Hope you and your family had a nice holiday.  Naive Americans know that you had a nice holiday on the East Coast while most of us were unemployed or in the process of loosing our jobs.  Yet your administration spent several million dollars on your vacations / holidays.

As you are aware during the month of December 2009 businesses cut 85,000 jobs and unemployment is still around 10%.  I live in the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota with a population of about 50,000.  If the entire population of Apple Valley (it includes youngsters and elderly) would have been laid off last month it would still be less than what actually happen.  I can anticipate your comments.  85,000 in a country with a population of about 304 million is just a drop in the bucket.  The answer sounds reasonable so I will like to add that the lives lost in the 9/11 attack and the ones lost in the foolish wars we have embarked in the last few years (i.e., Afghanistan) are nothing but a drop in the bucket.  Mr. Obama the economic recovery plan your administration has put together could not possibly work and so far has not.  It has just deepened the hole from which our country has to emerge.

You continue to push your renewable / green energy plans to get Americans back to work and help the economy.  I do not know who came with such a preposterous plan.  For the current and foreseeable future alternate energy technology will not be able to replace other sources of energy (i.e., coal, nuclear and oil) and if and when they do in the next few decades how many people do you estimate will be able to work on such technology?  There might be a few thousand good paying jobs for the design engineers but the way things are going all the equipment will be manufactured in China.  What would be left for Naive Americans is to install and service Chinese units.  What a way to promote the US economy!

I have been quite busy designing and developing software in the past month or so.  Have had no spare time to write blogs.

Last year one of your economic advisors Warren Buffett acquire additional railroads.  I have not had the opportunity to meet Mr. Buffett in person.  He definitely has skills to generate personal wealth.  Not sure what the implications of his business ventures have been for Naive Americans, but that set aside, have you interpreted what he is stating?

Allow me to enlighten you with an educated guess.  The logic goes as follows:  In the not too distant future (less than a few years) the dollar will have to devaluate.  Our growing (thanks to you) trade deficit will sooner or later catch up with the USA.  When that happens a gallon of diesel fuel made by American refineries with imported oil from the Middle East will sky rocket.  I would estimate it to be about $10 a gallon.  This will represent another blow to our always-declining economy not to mention what will happen to the trucking industry.  Given that little is being manufactured in the US (Did you hear about China becoming the first producer of good in the world passing Germany?) most goods being imported will arrive by ship (less expensive) on one of the coasts.  Trucks will be used to move containers from the maritime terminals to railroads (very short distances, less trucks, less truckers, less jobs).  From railroads connecting the US (they are already there, they only need to be properly maintained) they will be shipped throughout our country.  When they arrive to their destination, containers will be moved by truck to local distributors, which will ship them to stores or consumers.  The use of Internet commerce will continue to grow in an attempt to cut household spending.  So what is the message broadcasted by your most respectable economical advisor?  Not good!

We need fundamental changes in most aspects of our country, from economy, to education and politics.  On several occasions you have mentioned that you have read about the Great Depression in our country hopping to get a better understanding and ideas on how to deal with the present situation.  Knowledge is good if and only if is able to produce new effective ideas.  Otherwise it is just a waste of time.  I would like to suggest you and your advisors start reading about the French Revolution.

Going back to your presidential campaign, Naive Americans would like to see CHANGEs.  So far your administration has failed miserably in providing them.  Hopefully you will meditate on this blog entry and come up with at least a handful of good ideas.

Best regards;

The Naive American.

www.NaiveAmerican.com

Most of us have also watched on TV the Intel advertisement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-8GVi2Fdi4) that portrays computer scientist Ajay Bhatt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajay_Bhatt) co inventor of the USB bus.  I would bet that Mr. Bhatt has NOT been able to collect over one billion US Dollars for his invention.

If one puts in perspective the changes and improvements that have been brought about by the USB bus as compared to what has been contributed by hitting a ball with a club on a golf course one must wonder what is going on with our values.  Our society is promoting all the wrong behaviors.

