NEWT GINGRICH 12 STEP STIMULUS RECOVERY PLAN

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Newt Gingrich's American Solutions group has produced a proposal for a genuine stimulus / economic recovery package.

[1] Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
[2] Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
[3] Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America. [4] Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.
[5] Controlling Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.
[6] No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.
[7] More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.
[8] Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
[9] Protect Our Right to Vote in the Workplace. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union.
[10] Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
[11] Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.
[12] Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.

JANE CHASTAIN COMMENTS ON THE TAX HIKES

Jane Chastain is a southern California-based Broadcaster, author and political commentator. Her outspoken commentaries on the political, social and moral issues of the day can be read at WorldNetDaily, the most popular independent news site on the World Wide Web.

She is the author of I’d Speak Out on the Issues If I ONLY Knew What to Say and the host of such documentary videos as Freedom Held Hostage, The Feminine Mistake, Conceived in Liberty, and The Incredible Power of Prayer.

Despite her present emphasis on politics, Jane always will be remembered as the nation’s first television sportscaster or both the local and national level. In 17 years on the sports beat, Jane broke many journalistic barriers for women while working for WAGA-TV in Atlanta, WRAL-TV in Raleigh, WTVJ-TV in Miami, KABC in Los Angeles and the CBS television network.

During the 1980s, Jane focused her attention on improving government and never looked back. For more than a decade she hosted a national radio program, “What Washington Doesn’t Want You to Know.”

Jane Chastain is my cousin ... Check out her blog at http://janechastain.com

"When I was a sports reporter, I often went to the track to cover horse racing. A betting window was conveniently located near the press box. Eventually, I succumbed to temptation and put in, not one, but two modest wagers. One of my horses came in last. The other one died – he was literally hauled off to the glue factory. I learned a valuable lesson. That was the last bet I ever made.

One could only wish that Democrats would learn from their past mistakes: You cannot tax and spend your way out of a recession. It’s never happened. It’s not going to happen. However, they seem hellbent on betting control of the House and Senate – and perhaps even the 2012 presidential election – on their pursuit of these failed polices.

On Monday, the president called for $50 billion in infrastructure “investments” (the Democrat word for spending) in order to stimulate the economy but stopped short on calling it a “stimulus” since that word now has the odor of the north end of a cow headed south.

Meanwhile, Obama’s colleagues in the House and Senate are still scrambling to get the votes to save the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 sans the evil rich.

The rhetoric in this debate has been over the top and not very helpful to the average voter. Republicans have pointed out that Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year hurts small business, the generator that must power the engine that is needed to drive us out of this recession, as many small businesses file as individuals.

Democrats fired back claiming that this argument is overblown because this tax hike will affect only 2.5 percent of the nation’s more than five million small businesses. Therefore, the impact is negligible.

Republicans counter by saying it effects 50 percent of small business income.
Enough! What is a voter to believe?

Time for a reality check: Both arguments are technically correct.

The term small business is a broad term and covers everything from a one-man or one-woman enterprise operated out of the kitchen or spare room to a manufacturing company with less that 500 employees.

Some 900,000 small business filing individual tax returns, have incomes more than $250,000 and will be hit by Obama’s tax increase. These small businesses account for about half of all small business income. Income is what you have left over after salary, overhead, insurance and, gulp, taxes. It’s called profit. Profit is a good thing. It’s these profitable small businesses that are able to hire more employees. Hello Democrats?

Yesterday, Obama offered a series of targeted “tax breaks” for small business. One hand giveth, while the other hand takes away, and the “giveth” part only goes to those small businesses that do what the government wants them to do, not what they need to do to stay profitable.
In the U.S., small business accounts for around half the GDP and more than half the employment. It may be hard to believe, but the top job provider in the U.S. is the small business with less than 10 employees, and those with 10 or more but less than 20 employees comes in second.

Obama’s policies are like a bully, hitting the most profitable small businesses over the head, while kicking the smaller, more prolific ones in the stomach. The smaller businesses, not directly impacted by the tax hike, will be impacted by the insurance mandate that fines small businesses that are not yet profitable enough to offer the kind of health insurance dictated by Democrats.
Just as a government cannot tax its way out of a recession, government spending also has a negative effect. When the government spends money it doesn’t have it drives up the deficit. And, the more the government borrows, the harder it is for small businesses to raise money.
In this economy, Obama’s policies will be the death knell for many small businesses struggling to survive. Furthermore, they will decimate small towns, many of which are made up entirely of small businesses.

Never mind the track record on these policies, Obama and most Democrats plan to ride this horse till it drops.

The polls show that, although the public may not fully understand this debate, it understands the impact, and voters aren’t willing to bet their jobs and their future on these losers. This is not what they signed on for two years ago.

The rhetoric is shrill and it will get louder, but it won’t change the end result.

Yes, fortunately, most people do learn from their mistakes."

A REAGAN CONSERVATIVE?

