depend on them for financial support."

Too often leaders who express an interest in fixing the problem accept the status quo as a given and then ineptly try compromise, accept the status quo as a given, and then ineptly try compromise solutions through negotiation with the powers that be. As we can see, by looking at results, great education for our children is not happening.

What does the Constitution say?

Nowhere in the American Constitution does it mention education. Our Founders wanted most aspects of a citizen’s life to be managed by those closest to them. They believed in self-reliant people managing their affairs through the family, the local community, local government, and the State wherever possible.

Nowhere does it mention funding for K-12 Education. However, in keeping with the charitable nature of the American people, townships starting in Massachusetts in 1647 started funding a school teacher for towns over 50 people. From this humble beginning it became a priority and tradition to fund some level of schooling locally. This tradition was supported by the Founders principles of local decision-making.

Over time local and state governments enacted mandates that were intended to benefit the children. In 1827 Massachusetts passed a law requiring towns over 500 people to provide schooling. In 1852 Massachusetts enacted a mandatory schooling law. By 1885 sixteen states had signed on to compulsory schooling and by 1918 all states complied.

In 1857 the National Teachers Association (NTA) was formed. It has now become the NEA union. In 1867 the Department of Education was formed to provide uniformity between states and in 1916 the American Federation of Teachers was formed, now called the AERA.

The 16th Amendment, ratified on February 25, 1913 allowed the State and Federal Governments to tax the income of all citizens. Since then there has been political pressure to become a welfare-socialized nation. Consequently more and more funding for schools has been approved by Congress to feed a bloated bureaucracy and Union coffers.

Government Owned and Operated Organizations fail to provide products and services that continually increase client satisfaction while reducing cost.

Good intentions must be verified when they do not get good results. Businesses, like education, controlled by politicians and unions are doomed to fail because the decision maker’s goals are in conflict with the client expectations.

The career politician says he cares about the children when he approves higher spending for socialized education, but in reality his real intention is to buy votes to get re-elected. The Union boss says he cares about the teachers when he lobbies for restrictive work rules to be enshrined into law, but in reality his real intention is to get more dues and power from an expanding base of union workers.

The end result of government owned and operated schools are that our children get a deteriorating education and cannot compete effectively on the world stage.

Citizen Owned and Operated Organizations provide products and services that continually increase client satisfaction while reducing cost.

Bruce Henderson, founder of Boston Consulting Group, shared his perspectives on natural competition with his client companies in the 1960s.

Prior to this time most large corporations operated like nations, conquering and oppressing the people. This robber baron behavior, management versus the worker, spawned unions to protect the worker. The end result was un-productive, resulting in poor quality products and services and unpredictable profits.

Corporations that embraced natural competition became strategic enterprises that focused all employees on customer satisfaction. By being responsive to customer needs a symbiotic relationship developed. Customers got what they wanted, employees increased income by growing into higher paying jobs and shareholders got a worthwhile predictable return on their capital invested to grow the company.

These Companies focused on becoming one of the three or four high growth, market share, leaders that aggressively went down the experience curve improving quality and reducing cost. The end result was a transformation of American business that contributed to world GDP growth of 5% per year for 50 years and enabled America to grow to $14 trillion 3 to 4 times bigger than any other nation.

Let's analyze a typical State run school business.

Arizona became my choice for review because I spend 6 months in Surprise, about 30 miles from the Phoenix airport, during the winter months. I researched data from the Arizona Budget process www.azleg.gov/jblc.htm and from www.localschooldirectory.com, published in 2010. My goal is to reconcile the data into a typical business Profit/<Loss> statement and then compare the results to a typical services free market business model.

The State operates 2,200 public K-12 schools, teaching 1,051,015 students. This is accomplished with 51,850 teachers for a ratio of 20 students per teacher. Arizona's National Ranking is 41 out of 51 states including DC. The States expenditures for 2008/2009 are $8.3 billion or about $8,200 per student.

The bureaucracy has deemed it necessary that the 51,850 teachers need supporting staff of 35,305 people to teach 20 students per day. The supporting staff are: 14,520 instructional aides, 645 elementary counselors, 728 secondary counselors, 824 librarians, 2,044 librarian support staff, 453 laptop encryption administrators, 555 laptop encryption support staff, 7,403 student support services, 5,822 school support staff, and 2,311 school administrators.

