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The New York Times reported  that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s chief political backer, Ken Griffin, made $1.3 billion last year as manager of the hedge fund Citadel Capital. Griffin made as much personally as 26,000 average Americans making the median wage. He made as much as 16,000 civil engineers.

Griffin made $625,000 per hour. By the way, for a portion of this income, he might have benefited from the federal tax law that allows hedge fund managers to pay a maximum of 20 percent tax rate, though his press spokesman claims that he he paid the full rate on all of his 2014 income.

Not only did Griffin donate $2.5 million to Rauner’s campaign for governor. He also contributed millions to right-wing Super-PACs — including one controlled by the notorious Charles and David Koch.

And he contributed $10 million — half of a $20 million campaign war chest — that Rauner plans to use to run opponents against members of the legislature who dare to oppose his policies that are aimed at destroying unions and cutting worker wages and pensions.

But one thing Bruce Rauner forgets in this is Illinois and not Wisconsin which he wants to emulate.

 

Unfortunately for Rauner and Griffin, ordinary Illinois voters are not so stupid. A recent poll published by Public Policy Polling found that:

• Only 33 percent of voters in the state agree with Governor Rauner’s agenda on “right to work”, compared to 55 percent who think everyone represented by a union should have to pay something toward negotiating and administering its contracts.
• By 81 percent to 15 percent, voters oppose Rauner’s attempts to gut the state’s Workers’ Compensation system.
• 68 percent of voters in the state think that the wage standard should continue to be set locally with a prevailing wage, while only 23 percent think the state should be able to pay below the local prevailing wage.
• Voters just generally disagree with Governor Rauner’s philosophy toward unions.
• Only 42 percent think unions have too much power, compared to 56 percent who think they’re necessary to fight for the middle class.

 

It’s not so easy for people who make as much every minute and a half as a minimum wage worker takes home all year long to convince voters that it’s a good idea to cut the pay of working people. It’s not so easy for people like Rauner and Griffin to literally propose taking food from the mouths of hungry children by cutting the Illinois nutrition program in order to allow the state to cut taxes for the wealthy.

Appearances are not so good. And to top it off, Griffin has a massive personal interest in eliminating the rights of workers — particularly public employees. Griffin’s firm owns Service Master, a company that makes part of its money by privatizing public services.

But Rauner’s monomaniacal obsession with eliminating the rights of ordinary people to engage in collective bargaining over their wages and working conditions comes from something deeper than simple desire to put even more money into the pockets of people like himself and his friend Griffin.

They believe that the rich should have the right to call the shots in society — it’s as simple as that.

Griffin and Rauner believe that America should be a plutocracy.

What is a plutocracy?

A plutocracy is a government that is ruled by the wealthy or controlled by wealthy individuals. The term usually is used pejoratively, because it implies a lack of democratic freedom and social mobility. Many historical governments were plutocracies, controlled by an elite class of wealthy people, and some modern governments have been accused of being plutocracies, including the government of the United States.

The term “plutocracy” comes from the Greek words ploutos, or “wealth,” and kratia, or “ruler.” Many nations have experienced a state of plutocracy at some point, because wealth often comes with immense power, especially during the formative stages of a new country. Some countries that have valuable natural resources, such as oil and precious metals, have also experienced this type of government because the entities that control these resources generally want to maintain conditions that are favorable to them.

An outright plutocracy governed by a handful of wealthy individuals is relatively rare in the modern era. The governments of many nations, however, are heavily influenced by wealth. Wealth can buy political power through lobbying, campaign contributions, bribing and other forms of legal or illegal financial pressure. Many nations have tried to limit the influence of the wealthy through laws controlling things such as campaign finances and lobbying, but these laws can be difficult to define and enforce.

 

 

 

Fortunately ordinary people in America disagree. Most Americans believe that we are the point of the economy — not just some “input of production.” The goal of the economy is not to make a few people fabulously wealthy, it is to produce widely-shared prosperity for everyone who is willing to work hard.