One of the last two contributors to Mr. Woods’s purse are General Motors (GM) and Federal Express.  Lets pause for a moment and figure out what these companies have done to come up with millions of Dollars to have Mr. Woods as a spokesperson or endorse their products and services.  GM is bankrupt and has let go thousands of employees but yet had enough left to give away money for no return.  The same holds true for Federal Express.  They have laid off thousands of workers and closed several facilities, yet they are able to contribute millions of Dollars for a golf tournament.  Not sure about the common Naive American, but unless there are some extreme changes at GM, I will not purchase an automobile from them.  Regarding FedEx, I use them when electronic means and regular mail are not feasible.  I would not use their services more or less based on their wasted ten million Dollars on a golf tournament purse.

This same week three Naive American scientists won a Nobel price in medicine.  Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were named winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine for research that has implications for cancer and aging research.  The award was 1.4 million US dollars.  We need to stop and think how the contributions of these scientists match to whatever Mr. Woods was / is / will be able to provide for society.

What are the executives of FedEx and GM thinking?  What are Naive Americans thinking?  We are in desperate need of CHANGE and let me tell you the change is not going to come from Mr. Obama.  The needed changes must come from all Naive Americans.

The options are quite simple,  [1] do nothing,  [2] increase support (more troops and money) or  [3] start backing out.

Doing nothing might not be the proper political answer.  The war in Afghanistan is getting old and the US is loosing grounds day by day.  Naive Americans have and will continue to questions why are we spending billions of dollars in a war instead of helping our country getting back on its feet from an economic perspective.  Naive Americans must note that the war in Afghanistan started by attempting to capture Osama Bin Laden and destroying the Taliban.  After years, billions of dollars and thousands of Naive Americans killed and permanently injured, NONE of these goals have been achieved.

Reducing support might not be bad.  We could shift the resources into rebuilding Industry and Education in our country in hopes to be able to afford the mindless and expensive programs suggested by the current administration.  On a side note, The Naive American believes in a form healthcare reform in which ALL Americans get insurance for life at NO cost.  This is easy said than done.  On a different economy (50 or 60 years ago) all that would be possible.  Today, it is better to back off Afghanistan and any other conflict / war before considering healthcare reforms.

Increasing support attempting to convince Naive Americans that our country is in danger might sound good for the administration.  Remember President Bush and his defense contractor (better known as Vice President Cheney)?  There is only a minor issue that we should consider.  So far no country has been able to win a conflict in Afghanistan.  The last ones that tried it were Russians.  They failed.  We have been at it for several years and there is no victory in sight.  Mr. Obama, please read my lips:  “The USA will NEVER win a war with Afghanistan”.  Are you interested in the reason for my statement?

You have mentioned that you like to read about past presidents to learn from their mistakes and successes.  I would suggest for you to read world history and psychology textbooks.  Perhaps you have some advisors in these fields.  When a man has nothing to loose, like the people in Afghanistan, then nothing we or any other country could possible do to eradicate the enemy.  We have no commitment or interest in wining.  There is nothing for the US in Afghanistan.  The Afghan people have nothing too loose.  Sooner or later we will leave Afghanistan with one or more excuses or just a simple statement (we lost just like in Vietnam).  We do not have enough resources to support or justify the war.  The US has not been successful in decades.  We are great at bombing and leaving (IRAQ) but not winning.

You want to know which country would be successful in Afghanistan given they would have an interest?  CHINA.  They would send enough troops and invade the country staying there forever is necessary.  Obviously at this time China has no interest.  Do you think Naive Americans are willing to permanently relocate to Afghanistan and assure peace and prosperity in that country?

In conclusion, The Naive American would suggest a quick exit from Afghanistan and divert the resources wasted there to fund small business that are the key to engineering and manufacturing in order to boost our economy.  Who knows, with time the US might be able to start producing goods and services desirable in the US and other countries.  At this time China owns most of the manufacturing and shortly will own most of the engineering centers in the world.  The next global power will be BRIC (the US not included).

Any comments Mr. President?