If the Arizona Public Schools were run like a free market business it is possible to save $2.6 billion and improve the quality of education.

Keeping the quantity of teacher’s constant and using an average salary of $35,000 for elementary and $50,000 for secondary teachers in the model it was possible to develop an overhead rate and a G&A rate. The current budget shows an overhead on teachers of 232% and a G&A rate of 13.9%.

The, run it like a business, model used an overhead rate of 120% and a G&A of 8%. This competitive approach would yield a savings of $2.6 billion.

The real solutions will take leadership and courage not platitudes that retain the status quo.

Solutions with real potential that will educate our children to be the best that they can be are:

A) Terminate unions in all public organizations. Provide all children with vouchers to go to any school of choice. C) Let the public schools fail and be liquidated if they cannot compete. D) Sell off all public schools K-12 to private enterprise.

Your Friend

Brian Sear

PS: If you are a patriot, and would like to kick the tires before becoming a "Compete and Empower" enthusiast go to www.briansear.com/ Click on "Are you a Patriot" and get a free copy of the essence of Chapter 9, a Contract with America, by clicking on the red button on the left side of Wake Up America.

I am sharing the greatness of America in half hour conversations, including Q&A, with lunch associations and one-hour speeches with Tea Party Groups. If you know of groups that might be interested e-mail me at brian@briansear.com and I will contact them. To purchase the book go to www.briansear.com or on line to Amazon, B&N etc.

Interview Support

2010-08-28T04:24:57Z

JEFFREY BENJAMIN SPEAKS WITH BRIAN SEAR

Jeffrey speaks with Brian Sear author of Compete And Empower. In his book, Brianshares what it will take to get America back on the road to wealth and prosperity. Brian is involved in early stage new ventures, growth companies in emerging markets and real estate opportunities. He is a member of the Sierra Angels and is President of VenRaD LLC, a venture research and development consultancy. Before starting VenRaD LLC in 1985 Sear had a successful career in high technology. He was recruited in London, England to join the Univac research team working on their first semiconductor computer. This began a productive period developing and patenting new technology and publishing the results. During the 60′s and 70′s Sear published many articles in prestigious journals and went on speaking tours to promote novel ideas about computers and instrumentation. This interview originally aired on Fox Affiliate 99.1 FM Talk KKFT.

Brian Sear Author Interview by JeffreyBenjamin

Immigration

2010-08-28T03:47:00Z

Immigration is a Quintessential Ingredient of America’s Success. Immigration polluted by Irresponsible Political Initiatives is Un-American.

Dear Friend,

For the first 150 years of our republic America achieved exceptional performance.

In 1700 prior to the American Revolution World GDP was about $371 Billion and the American Colonies share was $527 Million (0.14%). By 1820, forty years after the Declaration of Independence World GDP was about 694 Billion and the USA was $13 Billion (1.81%).

By 1900 World GDP had grown to $2 Trillion with the USA share growing to $312 Billion (15.8%). For centuries prior to 1820 China produced over 25% of World GDP. By 1900 China’s GDP was $218 Billion (11.05%). America, with a Constitution calling for a government of the people by the people for the people with liberty and freedom for all, must be doing something brilliant and profound.

The 19th Century was a great Century where free market capitalism prevailed and the citizens got a tenfold increase in wealth over the poverty trap of the prior 7000 years.

Although many attribute the performance in wealth generation during the 19th Century to the Industrial Revolution, I believe the American Constitution, combined with the pioneering entrepreneurial spirit of the American people, made all the difference. Not only did they grow the country faster than any other nation but they also started to resolve inequities by fighting a civil war over secession and slavery.

Self-reliant citizens have been inventing products and services for thousands of years. Until 1800 the wealth from these inventions was confiscated by Conquerors, Kings, Dictators and Elites for their own power keeping the citizens in a poverty trap.

An essential Ingredient in America’s success was Immigration.

In 1750 there were about 2 Million people in America. By 1910 there were 100 Million more. America grew its population at twice the rate of any other nation. People from all over the world, especially from Europe, responded to the siren call of liberty and freedom. Millions of self-reliant people poured in to become American citizens.

They were welcomed and they naturally understood that to become Americans they must learn English, teach their children family values, get along with their neighbors and become assimilated into a new dynamic nation. There were many challenges in the 19th Century but Americans rose to the challenge and benefitted from growth and prosperity.

