On the road with James

Put On Your Game Face for Job Creation

2011-03-02T11:38:00.023-05:00

People want the availability of jobs; politicians talk about creating jobs. I just wonder if people and politicians know how to create a job. I seriously doubt most do or we would not find ourselves in our current situation of high unemployment and low job growth. Kind of big picture, would you not agree?

I have created jobs. I have not created many, less than a handful, but more than I can say most people have. Therefore, I can speak from experience.

Let start by defining ‘job’. Webster defines job as “work undertaken…done for private profit.” In other words, a person exchanges their service for some form of compensation. Compensation is typically monetary, but it does not have to be. Maybe one receives on-the-job training (aka education) via an unpaid internship. Theoretically, there are unlimited possibilities in structuring such a deal assuming no regulatory oversight (a post for another day).

The person that seeks to undertake work must be qualified to complete the work, especially so if they want monetary compensation. Additionally, the person needs to solve more problems than they create, which is extremely important and often ignored. I have found most people never bother to think about the problems they may create because they are so focused on themselves (& their paycheck). However, to solve problems requires skill and knowledge gained from an education.

Let's not confuse schooling with education. Have you ever wonder why young adults should have a four year college degree (which saddles parents and the young adult with years of debt) to have the best chance to secure a job that helps cover the costs to provide for oneself? It's because we are doing a lousy job in K-12. We are short changing our youth and jeopardizing our future standard of living.

To quote the Apollo 13 astronauts, “Houston, we have a problem.” I think the problem we face as a nation is just as dire. Similar to the Apollo 13 mission, we can solve our problem, but it requires us collectively acknowledging we have a problem, which is kind of hard when the blind lead the blind.

Republicans love to say education is a state and local issue, yet states (even those led by Republicans in ** cough ** Florida and Texas) continue to gut school funding. Local districts respond by cutting back hours (leads to a host of problems), cutting out PE (and we wonder why children are overweight – duh!) and art. What is not being cut is football. That sounds great, let’s export football! I guess the Republicans want us to home school; now that is local (works for some, but not a best use of our overall resources).

Democrats are not much better. Democrats support the unions first; unions are designed to support their members and the children are not members. Clearly, both parties have forgotten about our children and more importantly, our future.

Sony has a five minute thought provoking and entertaining video on YouTube, which can be found here. Even though it is two years old, it points out how technology and information is changing our world.

After watching the video, one may wonder whether our children are receiving the necessary skill sets with which to solve problems (and have the opportunity to have a decent paying job, which would cover the taxes to support our governmental commitments) in the 21^st century.

I doubt most children are being taught software coding skills, basic personal financial planning/management, etc... How about a second or third language? Even if a 1/8^th of the children in China and India receive such an education, it is more than all our children combined. In some parts of China, the children go to school on Saturday in addition to Monday through Friday. These countries are hungry and they are competitive. This alone should point out why our jobs are going overseas.

Those living in Asia can solve other peoples’ problems at a lower cost, have been and will continue to do so. In case no one told you, your job is not safe.

Instead of improving our football game, we need to improve our education game if we want to stay on top. I have my game face on. How about you?

Corrine Brown Outraged, I'm Outraged

2011-02-17T16:54:00.010-05:00

Ms. Brown was recently quoted saying, "I am simply outraged by Florida Governor Scott's decision to reject $2.5 billion in federal funding for high speed rail…”

I am simply outraged, too! I am not outraged with Governor Scott's decision; I am outraged with Ms. Brown’s priorities.

As I pointed out in my October 5, 2009 post entitled, How Does SunRail Benefit The People?, Ms. Brown should focus her time and efforts on:

Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education;
Healthy Families and Communities; and
Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.

I believe her efforts in those areas would help bring greater long-term benefit to her constituents, which the majority live in poverty.

As I pointed out in my April 23, 2010 post entitled, Saving Lives vs. Rail Transportation, Ms. Brown has invested 10,000 plus hours on transportation matters. Arguably, with Governor Scott's decision some of those hours have been wasted at the expense of children that will grow up in poverty and will probably stay in poverty the rest of their lives because they fail to receive the necessary skill sets to survive in the 21^st century.

I will say again, I am OUTRAGED! I am outraged with Ms Brown's priorities.

Sacred Cows Stand in Our Way; A Call To Action

2011-02-16T12:38:00.048-05:00

Earlier this week our President released his budget for FY 2012 that begins October 1, 2011, which brought forth both praise and condemnation. Regardless, the budgetary process tells us a lot about ourselves (the voters), our elected official, and our electoral process.

Our FY11 budget states that we foremost want to provide for the elderly and the poor in the form of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid followed by protecting our borders and arguably those of our closest allies. However, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Defense and other mandatory expenditures consume more than 80% of our budget. To put in another perspective, these social and military obligations (aka sacred cows) more than exceed all tax receipts with which to fund the budget.

Therefore, if we want a balanced budget without touching these programs and/or raising taxes we most stop allocating approximately $1,000,000,000,000 (that is $1 trillion not the $60 billion everyone is making such a big deal about that the House wants to cut) to the non-mandatory programs in the following departments:

Health and Human Services,
Transportation,
Veteran Affairs,
State,
HUD,
Education,
Homeland Security,
Energy,
Agriculture,
Justice,
NASA,
Labor,
Treasury,
Interior,
EPA,
National Science Foundation,
Corps of Engineers,
Small Business Administration and
Other agencies.

Furthermore, if we want to start paying down the debt after cutting all these other programs we will need to raise taxes and/or reduce spending on these sacred cows.