I have always admired and respected President Ronald Reagan since I heard him speak on TV for Barry Goldwater in 1964 ... He seemed so clear what he believed in ... His unwavering principles.

What is A Reagan Conservative?

I have always been fond of Reagan’s triad model of conservatism, wherein the stool is held up by the three legs of values, national defense, and free markets.

The 3 legs of a Reagan Conservative are:


SOCIAL ISSUES ................... VALUES
ECONOMIC ISSUES ................. FREE MARKETS
NATIONAL DEFENSE ISSUES .........MUSCULAR DEFENSE

People who conform to these principles are called Reagan Conservatives ...

Reagan set out to cut income taxes, to reduce the Federal Budget, to increase defense spending, and to deregulate U.S. business.

Reagan's economic plans were built on a theory called supply-side economics. This theory asserts that when taxes are cut, the money that is put back into the economy stimulates the production of more goods and services, thereby increasing jobs, with the result that more taxes are generated than were cut at the beginning of the process.

I would consider myself to be a Reagan Conservative.

SHAKE HANDS

The glass container plant that I managed had over 1000 employees and ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I had been there about seven or eight months when the Christmas/New Year period approached. I thought I should find some way to say “thank you,” but it was very difficult since so many people worked on different shifts and it was a large plant covering acres of land. Fortunately, everyone had to funnel through one time clock (a practice I didn’t like … punching a time clock was demeaning … as hard as I tried I never got rid of the time clock; but, that is another subject.)

At the end of each shift, I positioned myself at the time clock and as each employee came by I shook their hand and thanked them for the job they had done for the company and for me.

I got all kinds of favorable reactions, including some women trying to kiss me. I was much younger then. I joked that my wife was very jealous and would “deck me” if I went home with lipstick on my face.

The most poignant and memorable experience was the woman who had walked all the way out to the parking lot in the ice and snow, then turned around and walked back in. She approached me and said, “I have been working here for over 25 years and no one has ever thanked me for the job I have done.” She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said, “Thank you.”

THE SPORTCOAT - THE EDDIE LEVINE STORY

In 1954, my first job was working for Eddie Levine in Levine Bros. Clothing Store in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Eddie and his other brothers had all followed their father in the clothing business … Each located in different towns in central Pennsylvania … Altoona, Tyrone, DuBois and State College.

I worked for Eddie all the way through High School and college and worked for his brother, Charlie, at his store in State College while I was at Penn State.

I started working for Eddie for $.50 an hour but worked my way up to $.85 per hour. I did all the usual things like washing the windows, dusting and straighting up the stock and taking inventory.

When I would finish with my daily chores, Eddie would give me one-on-one sales training by role-playing with me. Some times he would be a nice customer … Sometimes he would be a dificuilt customer all the time showing me “the ropes” of Selling.

Things like:
· Suggestive selling
· How to manage around the cash register
· Wrapping
· Packaging and mailing
· Always price check the tags before quoting a price
· Never stand in the front of the store
· Don’t rush a customer … Let them brouse a little before approaching them.

Eddie built his business on honesty, standing by his quality … His word was his mantra.

Usually Eddie would handle the sale of the big items like suits [$85 with 2 pair of pants] and sportcoats [$32.50 and $27.50] … If he was busy with another customer, I was his backup.

One side point … All of this was before computers or modern cash registers … On the price tag was 2 five letter words, such as “black horse” where each letter stood for a digit from 0 to 9 … A code which told the sales person what the cost of the item was … This was the common way to control inventory, cost and selling price. Eddie was a smart business man and would check the small window to see what his sales were … He knew his break even “nut” everyday.

One day I was backup and a lady came in to buy a sportcoat for her husband. I showed her some sportcoats in both prices … she couldn’t make up her mind. Finally, She picked one and asked how much it was. I told her it was $27.50 and she decided to take it.

When I took it up to the register, I took off the tag which was standard procedure for inventory control.

I realized I had miss quoted and told her the sportcoat was $32.50 … She said, “I thought you said it was $27.50.” Oh, Oh … Eddie was standing by the register and said to me, “Did you quote the lady $27.50?” I told him yes … He said, “Then that is what you sell it to her for.”

Of couse, after she left, I received another lesson from “Eddie” … Your Word is your bond … If you don’t stand behind your product and your honesty the customer will be a one-time customer and “Eddie” wanted “repeat and loyal customers.”

We remained in contact for over 50 years … Eddie Levine passed away in 2009 … He will be missed!

"THE MORE YOU PRACTICE THE LUCKER YOU GET"

One of the professional golfers on the PGA tour said, ”The more you practice, the luckier you get" ... this is so true in any endeavor.

Many times you have heard it said when playing golf, “if that ball would've just been six inches more to the right it would have rolled up to the pin instead of dropping into the sand trap. Of course, the person who practices more gets what we would call the “lucky bounce” but it is really not luck. It is more than likely the constant recurring practice that people do.

