AlexRudloff.com http://www.alexrudloff.com AlexRudloff.com http://www.alexrudloff.com/media/feedlogo.gif AlexRudloff.com http://www.alexrudloff.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Spirit Airlines Reaches Out...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/11/09/spirit-airlines-reaches-out/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/11/09/spirit-airlines-reaches-out/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/11/09/spirit-airlines-reaches-out/#commentsI just got off the phone with Ben Baldanza from Spirit Airlines regarding a series of posts I wrote about 2 years ago now. Long enough ago that I honestly didn't immediately recognize the name, and once I did, completely thought it was Gavin putting someone up to it. Mr. Baldanza very kindly sent me an e-mail from his corporate e-mail address to confirm that it was indeed him ;). Gotta love the Internet.

The conversation was brief, but Mr. Baldanza informed me of the various steps his company has taken to improve their customer service situation and all the factors involved in the company during that particular time frame. The way I understand it is that they had some issues with a third party service provider at that time, the provider was replaced and subsequently their various consumer agency ratings started to improve.

Mr. Baldanza also outlined the steps they took in order to resolve (within reason) the customer complaint that ended in the accidental "Reply-to-All" e-mail. While the comment made in that e-mail came across as unbecoming to many of us, it's clear that some lessons were learned by the accident, and as usual, there are two sides to every story. I was also informed that they've had some employee turnover at their company. I can only hope that the spokesman who told the Chicago Tribune I made the whole thing up is now waiting in a breadline somewhere.

I kid.

But in all seriousness, I think it's fair to go ahead and shut this multi-year spat down. It started with me being upset that I couldn't get a $5 refund on my checked bag from a missed flight to Vegas, and clearly, the series turned into much more than that. In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, I told them that what I really wanted was for Spirit to start taking care of their customer service issues. The steps the company has taken in changing providers, and as further evidenced by Mr. Baldanza's personal phone call, show me that they have indeed taken it seriously. Pretty sure we can call things square now ;)

Thanks for the call, Ben.

UPDATE 11/11/2009:

The Orlando Sentinel covered this, and Heather Harvey, Spirit's Manager of Consumer Relations left a comment. She mentions her e-mail address if anyone has any further complaints or wants to pass along a note.

Heather, I hope you don't mind me reposting your comment over here!

What a great article! I am so pleased with the positive feedback - we are making strides to correct our mistakes. It's true that I am biased since I work for Spirit, but I fly us more than almost anyone and I expect great service just like any other customer. If you didn't receive the service you expected please email me the details, Heather.Harvey@spiritair.com (now you have the contact information to give to those upset customers that call you Etan). We can use your feedback for training purposes and to explain to you perhaps why things worked out the way they did. We can't make it right if you don't let us know where we messed up! Give us the opportunity to correct our mistakes and I assure you that you won't regret it :)

Respectfully,

Heather Harvey
Manager Consumer Relations
Spirit Airlines

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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaben baldanzaBenBaldanzaspirit airlinesSpiritAirlines2009-11-09T13:57:00+00:00<![CDATA[Insurance Industry vs. The Baucus Plan...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/13/insurance-industry-vs-the-baucus-plan/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/13/insurance-industry-vs-the-baucus-plan/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/13/insurance-industry-vs-the-baucus-plan/#comments
The logic put forth is that there is not enough incentive to force people to maintain coverage (low fines), and since insurance companies won't be allowed to turn away those already sick, the incentive is to now pay the fine instead of the insurance premium. Simply go out and get coverage whenever you get sick and save a boat load of cash. The reduction in revenue gets passed down to the consumer in order to make up the difference, hence the increases.

Supporters of the health care bill argue that the report can't be trusted because insurance companies stand to make less money if the bill goes through. While true, that's entirely the point. The report basically says what insurance companies are going to do in response to making less money. Remember, again, they set the premiums.

Regardless, of all the various proposals the Baucus bill does seem to be the only one that's even remotely considerable (I'm being kind... I'm more of a shopping mall guy.) There's no public option and from a budget perspective it's also more financially sound (according to the CBO, though the director is on record saying they did not have adequate time to fully work out the Net). Unfortunately, it also has no chance in hell of being what actually gets passed. And I think it goes without saying that something is going to get passed.