Sincerely yours;

The Naive American

www.naiveamerican.org

One thing led to another and somehow we started talking about the current state of the US economy.  My two granddaughters asked what were we talking about.  My son took the lead with an example, which might not be only good for a ten and an eight year old but for most Naive Americans including President Obama and his economic advisors.

Due to space limitations I am not going to go in detail on our two hour conversation / discussion / learning session.  I am just going to provide a sample of it.

My son drew an analogy that each house in our neighborhood was a country.  Our home was the USA.  For sake of argument we had a million dollars is cash.  Other homes represented different countries.  Our neighbor to the left was assigned China.  I was assigned the roll of president, my son was a car manufacturer (i.e., GM), my oldest granddaughter ran a business that manufactured car parts, and my youngest granddaughter was a physician.  For some reason my wife just added her comments and opinions.  She did not assume a roll in our economy.  Perhaps she was representing the news.

In our example the car manufacturer used to purchase parts from the small business for about $100 (the example was aimed at kids).  The car manufacturer would sell a car for $1,000.  The money stayed (changed hands) in the country.  My granddaughter could see the physician who would charge $20 per visit.  With time all Naive Americans could purchase a car.  Life was good.  The kids followed up on the idea with some additional examples.

Now the greedy car manufacture (my son) came to me (the president representing politicians at large) and gave me money in the form of political contributions (perfectly legal but complete immoral) for me to allow the car manufacturer to get the cars from my neighbor (China).  My granddaughter lost her job.  She was not able to see the doctor when needed.  In fact she did not have money for anything.  My son (the car manufacturer) reduced the retail price of his cars from $1,000 down to $990.  The difference was pocketed by bonuses and stockholder dividends.  Cars were now cheaper but fewer people in our house (the USA) could buy them.

When my granddaughter needed a different doctor (a specialist) in a different house she was unable to afford it.

We then changed the scope by going back in time some fifty years.  Things were different in our neighborhood (actually in the world).  Our house (the USA) used to produce automobiles, people in our house and other houses in the neighborhood wanted to purchase our cars (and goods).  Money was coming in (no deficit) to our house.  Life was good.

After the exercise my granddaughter asked is the USA would ever be like it used to be.  I answered as follows:  “If things continue as they have been in the past fifty years, the answer is NO.  We need radical changes at different levels for something like that to occur”.

Mr. Obama, could you please take a few minutes to explain this example to your economical advisors and in the near future on one of your economical addresses to the US could you explain how “our house” (representing the USA) would be able to produce goods and services desirable to the rest of “the neighborhood” (representing the world)?

Naive Americans are still waiting for the CHANGE you promised during your presidential campaign.  Without additional sources of revenues none of your proposed programs including healthcare will be successful.  They may be started but in a few years will be bankrupt like the rest of ideas proposed and executed by previous administrations.  Do not forget that bureaucracy does not produce a cent.  It costs billions of dollars a year.  Without revenue there is no hope for our country.

Yours truly,

The Naive American

I did watch the news at 10:00 PM last evening.  A student mentioned that what the president had to say they have heard many times from parents and teachers.  Kids should stay in school and try to learn as much as possible in order to have a better future.  What a new and unique concept!  Perhaps Mr. Obama is so full of himself that he believes that kids in school will listen more to him than to their teachers and parents.

An article with the same title as this blog (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970203440104574400850103134572.html) by Paul E. Peterson lists different results by several Gallup polls.  What is the thinking process of most Naive Americans?  If several Gallup polls had been conducted in 1490 AD in Europe, MOST (not to use ALL) participants would have said that the earth was flat.  The poll would have close to 100% INCORRECT results.  One should NEVER follow the results of polls because they only provide the opinion of people.  Opinions are not worth the media they are recorded in.  The only thing Naive Americans should consider is facts, not opinions.  The United States of America is currently ranked in overall K-12 education 18^th (27^th in Mathematics).  No opinion will change that fact.  Our public school system and our way of educating our youth DOES NOT WORK and unless there is a dramatic change, WILL NEVER WORK!