Additionally, the outlays for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid exceed the tax receipts specific to these programs by approximately $625,000,000,000 or approximately $2,000 per person for 2011 (therefore, a four person household is theoretically responsible for paying an additional $8,000 or $667 per month just for these programs before contributing to roads, education, housing, etc........................I bet you, that after deductions you paid Uncle Sam not much more than that in 2010 Federal taxes). This data point alone should tells us that our elected officials have very little financial common sense and that we are not much better off if we keep electing them.

I think we should cut out the non-sense and swallow the bitter pill, while it is still small, that nothing is sacred. I thought the deficit task force produced a great road-map; as anecdotal evidence, the recommendations arguably displeased both parties. However, our elected officials are doing what they do best; they have pretty much ignored the plan to protect their backers/supporters at the expense of the rest of the nation, kind of like what I found locally.

You and I may not agree where the budget cuts should occur, but hopefully you agree that cuts must be made. Regrettably, I believe taxes will need to be raised, too; I do not know any other way to pay down our debt (which amounts to approximately $50,000 per person or $200,000 per a four person household probably residing in a home at less than that value) absent monetizing it (which would probably wipe out the value in our savings via inflation).

I encourage you to call your representative in Washington; I believe it is in your best interest because if they are not hearing from you then they are hearing from lobbyists funded by special interests. You may find your representative's contact information here. Please call today. You may not reach anyone, but your representative does track the calls received.

I called my representative, Corrine Brown. It took less than a minute from looking up the number via the link above to providing the above mentioned information to the individual receiving calls.

Ms. Brown's staff person was polite, but the individual's hasty exit to end the call tells me that Ms. Brown does not care about our budget crisis. More specifically, the staff person could have responded to my concern by stating the actions Ms. Brown is taking to reign in our spending. Absent this dialog, I am left to believe Ms. Brown's interests lie elsewhere - please read the my other posts if you are a first time reader.

Given Ms. Brown's staff person's response, I decided to call Ander Crenshaw's (FL-4) office, which also took less than a minute. His staff person seemed more interested in hearing me out, but also seemed just as clueless. However, I believe the individual would pass along my concerns, which is much more than I can say about Ms. Brown's office.

If you do not want to call, you could copy pertinent parts of this post or even the URL for this post and paste it in an email to your representative. Your representative's email can be found here.

If you do not want to do that, how about you share the information with your friends and family? I figure if enough people know, then our elected officials will eventually receive word.

Political Rhetoric

2011-01-31T15:36:00.019-05:00

Little over three weeks ago a crazed gunman shot US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8) in the head. Some early reports speculated that the shooting was politically motivated, which led others to comment, one being Corrine Brown. Ms. Brown stated, “certainly, one of the greatest components of American democracy is to be able to resolve conflict through compromise and dialogue, not senseless violence.”

I agree with Ms. Brown in principle.

While we might debate to the degree, if any, whether the shooting was politically motivated or not, but I believe Ms. Brown's statement is apropos. I think the current state of our 'political rhetoric' needs improvement as evidenced by the increasing polarization that has occurred in Congress between the two political parties over the past two decades.

I think Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s maxim “don’t raise your voice, improve your argument”, which he attributed to his mother, points to the difficulty. Improving one's argument requires a lot of work. It requires active listening, knowledge of facts with which to support one's position and the skill to know how to position one's counter arguments. It is not easy, which I think helps explain:

Why people resort to using aggressive language, behavior and or force to achieve one's desires and
Why politicians revert to negative ads.

The use of rhetoric is not new; it is one of the original seven liberal arts (the others are grammar, logic, arithmetic, astronomy, music and geometry). I think if we were to embrace the true concept of rhetoric, we would accomplish more because we would be actively engaged in solving problem(s) and not trying for one-upmanship.

Self-Preservation At the Expense of Others and Our Nation

2010-12-31T16:11:00.012-05:00

The courtship of Ms. Brown by some of her campaign contributors highlights a significant challenge we face as a nation as we:

Seek to reign in government spending and
Reduce our national debt.

I believe we will not be able to do either, when people knowingly or unknowingly hold self-preservation at the expense of others as their key principle.

I do not know of any other reason that would explain why staunch Republican businessmen and women would donate money to Corrine Brown, whose voting record casts her as a strong liberal and the antithesis to Republican interests. I say “staunch” because a large number of these Republican donors have a history of donating solely to Republican causes with the exception of donating to her. (Please go to this website. Search for those donors that are in the transportation and construction industries then type their name in this website to see a list of those to whom they donated.) I also believe that a “true” (which I think would be the same as “staunch”, but then again…) Republican believes in personal responsibility and small government (which means no handouts).

I have yet to meet a true Republican, white, black, green, yellow any color you choose, that respects Corrine Brown and I would think these donors would be no different. If these donors publicly supported her, I would have no beef. However, I have yet to hear any of these donors get up in front of an REC meeting to state their support for Ms. Brown and why others (Republican or not) should do the same. I bet you, none will.

I would support Ms. Brown, regardless of her political affiliation, if she pounded the table on issues important to her voters and our nation, such as:

We need to improve our education system so we can help our youth (& our future) survive in an increasingly competitive world;
Our workforce needs constant re-training to stay competitive;
We have become a nation of overweight and obese people, which makes it harder for us to compete and more importantly, will over burden an underfunded government medical system (aka Medicaid and Medicare);
We need to save more and rely less on our government; and
So on.

Instead I hear Ms. Brown pound the table on issues that pertain to her self-preservation, such as:

“Fair-districting” is unfair to her and
Political columnists do not have the 1st amendment right to freely state their opinion.

She is also very proud of her ability to raid the cookie jar to “deliver” handouts. These handouts increase our tax burden and led to a cycle of dependency, just like crack and meth. Some of these handouts amount to social welfare, but most amount to corporate welfare (i.e. earmarks), which it seems to me these executives so desperately seek for self (& wealth) preservation.