By 1900 America was still a Federation. For the most part the Constitution was honored, the power of the Federal Government was limited and Federal spending was less than 1% of GDP.

Along came Marx spinning Collectivism. A Disaster for Humanity!

The Communist Manifesto did not solve the class struggle as theorized by Marx but provided an opportunity for powerful elites through revolution to take power from the Conquerors, Kings and Imperialists of the past. So nothing changed for the average citizen. One set of oppressors replaced another.

The 20th Century turned out to be one of the worst in History. There were many executions as the elites took power. There were over 70 wars and millions of people were killed from war or starvation from the policies of the new dictators.

America became a Beacon illuminating a Path to Prosperity.

Although America was conflicted between, belief in the performance of self-reliant people who believe in free market capitalism, and the elites within the schools, unions and government who believe in Marx, the American people prevailed.

The private sector grew GDP to $14 Trillion by 2010, 3 to 4 times larger than any other nation.

The elites and politicians in Washington have done every thing in their power over the last 100 years to hijack the country, take control and spend the people's wealth to get re-elected and stay in power. The Federal Government now controls the country. It is limiting the private sector with excessive regulations, manipulative taxes and take-over legislation.

Under their control America has gone from #1 in wealth in the 50’s to #8 in 2005 at $41,456 per person and to #13 in 2008 at $44,660.

To stay #1 in GDP size and to recover our Proper Position in Wealth per Citizen we need a Strategic Immigration Policy.

Until 1910 America’s population grew at 2.5% per year. From 1910 to 1965 our population grew at 1.3% and from 1965 to today it grew at 1%. The Feds are now forecasting a 0.7% growth for the 21st Century.

So what’s gone wrong? Politicians collaborating with unions to get re-election funds have progressively restricted immigration. Prior to 1965 Green Cards were issued based on country quota and employment skills. After 1965 the liberal Kennedy bill changed the priority to family connections. Quotas were set to 225,000 for family connection and 140,000 for employment related and an open ended political discretionary quota, sometimes reaching 500,000, for special family needs.

In order to remain world leader in the 21st Century America must hold or increase its market share to around 30% from 27%. This leaves plenty of room for China to achieve its goal of growing its people out of poverty by reaching a goal of 19% from under 10%.

Within this strategy America will need to grow to $106 Trillion by 2050 and China to $70 Trillion while world GDP grows to $360 Trillion. In order to execute this strategy we must return our growth rate of legal immigration to 1.9% per year from the 0.7% currently expected from political initiatives. We naturally grow our population at 0.5% per year from births minus deaths. This means we need to add over 4 Million legal immigrants per year. That’s 3 Million more than the current 1 Million illegal’s that enter under the current Un-American government policies.

This is a peaceful strategy eliminating the chaos that will occur if China overtakes America in GDP by 2035. Our current career politicians have already accepted defeat and forecast the demise of America.

They expect America to lose market share to 15% with a GDP of $50 Trillion by 2050 while China grows to $100 Trillion (28%). Our leaders call the 21st Century the China Century. The 535 career politicians of both parties must be removed from office and replaced with citizen public servants who embrace the principles of our Constitution.

Once we accept a Strategic Initiative over Political Posturing for Immigration Policy the Solution becomes Rational.

Ever since Reagan accepted a deal with a democratic congress in 1986 to provide amnesty for up to 3 Million illegal immigrants, both Democrat and Republican Congressman and Administrations have ignored the problem in the hope of getting the Hispanic vote. 20 years later we have over 10 Million illegal immigrants in the country and the politicians want to make the same mistake again.

In order to pacify unions and limit legal immigration politicians created compromise H1 Visas and propose Guest Visas. All forms of compromise visa should be eliminated. At the end of the term of a compromise visa most individuals will go illegal and solicit legal help to get a path to citizenship. Only four methods of documentation are needed to control the borders. A Visitor Visa, a Student Visa, a Green Card Visa and Citizenship Papers.

Because of 9/11 with the realization that radical terrorists want to kill our people we must use whatever means is necessary, including the latest technology, to control our borders effectively. Furthermore the 9/11 Commission recommended strongly that cooperation between agencies and State and Federal government was essential to our security. What stupidity have we come to when the Federal Justice department sues Arizona for improving the Arizona law to support the Federal law?

So what is the rational solution/strategy?

