Water Cooler Conversations

Written by Pat Perry
President, ERC 

I watched the President’s speech on CNN on Tuesday evening.  The commentators made several mentions of the Congressional leaders that staked out their aisle seats next to the President’s entrance as early as 8 am Tuesday morning.  The President’s speech was at 9 pm. Unreal.

Evidently, they were seeking about 10 seconds of national exposure when the cameras focused in on the President’s entrance.  As one New York Congressman stated – “it’s the only time my constituents see me”.

Shame on all those politicians including Dennis Kucinich (yes…we saw you in your aisle seat again).  What a waste of time and tax payer money.  Here’s an idea for our government – assigned seating!

Hey Congress…in case you have not noticed this is not a game anymore.  We do not care if you are on national TV.  That does not help us one bit.  We are tired of your show and expect you to make good decisions with our dough – for once.

Years ago my dad had several angina attacks which the Cardiologist would later tell us where a blessing – warnings provided by our bodies that can save lives if the issue causing the pain is treated.  My dad paid attention to these “warnings” and was soon under the knife for a triple by-pass.  He also responded post operation by exercising more, and watching his diet.  All of this occurred 11 years ago and his due diligence worked, as he feels good as he prepares to celebrate his 89^th birthday later this month – and best of all his heart continues to be healthy.

Our country has been suffering some “angina pains” over the past few years.  Warning signs that suggest that have not treated our nation’s “heart” very well.  Capitalism and the free market system do work if you treat it right.  Once you invite corruption, greed and fear into the system you get what we are getting today.  It should be no surprise to anyone that our system is acting exactly as it should be under such abuse.

The symptoms are painfully persistent with the problems unresolved. 

There have been lots of “experts” diagnosing the issues…all sorts of fixes proposed, one that passed as law and more to come.  It should be interesting.

The “patient” is still quite alive - it can walk but no longer run…at least for now.  Given the right medicine, rest and treatments, our nation’s economy will come back.  Yet, it is important to note that we can fix the economic mechanics, but we can’t necessarily fix the corruption, greed, bad politics and lack of leadership.  

Some people like my dad pay attention to the body’s warning signs and seek a fix and then work at a good life.  Others ignore the pain thinking it will go away. One of our readers commented on last week’s blog citing her Aunt’s statement that what this country needs is a good Depression – it would be the ultimate wake up call.  A shock that might actually change us fundamentally to realize we cannot mess things up this bad and expect it to just go away.

Written by Pat Perry
President, ERC 

My Mom was no stranger to sharing her sage advice with me…

• “If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?”
• “You’ll grow into them.”
• “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.”
• “If you keep making that face, it’s going to freeze that way.”
• “Don’t forget your jacket.”
• “Don’t forget your mittens.”
• “Don’t forget your hat.”
• “Always brush your teeth.”
• “Always wear clean underwear (in case you’re in an accident).”
• “Wash behind your ears—I can see carrots growing back there.”
• “Money does not grow on trees”

These were just a few of the many rules of the road I learned in my adolescence from my dear mother. Perhaps taken literally, there are a few flaws in these life skills guidelines. Yet, one that I counted on is turning out to be wrong…which in itself shakes the very foundation of all the other teachings of Moms around the globe.

My Mom emphasized ethics big time, and it has served her three sons well for 50+ years. The “Cheaters Never Prosper” saying was definitely one of her core beliefs that she instilled in each of us. But sadly we see that from Wall Street to sports, cheaters do prosper and seem to be forgiven as long as they can make people money or hit a baseball. And, the “little guy” keeps on paying for it…literally.

The latest example in sports is Alex Rodriguez (major league baseball) – admitting to using steroids only after the positive test results became public. He confessed just the other day and is very sorry for his actions. Sound familiar? Are these high profile people like “A-Rod” sorry for doing the nasty deed or getting caught? I think we all know the answer.  And, the sad part is that this will all go away when he hits a few homeruns this season. 

The same goes for the clowns at some of the financial institutions that helped and perhaps ignited our economic tailspin – some of them walked away with millions and unbelievably some are still employed!!! Meanwhile millions of good hard working Americans are out of work.

What’s it going to take for us to take our country and values back? Somewhere along the line many folks in
America quit listening to Mom…not a good move. Moms are right just about all the time. So my kids are getting their share of sayings from me and my better half.  My saying is pretty easy and it’s some of the best advice I could ever provide – “Listen to your Mom.”

Last week, while watching the national news update on CNN I saw an all too familiar and scary scene – as the proposed “stimulus package” was being discussed; a video clip of President Obama followed by members of Congress was played. The specific scene was the President leaving one closed door meeting and heading to another. The scary part was the number of males in the scene - way too many! In fact Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi may have been the only woman in the crowd.

There is a lot of finger pointing going on these days in the public and private sector. Sadly, bi-partisanship is alive and well.  People and the media can point fingers and blame all they want, but it is misdirected as the common denominator of blame lies with the fact that too many guys are in positions of power. Not sure if it will occur in my lifetime, but can you imagine how much better our country would be if more women were in positions of power? It could not get much worse…the guys have really screwed up. And, this applies particularly in the private sector – both in the executive suites and board of directors.

The repeated greed, corruption and mismanagement are deplorable and apparently unstoppable. Evidently in order for this country to survive and grow, we need considerably more checks and balances in the system.

If we really want change in this country, we need to go way beyond electing the first President of color. We need to ensure that women have every opportunity to succeed and share equally in critical decision making.

The saying, “Boys will be Boys” just doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s time to realize guys they we don’t do very well by not reading instructions and following directions – that’s why we screw up so often. We just aren’t as smart as we want to believe.

And, ladies, it’s time you get out of the passenger seat and start driving - our streets will be much safer.