Fixing our nation will require us to replace our bad habits with good habits. It starts with us “just say[ing] no” to quote Nancy Reagan. I encourage these well-healed executives to help lead the way by example.

I walked the walks throughout the District to put a better representative in Washington and I will continue to walk the walk; I expect others that talk to talk to do the same. Conversely, if at anytime you believe that I have strayed, I expect you to hold me accountable as well.

One Is Known By The Company They Keep

2010-11-16T13:56:00.017-05:00

Last week I met with some friends at Nikki’s Place, an Orlando soul food restaurant located in the district and pictured to the right. The friends were those that I made over the past year when I was on the campaign trail.

This is the second time I have eaten at Nikki’s. Each time the food has been, in a word: delicious. It seems I am not alone in my opinion. Nikki’s place has been nominated as one of the best soul food restaurants in Central Florida.

As I was paying my bill at the table, I was told of this distinction and asked to place my vote in favor of the restaurant online at www.gospelnow.net. This was unexpected and reminded me of a local incident about another firm giving away 'free meals.' It slipped out and I responded by asking our server with an innocent smile on my face if I would receive a coupon for a free meal for my vote.

While everyone at the table chuckled, my humorous jab at Corrine Brown’s recent gaffe bewildered our server. It seems she was unaware of Ms. Brown’s attempt to ** cough ** encourage people to vote. If she had then she had not consider it remarkable enough to give it a second thought.

Based on my observations and comments made by my friends, most in the community are unaware of Ms. Brown’s seemingly ethics violation and if they are, they are unaware that giving a paid inducement to vote is illegal.

One of my friends expressed a concern that when the news did become more widespread that it would give the black community 'bad press'. I understand and respect his fear because he is a proud man and rightly proud of his heritage. I responded to him that I thought the community could protect its pride by calling out Ms. Brown for her actions and deriding her for shedding negative light on the community. I believe if the community were to do that then it would most likely avoid a “black-eye” and possibly receive profound respect by the general population at large.

Post Toasties

2010-11-03T09:31:00.006-04:00

No surprise. Corrine Brown soundly wins another term in Congress.

As we expected (please see my response to Bo’s comment pertaining to my ‘Yost Is Toast’ blog post) she handily beat Mike Yost. Ms. Brown received 61% of the vote. Mr. Yost received 36% of the vote and the remaining crumbs went to Terry Martin-Black.

These results line up with what our research predicted. As we noted 20% of the voters were undecided, but these voters lived in the inner city. These voters believe (correctly) Corrine Brown has accomplished little and more importantly feel she is an ineffective representative of the African-American community.

However, these voters chose her over Mr. Yost primarily because of Yost is of the 'wrong' party affiliation and that he did little to court their vote. I think the axiom, tried and true: "rather do business with the devil you know", holds true here.

Even though Ms. Brown won this election, her actions leading up to the election may put her in hot water. It seems she offered free meals for early voters. If this seeming ethics violation does not sink her career then we think the release of the Census results, and the decennial redistricting that follows, along with two amendments requiring the Florida Legislature to draw district boundaries without regard for partisanship that were approved by voters yesterday will go a long distance down the path of ending her vacation in Washington DC.

If True To Their Word, Republicans Will Cut Jobs

2010-10-26T12:11:00.018-04:00

With the general election upon us next week, politicians seeking office are performing a full court press to deliver their message. Most Republican candidates seem to be stating popular catch phrases such as, will reduce government spending, lower taxes, reduce the size of government, etc.

Those phrases sound great, but the phrases are not new. Politicians have been stating them for ages, but our government is bigger today than it was 200 years ago, which leads me to wonder whether Republicans will have the backbone to 'walk the walk'.

Republicans can sure 'talk the talk'. However, if they are serious about reducing the size of the government and lowering taxes then I think they better start telling folks they will need to cut jobs, more specifically, jobs within the Federal government.

The Federal government is no different than most organizations. Arguably one of the largest cost centers for the government is wages and benefits (which include the hidden 'timebomb' of unfunded retirement benefits); therefore, to reduce spending - and the need for taxes, the number of positions will need to be cut.

Time will tell whether the Republicans will address this dirty little secret and more importantly, follow through on their rhetoric to reduce the size of our government.

When President Obama had to walk the walk by seeking to raise taxes to pay for his talk about providing benefits to all, he lost some of the goodwill he generated on the campaign trail. I suspect the same may happen to the Republicans once the press starts to publish news articles which contain stories of human suffering as a result of job cuts within Federal government agencies.

Therefore, I think the Republicans need to state a truthful, fair and balanced plan to the American people, a plan that will detail opportunities provided by a smaller government as well as the challenges to arrive at a smaller government. This plan needs to acknowledge possible financial setbacks by those who may lose their Federal government job. By articulating such a plan sooner rather than later and addressing the human element, I think the Republicans could gain the respect of the American people and in the process ward off any bad press that may come about from job cuts within the government sector.

Yost Is Toast

2010-08-25T10:57:00.007-04:00

Yesterday Florida held its primary elections. In the Primary election, Mike Yost, who thinks he should be representing Florida's Third Congressional District, won the Republican primary with 8,758 votes (or 45.8% of total). The Democratic incumbent, Corrine Brown won the Democratic primary with 34,292 votes (or 80% of total) over her opposition candidate. Even though Mr. Yost won here, sadly I think he should realize that he is toast.

The results indicate that Corrine Brown should easily win the general election in November. She received more votes than the total number votes cast for all Republican candidates plus her lone Democratic opponent, 34,292 versus 27,720 or 55% versus 45%.