Anyone want to take bets on just how much of a train-wreck the bill that comes out of conference committee is going to be? ;)
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabaucusbillhealthcareinsurancelegislationpoliticsreformsenate2009-10-13T17:25:00+00:00<![CDATA[Save America's Space Program...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/01/save-americas-space-program/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/01/save-americas-space-program/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/10/01/save-americas-space-program/#commentshttp://www.SaveSpace.US is a movement started by people on the Space Coast to raise the awareness of the nation, the President, and other elected officials: Space needs to be a priority for America!
Our country's space program faces a very real and very urgent threat. With all the talk about stimulus, both in job creation/retention and in research & development, it's worth pointing out that NASA positively contributes to both. NASA is responsibile for much of what we take for granted on a daily basis. GPS, quartz watches, wifi, reflective insulation, solar water heaters, coolers, cordless power tools, flat screen tv's, freeze dried foods, early warning weather systems -- the list goes on and on. It's not just a government agency, it's an agency that helps fuel research and development that leds to new industries and businesses in the private sector.

There are two very important Call-to-Action's on this, do both before October 31st, 2009

1) Send a letter. If you're absolute against physical letters, send an e-mail. Whatever you do, speak up.
2) Tell people. Send an email to friends with the web url (http://www.savespace.us) and let them know the urgency & importance of getting involved. Join the facebook group and suggest to your facebook friends that they do the same. Follow the effort on Twitter. Retweet things. Spread the word.

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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilladevelopmenteconomyflnasarecoveryresearchshuttlespacespacecoaststimulussts2009-10-01T16:26:00+00:00<![CDATA[The Great Debate...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/09/02/the-great-debate/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/09/02/the-great-debate/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/09/02/the-great-debate/#comments
That's basically the health care debate. It's not about helping anyone or about something as seemingly straight forward as reform. Whether you believe it or not, all sides want to make life better and see our standard of living rise. That's the goal that binds us as a country. The discussion is about the business plan and asking ourselves whether or not we have the means of executing it.

You can layer on all sorts of arguments about efficiency and costs on top, but essentially the great debate is over what the business of our government will be going forward. It's safe to say that our founders were far less interested in building the world's best shopping experience and far more interested in letting us build and maintain our own shops, as individuals acting independently and freely without limitation to our imagination or our ingenuity. Creating a government backed entity that is immune from going broke essentially dismantles, or seriously impedes, the ability for individuals to pursue whatever industry that entity resides in. It, by mere definition, limits choice and reduces the concept our founders had of "liberty."

From my center-right perspective, it would seem to me that instead of trying to answer a question that has been asked for hundreds of years, we should try to fix the public options we already have before we consider scaling them, or rather, creating something completely new altogether (like a public version of the worst piece of the puzzle, insurance).
  • Fix the VA and Medicare first.
  • Enact tort reform to reduce liability inflation.
  • Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines.
  • Force everyone in the process to fully disclose costs to the patient up front and on an ongoing basis, instead of simply surprising them with the bill at the end of the visit (and make sure the patient has at least some sort of skin in the game so they'll actually care, provided they have means -- remember, the poor in this country don't pay for hospital visits as it stands).
  • Give tax deductions for preventative care.
  • Increase health education in our schools and provide easy access to information for adults.
I mean, the list of relatively non-controversial reform methods goes on and on. That is, until politics and media get in the way. Bleh.

Anyway.. I'm off Rep. Posey's health care town hall tonight. 6:30, King Center. Should be an absolute zoo.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabadanalogyhealthcarepoliticsreform2009-09-02T15:31:00+00:00<![CDATA[On the Up and Up in Emurse Land...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/08/17/on-the-up-and-up-in-emurse-land/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/08/17/on-the-up-and-up-in-emurse-land/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/08/17/on-the-up-and-up-in-emurse-land/#commentsEmurse.com.

Andy Fraley joined the team as our lead designer / front end guru, then Chris Finke came on board to lead up development efforts. Both of these guys are two of the most talented people I've ever had the pleasure of working with, so I'm incredibly excited and proud to have them at AOL and on board. We've also gained a valuable team member in Gautham from the AOL BDC office, and we're thrilled to have him involved and on the team.