1. Secure the borders first so that we know who is in the country, why they are here, and what the checkpoints are to keep them legal. Eliminate the entry of illegal immigrants.

2. Only issue Green Cards to immigrants and their families entering the country legally for employment.

3. Increase the level of private sector employment green card visas to a strategic level of 5 Million. The level to be adjusted annually in accordance with the American strategy to remain #1.

4. Assign responsibility to private business to decide who, what qualifications, when, how many and wherefrom to hire appropriate personnel and request paper processing of green cards by USCIS. Both employers and USCIS to do background checks to eliminate errors.

5. Both government and business should encourage immigration by communicating to the world that we are open for business and that it is easy to immigrate to America. We are looking for the best and the brightest professionals, journeymen and entry-level workers in all fields of endeavor.

6. Once the border is secure and it is clear that businesses are encouraged to hire to fit their growth needs then we charge USCIS with analyzing the status of the 11 Million now in limbo. USCIS by reprioritizing its 18,000 employees and $2.5 Billion budget can get it done in 2 years.

7. Those illegal people that have broken the law should be charged and sentenced within the law. With the new rational quota they may be able to go to the back of the line and get employment quickly. If not they will need to return to their mother country until called upon.

America can and will return to its rightful position of world leader if we make political expediency unacceptable and terminate the career politicians who are polluting the immigration system.

Your Friend

Brian Sear

Are You Out of Work?

2010-08-28T03:35:00Z

Are You Out of Work? Are You Worried how to Take Care of Yourself and Your Family? Try Self Reliance and Repudiate Government Dependency.

Dear Friend,

Beware of Politicians that say they care and pass legislation to extend unemployment benefits under the guise of economic stimulus or a jobs program. Remember they do not have the funds to keep these promises. They will either take the funds back from you with higher taxes or reduce the value of your money by borrowing or printing the funds.

Let's look at the situation you face today if you have recently been laid off. There are more companies terminating workers than hiring. The competition for a specific job description available for hire can be brutal. It's possible that more than 6 people are applying for each available job.

Successful companies have a highly differentiated strategy. They plan jobs a year in advance with the operating plan. The specificity of the job description is developed between the line manager and the HR department to fit the strategic intent. If a downturn in sales is threatened job requisitions are frozen. If the downturn is forecast to be significant then layoffs occur.

Companies with good leaders will size the company employment level lower than appears at first glance to be necessary, support the laid off personnel to find employment elsewhere, re-organize to meet or achieve a lower level of sales with appropriate profits and motivate the remaining staff to beat the revised tactical goals.

Although managers cannot hire employees they have some expense latitude to meet their objectives. Any good manager under these circumstances will consider projects that will ensure his and the companies success.

Why follow the politician's playbook and accept unemployment extensions that ensnare you with false feelings of security while becoming dependent on and beholden to the purveyor of false promises?

Why not follow the American Tradition of Self Reliance?

From the moment you are laid off take stock of and feel proud of your god given talents that you have learned and earned. Then apply your energy to cultivating your expertise and crafting a niche where you can claim projects that benefit business growth. Talk to executives prepared to provide a testimonial and offer your services as an Independent Contractor.

It's a lot more fun to be talking to decision makers about your ideas to improve their business project by project, than wasting time fitting your bio into a resume that may fit a job requisition that has been frozen.

You are Born to be in Business! Accept this Principle of Human Nature and Choose a Journey of Purpose and Pleasure.

From the moment you take your first breath you are developing marketable skills that have value in the environment you find yourself in. Strong survival instincts from your genes provide an excellent platform for self-reliance. Survival hones your choice to learn skills that pay off and reject behavior that limits your value.

The baby that smiles at his parents is more likely to get the food he needs to survive and the love and attention he needs to further his learning. The young child in kindergarten who learns to communicate and share with other kids gets special benefits from teachers and parents. The child in school who gets A's is praised by the teacher and may get goodies or pocket money from the parents. The teenager in high school who develops skills in song, theatre, movies or business may earn a substantial fortune before graduating high school.

The environment consists of parents, guardians, teachers, mentors and leaders. These coaches play an important role in the development of marketable skills. If the coaches provide guidance that best fits human nature, then the children learn, grow and change every day. From this behavior the children discover that anything is possible. The American dream is real!

On the other hand if leaders convince the young that they are inferior, victims, working class or underdogs then they become unproductive, unfulfilled and dependent and unfortunately unemployed.