There are many issues with the education system in the USA.  The issues have been around for decades (1950’s to present) so very few Naive Americans are able to see what is wrong.  If you lived in the Middle Ages, earth is flat and it is the center of the universe, and if you disagree religion will come after in the shape of The Church and would be excommunicated.  Today lobbyist and politicians will do the same to you if you speak up.

Our concept of public school is that of day care.  Parents send their out of control (undisciplined) sons and daughters to be taken care while they are at work or at home watching Oprah Winfrey or Desperate Housewives.  Given that our public school system releases students every afternoon around 2:30 PM, then it is time for sports or any other activity which will keep them away from home until around 05:00 PM when parents are typically back from work.

You do not believe me?  Years ago my wife and I lived in Eagan, Minnesota.  The school system needed additional funds to IMPROVE on education.  Actually teachers wanted a pay increase.  The public opinion was to vote down the additional funds.  The school district then stated that they would have to cut on after school activities.  To make the story short, the referendum passed and teachers got what they asked for.  What aspect of the quality of education improved with the additional funds?  Perhaps a poll was needed J.

I am not an expert on education.  Not sure if there are any in the USA given the state of the public education in our country.  My parents were able to pay for Catholic private schools for my sisters and me.  My two sons attended a Catholic and Military private school.  Today we have two granddaughters and two grandsons.  The girls are currently attending a private Catholic school.  The boys are still too young to attend kindergarten.  Hopefully my youngest son and his wife will think clearly and make the correct decision when it is time.  The only ones that will be affected by the parent’s decisions are the kids and their future, which might be able to help America change course or continue in the downward spiral we have been for decades.

Then there is the issue of spending in education.  We go back to polls asking people what do they think is spent per pupil in the public school system?  It is completely inconsequential what people think.  The fact is that America spends the most per pupil in the world yet results are very low.  As with healthcare reform, public education reform does not need more money, which will go to incompetent and poorly qualified teachers and improperly managed school systems.

Many countries in the world used to take the public education system in the US as an example.  Today countries are switching to other systems that provide results.  Naive Americans wish to solve all our problems by throwing money at them.  Clearly it has not and will not work.  We need a CHANGE in structure that will allow us to get back to the top of the list in results, not spending.

Public schoolteachers are over paid for what they do.  To top it all they get about three months of vacation per year.  Not too many (just being sarcastic) Naive Americans in the private sector get three months off per year.

One last thing, public school teachers belong to unions, which threat politicians with ads on TV regarding how MANY they are.  In Minnesota when there is an issue with getting more funds the teachers union puts several add always closing them with a remark “70,000 strong”.  This is done to intimidate politicians so the union can get what they want.

Are you proud to be a Naive American?

Upon arrival at the clinic I had to check in to see a physician.  The receptionist asked if I would like to see a specific doctor.  I told her that any physician would do.  I did not feel I needed to see a specialist for my irritated eye at that point.  Handed my driver license, insurance card and a $20 bill for co pay fee.  Got my documents and a receipt back.  We were then asked to wait until called.

Around the suggested time for the appointment (09:00 AM) I was called in.  A nurse escorted us to a small examination room.  The nurse took my vitals and asked me for the reason I wished to see a doctor.  After she got all the information the nurse told us to wait for the physician.  It would be a few minutes.  Considering that it was a Friday before a long weekend (Labor Day) the 45-minute wait was kind of expected.

The physician that we saw was in his mid sixties.  A very pleasant individual.  Chatted about what brought us to see him.  Explained the situation and after an examination of ears and eyes he figured out that some drops with an antibiotic would do the trick.  He handed me a prescription and immediately started chatting about healthcare reform.  I mentioned that two of my sisters are schooled as physicians.  It appears that my statement made him comfortable and opened up somewhat.