You can be the smartest person but if you can’t sell your ideas you are not likely to get ahead.

I have always felt the Speech was one of the most important classes in college … Dale Carnegie is also a great way to learn the art of “public speaking.

For several years, a friend of mine paid for ten high school students to attend the Dale Carnegie Program. He is a very successful businessman and realized the value of public speaking and wanted to pass it on to others. What a nice way to help young people.

I had a reputation of being a good public speaker and people may have the opinion that I was just a “natural” … Far from it … I worked very hard at becoming a good speaker.

I would make a “detailed” outline of what I want to say and get it burned into my mind. Then I would stand in front of a mirror and practice, practice and practice … working on delivery, posture and gestures. For example, did you know?

If you are standing behind a podium and you step around to the side and rest your elbow on the podium you are signaling your closeness to the audience?
Don’t chew gum.
Don’t have car keys or jingling things in your pocket.
Don’t stand with your legs crossed.
Don’t point your finger at people.

These are just a few quick things I learned … There are many more. The important point is practice

Another great tip is to “role play.” I have mentioned that one of my first jobs was at Eddie Levine’s Men’s Store. When I would finish with my daily chores, Eddie would give me one-on-one sales training by role-playing with me. Some times he would be a nice customer … Sometimes he would be a difficult customer all the time showing me “the ropes” of Selling.


One of the executives of Brockway, Inc. was going to testify in front of a House Committee … He spent hours “role playing” … answering “hostle” and “friendly” questions he may be asked. It helped him prepare to answer questions in a high stress situation.

One person that continues to impress me with his public speaking is Newt Gingrich. He normally speaks “off the cuff” or with a few cryptic notes. My daughter, Anne, worked for him for over twelve years and as far as I know only once did he write a speech … the day he was sworn in as Speaker of the House. He is an amazing speaker … No pun intended.

A side story … Few people know that Newt Gingrich is a speed-reader … The first afternoon that our daughter Anne was with him, He was traveling to some rallies in his District … During that time he read a book and 2 newspapers … He has written over 300 Book Reviews for Amazon.com … He is a prolific reader with great retention.

The day he was being sworn in as Speaker, He called up to Anne and asked her to call over to the Archives and have them look up a quote … He wanted to get it just right. It was from Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. He said, “It goes something like this … It is about 1/4 of the way into the book … About 2/3 of the way down a left hand page … The last sentence in the paragraph.”

Sure enough, they found it and Anne took it down to Newt. He was in the Ceremonial Room off the House Chamber … Newt was sitting their alone at Thomas Jefferson’s Desk.
Anne said it was “A Kodak Moment.”

I am sure you have heard the saying, “practice makes perfect." ... Well, we know there are such things as a lucky bounce but more often than not it is a result of many hours of repetitive practice. “The more you practice the luckier you get."

DRILL BABY DRILL

THIS IS "DROP" 29, IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME, FROM A DROP IN THE BUCKET ... IT WAS WRITTEN IN 2006 ... 4 YEARS AGO ... IT IS WORTH INCLUDING HERE AS LITTLE, IF NOTHING, HAS BEEN DONE BY THE GOVERNMENT IN OVER FOUR [4] YEARS.

If You Build It, They Will Come

Serving as my company’s Energy Czar during the 1970’s energy crisis, I gained some extensive experience in the energy field. In my opinion, during that period, the consumer got caught up in a battle between the government and the energy companies. They said there was a shortage of fossil fuels; but, surprisingly, when the price of oil got high enough, there was no longer a shortage.

There are several long-term energy areas – such as solar, wind, corn alcohol, etc. – that are research-intensive and expensive but give promise as long-term solutions.

For years, I have felt that there was some middle ground for energy growth. These would include drilling in the ANWR fields of Alaska and off the coast of Florida. But in my opinion, the one that has the greatest potential is nuclear power.

Only 20% of the U.S. energy supply is nuclear and there have not been any new plants put in operation since 1979 – over twenty-five years ago. In fact, a nuclear power plant has been built in the Northeastern area of the United States and has NEVER been turned on.

Are there dangers? Of course … but don’t the rewards far outweigh the risks?

Worldwide, as of May 2005, there are 439 nuclear energy reactors in operation and 137 under construction, planned or proposed. Of the 137, NONE are in the United States.

So where are they?

France: 78% of the French energy supply is nuclear, with 59 reactors in operation.

China: 15 reactors operational with 31 in the works.

Russia: 17 nuclear reactors operating, generating 17% of Russian energy usage; they have another 13 underway or planned.
Japan: 25% of their power is generated from 54 operating reactors, and they have another 14 in their future.

South Korea: 20 nuclear generation plants producing 40% of their requirements; another 8 planned.

England and Canada: These two nations have more reactors per capita than the U.S., with 40 plants in operation and 5 under construction or planned.

What do these countries know that we in the U.S. don’t?