Now they have the audacity to demand that ordinary people who work in public employment and make modest middle class incomes shouldn’t be allowed to combine their political contributions to influence the outcome of elections. But they are happy to allow the super-rich like themselves to control politics with more and more $10 million contributions.

 

 

In 2016 we will have a chance to stop the plutocrats like Rauner and Griffin from snatching away that future and returning us to the plutocracy of the Gilded Age. Time for Progressives to saddle up. Failure is simply not an option.

 

 

Kids love to play. We know that it is good for relaxation and will fuel the imagination along with other things taht are good for them.

Well, adults are no different. Playing is great for problem solving, creativity, imagination and mental health. Playing with your kids or grandkids helps them become less stressed, makes them smarter and better adjusted.

But adults should not stop playing even when there are no kids around. We focus on work, family commitments and other things to much and have very little pure fun. We have stopped playing. Our free time is not to be more TV or computer time and engaging in fun. We need to rejuvenate play like we did as a child. 

I am not advocating that we forget the work and/or other commitments in our life. I am saying we need to find some creative things to do that is not fun and is not a structured goal in any way. Play could be simply goofing off with friends, sharing jokes with a coworker, throwing a Frisbee on the beach, dressing up at Halloween with your kids, building a snowman in the yard, playing fetch with a dog, a game of charades at a party, or going for a bike ride with your spouse with no destination in mind. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap the benefits.

Some of the reasons we play:

• to learn
• to create
• to feel challenged
• to lose ourselves in a pleasurable activity
• to calm and focus ourselves
• competitively to win
• cooperatively
• for the fun and joy of it

 

WHY?

• Play helps develop and improve social skills. Social skills are learned in the give and take of play. During childhood play, kids learn about verbal communication, body language, boundaries, cooperation, and teamwork. As adults, you continue to refine these skills through play and playful communication.
• Play teaches cooperation with others. Play is a powerful catalyst for positive socialization. Through play, children learn how to “play nicely” with others—to work together, follow mutually agreed upon rules, and socialize in groups. As adults, you can continue to use play to break down barriers and improve your relationships with others.
• Play can heal emotional wounds. As adults, when you play together, you are engaging in exactly the same patterns of behavior that positively shapes the brains of children. These same playful behaviors that predict emotional health in children can also lead to positive changes in adults. If an emotionally-insecure individual plays with a secure partner, for example, it can help replace negative beliefs and behaviors with positive assumptions and actions.

 

 

 

For me, having a plan has always helped, and every good plan comes with a list. A to-do list of things you hope to accomplish, or a list of work that needs to get done.

 

There is a right way and a wrong way to make a to-do list according to Forbes. They will tell you that a big mistake is making the list of poor quality. Afterall, if you get everything done, even if menial, you have accomplished something. Many times the harder chores are at the bottom of the list and we add things to the top just to avoid that longer and longer. Forbes’s suggestion is to find a way to eliminate many of the little tasks by combining them. When that happens, a person will feel more accomplished and will ultimately become more successful over time when it comes to completing tasks.

 

Another problem is the list is torturous. That means the list is long and mostly never ends and we become stressed in life and believe we are not accomplishing anything. Focus on the task at hand and quit all the worrying about the end result of accomplishment. By doing this, the probability is higher that the tasks will get done, and you will be more productive when completing the tasks.

 

I searched around for secrets to creating a successful list and didn’t find anything very concrete. Forbes suggest to keep the list small with maybe no more than three things on it. Do a “mind dump” and write down everything you need to do to clear your head but don’t create the list just yet. Now divide them into separate lists that may be done by days of the week to keep from overwhelming yourself. One thing to remember is to also create a schedule of when things are due in order to make your to-do include items in order of the highest priority level to the lowest.

 

Another idea is to make the list just prior to when you plan to work on it. Maybe just the night before. Then when you get up and are ready the items are fresh in your mind and you have a plan to get things done. Then you can spend your time getting the tasks done instead of wasting time and energy of thinking about what tasks need to be completed.

