IS IT TRUE that local landlords are telling us that some September rent checks are late?…that the reason that tenants are giving landlords for being late with the rent are the dramatically higher Vectren bills that homeowners and renters alike received in August?…that tenants always pay Vectren before they pay the rent BECAUSE Vectren can turn the power off but landlords have to go through a lengthy legal process to evict someone for being late on rent?…that it is ironic that Vectren which is a state granted monopoly that has regulated revenue and profit streams has more ability to withhold services from a late-paying customer than a totally unregulated real estate investor has?…that the very government that protects the financial interest of a private utility prevents private real estate investors from managing their properties as they choose?…that this one really makes you think?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday a violent strike was launched in the Port of Longview in Washington State?…that according to police reports, some 500 longshoremen broke in at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning and held six security guards hostage for two hours while the protesters rampaged through the facility?…that the longshoremen cut brake lines on railroad cars and spilled grain from boxcars?…that the business under attack is owned by EGT, LLC, which is a joint venture of U.S., Japanese and South Korean companies?…that this consortium built the facility for $200 million and announced it would employ non-union longshoreman to save $1 million a year in operating costs?…that the National Labor Relations Board had to by their very charter file a complaint against the longshoremen?…that they have proceeded to ignore a restraining order issued by a federal judge to cease their violence and stay away from the property?

IS IT TRUE that if such an attack were carried out against an American company on foreign soil that it would be considered an act of war?…that if such an act were carried out against a municipality that the national guard would be called in to round up the perpetrators?…that if the law enforcement agencies of the United States fail to protect the investments of businesses as they would protect government facilities that we will not be getting much foreign investment in the future?…that this callous and illegal action is the equivalent of a flash mob of UAW members breaking into our Toyota plant in Princeton to intentionally do violence and damage?…that we expect that if something like that happened right here in Indiana that Governor Daniels would call out the National Guard and show the perpetrators exactly what Hoosiers think of this sort of job killing and investment killing nonsense?

IS IT TRUE that one of the highlights of President Obama’s proposal last night was to extend and enlarge the reduction in Social Security taxes withheld from the paychecks of American workers?…that the billboard sound bite to gain support for this proposal is that working people will have $175 Million put into their pockets?…that what is not in the headline is that this is $175 Million that will not be going into the Social Security lockbox to be paid out later in life?…that the one thing that both parties seem to agree on is that Social Security must be protected?…that we wonder how reducing the revenue to a program that is already said to be endangered by 67% for two years will serve to protect Social Security?…that for most working people who are under the maximum tax limit that this amounts to the federal government giving them a 5.1% raise during 2011 and 2012?…that at some point this 5.1% raise will have to be given back in the name of “Saving Social Security”?…that this extra $30 or so per week will be built into family budgets and when it is taken back, which it will be, it will work like a pay cut or having your hours cut?…that this proposal will make little difference, endangers a program that most people support, and is really nothing more than an election year gimmick that is a perfect example of “GRASSHOPPER POLITICS”?…that grasshoppers like locusts consume something until it is dead and then move on to the next victim?…that we need to keep GRASSHOPPER POLITICIANS away from programs that are supported by a wide majority of people?

IS IT TRUE that there was a ribbon cutting at a new hotel in the City of Evansville last night?…that the old private label hotel adjacent to the area where the old Evansville Airport terminal building that auctioned off for a song last year has finally found an owner that knows how to succeed in the hospitality business?…that Dunn Hospitality unveiled their newly refurbished Hampton Inn last night with a grand opening reception that was second to none?…that the rooms in this Hampton Inn are furnished and sized in a way that would cost over $200 per night in Chicago with HD flat screen televisions, deep mattresses, and modern décor?…that this total refurbishment was completed in just under a year?…that it has been widely publicized in the current campaign for Mayor of Evansville that refurbishment is more expensive and takes longer than building new?