With the right regulations and controls, nuclear power can be our shortest path to achieving a self-sufficient energy level that will greatly reduce our dependency on imported oil.

Surprisingly, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil will increase the oil supply and decrease the price of the imported oil … The Arab sheiks need the money … Supply and Demand wins again.

CAPITAL GAINS

I think I understand the taxation on Capital Gains and Corporate Dividends. It is double taxation. The Federal Income Tax code taxes a corporation’s profits at the Corporate Tax Rate before any dividends are paid. When the corporation pays dividends to its stockholders, the stockholders dividends are again taxed. This is double taxation.
It is true that the elimination of the dividend tax would benefit the wealthiest taxpayers. However, a recent article in the USA Today newspaper indicates that 52 percent of the households paying taxes now own corporate stocks; so, the elimination of the tax on taxpayers’ dividends would decrease the taxes and increase the disposable income for a majority of the taxpayers. The wealthiest taxpayers will receive a much greater reduction in their income tax than a middle class taxpayer.
What I don’t understand and don’t see mentioned in any news broadcast or newspaper article is what the wealthiest taxpayers would do with the reduction in
income tax they receive from the elimination of the taxation on dividends. What will they do with the increase in disposable income they receive?
It only makes sense that one of two things will happen with the increase in disposable income that taxpayers have realized:
• Taxpayers will spend the additional disposal income to buy goods and services from stores and companies. This rise in demand should increase the sales and profit of companies, hopefully generating additional capital investment and creating jobs.
• If the taxpayers do not spend the additional disposable income on goods and services, they are certainly not going to “hide the money under the mattress.” They will reinvest the increased disposable income in stocks, bonds and/or CD's, creating more investment dollars for corporations producing goods and services
or for banks to loan to individuals.
In both cases, the money supply for goods and services in corporations and banks is going to increase, allowing them to increase capital investments and/or loans, creating more jobs and increasing the company's profits, allowing them to increase dividends.
It has been proven that this type of “trickle-down” economics will stimulate the economy by creating more capital investment, which will increase wages and jobs, thus improving individuals’ disposable and/or investment income.
As Ronald Reagan stated so eloquently, “The government does not create jobs and improve the economy by higher taxation. It is private enterprise, through capital investment, that increases corporate profits and increases jobs and individuals’ disposable income having the greatest impact on the economy.” (See “Economic Growth.”)

Economic Growth

This "drop" was written many years ago but I just had to "dust it off." I certainly was not in favor of the Stimulus Bill that was going to immediately create "shovel ready" jobs. Unfortunately, it is creating jobs in the government sector which are paid for out of our taxes and are not lasting.

I am writing this Drop in the Bucket on June 7, 2004, as we are remembering the passing of one of our greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan.

I was very impressed with a quote that Ronald Reagan made that I have not yet seen on the TV or newspapers as they remember Reagan with wall-to-wall coverage of his legacy. I was so moved by the message that I had it blown up and framed … it hung in our company conference room for many years during the 90’s and now hangs in my private office.

To me, Reagan captured the difference between the government and the private sector in one concise paragraph – it speaks for itself and I will include it here as it was said and printed.

• 
  
  “Economic growth is created by people who produce things. The more that’s produced to meet increasing demand, the more new jobs and services are created in turn. Other than short-term make-work projects, the government does not create jobs; the private sector does. How? By investing in new plants and equipment, and by researching and developing new products. And how does the private sector do all that? By having enough corporate profits to reinvest and enough incentives to make such expenditures desirable.”

I think he got it right … how about you?

Plan, Organize and Control

One of the most interesting jobs I ever had was teaching management principles to front-line supervisors in each of my company’s 13 plants. It required me to have a thorough understanding of management while allowing me to get to know every supervisor in every plant. Over the years, I have passed these principles, along with my thoughts and observations, on to my family.

Management

Management is defined as the setting and accomplishing of objectives through the planning, organizing and control of human and physical resources. Further, control is broken down into delegation and follow-up.

It is important – in fact, imperative – that all three functions (planning, organizing and control) be followed. Frequently, one or more of these functions is overlooked or merely given “lip service.”

A must-read book on these subjects is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.

I recommend that all people read this book or listen to the audio book.

Planning

A good plan should have three or four lofty goals that you strive to accomplish. Some possible goals might be:

• Meet financial objectives
• Provide a healthy home
• Provide a good quality of life for all family members

In “Have a Vision,” I shared with you my personal vision or mission and showed you my personal goals … one each in the spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional areas.

Notice that these goals are general and lofty but contain no specific, measurable objectives. You must write measurable objectives that, when accomplished, will help you to reach your goals.

Organization

Any group must be organized if you are going to meet your objectives and reach your goals. Everyone cannot be allowed to “do their own thing.” There must be a chain of command.

Control

Finally, the organization must function effectively if the plans are going to be accomplished. To do this you must control the organization or unit. This is the important 3rd phase-control, which is broken down into delegation and follow-up.