What can You do in America Today to Survive and Flourish when You are Unemployed?

Recognize that; (a) America is number one in GDP at $14 trillion, 3 to 4 times larger than any other nation, (b) we have a failure of leadership by Washington politicians who are spending the country into poverty, from 8th in GDP per person to 13th in 4 short years, and (c) we can recover our world leadership role if we have the strategic intent to make GDP growth our highest priority.

Realize that you can get off unemployment quickly and contribute to increasing our GDP by:

1. Take stock of your marketable skills.

2. Develop a platform based on your successes and testimonials.

3. Focus on a business niche where you can claim to decision makers how you can improve their sales or profitability.

4. Prepare collateral documents that support your claim.

5. Offer consulting projects, products or services as an independent contractor.

6. Approach decision makers where you have had previous success and make them a value proposition, offer, they can't refuse. Also ask for referrals to other potential sources of opportunity.

7. Build a small business and develop a track record of improving client value.

Along the way, if and when the country gets back on track and grows at world GDP or better, then you may consider attractive employment again if it fits your passion.

This self-reliant independent journey will put you in the best position to pick and choose opportunities and negotiate the best deal.

Remember America became the Greatest Democracy on the Planet because of it's Constitution and the Courage and Ingenuity of it's Free Spirited Citizens.

Fortunately the power of the people has been awakened. The Tea Party Movement, citizens who care about the country, is rebelling against the wanton practices of an incompetent, corrupt and out of touch governing body. The movement is growing rapidly and having early success.

It may be our first best hope to revitalize the greatness of America.

Your Friend

Brian Sear

Jobs!, Jobs!, Jobs!

2010-08-28T02:43:00Z

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! is a Carefully Worded Clarion Call that Sends the Wrong Message?

Dear Friend,

Where did the call come from? Why are jobs the talk of the town? Why are Washington DC elites in a panic to find a panacea for people out of work? How did we get in this mess where sales of US products and services are shrinking while China's GDP is growing?

First we must be clear that 535 career politicians have taken control of our government and country. They are accountable for the current financial crises.

Second these politicians, of both parties, with their appointed bureaucrats, and aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve, are committed to staying in power. Therefore they come up with clever schemes to buy votes.

Third these politicians confiscating money from the earnings or savings of the citizens is the only way to pay for these schemes. This immoral act reduces capital that should be used for future growth of real products and services. Other unseemly actions by politicians to buy votes are to borrow the funds from other nations or print the money.

Fourth the Administration preys on the fears of the citizens by poll testing for words that worry the most. Because the first stimulus did not work they are now calling the second stimulus the jobs program.

Remember the only source of capital that does not reduce the wealth of the nation through inflation is from the earnings and savings of about 100 million citizens.

Although America's GDP, at $14 trillion, is still 3 to 4 times larger than any other nation, our world ranking for wealth, GDP per person, is now 13th down from 8th in 2005.This result is the direct effect of wasteful government spending.

Clients! Clients! Clients! is a Clarion Call that Solves our Current Crisis?

How can we convince our clients to buy benefits they can use in uncertain times? What compelling products or services will fit the client's immediate needs? Can we change the value proposition to better fit the needs? How can we make it easier for our clients to buy?

1. Our businesses both large and small should re-energize customer conversations about their needs during a national and perhaps global crisis of confidence.

2. Businesses must improve the product offering to better fit the needs of the new circumstances. (New Product / Current Customer)

3. Marketing and sales initiatives that prospect for new clients. New understanding of client needs from existing customer conversations will improve the potential for new business. (Current Product / New Customer)

4. Ignore the siren calls from politicians to increase employment ahead of sales growth for a tiny tax benefit. Political bribes rarely pay off! If only the politician had basic business experience, he would realize that job increases are planned during the operating plan process when growth is anticipated. Job requisitions are only released when a company is meeting or exceeding its growth plan.

There are several success stories during this down turn about companies that ignore the threats of tax and regulation increases by an out of touch Administration and Congress. Apple is a prime example. Compelling products like iPod and iPhone propelled their performance. Sales grew from $25 billion in 2007 to $37 billion in 2008 and $43 billion in 2009.

Most companies that spent too much time cozying up in Washington have seen their performance deteriorate and have had to lay off thousands of employees.

What can our Politicians do to encourage our Businesses to Grow Again?