We launched a complete redesign of the UI this summer and have a bunch of new tweaks coming to back it all up. The first phase of the design efforts were the external pages, the second phase will be all the "internal" stuff -- the resume builder, distribution tracker, website tab and a whole host of new features.

Stay tuned.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2009-08-17T10:10:00+00:00<![CDATA[Emurse.com Updates...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/26/emurse-com-updates/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/26/emurse-com-updates/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/26/emurse-com-updates/#commentsAndy Fraley was hired as our lead UI designer. I'm extremely excited to be working with Andy again. We both worked on the Netscape.com re-launch a few years back and I've enjoyed following his career ever since. He's a very talented designer and we're extremely fortunate to have him on board.

We've hired a handful of bloggers to help re-kindle the Emurse.com Blog. Lots of great content coming online over there, expect some very big changes once we build up some more fresh resources.

Here's a sampling of some of the latest blog posts:

Top 5 Tools for Successful Telecommuting
Top 10 Highest Starting Salaries
The Benefits of Working with a Recruiter
How to Work with a Recruiter
Resume Rescue: Achievements, not Responsibilities
Top 21 Part Time Jobs
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2009-05-26T11:22:00+00:00<![CDATA[New Twitterholic Functionality...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/19/new-twitterholic-functionality/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/19/new-twitterholic-functionality/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/19/new-twitterholic-functionality/#comments
We're now ranking people based on hash tag usage/associations. It's a little less straight forward than the other rankings (some secret sauce involved), but it's produced some interesting lists.

Top 100 'Celebrity' on Twitter
Top 100 'Politics' on Twitter
Top 100 'TCOT' on Twitter
Top 100 'FixReplies' on Twitter ;)

You get the idea. Basically, append /tag/<tag>/ to whatever you're looking at.

Enjoy, and everyone thank Gavin for being clever.

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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillafunhashtagssideprojectstwittertwitterholic2009-05-19T12:08:00+00:00<![CDATA[Gavin and I in the Sentinel...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/18/gavin-and-i-in-the-sentinel/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/18/gavin-and-i-in-the-sentinel/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/18/gavin-and-i-in-the-sentinel/#commentsArticle about Twitterholic.com

Probably a good thing they went with a more natural photo than the posed ones they took. Not sure specifically what we're laughing about, but mainly the 'shoot' consisted of Gavin and I repeatedly asking things along the lines of "Are you sure we're not supposed to take our shirts off?"

Good times, good times.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaalexrudloffgavinhallorlandosentinelsideprojectstwittertwitterholic2009-05-18T10:24:00+00:00<![CDATA[Peter Schiff at Authors@Google...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/13/peter-schiff-at-authors-google/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/13/peter-schiff-at-authors-google/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/13/peter-schiff-at-authors-google/#comments
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaeconomygooglepeterschiff2009-05-13T13:18:00+00:00<![CDATA[STS-125 Pictures...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/11/sts-125-pictures/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/11/sts-125-pictures/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/11/sts-125-pictures/#comments
Took these with my d80 from the OSB2 observation deck :)


More




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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2009-05-11T21:35:00+00:00<![CDATA[Jack Kemp Dies...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/jack-kemp-dies/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/jack-kemp-dies/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/jack-kemp-dies/#comments
There was a time in the not so distant past when the GOP was actively pushing new ideas and offering suggestions based on the principles of the party. Jack Kemp was (and will continue to be) a throw back to that.



Want more? Read this letter Jack Kemp published after Obama's election, entitled "A Letter to my Grandchildren."

Dear Kemp grandchildren -- all 17 of you, spread out from the East Coast to the West Coast, and from Wheaton College in Illinois, to Wake Forest University in North Carolina:

My first thought last week upon learning that a 47-year-old African-American Democrat had won the presidency was, "Is this a great country or not?"

You may have expected your grandfather to be disappointed that his friend John McCain lost (and I was), but there's a difference between disappointment over a lost election and the historical perspective of a monumental event in the life of our nation.

[....]