Based on my research in the district, the swing vote is with those in the inner city, an area Mr. Yost seems afraid to tread. Case in point, just look at Mike's website. Even looking closely, it is very hard to find pictures of the faces of people that make up the core of the district. Additionally, he does little to address the specific core issues in the district, such as extremely high unemployment (3x the figure he uses), crime, broken families, etc., which may be a sign of the 'anti-incumbent' times. As I walked and talked in the pre-primary explorations I found that these local concerns are the issues that resonate in the swing voters. I say the following sadly for Mr. Yost (because he has worked hard), I believe he will end up like all the other Corrine Brown opponents, a Loser with a capital L.

Human Nature Led To The Oil Spill In The Gulf

2010-07-28T14:42:00.010-04:00

It has now been three plus months since BP’s Macondo oil well began spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has had little immediate effect on the people living in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (FLCD-3); however, I believe the spill highlights the challenge we face in solving any problem, whether it is inner city poverty, unemployment or a disaster such as the oil spill. The challenge is us, more specifically, human nature.

In the case of the oil spill, BP is responsible, but so is the US federal government. The common element between these two entities is humans. Humans by nature want more of something (it) than less (i.e. greed), want it now versus later (i.e. impatient), and want it by incurring the least labor/cost (i.e. lazy). This type of human behavior has led to the invention of the remote TV control, the dishwasher, the washing machine, etc… This type of behavior has also led to the Macondo oil well spill.

BP wanted the well producing oil ASAP (i.e. greed & impatient). The company pursued actions that contained costs (i.e. greed & lazy) and allowed the company to proceed expeditiously, actions that in hindsight are now considered by all to be irresponsible. Obviously, BP forgot or just did not know my mother’s axiom, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Similarly, our federal government acted irresponsibly; the people running Minerals Management Service trusted the industry they were tasked to monitor instead of incurring the cost of time and labor to ensure proper oversight (i.e. lazy).

Government is not the solution. Neither is private enterprise. We, as individuals, are the solution. However, as individuals we can not solve large problems on our own, we need each other. As such, we should seek interdependence, but to achieve interdependence we should first seek independence. We must take responsibility for our own actions because once we do that, we can then hold others accountable for their actions and respect others who hold us accountable for own actions. Whether in private enterprise or government, I believe we will be able to achieve more when we all think of the consequences of our actions (i.e. cause and effect).

The question you may be asking is how does this all relate to FLCD-3? In the case of FLCD-3, the people need a hand-up, not a handout. Private enterprise will not do it because there is little money (i.e. greed) to be made in giving a hand-up; however, it is easier (i.e. lazy) for government to give a hand-out then designing/creating programs that help people stand on their own two feet.

It is in Corrine Brown’s best interest to "deliver" handouts to her constituents by taking other people's money (arguably those that live outside the district because they make more money than those in the district) via federal taxes because it keeps her in power (i.e. greed). I just wonder when her constituents will wise up to the difference between a handout and a hand-up and say enough is enough and seek more out of life (i.e. greed).

I suspect her constituents could care less where the money for the handouts comes from even though they should. I contend her constituents should care because I suspect it will become increasingly hard to take other people's money to continue these handouts. Once the handouts start to diminish, life will become harder. To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

I contend those with the money should also care. I believe it is in their best interest to ensure that folks in communities such as those like FLCD-3 receive hand-ups not handouts. Both cost money (via government taxes of middle and upper class Americans), but hand-ups will eventually produce dividends and will help reduce the demand on the middle and upper class to pay for future government programs. In other words, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Get Involved! It Is The Only Way To Protect Your Interest.

2010-06-29T10:53:00.013-04:00

Time flies. It has been more than two months since I last posted, which leads me to think about one reason why we, as a nation, are so frustrated with our (federal) government.

I suspect my challenges are similar to most at a very high level. We, as a nation, have more obligations/commitments than there is time in the day to accomplish (i.e. we attempt to fit ten pounds in a five-pound sack). Consequently, higher priorities, such as family, career, staying fit, etc…, take precedent over investing time and efforts in things such as, our government. As a result of not investing our time and efforts (except on Election Day) in OUR government, we wake up to find one day that we do not like what our government is doing (Please forgive me if I do not speak for you and you are satisfied; keep doing what you are because it seems to be working).

We are to blame for this problem. We are ceding control to those we have little to no influence over. We elect politicians who typically have the biggest campaign account. If neither you nor I gave them the money, where did it come from and what kinds of strings are attached to the money? Forget the strings, donors have greater access than non-donors to our politicians. Consequently, this access gives the donors a greater ability to influence the political process.

To offset this influence, we need to get involved. I am not asking you to donate money; I am asking to do something harder. Make phone calls; go door to door. It will be enlightening, fun and most of all it will be rewarding. Find someone you like and respect that is making a sacrifice to represent you. We need citizen politicians, not career politicians. The longer a career politician is in office the more likely he or she will end up representing their financial backers’ interest, which may be (... and probably is) opposite to your interest. If you choose not to get involved, please never say anything bad about our government because if you cannot walk the walk please do not talk the talk.

Get involved!

Oh, one last thing to think about it. If we had a smaller government (i.e. we govern ourselves individually) then we would not need to get heavily involved, would we? Sounds like a post for another day on personal responsibility.

Saving Lives vs. Rail Transportation

2010-04-23T13:05:00.013-04:00

What is more important, saving lives or advocating railroad transportation? I asked myself that question after reading Teen pleads guilty in pizza murder in the Metro section of the April 23^rd, 2010 print edition of the Florida Times Union.

Obviously, saving lives is more important. However, for Corrine Brown I believe advocating railroad transportation is more important (Ms. Brown chairs the Railroad subcommittee of the Transportation committee; the only other committee she sits on is Veteran Affairs).

Without even asking Ms. Brown, I know she would whole-heartily disagree. Who would not? Is it not human nature to have some natural instinct to care for others? However, realities of our own individual lives may leads us to take action(s) in the near-term that conflicts with this natural instinct.

