For those of you attempting to follow the meandering health care reform debate ... gold stars if you have any idea where this sits today ... you might be interested in the recent Business Week article, Radical Surgery, about a hospital that slashes costs AND delivers high quality with innovative…
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. Make sure you spend time with family and friends – and remember that relationships are more important than consumption.
As I’ve said here before, I don’t think our elected servants in D.C. know much about creating jobs. Let’s remember that the stimulus program was always “too little, too late” and we harped here that the length of time over which those funds would be deployed was way too long … witness today that jobs officials say more than 50% is still in the pipeline over one year later. So, no surprise it hasn’t help as much as they would have you believe. Robb Mandelbaum writing in the NY Times also agrees that there is very little in President Obama’s most recent speeches flowing from the Jobs Summit last week.
What do you think of the ideas being floated about, the key ones of which are summarized here? Will any of them help your business? Are there other ideas that could work? Fire up those fingers and add your comments here.
For one thing, the Administration continues to talk about incentive programs to spur business lending. While that would also be welcome, it doesn’t get at the root cause of unemployment and jobs growth. I’ve reported here before that lending is NOT the biggest problem in the middle market … it’s demand and revenue growth. Companies are not going to borrow except to meet demand and if demonstrable demand is present, borrowing is usually easier anyway.
One idea is to eliminate the capital gains tax for small business investing. (more…)
We've all heard motivational speeches ... but I don't think I've ever seen one as powerful as this. It's striking ... moving ... hard to forget ... yet the message is universal. Let your kids see it ... or savor it for when they really need it ... or when…
The Wall Street Journal blogs frequently report on the VC industry and their recent entry, Start-Up CEOs Gripe About VCs' Lack Of Operating Experience, caught my eye. I have sat on close to a dozen small business boards and agree that directors without real experience bring little to the table.…
Like I’ve said, I certainly didn’t intend to wade into this health care reform quicksand but just the thought of a 2,000 page bill that legislators haven’t read conjures a paperwork morass that, like a stealth bomber, sneaks in under the radar and does incredible damage before you wake up in the morning …
… not to mention how much stuff is buried in there we haven’t heard about yet or the laughable observations that it won’t cost anything. Where to start? How about David Broder’s observaations about its failure to deliver on cost controls, he being the former of Chief of Staff for Prez Clinton.
How about the Wall St. Journal report that the promised tort reform – sounds good – is coupled with a provision that provides incentive payments to states that adopt a “alternative medical liability law” … but ONLY IF it does not limit attorney’s fees or impose caps on damages”? Huh? Isn’t that at the core of tort reform in the first place?
How about the concept that none of this will cost anything because the savings will offset the cost? Gee, we’ve never heard that one before. (more…)
Like I said, I really didn't intend to wade into this health care reform mess ... but just the appearance of a 2,000 page bill that purports to have figured out the entire health care system ... is ludicrous! That alone makes me flatly opposed to this bill ... and…
By now, you know that the Sunday NY Times Corner Office series is oft-quoted here to highlight varying aspects of leadership that flow from Adam Bryant’s conversations with notable CEOs and business leaders.
This week he interviewed Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation SKG.
Perhaps Katzenberg inhabits an industry that is prone to more risk than others … but I doubt it. I agree with his equation, too, because if you’re not original and unique … and if you don’t make failure acceptable, no one will take the risks that ensure that your value proposition is fresh and creative. He believes that showing your employees that they’re expected to take risks is the single most important quality of an organization.
Katzenberg also stresses that the most important aspect of leadership is earning respect … not getting respect. (more…)
Here's just the tip of the iceberg in the record-breaking 2,000 page health care bill ... nutrition labeling for vending machines, new costs for virtually every restaurant chain to spell out nutrition guidelines, in-home counseling for pregnant mothers, priority to Indian health clinics in certain states, adult coaching on "parenting…