Both Obama in his Chicago speech, and McCain in his marvelous concession speech, rose to this historic occasion by celebrating the things that unite us irrespective of our political party, our race or our socio-economic background.

My advice for you all is to understand that unity for our nation doesn't require uniformity or unanimity; it does require putting the good of our people ahead of what's good for mere political or personal advantage.

The party of Lincoln, (i.e., the GOP), needs to rethink and revisit its historic roots as a party of emancipation, liberation, civil rights and equality of opportunity for all.

Jack Kemp's passing comes at a time when our country could use a few more of him around.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillajackkemppoliticsrip2009-05-05T17:10:00+00:00<![CDATA[Job Openings...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/job-openings/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/job-openings/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/05/05/job-openings/#commentsjob openings with Emurse. Link contains the details.

Also, Satcom Direct (a company here in Satellite Beach, FL) is hiring for a .Net Software Engineer position. Satcom specializes in satellite communications for the aeronautical industry. They also have an ecommerce website that sells BGAN terminals (for satellite broadband internet access) and satellite phones. Job details here.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaemursehelpwantedjobs2009-05-05T13:50:00+00:00<![CDATA[Emurse.com Activity...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/04/27/emurse-com-activity/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/04/27/emurse-com-activity/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/04/27/emurse-com-activity/#commentsstuff going on with Emurse.com lately, in case you missed it.

We're looking to hire a few bloggers to take on topics in the career space. Let me know if you're interested :)

Oh, and.. I wrote a new post on the plane this past weekend. Surviving a Job Loss.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabloggingcareersemursejobseekerswork2009-04-27T22:14:00+00:00<![CDATA[When Populism Strikes...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/25/when-populism-strikes/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/25/when-populism-strikes/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/25/when-populism-strikes/#commentsPublic outcry over Wall Street bonuses and antics has hit what seems to be an all-time high. Looking backwards, there seems to be other times in our country where Wall St. was demonized, but probably not like this. JP Morgan and his ilk soon after the turn of last century might be an example, sans mass media.

Lots of differences between now and then of course. For one, we called it like it was. Capitalists vs. Socialists. The workers unions protesting and using dynamite to blow the pants off their opponents (and yes, much of it under the actual name and party of socialism). People close to it all were sounding off as if it was the end of our country. Now imagine if today's media had been around to egg the whole thing on during sweeps. Public sentiment would have likely swung in the "peoples" direction. Damn those money makers. How dare they. Fortunately for our continued existence, the opposite pretty much happened. Thank you early 20th century newspapers and the greater fear that anarchists represented.

Obviously today's situation is a bit different. Our government created laws to reward undue risk, bankers took that risk and the system ended up suffering from the risk. Government, followed by our citizens, blamed the bankers for taking on that risk the government was rewarding them for taking. Government then told its citizens that they needed to use their tax money to bail out these organizations to prevent chaos (to and including the insurance companies who held their policies, i.e. AIG).

Any misstep or bad contract or really any action of business what-so-ever is now under the watchful eye of the taxpayers. And it should be. It's our money, right? I mean the idea of public funds being paid out in the form of giant bonuses really does tick me off. It ticks all of us off.

Here's where things get sticky though. Read this letter in the NY Times. It's an AIG employee's letter of resignation. This employee worked under a different division than the one that caused all the trouble and had little to nothing to do with the downfall of the company. He was asked to work for an annual salary of $1 a year, and promised that come March he would be rewarded. Due to the public outcry, he's now donating his reward and leaving the company. His hard work being done this past year for $1.

The easy answer is to say so what. He shouldn't be getting paid that much anyway. Of course, that's a bit silly when you factor in his opportunity costs incurred while working for $1. He surely could have gotten paid more than that somewhere else, possibly even a salary close to what he was previously making at AIG. But there's an anger involved. Resentment towards those making money working for a company that now threatens our future, regardless of whether or not that person was involved in the aspects that brought down the company.

Whether we like it or not, we are now all de-facto shareholders. Read that resignation letter and decide for yourself whether or not our public outcry is leading the company towards a stronger future.