In the case of Ms. Brown and the Democratic Leadership, it made perfect sense to place her on the Transportation Committee when she was elected in 1992 for 2 reasons:

1. There are railroads, airports, ports and waterways in her district; and

2. She and the Democratic Party would more likely receive donation from companies and individuals in these sectors than they would in say….early childhood development, lifelong learning, and communities.

I do not fault the individuals and companies that have donated to Corrine Brown. I would expect them to. I am all for railroad transportation, but what I do expect is for my representative, Ms Brown, to focus on representing more of the district than a select few for her and her political party’s financial well being (I say political party because the Republican Party is just as guilty). If she truly cared about the district then she would have found a way to be on a committee that would have a greater positive impact on the citizens of Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3).

The following table shows all the committees our representatives could sit on (can click on chart to enlarge).

Based on what you may know of CD-3, which do you think would be appropriate? When I surveyed voters in the district, an overwhelming majority selected Education and Labor first. Transportation was typically fourth on the list after Financial Services and Small Business.

If I have not helped you convince yourself, please look at the subcommittees for Education and Labor and Transportation shown below and think about which would have the most impact on the people in CD-3 (can click on chart to enlarge).

Back to the above mentioned news article. The story is similar to most news articles pertaining to CD-3, young black person commits a crime ….. Sometimes, news outlets report about community representatives (ministers, social workers, community activists, etc..) that speak out against the police for either going over the line or not doing enough to prevent such a crime. I could lead into personal responsibility, family unity, etc…being most important in preventing crimes, but the purpose of this bog entry is show that Ms. Brown could have done more. I could go as far as to say that she has blood on her hands. However, she is like most of our elected officials in Washington. She is concerned more about donations and running for office than doing what is right.

For the past 18 years she has spent approximately 10,000 hours (or 5 years if one assumes a full-time career) on transportation matters. Just think, if she spent that same amount of time on the Education and Labor committee then is possible that one life in the district could have been saved? I definitely think so and it is just example on why we need term limits. She and the Democratic Party are obviously not going to change. She is too well entrenched. Term limits would force her out and give us the opportunity to have better representation.

Term Limits = Voices Heard

2010-04-21T12:46:00.004-04:00

Have you ever thought about the one thing that we can do today to help solve a large percentage of the problems associated with our Congress? I have, a lot. I conclude it is quite simple. We vote for candidates that support term limits. To better understand my thesis, I will explain the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ below.

The ‘Why’

The key benefit of term limits is that more candidates will run, which means that there will be a greater chance that our voices will be heard in Washington.

When was the last time that Corrine Brown went door to door as aggressively as I did? The answer was back in the 1990s. She now spends her time supporting special interest (her donors: individuals & PACs) possibly at places like football games. More specifically, she primarily supports railroads.

Should she not support early childhood development, lifelong learning, and communities? Yes, but there is no money in these areas, but there is money in railroads.

She has used the community’s goodwill to her and to her financial supporters best interest. No serious contender has run against her in a decade because the powers-to-be in the community (i.e. ministers, community activists, etc…) have not held her accountable, which is a crying shame.

However, Corrine Brown is not much different than most other representatives. Our representatives bow to these well-funded interests because they need the donations to stay in office. It is a win/win/lose situation. The candidate wins, the special interest wins (see below) because they know it is hard to vote out an incumbent absent a scandal and the community loses (District 3 still has high poverty, high unemployment, high crime, etc.).

Special Interest Wins

If not convinced, please think about this. Why do young, healthy people that choose to be uninsured now have to pay for insurance? Short answer, the well-funded interest (in this case, the insurance industry) paid-off your representative (through campaign donations) to make it happen in the recently passed healthcare bill. As a result of this bill, government will grow, which means we will pay higher taxes. One of those taxes will be hidden in the cost medical devices, which will be passed on to all consumers through insurance premiums.

If not railroads or healthcare, it will be something else in favor of well-funded interests until we receive term limits.

I know I have not connected the dots as well as I could, so I reserve the right to keep coming back to this point.

The ‘How’

Support is action, not talk. Once in office, our representative’s top priority should be term limits, similar to our current President’s making healthcare his top priority.

We know it will be a top priority when our elected officials do whatever they can to create a bill, vote on the bill and pass the bill to add an amendment to our Constitution whereby members of Congress can serve only ‘x’ number of terms. We will know it is a top priority when:

1. We see them on C-SPAN at 10:30 PM EST speaking on the floor with the same fervor that current members spoke about healthcare the past six months;

2. The Speaker of the House stands on the steps of the Capital and makes a proclamation that the bill is great for America similar to what the current Speaker did in support of healthcare; and

3. Other similar visible acts.

If we do not see such actions then we know it is not a top priority and we must act accordingly. We most vote for the best challenger that indicates that they will help create and vote for such a bill. If they fail to do so after being elected then we must act again. We vote for the best challenger (I do not care if the challenger is not as smart, not as nice, etc..All I care about is putting term limits in place). We keep doing this until our members of Congress are subject to term limits. It is that simple.

Last Thought

The Founders of our nation did not have to contend with term limits because life expectancy 200+ years took care of that.

My Email To Chairman Bernanke

2010-04-09T14:17:00.010-04:00

Below you will see a copy of my email that I sent to Chairman Bernanke based on an April 7, 2010 news report in the Wall Street Journal entitled Bernanke Says U.S. Should Tackle Debt.

Did I expect him to respond? No. Why should I? He probably receives thousands daily and probably has a staff solely dedicated to reading his email. However, I was hoping, albeit remotely, someone from his office would respond. Anybody can talk the talk, but few will truly walk the walk.

I put my money where my mouth is; I just ran out of money (please see post below). However, I plan to keep walking and may be even start running. I may also be tilting at wind mills, but DAMN IT!, if we do not change, then a CRISIS will force us to change.