Delegation

It is better to build a plan from the bottom-up than the top-down. Having everyone involved in the planning will ensure that everyone “buys into” the process.

It should be true that, if the objectives are accomplished, then the strategies and goals should be obtained as long as there are no external factors.

After the first management function – planning – has been developed by the group and delegated to the rest of the organization, how is the final step – control – accomplished?

Follow-up

It is common to see a good plan, organization and/or delegation fail because there was no follow-up. Too often, the approach is to delegate a project to an individual and then walk away from it.
This is a much-overlooked part of management and is the main reason that plans are not accomplished.

Have A Vision

To me, it was always a big help in a new business situation to understand the vision, goals and objectives necessary to accomplish your mission.

These same principles apply in your personal and family life. Family mission statements, or visions, are a way of transferring your highly effective business habits to your home life.

Your family and/or personal vision are the “big picture” of what you want to be. They display your beliefs and values. They are succinct and personal.

I have written a family and personal mission and the goals and objectives to accomplish them.

Writing down our values has led us to talk more about what we want out of our marriage, our family and our lives. I have them prominently displayed in our homes and have had them framed for each of our children.

Goals are lofty ideals that you continue to strive for but may never reach. I continue to reach for my goals every day – sometimes with little or no success – but the next day I pick myself up and start all over again.

Objectives are the specific things that are necessary to accomplish if you are going to reach your goals.


Having a vision has been a roadmap for success in my life. I have included it here for your perusal … I pray that in some small way it may be a positive influence in your life.

BEIGHEY FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT

TO CREATE A NURTURING PLACE OF FAITH, ORDER, TRUTH, LOVE, HAPPINESS AND RELAXATION; AND, TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR EACH PERSON TO BECOME RESPONSIBLY INDEPENDENT AND EFFECTIVELY INTERDEPENDENT IN ORDER TO SERVE WORTHY PURPOSES IN SOCIETY

LARRY BEIGHEY MISSION STATEMENT

WITH INTEGRITY, BE PROACTIVE AND VALUE-DRIVEN IN PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL, EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL INTERACTIONS IN PERSONAL, FAMILY, BUSINESS AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

GOALS

PHYSICAL
REACH AND MAINTAIN THE PROPER LEVEL OF BODY WEIGHT AND AEROBIC WELL-BEING FOR MY AGE AND HEIGHT

SPIRITUAL
PRACTICE, TEACH AND BELIEVE IN THE HOLY TRINITY – FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST

EMOTIONAL
CONTROL EMOTIONS ... BE PATIENT … REDUCE STRESS

INTELLECTUAL
CONTINUOUSLY EXPAND MY INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE

Cream Always Rises to the Top

Years ago, you could buy milk that was pasteurized or homogenized. Back in those days, milk only came in glass bottles … milk cartons had not been developed yet. Many people would buy the pasteurized milk since it was cheaper then the homogenized milk. Do you remember pasteurized milk? In a glass bottle, you could see a layer of cream above the milk. Before you opened the milk bottle you had to shake it up vigorously to mix the cream with the milk. When you would put it back into storage and let it sit long enough, that cream would always separate back to the top, with the milk underneath it.

Pasteurized milk is very much like human behavior. If you take someone with hidden talent and give them the opportunity, eventually their talent will rise to the top – just like with pasteurized milk.

Carole and I made a decision that we would not move our children once they were past the eighth grade. I had been in a position where I had seen families move around frequently and saw the influence it had on their children’s confidence and education. I turned down several promotions because it would have violated the trust our six children had placed in us to watch out for their well-being and education. Perhaps it hindered my advancement, but in the long run it all worked out.

We had about a five-year window between our first four children being out of high school and before the last two entered high school.

When the window opened, I went to the President of the company and told him I was ready to move if it would advance my career goal of being a Division President before the age of 50. He told me he would “put it in his hip pocket,” and at some point would get back to me. About two years later, we were on our way to Atlanta, Georgia, where we lived until I retired.

One of the obstacles we expected to encounter was the education of our two youngest children. We were sure that we would have to put our children in private school, but thought we would try the public school first. After one year, our daughters did not want to leave their school and go to a private school. Believing that the “cream always rises to the top,” we kept them in public school. We made the right decision.

Our daughter Elizabeth graduated with honors in her high school class. She went on to receive her degree from Penn State and achieved a middle management position with TBS Broadcasting, later to become Time Warner. She is now a stay-at-home mom with her two small children and a full-time Creative Memories Consultant with 17 consultants working under her.

Daughter Anne graduated high school as the “Outstanding Student.” She went on to Penn State and started to work as a summer intern in 1992 for Newt Gingrich before he became the Speaker of the House of Representatives … the rest of her career is told by the Former Speaker in the forward to this book. She is now a Senior Vice-President of Fleishman-Hillard in Washington, D.C. and specializes in the health care field. She has co-authored a book with Newt Gingrich entitled Saving Lives and Saving Money.