I write about this because I think it's a small example of where this country's populism might brings us. Waves of emotion strike the country and our elected officials react to the polling numbers. A company like AIG sinks further and further into government control, star employees leave, and we're all left holding the shares for a company with absolutely no key talent and no ability to focus on long term directives. The polls, and our elected officials, won't allow for any of it. They simply can't allow it because it's not to their immediate benefit. Both parties fight to be the one who saves the day, who works in the interest of the majority. Even when that interest is seated in anger, frustration, worry and resentment instead of the interest of the company (which we own).

What's your take? Are you fine with the bonsues? Should they be returned or taxed heavily? Should AIG be left alone to turn itself around? I'd be lying if I said I couldn't argue both sides. This is all such a damn mess.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaaigbailouteconomygovernmentpeoplevselitesresignationletterwallstreet2009-03-25T09:18:00+00:00<![CDATA[Dear Govt...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/05/dear-govt/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/05/dear-govt/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/05/dear-govt/#comments
GM auditors raise doubts on automaker's viability

Of course their viability is awful. They're an awful company. They haven't learned how to effectively compete and control costs. Why would having Uncle Sam as a benefactor change that? Even if it could change it, they're bleeding so much they've already blown through the money that was 'given' to them.

All of this stuff, whether its mortgages or companies, seems far to aimed at supply side anyway. GM has a ton of inventory to clear out. No one is buying anything. So how would GM keeping operations going in order to save jobs building more cars make any sense? The end effect is that there are more cars sitting unused on a lot somewhere.

GM going under is a horrible thing. Our government throwing good money after bad is a worse one.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabailoutsgm2009-03-05T07:55:00+00:00<![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson's 1st Inaugural Address...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/02/thomas-jeffersons-1st-inaugural-address/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/02/thomas-jeffersons-1st-inaugural-address/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/03/02/thomas-jeffersons-1st-inaugural-address/#commentsFriends and Fellow-Citizens:

CALLED upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye-when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue, and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question. [Emphasis mine. When you take into account the animosity between Jefferson and Hamilton, Republican and Federalist, this statement is all the more powerful. You have to wonder what Thomas Jefferson would be thinking during all this, and if he would have refinanced Monticello... ;) ]

Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter-with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens-a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people-a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.

I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.

Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaamericanfederalistgovernmenthamiltonhistoryinauguraljeffersonrepublican2009-03-02T08:58:00+00:00<![CDATA[Three News Sites, Three Spins...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/three-news-sites-three-spins/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/three-news-sites-three-spins/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/three-news-sites-three-spins/#commentsJust highlighting the need for people to use multiple sources... ;) These headlines are all from the same day, referencing the same Bernanke talk.

AP: Stocks up as Bernanke says recession will end soon
Reuters: Bernanke fears recession could extend to 2010
CNN: Bernanke: Recovery will take years
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabiaseconomicsheadlinesmarketnewsspin2009-02-24T13:41:00+00:00<![CDATA[Generational Revenge...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/generational-revenge/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/generational-revenge/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/24/generational-revenge/#comments
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilladilbertgenerationalthefthumorstimulus2009-02-24T09:10:00+00:00<![CDATA[Stimulus Research Funding...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/19/stimulus-research-funding/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/19/stimulus-research-funding/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/19/stimulus-research-funding/#comments
Here's a list of where exactly that money is heading and how much:

$220,000,000 - National Institute of Standards and Technology research, including research into technology with high-growth potential and program giving technology to small and mid-size manufacturers
$230,000,000 - Extra money for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facilities and research
$400,000,000 - NASA climate research
$150,000,000 - NASA aeronautics research
$2,500,000,000 - National Science Foundation research
$300,000,000 - Research and development of renewable energy generation for military
$2,500,000,000 - Research and development of renewable and efficient energy technology
$1,000,000,000 - Fossil energy research and development
$800,000,000 - Research into low-emission coal plants
$20,000,000 - Grants for training and research on safe storage of carbon emission
$1,600,000,000 - Physics research including high-energy physics, nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences
$400,000,000 - High-risk research into energy sources and energy efficiency
$9,500,000,000 - National Institutes of Health biomedical research
$1,100,000,000 Funding for research comparing effectiveness of treatments funded by Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP

Total: $20,720,000,000 (Approximately 2.6% of the total spending)
(bolded things that interest me, source Wall Street Journal)
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabilleconomicsfundingresearchsciencestimulustechnology2009-02-19T10:11:00+00:00<![CDATA[Post-Stimulus Thoughts...]]>http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/18/post-stimulus-thoughts/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/18/post-stimulus-thoughts/http://www.alexrudloff.com/2009/02/18/post-stimulus-thoughts/#commentsAlan Greenspan summed it up best. It's not whether or not the Stimulus effects short term GPD, it's whether it "primes the pump" for private demand.