What we are currently experiencing is not a crisis. I realize and understand for those unemployed, it definitely is, but for our nation it is not. I plan to explore this topic in greater detail in a future post.

If Chairman Bernanke is truly serious about our debt - beyond just trying to ensure he pacifies owners of our debt (wink, wink - China) - then how hard is it for him to direct his staff to take some actions. With a little brainstorming, a few great ideas could pop out. My suggestions are:

1. Put together a one page talking paper for the masses which:

A. Can be easily consumed (not written to an 8^th grade level, but a 4^th grade level);

B. Highlights the challenges associated with our debt;

C. Highlights how we, as nation, may reduce our debt; and

D. Can be easily found and downloaded from the Federal Reserve website or sent to people in response to their emails;

2. Arrange to go to all the lobbyist firms and trade associations to help them see - requires a little salesmanship - the benefit(s) to their respective industries by supporting politicians that are committed to reducing the debt (currently politics is primarily about the money and we have allowed the these organizations to have too much sway over our elected officials, another future post);

3. Work with K-12 education groups to start promoting a better understanding of a sound fiscal policy (our children will bear the true cost of our debt; so should not we prepare them to handle it? – another future post); and

4. The list could go on.

I/we do not need Chairman Bernanke to perform some of the above-mentioned items. I/we can do it our selves. Even though I need to focus on my business and family as you probably would prefer doing, I am making time to work on this matter because I believe it to be of utmost importance. Hopefully, I can help you convince yourself and others of the same. Please read the September 4, 2009 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by John Fund for a possible start.

Copy of email to Chairman Bernanke:

Dear Chairman Bernanke:

Thank you for commenting yesterday on the challenges associated with our national debt.

I wholeheartedly applaud you for doing so.

However, I believe you cannot mention once and move on.

I strongly encourage that you pound the table daily on this matter.

We did not get here overnight nor will we get out of our mess overnight. I believe the only way our elected officials will tackle the debt is when those that help them get elected realize that it is important. The only way that will happen is if someone, such as you, makes it his or her mission to constantly sound the alarm.

I recently attempted a run for Congress as a citizen candidate primarily for this reason, but due to lack of funds I ended my campaign. The following link to my blog, http://flcd-3.blogspot.com/, highlights my short-lived, but enlightening campaign.

I would like to help you help our nation tackle this issue, please let me know how I may assist you.

Best,

James Gilman

What's Up Doc?

2010-03-31T10:08:00.017-04:00

If you have read this post and want to see the most recent then click here (at the rate I have been posting lately, it could be one and the same, lol).

You may have been redirected to this blog by visiting www.votegilman.com. Please read the following to have a better understanding why I ended my campaign to represent Florida’s 3rd US Congressional District. I thank all my supporters and hope each of you will continue to follow this blog.

I suspect you may be wondering where I have been for the past three months. Well, I encountered several challenges that essentially culminated in late December 2009/early January 2010. As a result, I thought it would be prudent and financially sound for me to focus on my business, which I had neglected because I thought it could run on autopilot.

To best understand the challenges, I need to be more forthcoming on whom I am and what I originally sought to accomplish with this blog.

Who is James?

First, I am married to a beautiful bride and have 2 wonderful and adoring children. Professionally, I am a financial analyst, but have had held other varied positions in my 20 year career. I have always had a sense of civic pride and most everything I have done has been to build skill-sets with which to one day seek public office; however, I did little in those 20 years to be politically active, which in hindsight was a mistake that will be shown painfully clear below.

Why Blog?

In October 2008 at the height of the last election cycle, I decided I would seek federal office because I was and still am concerned about the direction our government and nation is heading (a post for another day). I started this blog in August 2009 as a way to document what I was learning about the citizens and issues of District 3. I thought the blog could be one way to gain people’s trust and confidence that I am qualified to represent the District in Washington. It had always been my intention to have a formal campaign website, but until it was built, I decided to use this blog as a surrogate.

Was There a Plan?

When I made the decision in late 2008 to run, I built a plan with the help of trusted advisers to accomplish my goal. One thing the plan required was for me to become self-employed so I would have greater control over my schedule. After landing one contract and working on landing another, I became self-employed in January 2009. Concurrently, I attempted to build-out a campaign organization. I knew I did not know much about running a campaign. I thought 2 years would be enough time to learn and recover from the mistakes I may make; however, I now know differently.

Money, Stupid!

A campaign is like a start-up. No!; a campaign is a start-up and here I was attempting to get 2 start-ups off the ground during one of the worst economic downturns we have experienced in several decades. While starting a new venture and building a campaign organization during an economic downturn may not be the wisest move, I was and continue to be a firm believer that anyone with a positive mental attitude can accomplish almost anything in reason.

However, in my case, my optimistic assumptions were tested and some if not most were proven wrong:

1. My business started slow and some contracts never materialized;

2. Donations for the campaign were extremely hard to come by;

3. I attracted few volunteers and some that I attracted would never start or would quit a day later;

4. The economy failed to take off; and

5. The list goes on.

The painful reality of my challenges hit in late 2009. I had collected little in donations to pay the approximate $11,000 fee to get on the ballot, so I started in earnest early December collecting signed petitions. I woefully underestimated the challenge and the costs involved (I would have known if I had participated in other campaigns previously). I quickly calibrated my plan, but I would have to invest most of my time in the field, which meant neglecting my business. I was not too worried; I still had one contract that would come through soon and as a result everything would be okay.