Not bad for two products of the public school system.

The moral of the story is that people often do not reach their full potential, but if you give them enough time and instill in them some self-confidence, eventually their talent will come out.

Just like pasteurized milk, an individual’s “cream will always rise to the top.”

Bottomed Out

Did you ever have days when everything seems to go wrong … Those days when things get worse as the day goes on. I have experienced many of these types of days throughout my personal and business career. Like most people, I would complain about it to everyone and anyone who would listen – but I came to realize that no one really wants to hear about all your problems and worries.

My realization came from a vivid real-life experience that I had during the energy crisis of 1976. I was the Energy Czar for Brockway Glass Company. Brockway had drilled gas wells and had built a gathering system to pipe the gas over to the natural gas supplier. During the crisis, the gas company confiscated our gas and would not deliver it to our plants. Since glass manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry and we could not get enough natural gas, we had to shut the plants down and lay off all the people. We had only enough gas to keep the glass in the furnaces molten; there was not enough energy to manufacture any glass containers.

Every morning at 7 AM, I would have an emergency meeting with the President of the Glass Container Division to review where and how much energy we had so we could determine what our Emergency Operating Plan would be for that day. Since it was my job to procure the energy for the glass factories, I was under intense pressure and had many problems and worries.

Naturally, I would tell my “tale of woe” to anyone who would listen. During one of the worst mornings of the crisis, I was in the men's room when a co-worker walked in. He was a happy-go-lucky eight-to-fiver who liked to tell stories, shoot the breeze and gossip. He asked me, "How you doing?" I started to unload on him about all my woes and worries. Well, he hurriedly washed his hands and bolted out the door ... he couldn't wait to get away from me.

It hit me like a ton of bricks that people really did not care or want to hear about your problems. From that day on, I have tried not to burden people with my worries and problems and found that the best approach when someone asks you, “How are you doing today?" is to simply grit your teeth and reply "I have bottomed out ... I’m on the way back ... I’m doing fine."

If You Can’t Say Anything Good, Don’t Say Anything At All

I think it was Will Rogers who said, “if you can’t say anything good about somebody, then don't say anything at all.” I wish I had said it because it is so true and expresses something that I am constantly trying to overcome. It is a continuous battle to not “go negative" about someone or something they said or did.

It doesn't serve any useful purpose for you to go negative, and it is hurtful and insensitive to do this. Instead, simply make positive comments or no comment at all.

I think it was in about 5 BC (Before Carole), when I was a “swinging bachelor,” that I had an embarrassing experience that stuck with me the rest of my life.

A cute girl that I always wanted to date finally broke up with the fellow she had been going with for a long time. I quickly seized on the opportunity and asked her out. Of course, while on the date she asked me what I thought of Mr. You-Know-Who. I was less than flattering in my opinion of him and didn’t hesitate to tell her what I thought. Of course, a short time later they got back together and I lost two friends. Lesson learned!

In no place is this lesson more true than in politics. You must be careful what you say about a colleague.

I could never be a politician … I am too inflexible. I discussed this one time with a close adviser to Speaker Newt Gingrich. I asked him how a politician could be so outspoken about someone’s position and later be all chummy with them. He told me that it was “not personal … just business.” You must be compromising because “today’s adversary could be tomorrow’s needed vote or supporter.”

If you observe most successful politicians, they will differ vehemently on the issues but are very careful not to attack personally.

So remember, "If you can’t say anything good, don't say anything at all."

The More You Practice, The Luckier You Get

One of the professional golfers on the tour said, ”The more you practice, the luckier you get" ... this is so true in any endeavor.

Many times you have heard it said when playing golf, “if that ball would've just been six inches more to the right it would have rolled up to the pin instead of dropping into the sand trap. Of course, the person who practices more gets what we would call the “lucky bounce” but it is really not luck. It is more than likely the constant recurring practice that people do.

You can be the smartest person but if you can’t sell your ideas you are not likely to get ahead.

I have always felt the Speech was one of the most important classes in college … Dale Carnegie is also a great way to learn the art of “public speaking.

For several years, a friend of mine paid for ten high school students to attend the Dale Carnegie Program. He is a very successful businessman and realized the value of public speaking and wanted to pass it on to others. What a nice way to help young people.

I had a reputation of being a good public speaker and people may have the opinion that I was just a “natural” … Far from it … I worked very hard at becoming a good speaker.

I would make a “detailed” outline of what I want to say and get it burned into my mind. Then I would stand in front of a mirror and practice, practice and practice … working on delivery, posture and gestures. For example, did you know:

if you are standing behind a podium and you step around to the side and rest your elbow on the podium you are signaling your closeness to the audience?
Don’t chew gum.
Don’t have car keys or jingling things in your pocket.
Don’t stand with your legs crossed.
Don’t point your finger at people.