Realize that the only source of capital for growth and success are the 100 million Americans that earn enough to pay taxes and have some money left over after living expenses to save. They will not take their money out of their pockets until the politicians stop changing the game.

Enact into law five changes that will end the progressive's reign of terror and free the citizens to reap what they sow:

1. Limit politicians to one 8-year term in a Washington office.

2. Vote into law the "Fair Tax Act" and eliminate the IRS.

3. End union labor law, as we know it.

4. Make GDP growth the nations highest strategic intent.

Remember an environment of low tax rates that does not change year to year is the best for free markets and the wealth of a nation and its citizens. Keynesian principles have failed so many times that we should ban their use in government practice.

From a humble beginning 30 years ago Ireland is now ranked 6th in the world for GDP per person. Since we have fallen to 13th let's follow Ireland’s lead and reduce corporate, capital gain and dividend tax to 10% or less.

Career Politicians have failed the people. We must replace them with Citizens who will go to Washington for One Term and act as faithful Public Servants.

Your Friend

Brian Sear

Healthcare... Heaven or Hell

2010-08-28T02:11:00Z

Healthcare... Heaven or Hell "A Tale of Two Citizens"

Dear Friend,

Let me suggest a story about two citizens, Harry Healthcare and Paul Politico that may shed some light on the healthcare debate.

Harry a healthcare executive studied hard, earned a degree in medicine and started out as an entry-level person in a healthcare company. Over a 25 year career he worked hard, learned on the job, changed his marketable skills and grew into the CEO's job.

He discovered on his journey that the healthcare business was an exciting place to invest one's passion. The market was growing rapidly with the ageing of the population, the client's needs were changing, and opportunities to deliver a great customer experience and improve the client's health were everywhere.

As CEO Harry was a masterful strategist, so he set sales growth with outstanding customer satisfaction and a good return on investment as the company priority. He imbued his organization with the principles of natural competition; find a high growth segment, differentiate your products from competitors, become one of the niche leaders and go rapidly down the experience curve.

The results were outstanding! The company prospered, all the employees prospered, the customers were happy to choose the level of service they wanted within their means and the investors were pleased with the ROI. Throughout this American success story Harry's employees met many other citizens with similar experiences from small town doctors to big corporate specialists. American healthcare was lauded as the best in the world and citizens from nationalized healthcare nations flocked to our shores for needs not met.

There is a dark side however. Our government for the last 100 years has hindered healthcare consumers and producers. Tax breaks were given to employers and not individual citizens to purchase healthcare, health insurance has been over regulated, lawyers have been able to sue indiscriminately and lifesaving drugs and procedures have been delayed by regulation. These problems, created by politicians not by businesses, can and must be fixed with simple cost effective solutions.

In spite of political interference with the free market American healthcare, cultivated by the perseverance of its citizens, has flourished.

Beware the Wolves in Sheep's Clothing!

Paul Politico a career politician studied hard, earned a law degree and started out as an entry-level community organizer. Over a 25-year career he worked hard, learned how to spin a message, developed oratory skills to persuade the public that it was acceptable to confiscate money from some of the people to give to others and grew into a Senator's job.

He discovered on his journey that the healthcare business was a place to invoke people's compassion. Paul realized that if he had a large pot of money he could promise free healthcare and garner the support of voters to keep him in office. If the money pot was large enough he could satisfy his promises and skim plenty off the top to keep him in the lifestyle he deserved. Free limo service, private planes, special security, lavish offices and staff, top of the line healthcare, a lucrative pension and of course plenty of opportunities after leaving office to make a fortune lobbying.

As Senator, Paul was a masterful politician, so he set tax levels as high as he could without inciting a revolution. He imbued his fellow politicians with the principle, "Create a Crises"; blame the prior administration, write a partisan bill to pay off partners who finance re-election, pass legislation that is not read by politicians and broker deals behind closed doors without public knowledge.

The results are disastrous! There is so much demand for the free healthcare that the pot of money from the prior confiscated taxes cannot provide enough supply. Paul's options are limited. Either more money must be confiscated or the services will be rationed. Paul's solution is to spin that greedy businesses are increasing costs and profit and gouging the consumers requiring the heavy hand of government to force American business to operate unsuccessfully or to force American business to stop operating.

Throughout this socialization of America story Paul's constituents met many other citizens and decided to protest by forming the Tea Party Movement.