The analogy that he used was rather interesting but perhaps not quite correct or complete.  When he was young he bought a Chevy car for about $2,000 US dollars.  Today he has to pay for a much better and improved Chevrolet automobile around $30,000 dollars.  No one has much to say about the price increase in a car, why should people complain about healthcare.  My wife and I were not in the mood to take up a healthcare discussing that early in the morning but in general we agreed with the statement.  Some of the costs associated with healthcare are valid but many are due to concessions made by politicians to health insurance companies, law firms and medical and pharmaceutical companies.

The point I wish to make is that it appears that many physicians are not in agreement with the health plan proposed by Mr. Obama.  It appears they believe it will also affect their source of income.  I am not sure it would.  It all depends on how reform is done.  It is natural for people to react when threatened.

When thinking about healthcare reform Mr. Obama needs to address the important issue of special interest companies that deal with healthcare.  They are the middlemen who make huge amounts of profits and do not deliver services.  The issue with them is that they have lobbyists that control a vast majority of politicians.

At this point it appears that according to different polls most Naïve Americans are not satisfied with the way Mr. Obama is handling healthcare or any other topic.  So much for the promise of CHANGE.

In reality we live in the United States of America were our career politicians just want to enjoy power and money and work as little as possible.  Our politicians are not accountable of their actions.  This is similar to our legal system in which innocent people are routinely affected by decisions of jury, lawyers and judges.  By the way, we called the jury a jury of peers but that is seldom the case.

So lets get down to the simple facts regarding healthcare.  I believe that all Naive Americans regardless of age and sex should have healthcare benefits.  This would make for a better and happier society.  Is this simply attainable?

Allow me to make an uncomplicated analogy disregarding the actual huge deficit that our nation has.  An individual with a steady income (which is not the case with the US, the us GDP is currently and constantly shrinking thanks to globalization and the greed of many Naïve Americans) of $1,000 Dollars per week may spend no more that $1,000 dollars per week.  If the person spends more then a deficit will be incurred.  Sooner or later credits will dry up and that person will go through tough financial times.  Believe it or not, the US has a deficit in the trillions of Dollars and we continue to spend and borrow what we do not have while reducing our manufacturing and development.

If the individual in our example does not have healthcare benefits and is currently spending his entire $1,000 Dollars per week, how can he or she purchase something else?  It is not possible.  The same holds true for the US.  President Obama and any of his advisors can tell you different stories, but at the end if we do not have enough money we cannot pay for such benefits.  The only way is to raise taxes.  This may be fine when the economy of the country is growing.  The fact of the matter is that our economy has been shrinking for about fifty years now.

The economical crisis created by the US earlier this year affected the entire world.  AT this point in time the US is still in crisis.  Take a look at Asia.  They went into a recession, which was lighter than the one in the US, and they are almost out of it.  We cannot do this because we have no means to produce goods and technology that other countries desire.

In conclusion, universal healthcare is a MUST in this country.  The issue is how to pay for it.  The government does not produce a single thing.  All the money comes from taxes and borrowing.  The credit sources for the US are drying up.  One way or another we will have to pay for the loans we are getting today.  The only way is for the US government to raise taxes.  If there are very few people contributing it does not take an individual with more than elementary education to figure out that the suggested approach it not going to work in the near or foreseeable future.

So before we talk about healthcare and other reforms lets make sure we can pay for them.  The CHANGE that Mr. Obama was talking about is in education and industry.  Not sure Mr. Obama, his advisors and most Naive Americans understood what CHANGE meant.

Not sure why president Obama gives his administration such high grade, I would give him an F.  The reason for this is that nothing has changed in the USA that has the potential of improving the current state of affairs, which includes the economy.

What we have seen is some tax breaks on April 15^th.  The average tax refund per family averaged $2,500 US Dollars.  What can a family of two parents currently unemployed with two kids, a mortgage, car loans, credit cards, medical and possibly education expenses do with $2,500 Dollars a year?  I guess it can help the monthly unemployment benefits that add up to a little over $1,000 a month.  The sad reality is that unemployment does not cover the living expenses of most Naive Americans currently unemployed.