Murphy’s Law Still Applies

Well, Murphy of Murphy’s Law paid a visit. I received new information on MLK day that the above mentioned contract would not materialize anytime soon if it would materialize at all. While my family had been very supportive over the past year and I am sure they would have continued to be, I personally came to the conclusion that my family needed me to focus on my business. I just could not campaign about financial stability when my family was not financially stable. I had put us at risk; I had loaned money that we really did not have to the campaign and there was no guarantee I would get on the ballot. I had to stop the bleeding so I could fight another day. As such, I stopped actively seeking petitions and stopped actively fundraising. Now that the qualifying period is coming to an end, I can say with certainty that I will not be on the ballot.

Life Is Not Worth Living If You Do Nothing With It

Looking back on the last several months, I fell into a serious funk after I made the decision to stop actively campaigning. The past year has been fun; there is nothing more exhilarating than pursuing one’s dreams and aspirations. I encourage all people to chase theirs.

I will most likely run for office again, but priorities require me to focus on providing for my family, which I truly look forward to doing. In the meantime, I will continue to post to this blog because I have learned a lot. You would be the judge, but I believe this knowledge and insight could help District 3, Florida and our nation. So, stay tuned.

Visit to a Food Bank & Barbershop

2009-12-06T22:04:00.009-05:00

On Friday I spent time visiting a food bank held at Tuskawilla United Methodist Church (TUMC) followed by a visit to DJ’s Barber Shop and Hair Salon. Both the church and barbershop are not in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3), but both serve constituents that are from the district.

Food Bank Provides Hope
The food bank was started by Bishop Ron Johnson, who has is own ministry, but due to the large need, he found a helping hand from Reverend Dwayne Craig, Senior Pastor at TUMC, to distribute the food. The Bishop made an astute observation to me that the people must really have a need if they travel far to sit for two hours to receive less than two boxes of food. I confirmed his statement by talking with some of the recipients. Some were unemployed, others underemployed. While the food was not enough to last a week, it helped to keep the food bill down, especially so when there may be several generations under one roof. Typically, the matriarch was there to receive the food, but there were a few men as well. Also, all age groups and races were present.

The last person to go through the line left a lasting impression on me. The person was a middle aged woman that was dressed slightly nicer than the rest. She had been keeping to herself in a far back corner of the room with her head down low fiddling with a small notebook. Her actions alone spoke volumes. I believe she once had a stable income, but with the recession lost the ability to make ends meet.

Like this woman, I believe all would prefer not to be there, but there may be nowhere else for them to turn; however, seeing the smiling faces upon leaving, one could tell that the food helps the recipients to worry less. As the Bishop told me, the food gives them hope when there is none. With hope, the people should one day find a way to once again support themselves and eventually help others that are in a similar need. The Bishop introduced me to two women that had made that journey and were now helping to distribute the food.

Barbershop Talk
After visiting the food bank, the Bishop introduced me to a good friend of his, DJ, at DJ’s Barbershop. I was very fortunate to be introduced to DJ because he gave me wonderful advice and additional insight into the community. Some of the things we talked about were:
1. The youth not having hope;
2. Keeping my word; and
3. Other politicians courting the community’s vote, but later turning their back after being elected.

In reference to the last point, I think as politicians try to appeal to as many different constituents as possible, some may make too many and/or lofty commitments that they end up satisfying no one. While the African-American community may have had more than it share of broken promises from politicians, I believe America as a whole has had it share of broken promises, too. Per DJ, what is different is that the African-American community places a greater emphasis on a person’s word because for a long time, the only thing of value in the African-American community was a person’s word.

While there are differences between the many cultures that make up America, I think people in general want to find common ground with each other so we can work together to help make things better. Obviously, CD-3 is more in need than other parts of the country, but it does highlight some of the challenges we face if the economy continues to remain anemic for an extended period of time.

Should We Hide Inmates On Work Release Programs?

2009-12-04T11:32:00.004-05:00

I occasionally go to The Jacksonville Landing for lunch at the food court since it is a couple of blocks from my office. Upon leaving the food court this past Thursday, I noticed several women wearing bright orange outfits with “Jail” emblazoned on the back performing work around The Landing (which sits on city property).

Since crime is more common in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3) than the other surrounding congressional districts due in part to high unemployment and poverty, I picked up a conversation with one of the inmates in an attempt to learn what led her to commit a crime. In the process of talking to the inmate, I learned that she coincidentally lives with her mother in the district. However, I did not have the opportunity to learn more because a fellow patron and fellow resident of CD-3 took offense of me having a conversation with the inmate thinking that I would place her in further trouble. The gentleman also shared with me that he thought the Sheriff Department's decision to place her and her fellow inmates on display via a work detail was bad because it could negatively impact the inmates’ morale.

While I respect his concern that I may have placed the inmate in further trouble, I see nothing wrong in a properly supervised work detail comprised of low risk inmates for several reasons, which are:
1. The inmates committed a crime and owe a debt to society. More specifically, taxpayer dollars are used to house criminals; therefore, why not use inmate labor to maintain city property?
2. Should not the visible display of a work detail made up of inmates serve as symbol to others that crime does not pay?

I rhetorically asked the gentleman should not our interest lie more in helping to prevent a crime from ever taking place than worrying about an inmate’s psyche?

Crime prevention requires a two-prong attack, the stick and the carrot (in other words, fear and desire). A work detail just happens to be the stick; it should induce fear that crime leads to unpleasant things for the perpetrator. The perpetrator may then have desire to find work, which arguably would lead to a more satisfying and enjoyable life. If the person cannot find work then we need to find out why. Typically, the reason is lack of a proper education. However, in this case, I never did find out the real reason because the work detail moved on.

Education More Important Than Transportation

2009-11-22T15:19:00.005-05:00

I walked through the Highlands section of Jacksonville, FL off Broward Road near the Trout River in Duval County within Precinct 08X. Similar to other communities that have water front properties, the further removed from the water, the less affluent the neighborhood becomes. As such, the interest and concerns of the people change as well.