Healthcare is a Made in Heaven High Growth Market Opportunity and should not be allowed to go to Hell in a Hand Basket as a High Cost Ever Growing Government Program.

Remember the only reason a politician sounds compassionate is to spin the public into another expensive program to keep themselves in luxury along with the government union employees that support their re-election.

In a free market sales for products and services grow based on the needs and means of the consumer. High growth is good because it increases employment at all levels and provides cost effective capital to finance the growth. All constituents are happy!

In a government controlled market products and services grow based on the opinions of elite politicians and bureaucrats who are looking for ways to get re-elected. High growth is bad because it expands government spending, controlled by unions, for products and services that are given away under the false premise that they are free. The only way to get capital to finance these re-election programs is to confiscate money from the citizens with higher taxes. Most Citizens are unhappy!

Government Run or Regulated Healthcare is Bad for America and its Citizens and will crush the American Dream.

Your Friend,

Brian Sear

What is Successful Terrorism? ...Posted December 27, 2009

2009-12-27T23:00:00Z

Successful Terrorist Attacks on US Homeland have begun.

A Nigerian Man, behaving as a terrorist boarded a Northwest Airlines plane flight 253 in Amsterdam on Christmas day December 25^th, 2009. The plane was carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew personnel and was bound for Detroit Michigan. The terrorist was able to get on board hiding a handmade bomb.

As the plane was descending to land at Detroit International Airport, the terrorist successfully ignited the bomb. Fortunately the bomb did not explode to its full potential and ended up severely burning the terrorist and possibly causing minor burns to at least one heroic passenger that attempted to restrain the terrorist.

The end result of this attack is clear. A terrorist was able to find a way to circumvent all the policies, procedures and security measures installed at great expense and get on an American plane bound for Detroit USA. He was able to ignite the bomb but due to either poor design, workmanship, luck or divine intervention the bomb did not do enough damage to bring down the plane. However he was able to terrorize 278 passengers.

One has to conclude this is a successful act of terrorism on the USA homeland.

There seems to be some confusion on how to communicate in plain language between the Whitehouse and the press. According to Jim Irwin, reported by the Associated Press “The Whitehouse said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel. It did not specify what those were.” As citizens we appreciate that the Whitehouse did not say, “it was caused by a man made disaster”.

If it was only attempted, and not successful, we need to know from the Whitehouse how many people must be terrorized, injured or killed before the Whitehouse considers it a successful act of terrorism.

The following press headlines have appeared:

"Nigerian in custody after alleged airline terror attack” CNN Justice

"Passenger attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight from Amsterdam to Detroit” Huffington Post

"Breaking News: Attempted terrorist attack on Delta Airlines” The Spittoon

"Attempt to blow up airliner foiled” Associated Press

"U.S. says al Qaeda linked Nigerian tries to blow up plane” Reuters

To me this array of journalism is confusing. It focuses on the wrong issues. Are the journalists doing sound investigation work focused on whether our homeland is under attack or are they just finding creative ways to republish the Whitehouse spin.

The second act of successful terrorism occurred on November 5^th, 2009 at Fort Hood. 12 soldiers and one civilian were killed and as many as 30 people injured by Major Nidal Malik Hassan. According to several reports the Major is a Muslim with a history of radical Jihadist beliefs.

The events above are 2 horrific acts of terrorism on our homeland in the 4^thquarter of 2009. It does not help to get into esoteric discussions about whether they acted alone, or how tightly were these individuals connected to al Qaeda. Nor does it help to have philosophical discussions about whether it’s a police matter or an act of terrorism.

The fact is we were successfully attacked on the homeland and our priority must be to the protection of our citizens. If we accept this as fact and we believe that there were no successful attacks on the homeland since 9-11 then we must ask; “What has changed since the new administration took charge in January and we have anew Commander in Chief?” So what do we know?

First our enemy al Qaeda and all radical Muslim’s that are supporting a Jihad against the USA have not declared a cease-fire, or an end to hostilities. In fact they continue to change strategy and are determined to succeed.

Second the new administration, led by the Commander in Chief, has dramatically reversed the policies of the last administration. The most significant are:

· End the war against terrorism and protect our citizens on the homeland by treating these horrific acts as man-made disasters. Stop these acts from happening with police and FBI rules of engagement and give the perpetrators all the rights and protections of US Citizens.