The first thing you should do in the morning is to tackle the first item on your list. The morning is the time of the day when you are the most fresh, so having a harder task at the top of your list is a benefit not only to you, but also to the item that you need to accomplish.

Ok, that about covers it. Now I am going to make a to-do blog list of upcoming blogs.

 

I might wait until tomorrow. Ah, procrastination might be good topic.

 

 

William Shakespeare wrote:  “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

I am an early person. I have said repeatedly that I would rather arrive an hour early than five minutes late. However, it is really not an advantage, most of the time, to show up for an appointment early. If they take you in to another room, it usually is just a place to get you out of the waiting area and now you sit. Sometimes it is for a very lengthy time. I get irritated!

I get aggravated with late of any sort. However, It get really ticked when an appointment time flies by and I sit and sit and sit. It doesn’t matter if the time set was 2:15pm and you wait until almost 3 before you see the person. Doctors and dentists are the worst. I know the line you hear is they are busy and things back up. Maybe, just maybe, they scheduled too many appoints too close together?

The point is, I feel bad when I keep people waiting. I feel like we’re all busy and our time is important so being consistently late is a sign that you don’t respect someone’s time.  I respect you enough to make the appointment and show up on time, at least try to respect that I have other things to do beside sit around reading your old magazines all day.

On a personal level it’s just rude and signals to the person that you leave waiting that you don’t care enough to respect their time. Because while I’ve now had to wait for you it means that I have to push back other things I have to do.

This topic really gets my juices flowing!

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Good Morning Central Illinois!

Today is the 265th day of the year and also the Autumnal Equinox will occur today.

Sun rises at 6:48 A.M. and sets at 6:56 P.M. There will 12 hours  and 7 minutes of sunlight possible.

Today’s forecast looks really good:

• Expect sunny skies with a high of 69 degrees with winds light and variable. Tonight we have mostly clear skies with a low of 47 and light winds.

What is the Autumnal Equinox?

• Fall begins on the 22nd at 10:29 P.M. The autumnal equinox is defined as the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south. The celestial equator is the circle in the celestial sphere halfway between the celestial poles. It can be thought of as the plane of Earth’s equator projected out onto the sphere. Another definition of fall is nights of below-freezing temperatures combined with days of temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The word equinox means “equal night”; night and day are about the same length of time. The spring equinox is in late March. In addition to the (approximately) equal hours of daylight and darkness, the equinoxes are times when the Sun’s apparent motion undergoes the most rapid change. Around the time of the equinoxes, variations in the position on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets can be noticed from one day to the next by alert observers

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, our next Full Moon will be October 8^th.

 

Tuesday’s Weather:  Sunny skies. High 74F. Winds light and variable. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the low 50s.

          “I Am Not A Crook” -Oh Yes You Were

Over forty years ago the nation was shaken by allegations that the Watergate complex was broken into and the trail led back to the President of the United States, Richard Nixon.

From the Washington Post 1973:

Declaring that “I am not a crook,” President Nixon vigorously defended his record in the Watergate case tonight and said he had never profited from his public service.

“I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice,” Mr. Nixon said.

“People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”

So how did that turn out?

With that, the beleaguered commander-in-chief painted himself into a corner from which resignation offered his only escape less than a year later.

It was Hoover’s death in 1972 that led directly to Nixon’s downfall. He felt helpless and alone with Hoover gone. He no longer had access to either the Director or the Director’s bank of Personal Files on almost everybody in Washington.

For Nixon, the loss of Hoover led inevitably to the disaster of Watergate. It meant hiring a New Director — who turned out to be an unfortunate pick named L. Patrick Gray, who squealed like a pig in hot oil the first time Nixon leaned on him. Gray panicked and fingered White House Counsel John Dean, who refused to take the rap and rolled over, instead, on Nixon, who was trapped like a rat by Dean’s relentless, vengeful testimony and went all to pieces right in front of our eyes on TV.

It is not new to have a President act in shameful ways.

 

The opinions in this blog are those of Tom Knuppel

Corporate Deserters ?