These are just a few quick things I learned … There are many more. The important point is practice

Another great tip is to “role play.” I have mentioned that one of my first jobs was at Eddie Levine’s Men’s Store. When I would finish with my daily chores, Eddie would give me one-on-one sales training by role-playing with me. Some times he would be a nice customer … Sometimes he would be a difficult customer all the time showing me “the ropes” of Selling.


One of the executives of Brockway, Inc. was going to testify in front of a House Committee … He spent hours “role playing” … answering “hostle” and “friendly” questions he may be asked. It helped him prepare to answer questions in a high stress situation.

One person that continues to impress me with his public speaking is Newt Gingrich. He normally speaks “off the cuff” or with a few cryptic notes. My daughter, Anne, worked for him for over twelve years and as far as I know only once did he write a speech … the day he was sworn in as Speaker of the House. He is an amazing speaker … No pun intended.

A side story … Few people know that Newt is a speed-reader … The first afternoon that our daughter, Anne, was with him, he was traveling to some rallies in his District … During that time he read a book and 2 newspapers … He has written over 300 Book Reviews for Amazon.com … He is a prolific reader with great retention.

The day he was being sworn in as Speaker, He called up to Anne and asked her to call over to the Archives and have them look up a quote … He wanted to get it just right. It was from Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. He said, “It goes something like this … It is about 1/4 of the way into the book … About 2/3 of the way down a left hand page … The last sentence in the paragraph.”

Sure enough, they found it and Anne took it down to Newt. He was in the Ceremonial Room off the House Chamber … Newt was sitting their alone at Thomas Jefferson’s Desk.
Anne said it was “A Kodak Moment.”

I am sure you have heard the saying, “practice makes perfect." ... Well, we know there are such things as a lucky bounce but more often than not it is a result of many hours of repetitive practice. “The more you practice the luckier you get.

What Have We Learned in 2064 Years

What have we learned in 2,064 years? ... So here it is.

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed ... lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." -

Who said this? ... Cicero - 55 BC

So, what have we learned in 2,064 years ... evidently nothing.

So You Want to Get Into Management - The Bob Strong Story

I think most people that are working for a company have thoughts of climbing the company ladder and getting to the top. I know that I did!

I have always felt that no matter how good a job you do getting your first opportunity to move into management requires a little bit of luck .... somebody from the top needs to reach down and pull you up. This "sponsor" is someone already in management who is willing to take a chance on you.

My “sponsor” was Bob Strong. Bob ran the Data Processing Department at Brockway Glass and he was a very interesting and "good" person. I may have mentioned that in 1960 during my early career with Brockway Glass they decided to purchase their first computer, an IBM 1460 … It had a 4K [4,000 Bytes] Central Processing Unit [CPU] and filled a 20 X 40’ temperature controlled room … Today, I am setting at my Laptop on my office desk with a 2 gigabyte [2,000,000,000] CPU.

Prior to that they were using an IBM 407 Accounting Machine linked with a IBM 604 tabulator using punch cards. These machines programs were connected using wired boards. This is where the program was stored … The wires plugged into the boards at what looked like an old telephone switchboard. Remember the old days where they plugged in cords into the board in the right holes to connect two parties. This is how the programming was done.

When the company was ready to install this first computer they had no one to write programs in a language called SPS for the new 1460 computer. They gave an aptitude test throughout the company to see who had an aptitude for computer programming. I scored high on the test and along with four or five other people I was taught to program the computers starting with actual machine language (binary codes using one's and zeros. if it was a one there was power present. If there was a zero there was no power). After mastering actual machine language, I received training in SPS.

Since the company had no programmers I was borrowed from the Industrial Engineering Department for 5 months to design systems and write programs for the Data Processing Department. It changed my life forever!

During this time, I developed a powerful bond with Bob Strong which was to play a big role in my business career.

Bob Strong did not have a college degree and the new technology was starting to pass him by. After about 3 years he asked me to become his assistant. People said he was crazy that I was going to end up taking his job away from him. He would reply in his humble way, “If he doesn’t pass me by I am going to be really upset with him. Someday, I expect to be working for him.”

When I arrived for work, Bob had moved a second desk into his office and he took me under his “wing” … He included me in ALL meetings, asked my opinions and discussed all important decisions over with me before making up his mind.

It was such an exciting time … we would work day and night with each other … Bob teaching and my “sucking it all in.”

I have to divert for one story about Bob. In 1939, Bob was in the first Machine Records Unit that the United States Army ever had. Bob had been sent to England (he met his wife Joan there). In 1944, he was sent down to the southern coast of England along the White Cliffs of Dover. He didn't know what he was doing there but realized that it was "top secret". He had 3-40 foot trailers sitting in a “U” shape configuration. The bottom of the “U” trailer contained IBM Accounting Machines and Calculators … The other two trailers contained IBM punch card files that were empty. Within a few days he started to receive punch cards to process and then store in the cabinets. He soon realized that each card was a injured or killed person in the D-Day invasion … Within 3 days the card files were filled up … Somewhere around 50, 000 cards … Bob was sure we had lost the War.