· The Commander in Chief articulated a policy on the campaign trail that has now become his administration policy to engage in a new strategy of diplomacy. This diplomacy strategy is to engage our enemies in conversations where we apologize for American arrogance in the past and expect to develop new endearing allies.

· In order to show good faith to our enemies we are publishing many of our internal secret methods for keeping us safe in the hope that we will change the behavior of our enemies. We have gone so far as to put on trial CIA personnel.

· Finally the Commander in Chief decided to bring enemy combatants, who have already pleaded guilty in a military commission of justice, to be tried in an American court of justice in New York City.

There are a majority of American citizens who do not believe this new strategy will work, but hope and pray that it will be successful. There are many who say we need to give our new President more time. Intuitively we believe showing weakness does not work but maybe this young, smart articulate President can change our minds and those of our enemies.

One thing is for sure we would sleep better at night if our President stayed on the job after making a risky move of deciding to bring the 4 terrorists to New York for trial. Vacationing in Hawaii over Christmas holidays, a prime time for terrorist attacks, does not follow in the great leadership tradition of leading the charge into battle.

The Voice of Business

2009-03-10T19:40:00Z

Introducing a New Voice in Support of American Business. Mar 10th, 2009

On February 4th, 2009 an article by Stephen Labaton about curbing pay and seeking to change corporate culture appeared in the New York Times. This is typical of elites that think they know better than the free market and the millions of American business men who have lifted America financially to the number one democracy in the world. America's GDP at $14 Trillion is at least three times the size of any other nation.

I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of listening to politicians and media pundits play the blame game. Day after day we are insulted with show trials played out in Congress and gotcha politics played out on TV by individuals that have no useful business experience. This Blog is to introduce my motivation to become a contrarian who still believes in the American Dream. I will offer a fresh voice in support of business men that have made this country great.

Always on the lookout for outstanding opportunities, I discovered in early 2007 an insightful newsletter called "The China Strategy". Robert Hsu the author and owner earned his stripes at Goldman Sachs and he speaks both english and Chinese mandarin. With extensive experience on mainland China and a strong Taiwan heritage he sparked my interest.

By March 2007 I was investing in interesting Chinese stocks and making a good return. I was having so much fun that I decided to go to China to check out the facts on the ground. Robert offered an investors tour of 6 cities including historical sites, businesses and two stock exchanges for key clients. See map below.

It was an offer too good to turn down. Needless to say I went and was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and professionalism of the young chuppie generation and their accomplishments in just twenty five short years. In general the Chinese people I met think highly of their government. There may be pockets of discontent over a few human rights issues, but the people believe that by focusing on GDP growth as the highest priority they can improve their lives and freedoms will follow.

Traveling around Shenzen is a sight to behold. A fishing village twenty five years ago, it now rivals America's Silicon Valley for modern buildings and a young educated and entrepreneurial population. Upon my return home to the USA, I was excited to share my observations, experience and feelings about the China miracle. Yes it's a miracle, but it's based on sound strategy, from the bottoms up and the tops down. Having spent 40 years executing strategy in companies I was a Founder of and empowering young companies to think strategically, I knew that America can and should retain it's powerful position as the number one democracy. America today is at least three times larger in GDP than any other nation.

If I, along with many successful corporations, could learn the perspectives of natural and strategic competition coached by Bruce Henderson and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the 1960's, then so can America's burdensome government get out of the way and let free enterprise flourish.

Much to my surprise, I discovered upon my return that the chattering class of elites that appear to be running our country without adult supervision by "We the People" have already conceded defeat. They make comments and write articles, accepted as gospel by the drive by media such as "The 21st Century will be the Chinese Century."

Saddened by the sorry state of affairs that our politicians are leading us all into by their "blame America first" attitude and loser mentality I was inspired to be a contrarian and continue my belief in the American Dream.

I started my Quest by putting together a PowerPoint presentation that includes information from the trip along with clarification of the China Miracle, a strategy outline for America and a discussion about America's spirit to choose the right fork in the road. The question is; "Can we succeed for the foreseeable future or will we fail as a civilization as others have failed before us. The cover page is shown below.

Go to www.briansear.com or www.wecanwakeupamerica.com to get a free sample section.

My Quest lead me to write a book called "Compete and Empower". It is on its way to the publisher and should be available in Q4 2009.

Welcome

2009-03-09T00:38:32Z

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.