IS IT TRUE that when private investors with experience and capital decide on a project as Dunn Hospitality did on this Hampton Inn that actions happen fast, on budget, and that the long term success of the venture is greatly enhanced?…that if the cast of elected and appointed officials that have blundered through the all too familiar litany of problems in getting real traction for a downtown Convention Hotel would have used the same analytical and marketing skills that Dunn Hospitality employs that the people of Evansville would be better off for it?…that the City County Observer wishes to congratulate the Dunn Hospitality Group for seeing an opportunity and going for it?…that this new Hampton Inn will be a big plus for the beautification of our North 41 Corridor?

IS IT TRUE that if Lloyd Winnecke becomes Mayor of Evansville that his opponent Rick Davis seems to be training for a bright future as a stand-up comic?…that in Wednesday night’s debate that Davis earned the CCO Johnnie Cochran Award for his catchy quip “THE STATUS QUO HAS GOT TO GO”?…that at yesterday’s Chamber breakfast the funny one liners just kept rolling off of the lips of Davis when he opened his monologue with a trilogy that would make Johnny Carson chuckle in his grave?…that in the space of a minute Davis cracked a joke about how he is a Democratic Union Supporter and that he knows just how much the chamber loves such things and followed it up by a self deprecating barrage about never owning a business and driving an American made pickup truck?…that aside from the real issues which merit continuous analysis, the CCO is pleased to see the candidates mixing it up in ways that are entertaining?…that adding a little humor has always been a good way to get people to listen to a message?

IS IT TRUE that we all know that the economy is bad and that rather than look to official government statistics or listen to politicians we suggest that the American people look at what businesses are doing to attract customers?…that just yesterday amid the hoopla of another round of stimulus like actions that mega retailer WALMART has instituted a LAYAWAY PLAN like the days of old before people had plastic money in their pockets?…that WALMART is well known for razor thin margins and creating financial success in what many people call the real America?…that WALMART’s new layaway plan is design to draw Christmas shoppers who are buying selected items over $15 that exceed a total of $50.00 per total transaction?…that when WALMART starts a LAYAWAY PLAN you know the economy is bad?

IS IT TRUE tonight we will all be given the opportunity to hear what President Obama will be proposing to do in an effort to jump start the job engine of the United States?…that all of the major papers are reporting that the “quick fix” will consist of tax cuts, extending the social security withholding tax cuts through 2012, spending more money on construction, and extending unemployment benefits for the long term unemployed?…that this group of actions pretty much just extend the government assistance that has been in place through 2010 and 2011 into 2012?…that if these actions did not jumpstart hiring in the last two years that extending these programs another year will have little effect on hiring either?

IS IT TRUE that according to the Kauffman Foundation that all net new job growth comes from businesses that are less than 5 years old?…that this being the case that any program that the government is pondering that does not directly incent or inspire entrepreneurship is targeting a lesser job creator than startup and emerging companies are?…that the first big stimulus is now somewhat discredited for not achieving its goals with respect to unemployment?…that many of the factories that were directly subsidized such as the solar company in Fremont, CA that filed for bankruptcy this week were incented or directly paid by the government to do the wrong thing at the wrong time?…that Solyndra received $535 Million from the stimulus to build a factory to make products that had no market and were not technically ready even if there was a market?…that the battery companies that received federal stimulus money to build factories prematurely to make products for which markets do not exist are already facing financial challenges?…that the government attempting to force solutions that the free market will not accept is a waste of money and is demoralizing in the long run?…that much less money directed toward research may have actually resulted in something good?

IS IT TRUE that some private investment dollars and some American jobs can be saved if the Justice Department will stop harassing the Gibson Guitar Company and Boeing?…that the message that is being sent by singling out these two business is that they should just take their factories that employ between them many thousands of American workers and move to another country?…that in the case of Gibson the “illegal” wood that they were attacked over is used in every guitar factory there is anywhere including some other American companies?…that if the necks of the guitars were assembled in India where the wood comes from that it would be okay to import the necks for assembly into Les Pauls?…that the Justice Department is putting Gibson into a position that the only way to obey the law is to export a full assembly line to India and lay off the American workers that are doing this job now?…that this is a travesty that should never ever occur?