It was stories like this that he could tell night and day.

I will always remember Bob Strong and the opportunity he gave me. The opportunity he gave me to move into “management” changed my life forever and gave me the start I needed to “climb the ladder of success.”

Life is a Contact Sport

Although it doesn’t seem fair, sometimes it is true that as you go through life, “it is who you know, not what you know.” Be that as it may, it does not minimize the importance of making and keeping good contacts.

It has been proven that over 80% of the people searching for a new job find that position through contacts they have made. It does not come from resumes, mailing letters, search firms or other means.

It is true that having contacts alone will not get you through life, but it does open doors for you that would otherwise be closed; and, many times it will put your name in front of someone that otherwise would not have encountered it.

I have found through the years that it is always important to keep a complete contact list.

I keep all of my contacts in an Organizer file that now has over 700 names, categorized in many different ways so I can search for the person or discipline that I am looking for.

Once a year I go through my contact list and “weed out” obsolete contacts. Surprisingly, when I finish this process, I still end up with about 700 names.

Never Give a Price Range

How many times in the art of negotiating does a person give a price range or a price maximum that they are willing to pay. You know the routine, I will not pay a penny over $20,000 or I will pay you $40-$45,000.

When you do this you are immediately sending a signal to the other party. For example, if you say, "I will not pay over $20,000" or "I only have $20,000 to spend" for this item you have immediately told the other party that you, in fact, will pay up to $20,000 for that article. Now the other party has a significant advantage over you since you have told him that you will pay $20,000. You have to make the choice at that point between paying $20,000 or walking away because you have already tipped your hand and lost all your negotiating power.

The same thing holds true when you give a price range. Let's say you want to buy a new car and you tell the seller that you will pay $40-$45000 for the car. You are thinking low … that he will sell the car for $40,000 and the seller is thinking high … You will pay $45,000 for the car. You have tipped your hand because you gave him a price range. He now knows that you will pay $45,000 for the car. Again you have lost your power of negotiating.

Don't ever tip your hand and give a price range or give a maximum price when you are buying or selling any kind of item.

Many people don't like to negotiate ... especially in the United States. Negotiating is very much a way of life in most other countries.

Negotiating can be a lot of fun and save you a lot of money but you have to be very careful how you go about doing it.

The Sportcoat - Sales Training

In 1954, my first job was working for Eddie Levine in Levine Bros. Clothing Store in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Eddie and his other brothers had all followed their father in the clothing business … Each located in different towns in central Pennsylvania … Altoona, Tyrone, DuBois and State College.

I worked for Eddie all the way through High School and college and worked for his brother, Charlie, at his store in State College while I was at Penn State.

I started working for Eddie for $.50 an hour but worked my way up to $.85 per hour. I did all the usual things like washing the windows, dusting and straighting up the stock and taking inventory.

When I would finish with my daily chores, Eddie would give me one-on-one sales training by role-playing with me. Some times he would be a nice customer … Sometimes he would be a dificuilt customer all the time showing me “the ropes” of Selling.

Things like:
· Suggestive selling
· How to manage around the cash register
· Wrapping
· Packaging and mailing
· Always price check the tags before quoting a price
· Never stand in the front of the store
· Don’t rush a customer … Let them brouse a little before approaching them.

Eddie built his business on honesty, standing by his quality … His word was his mantra.

Usually Eddie would handle the sale of the big items like suits [$85 with 2 pair of pants] and sportcoats [$32.50 and $27.50] … If he was busy with another customer, I was his backup.

One side point … All of this was before computers or modern cash registers … On the price tag was 2 five letter words, such as “black horse” where each letter stood for a digit from 0 to 9 … A code which told the sales person what the cost of the item was … This was the common way to control inventory, cost and selling price. Eddie was a smart business man and would check the small window to see what his sales were … He knew his break even “nut” everyday.

One day I was backup and a lady came in to buy a sportcoat for her husband. I showed her some sportcoats in both prices … she couldn’t make up her mind. Finally, She picked one and asked how much it was. I told her it was $27.50 and she decided to take it.

When I took it up to the register, I took off the tag which was standard procedure for inventory control.

I realized I had miss quoted and told her the sportcoat was $32.50 … She said, “I thought you said it was $27.50.” Oh, Oh … Eddie was standing by the register and said to me, “Did you quote the lady $27.50?” I told him yes … He said, “Then that is what you sell it to her for.”

Of couse, after she left, I received another lesson from “Eddie” … Your Word is your bond … If you don’t stand behind your product and your honesty the customer will be a one-time customer and “Eddie” wanted “repeat and loyal customers.”

We remained in contact for over 50 years … Eddie Levine passed away in 2009 … He will be missed!