Thank you everyone for your positive and supportive comments and all the messages of Thinking Like Cooper.  My post last week was very much a cathartic process for me and the reaction was very humbling and moving for my family and me.  It appears the lessons do not stop with life, something else we can learn from our furry friends; given the God-like traits represented it perhaps is no coincidence that dog is God backwards, or mirrored if you will.

One of the first, if not the first, letter to the Editor I wrote was in 1995; although I believe it was signed by Cooper.  It was on a topic that is once again a local issue and that is the licensing of dogs.  As posted last week by our Pet Posters Judy and Kate, the Long Beach Animal Control is going door-to-door to find unlicensed dogs and then requiring their owners to license them.  In 1995, Cooper expressed some degree of umbrage that his canine brothers and sisters were being targeted and cats were not.  Given that there are significantly more cats roaming our neighborhoods, pooping in other yards and gardens, breeding and otherwise public health hazards than dogs, why is Animal Control not targeting the unlicensed cat population in the city?  My guess is money.  Knock on a door and a dog barks, look on the list and see if there is a license for the address, if not you know you can collect a fine and a license fee.  See a cat roaming the neighborhood and you cannot tell who the owner is so no fine, no license fee; further by actually impounded the cat they are now negative revenue as them must care for the animal.  As Cooper said in 1995, this is blatant discrimination with a monetary motive.

This week our financial wunderkinds in Sacramento are meeting to discuss the fiscal crisis the state once again finds itself in.  The most absurd solution I have heard are the ideas to triple the car tax, raise the sales tax and raise income taxes.  Yep, raising taxes even further in the state that already has the highest taxes sure will encourage businesses to open in the state, encourage entrepreneurs to establish themselves in the state, and encourage existing businesses to hire more workers and expand. 

In my post on manufacturing jobs two weeks ago I added this link after the post was originally put up; it is a great video about a plant in Brazil.  I include it again as a backdrop to the testimony that has been occurring in Washington D.C. by the Big 3 Automakers as an idea that would work not only in Long Beach, but other California communities—provided the political (i.e. tax) climate is favorable. 

Many states are not having financial difficulties in this current economy, why is that?  Because they have used their fiscal policy to attract and retain businesses and manufacturers, unlike the states that are now begging the Federal Government for financial assistance.   Why should the citizens of Alabama, Georgia or Nebraska pay for the bad decisions made in California, New York or Massachusetts?  Similarly why should the workers at the Toyota, Honda and Kia plants in America pay for the mistakes made by GM, Chrysler and Ford? 

There is considerable misunderstanding about bankruptcy and its repercussions.  When a corporation files Chapter 11 bankruptcy it allows the company relief from payments to creditors and allows the organization to restructure its debt and obligations with the oversight of a court appointed trustee.  Filing bankruptcy does not close the business nor does it automatically put workers on the unemployment line, in fact often bankruptcy filings save jobs by allowing a company to keep operating.

Examples of successful corporate bankruptcies are several airlines.  Facing financial crisis in the past decade several airlines filed Chapter 11 and reorganized their companies, restructured their debt and renegotiated their labor contracts.  Each maintained operations during and after the bankruptcy.

There seems to be a conception in the media and in the comments made by automaker executives that any or all of the Big 3 filing for bankruptcy protection would be a disaster.  On the contrary, filing bankruptcy would prevent tens of billions of tax payer dollars being sent to failed management practices and product lines.  Filing bankruptcy would take control of the operations from executives and boards who have been unable to make a profit despite selling millions of units annually.  Filing bankruptcy would allow the automakers to save their operations, jobs and some product lines by reorganizing the obligations, employment contracts and operating structures of their companies.  If I were in Congress I would say, “not a dime until and unless you go through a restructuring process that includes outside oversight and control—i.e. bankruptcy.”

If bankruptcy reorganization is beneficial to corporations in fiscal crisis then why not consider it for the State of California as well?  Governor Schwarzenegger has complained that Republicans will not vote for tax increases and Democrats will not vote for spending cuts.  Well Governor why don’t you veto everything that comes across your desk and force the State into Federal Bankruptcy court?  Why has this option not been explored?

Our state is overburdened with mandatory expenses and payments for labor contracts, entitlement programs, debt payments for the many propositions voted on to pay for stem cell research, Delta/Northern California watershed projects, prison construction, etc, etc.  Bankruptcy could allow the Legislature and Governor to start fresh and restructure all the obligations and debt service in our state—without raising taxes.  Instead of asking for Federal funds to solve the financial problems we created, why not use Federal law to start anew? 

Not being an attorney and not knowing what the legality of a state filing bankruptcy even is, should it not at least be discussed and considered as an option?  It worked for Orange County why not for the State?  Given the state of our state should not all options be discussed and analyzed, not just those that continue the status quo? 

From the City of Long Beach to the Long Beach Unified School District to the County of Los Angeles to the State of California to the United States of America, all levels of government in this country are incredibly overburdened with the entitlement programs and mandatory spending levels imposed by previous generations of voters and politicians.  Our governments need to systematically begin to break down the program spending levels and remove mandatory and restricted expenditures and allow local governments and administrators control their own budgets for their own needs.

There is a saying in the military, “(crap) runs downhill.”  Generals lean on Colonels lean on Majors, down the line until the whole pile is dumped on the privates.  In government fiscal policy the same is true, deficits run down hill.  The budgets of the City of Long Beach and Long Beach Unified School District especially, are tied to the State budget.  As goes the fiscal policy in Sacramento so it goes in LA County and the City of Long Beach.  The further you get from being able to control your own revenue the further removed you are from controlling your own budget.  Instead of waiting for another summer budget showdown local officials need to begin serious pressure on their comrades in Sacramento today to fix the broken fiscal policies that have accumulated over decades.

How ridiculous was the kerfuffle over the Big 3 CEOs taking private jets to Washington before their first appearances before Congress?  Think about it, your boss is about to have the most important interview in the history of your company, your job and future depend on this interview.  Before the interview do you want him to fight the curbside check in, stand in line for an hour with his shoes off for the TSA to waive their wand over him, wait in a crowded lounge, then sit on the ground in Detroit with a crying baby in the seat behind him, get to Reagan International, take thirty minutes to get to ground transportation and then drive into the city?  No, you would want your boss to use one of the best tools your corporation has, the company jet to minimize travel time, allow him to meet with his advisors during the trip and arrive in the Senate refreshed and prepared.

By the way how many Governors flew coach last week to their conference where they basically then acted like the Big 3 in asking for federal tax dollars to bail them out?

Here is one of the best gauges of the economy:  how many brown bags do you see going across the office parking lot in the morning, how crowded is your lunch room at noon?

Juxtaposed with the proposed ban on smoking on California beaches last week was the release of a survey by the esteemed Michael Josephson, the ethics guru.  Josephson’s survey showed that cheating among high school students was on the rise.  I raise this because of an interesting question columnist and radio talk show host likes to ask people, it is:  would you rather your child grow up to be a smoker or a cheater?

Once again, our heartfelt thanks for your responses last week, the study was right, Long Beach does have a lot of heart and soul.

Your thoughts welcome, click here to email me or on “Leave A Comment” below for public response.