IS IT TRUE that one thing that President Obama could propose tonight that may have a positive effect on American business would be to tell Attorney General Eric Holder to take an 18 month vacation and to stop attacking American business to appease labor?…that we need for the Justice Department to worry about things like meth and leave guitar makers and aviation manufacturers alone?…that maybe the best proposal would be to just stop doing anything because the things that have been done do not seem to go according to plan?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville could and should learn a lesson from the failures of the federal government?…that local support of entrepreneurship and emerging business will have a bigger impact than building temples to sport or whale hunting?

IS IT TRUE? PART 2 September 8, 2011 Tech Transfer Programs

IS IT TRUE that Republican candidate for Mayor of Evansville Lloyd Winnecke spoke about the importance of the technology transfer agreement and entrepreneurship many times in last night’s debate?…that in terms of truly transforming an economy from what Evansville is to an economy of the future that is based on intellectual property, tech transfer does have that potential?…that companies that design solutions based on invention and innovation are in a much better position to stay profitable in the United States and have the margins to pay favorable wages to their entire work force?…that jobs that are based on brainpower instead of brawn seldom get caught up in a “race to the bottom” because they out innovate the competition?

IS IT TRUE that Apple was started in a garage in Cupertino, CA and is still headquartered after 35 years at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA just 3 miles from the garage where it started?…that a company that is only 10% of the financial, engineering, and marketing success of an Apple would totally transform the wage base, the tax base, and even the quality of life of Evansville, Indiana if we could just grow such a place?…that yes, this writer just used the word GROW and not the word ATTRACT or BUY to describe how an Apple headquarters happens for any community?…that inside the extensive patent portfolio of the Federal Lab Consortium which is the goldmine that candidate Winnecke is speaking of there are protected pieces of intellectual property that really and truly have the potential to transform the Evansville economy if and only if the Evansville business community rises to the challenge to identify and commercialize these patents?

IS IT TRUE that there are really only four things that are needed to make this technology transfer agreement work for Evansville?…that these things in order are BRAINS, MONEY, AMBITION, and TIME?…that without some very high powered brainpower in the areas of engineering, business, and marketing that no opportunities within this patent portfolio will be identified?…that even if all of the brainpower is in place and directed that if there is NO EQUITY CAPITAL available that the potential will not be able to be tapped?…that if Evansville businesses and entrepreneurs do not have the drive and ambition to pursue such wealth building opportunities that throwing BRAINS and CAPITAL at this will be a waste?…that given the combination of BRAINS, MONEY, and AMBITION that there will be some failures but that in the long run Evansville will see prosperity from a tech transfer program because it is a numbers game that is destined for eventual success?…that putting the BRAINS and MONEY in place to investigate these opportunities will be the basis for any future success with technology transfer?

IS IT TRUE that the laser was patented in the early 1960’s, used in military applications through the 70’s, and finally found its way into high volume commercial products in the 90’s?…that laser diodes that had a 99% failure rate and cost many thousands of dollars in the 70’s are now commodities that are routinely produced by the millions for commercial products that nearly everyone owns?…that the realization of mass commercial acceptance and the profits that came with it was a 30 year cycle from first invention to mass commercialization?…that while this piece of Mr. Winnecke’s plan may not solve this week’s problems that in the long run it may be the catalyst that Evansville can leverage to become a nationally relevant city that is the envy of other cities?…that the State of Maryland tech transfer program (Tedco) that the GAGE deal with Crane was patterned after has been cited as responsible for the creation of 60,000 jobs in Maryland in a ten year period?…that these jobs have been cited as averaging $80,000 per year?…that this is the kind of transformation that we can all benefit from?

IS IT TRUE that if done correctly the Technology Transfer Agreement that GAGE has could even be used to attract educated professionals with BRAINS, MONEY, and AMBITION?…that in September of 2008 when this agreement was signed that it was one of only a handful of such agreements in the entire nation and the only one spanning three state borders?…that we wonder just what has become of that potential since the agreement was signed?