Pretty sure you could take a trillion dollars and invest it in bubblegum factories and it'd have some sort of impact. But will the stimulus produce long standing results?

I'm doubtful.

I've mentioned it before, but I'm of the humble opinion that the wealth that was "lost" never really existed in the first place. The debt we're now faced with has to be met in one of three likely ways. 1) Inflation, 2) High taxes (at the expense of growth) or 3) defaulting (god forbid). If we want to achieve long term success, we have to get out of this consumer driven economy and get back to producing things. Unless we can come up with something to sell to folks outside our borders and not just to ourselves, we'll be faced with the same pyramid scheme economy. Subsidizing this system by way of the federal government just pushes off whatever needs to get done.

My biggest beef with the stimulus package (and I have many) is that it became a political dumping ground for party agenda. It's not completely without it's merits. We're putting money into R&D on energy, which is good, and we are spending money on improving infrastructure, which is also good (help increase efficiency via better transportation/communication/shipping/whatever). We have a decent amount of tax cuts to help give people immediate relief. Unfortunately, with all the other nonsense, the important things end up getting less than they probably should.

An example. I'm a big fan of infrastructure spending. Specifically right now in our country, I see the opportunity for a serious investment into mass transit. We had a chance to do something big and bold, perhaps a national light rail system, but instead we constructed legislation that will lend itself not just to fraud and misuse, but piecemeal initiatives state by state that run the risk of having no rhyme or reason at all. The chances of a nation wide light rail now seem even smaller. And even if we can standardize on an approach within state legislatures or an approach is dictated by the Feds, the stimulus bill appropriates only a tiny fraction of funds to transportation itself.

The other debatable aspects to this bill are largely matters of principal. President Obama's on record in 1998 as disagreeing with Clinton's 1996 welfare reform, something Clinton himself touts as a big success of his presidency. This legislation rolled it back. States will now be rewarded for adding people to its welfare payroll, not the other way around. The stimulus bill went on to stick its hands into health care and gun control as well. What on earth these things have to do with "priming the pumps of private demand," as Greenspan articulated, is anyone's guess.

That is, anyone's guess just as soon as they finish reading the dang thing. (Oooohhhh. AmIright?!)

The other, more gloomy, concern is whether or not we'll have enough credit left in the treasury to handle whatever geopolitical fallout comes from the "financial crisis". Iceland's government already fell, there are rumors of Mexico's being unstable and there are protests and uprisings taken place on the other side of the Atlantic. If this truly is a comparable event to the Great Depression, as our leaders love to suggest, we may want to think a couple steps ahead on this one.. Just.. you know.. saying.

I do have to say that I've enjoyed it all. It's history in the making. I'm also happy to see the GOP find it's conservative roots again. Whether or not they mean it this time, we'll have to wait and see. So far Michael Steele seems like a breath of fresh air.

I'm also humored by the amount of folks on the opposite side of the aisle tossing terms like "obstructionists" around. I saw one liberal professor on TV attacking a conservative talking head, asking where this outrage was while the patriot act was being debated. A fair point, but the real question is where was the Democrats outrage? For all the talk they do about the war and the patriot act, you'd assume that they voted against them. The job of the minority party is to balance out the majority. To slow down waves of emotion. To provide a counter argument. To, quite frankly, obstruct. There's a time and a place for bipartisanship but this, as well as the patriot act and the war votes, was simply not one of them. There's simply too much on the line. If the majority wants to pass sweeping legislation, it doesn't do much harm to make them earn it. If nothing else, we likely ended up with a 'better' bill because of it.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillademocratspoliticsrantrepublicansstimulusthoughtswimpyishungry2009-02-18T18:36:00+00:00