In the next few weeks, the Walgreens drug store chain may decide to pick up their corporation from its Illinois roots and head off to another country and set up headquarters. President Obama referred to them as corporate deserters? Are they?

Walgreens is considering a merger with Alliance-Boots, a company from Switzerland, after they purchased 45% in it. They would then consider moving their headquarters to the low-taxed country and still maintain their present operations in the United States.

This is called “inversion” and 47 American corporations have done this over the past decade which reeks of no loyalty to the United States. They are only bottom line feeders.

What would this move mean to the bottom line of Walgreens?

Over the next five years, the company could save over $4 billion in taxes that would go to the United States government.  The major reason that the firm could buy a huge stake in a foreign drug chain was its profitability — $2.5 billion last year alone – most of which resulted from its U.S. operations.

This company has benefitting from the U.S. citizens for many years and now want to “take their money and run.” The “inversion” scheme generally involves profitable U.S. corporations buying smaller overseas firms in lower tax countries and then declaring that their headquarters for tax purposes is in the low tax country – even though most of its operations remain in the United States. This trick is exactly the kind of move that is intended to drive down the fraction of overall taxes that are paid from big corporations and other owners of capital and raise the share paid by working people from income earned through their labor.

And to those who excuse the actions of these companies by saying that these companies are just making a “smart” use of the American tax code there are two answers:

 

ü  Change the tax code to eliminate this outrageous loophole;

 

ü  Punish the “corporate deserters” who have built their companies with the benefit of American support and know-how and now want to abandon America so they can avoid paying their fair share of our tax burden.

 

How do you punish “corporate deserters”? Government can do it by cutting off access to federal subsidies and contracts. Consumers can do it – especially with companies like Walgreens – by voting with their dollars and refusing to shop there. Walgreens might be a good place to start, since the company is still contemplating whether the value of its status as an American corporation is worth the money it would forgo by paying its fair share of taxes in the United States.

 

The opinions in this blog belong to Tom Knuppel

      Now Starring as Robin Hood-  Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a measure to put a non-binding referendum on the fall ballot asking voters whether millionaires should be taxed at a higher rate.

I know we are looking for avenues to put money into the coffers of the State of Illinois. This proposal is expected to raise over $1 billion and it is promised to help education. That is great, fine and dandy.

Three thoughts that come to mind on this law. A non-binding referendum is diddly-squat. Michael Madigan wanted to propose this as a constitutional amendment but couldn’t muster the votes. There probably was a reason for that.

I have heard this mantra from several former governors that the money is going to education. The lottery certainly failed to find its way into that realm after it was promised.

There is a final thought. This referendum is expected to drive up the number of Democratic voters in the election which is likely to help Quinn, if that is a fact.

Source: Illinois Times

 

The opinions in this blog belong to Tom Knuppel

     National Security is Threated By Not Filling Ambassadorships

 

Currently, more than 40 U.S. embassies around the world are without ambassadors, threatening national security, according to Seattle  Times guest columnists Claudia Kennedy and Stephen A. Cheney.

National security should never be a partisan issue. During our years of service, we worked with diplomats appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents. The Senate has gone away from traditional cooperation along party lines and is holding up the confirmations of multiple nominees that are well qualified.

Recently, Democrats and Republicans have traded charges and countercharges about the long delays in confirming ambassadors. But there is no doubt that the problem stems from a polarized and broken Senate confirmation system. Many of the nominees for ambassador positions are career diplomats as opposed to political appointees. A start to dislodging the logjam would be to confirm those appointments quickly. That isn’t to say, of course, that the Senate shouldn’t move to confirm all of the nominees. Presidents of both parties have always appointed a mix of career foreign service personnel and political supporters to ambassadorships. But starting with the career diplomats might get things moving.

As Republicans and Democrats have said over the years, political differences end at our shores. It is time for Senate Republicans and Democrats alike to prove that these are more than empty words. It is time for them to revisit the oath of office they took when they were sworn in, and to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. It is time for them to approve our ambassadors and restore the stature of our foreign missions.

 

The opinions in this blog are those of Tom Knuppel