Perhaps unemployed Naive Americans can get construction jobs and stop receiving unemployment.  That way their education and work experience could be tossed out the window and they could start working on construction projects at a lower pay rate.  This could be done for a while and then, when the US government runs out of money, …  The infrastructure construction jobs proposed and currently being funded do not produce goods or services that may provide revenue for Naive Americans or the US, unless some politician has the idea to add tolls to all the roads to raise money to pay for unemployment and the construction workers.  What kind of illogical thoughts are these?

Closing the facility in Guantanamo and hopefully leaving Cuba for good might help if the embargo is also lifted.  Cuba is in need of good and services.  The problem is that the rest of the world is also in interested in providing such goods and services, which every day in the US we continue to outsource and globalize.  Besides, Cuba has no money and they rather deal with China and Russia than with the US.

Almost every day in the news we learn that the executives of some financial company did something unethical and / or illegal.  This appears to be normal behavior of American Royalty.  What happened to the politician that allowed by law for AIG executives to get bonuses from bailout money?  Nothing.  What happened to the moneys?  Nothing.  Nothing has CHANGED.

The only glimmer of light in the past few weeks is the possibility for some reform on credit card companies.  That is a start but it is just a palliative.  What we need are deep changes in our society and help to small and medium size businesses.  They make America.  The large companies should not be allowed to grow so large and when they fail should not be bailed out.  The US car industry has been loosing ground because of their doing for decades.  The President should watch some 30, 20 and 10 year old movies.  Thirty years ago automobiles on the roads were almost all American.  He should then stick his head out a window on the White House and count how many domestic and foreign automobiles are at a time on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Why should Naive Americans bail out companies that have miserably failed for decades and they will continue to do so until they disappear?

American automobiles are going the way of the dinosaurs as televisions, watches, radios, and most other industries have already done.  What the current administration needs to do is to IMMEDIATELY concentrate on helping small and medium size businesses that produce (not import) American desirable goods and services and in the LONG RUN change education.  Building roads and railroads will not solve this serious problem we are currently in.

I am sending you this letter in hopes you clarify how your stimulus package(s) are going to help Naive Americans that are or have worked in Wall Street and are loosing or already have lost their jobs.  I am also interested in finding out what your administration is doing or going to do to prevent the issues that caused the US economic meltdown not to repeat.

As I have stated on previous blogs, I am a computer scientist not associated in any way with Wall Street.  I have read several articles on Wall Street and watched several segments on the subject on national TV.

The financial system in the US is completely corrupt.  Greed had been the motivation for most people involved in the financial industry, which I will refer to in general as Wall Street.

The Oxford on-line dictionary defines Greed as follows:

Noun intense and selfish desire for food, wealth, or power.

All is well with being greedy as long as it does not compromise moral and ethical principles.  Given that you are a lawyer by trade, I assume that you are familiar with the base principle of morality (which has nothing to do with any religion):

Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.

Based on the news, it appears that some (very few in the opinion of most Naive Americans) Wall Street executives are under scrutiny by the US legal system to determine if they have committed crimes.  The issue with this is that many Naive Americans have become very good snake oil sales people (deceiving others) and like to walk on a thin gray line between what is criminal and what is not.  No matter what people in Wall Street say or how are they represented, they all knew what was going on and they did nothing to correct or stop earlier in the game.

As you well know, most of the economical issues the USA is currently experiencing were precipitated (not started) by a law passed towards the end of the Clinton administration (way before the 8 years of George W. Bush while you were a politician in the state of Illinois and the few months of your administration).  It appears that greed, lack of responsibility, lack of morals, etc, etc, etc was not only something found in Wall Street but it was (and still is) spread all over our society.

This Naive American fully understands that it is important to recognize the past, but it is a complete waste of time and resources to just complaint and not CHANGE.  Sounds familiar Mr. President?  We need legislation to be passed to address the issues that led a small set of Naive Americans to take advantage of the majority without any legal consequences.  We also need to make sure that checks and balances are in place in Wall Street so greedy Naive Americans are not able to repeat what they have done.

A few weeks ago I was watching the news on national TV.  A Wall Street analyst stated that executives in his business live a different reality.  They need to be greedy and get paid millions of Dollars a year.  I can assure you that you can fire all Wall Street executives and in less that 24-hours such positions would be filled by better qualified Naive Americans which would be eager to work for a reasonable salary (no more that $400,000 Dollars per year) and get stock options from stock holders to motivate them to excel in their jobs.  In America we do not believe in blue blood or monarchies.

Regarding the stimulus package, how is it going to help Naive Americans that used to work in Wall Street?  Building roads, making buildings green, getting healthcare and unemployment benefits are not going to the problem.  The caps on Dollar amounts and periods for unemployment benefits might be fine for Naive Americans that had very low incomes, but not for middle and upper middle class workers from Wall Street.  Most Naive Americans are part of the middle class (which sadly is shrinking and could / will bring serious problems down the line).  Middle class Naive Americans need well-paid jobs that produce goods and services that may be consumed in and outside the US.  Well-paid jobs that demand skills and know how have gradually been outsourced.  Manufacturing has been affected by globalization.

In conclusion, pouring money that will never be recovered into the economy is just going to postpone and / or stretch the symptoms.  If the stimulus is coming from taxes, loans, or printing currency, things will just get worse.  The USA needs massive and deep CHANGES in our economy and society in order to get us back on track and leave our children and generations to come a better place to live in.

Yours truly;

The Naive American

PS:           Mr. President, please read the About section in the www.naiveamerican.org site to get a better flavor of what has and is happening with the USA.  Then prove me wrong by inducing the proper CHANGES!!!

Hope this blog finds you and your family doing well in the White House.

First I want to thank you for taking into consideration the suggestion offered by the Naive American regarding capping compensation for upper management in entities that receive federal bailout moneys.

On the topic of compensation packages for upper management in corporate America, I wish to reiterate that, legislation should be enacted for all companies (not just the ones receiving federal aid) operating or based in the US to mandate a maximum salary cap of $400,000 Dollars for all CEOs and monotonically decrementing amounts for the rest of the upper management team.  There should be no other compensation perk (i.e., company car, company jet, company house, company boat, etc, etc, etc) with the exception of stock options granted with approval of the majority of stockholders.  By the way the idea of preferred and common stock should also be eliminated in conjunction with any type of severance package (golden parachutes).  This way, if company management teams do not perform, immoral tactics employed by incompetent and greedy upper managers would not affect employees, stockholders and as a consequence the US economy.  I will have more on this topic on a future blog.

After doing some research on the web I found out that the current compensation package of the US president includes a base salary of $400,000 per year plus a $50,000 expense account, $100,000 non taxable travel account plus $19,000 for entertainment, plus use of the company mansion (The White House) and the country home (Camp David).  Not sure how the $100,000 travel account works due to the fact that you have access to the company jet(s) (I believe they are called Air Force One).  Overall, given the amount of work, responsibilities and number of hours on the job, most (if not all) Naive Americans would agree that for an elected official your compensation package might be quite reasonable.

I will now address the main subject of this blog.  Naive Americans are used to the concept of top ten lists.  Just go to your favorite web search engine and type in the search box “top 10“.  You will be amazed how used Naive Americans are to this concept.  There appears to be a top 10 list for any imaginable class.  Apparently Naive Americans like to know about the top 10 in any category, but the question is, do we know how to select the most important list and the items that should be included?

Following is the top 10 list of threats to the American Way of Life:

Please note that the order in the top 10 is completely subjective.  As we discuss each entry in future blogs they might shift around.

President Obama, please note that the top 10 list of the Naive American does not include the common threats to the US like Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, or Iran’s nuclear program.  In the opinion of the Naive American, all these threats could be minimized or even eliminated if we properly address the top 10 list presented in this blog.

In the next few weeks I will be posting blogs covering in more detail the threats and how they can be addressed.  Of course your comments and suggestions as well as the ones from any and all Naive Americans are always welcomed.

Yours truly;

The Naive American