I found most of the people with whom I spoke very helpful, some even referring others to me. Most all liked my message that education/lifelong learning was more important than transportation related issues, such as high speed rail, to solving the ills of the district.

Despair in Interlachen, FL

2009-11-16T09:31:00.004-05:00

I visited Interlachen, FL several miles west of Palatka, FL in Putnam Co. While people were friendly to me, I sensed despair, which I attribute to a poor economy and the lack of work in town.

I met one man who has been out of work for over a year. He and I spoke for about an hour. He felt that most politicians had lost touch with people like him. Others in town seemed to have the same feeling. I think it boils down to a buy vs. build decision. As I see it, politicians buy a campaign machine at the expense of building a grassroots organization comprised of volunteers.

While most politicians probably prefer to utilize a grassroots approach, they revert to buying a campaign machine because of two main challenges, which are:
1. Human nature; people do not work for free unless there is something in it for them; and
2. Building an effective grassroots campaign is hard and time consuming. Most politicians do not have the skill set (i.e. selling the intangible, ideas to get people motivated to volunteer) and the time to go door-to-door to jump start the process.

Therefore, politicians end up pursuing those with dollars (typically special interest) at the expense of ignoring a sizable amount of the voter base until they no longer can, which is around election time. However, I think people are getting frustrated with their elected officials and are more willing to volunteer.

Just think if more people got involved with campaigns by taking an hour or two out of the month to spread the word about candidates, then candidates may begin to shift their focus. In doing so, politicians will become more accountable to their true constituents (i.e. voter base), which in theory should lead to better legislation.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Of The House Healthcare Bill

2009-11-08T09:51:00.009-05:00

A more appropriate solution to our healthcare challenge is establishing a task force rather than enacting a healthcare bill (as passed with a very narrow majority in the US House) that fails to address the primary issue. The primary issue is affordability, either due to low income by an individual or high cost for services and products sold to an individual. When we balance the humanitarian component with the financial component, we are more likely to build a solution that benefits all. Both parties share responsibility for the current mess because it has taken us decades to get here. A task force focused more on solving problems and less on politics will most likely come up with a better solution for America than what can come from our Congress.

If the current bill, as passed by the US House, is enacted:
1. The Good is that more Americans will have greater and easier access to healthcare, which undoubtedly benefits a sizeable percentage of people living in Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3).
2. The Bad is that there will be losers, which builds resentment with those that lost.
3. The Ugly is that our country will be worse off in the future because the primary issue of affordability (that makes healthcare inaccessible) was never solved and in the end those that should benefit most will most likely suffer once again, which is not good for CD-3 long-term.

Point 1 from above should be easily understood, what might not be are Points 2 and 3. Anytime there is vocal opposition, as we have seen in response to the healthcare legislation, then there are losers, perceived and/or real. Most people in business (which is totally different than politics) know that all parties should win in the formation of a deal.

With the current healthcare reform, the President and the controlling party in Congress are trying to ram down some people’s throats a bill that they distaste. This will build resentment and is bad for our country long-term. We need to work together.

We cannot put the parties on a couch or put them in a room to work out their problems so instead we need to turn over the process of crafting a workable solution to a neutral party comprised of experienced healthcare consultants. The consultants would get paid their normal fee for their work, but would also receive incentives over time for achieving milestones such as reducing the cost of providing healthcare from currently 16% of GDP to 11% of GDP (inline with other industrialized nations) while making healthcare accessible to those that currently do not have it.

This will not be easy and it will take time. I suspect it will be a multiple step process that will take ten (10) years or more. There will be an initial research phase followed by implementation of some items followed by evaluation and additional researched followed by ... and so on until we arrive to a solution that the majority of Americans (not elected officials) initially agreed upon.

Working Class Just Getting By

2009-11-08T09:50:00.009-05:00

I visited the Ortega Hills area near the Jacksonville Naval Air Station off Highway 17 in Jacksonville, FL/Duval Co. within Precinct 14K this past Saturday. The people that make up this older neighborhood work as technicians, truck drivers, etc… Consequently, these folks are feeling the pain of the prolonged recession; one even indicated that his house is in the process of being foreclosed.

I met another man who is now retired. He lives in the community’s model home that he purchased 50+ years ago. He claims to still have some of the furniture that came with the house. The day I talked to him, he was doing work in his shed. He explained that he was no longer registered to vote because he was getting called in too often for jury duty and did not like reporting to due to health issues associated with old age. I can empathize with him after observing him struggle to move about the shed.

I have met others who are also not registered to vote for one reason or another, but I think the prevailing reason is that people do not believe their vote makes a difference. While statistically true, the process of voting (vetting candidates, etc…) is what protects our freedoms. I try to impart this when I visit with people that chose not to register, but my points seem to fall on death ears sometimes, which may indicate that some people have given up hope.

Green Cove Springs Inviting

2009-10-31T11:34:00.009-04:00

I visited Green Cove Springs (GCS), which is the county seat for Clay County, the county just south of Duval County. More specifically, I visited with the folks in Precinct 606.

I found GCS very warm and inviting, which I attribute to its nice small town feel. If Jacksonville continues to grow, I could see more people moving to GCS just for this reason.

The issues here are essentially the same as in other precincts I have visited. However, I had a wonderful conversation with a longtime resident, who approved of my message of promoting education over transportation as a means of helping the people in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District solve their challenges.

Education Is A Higher Priority Than Transportation

2009-10-25T09:47:00.008-04:00

I walked through the community near A. Philip Randolph High School off Golfair Boulevard in Jacksonville/Duval County within Precinct 08M. This area has a mixture of older homes and new homes, some built by HabiJax, a Habitat for Humanity Project. Based on my conversations, I believe there is a sense of community pride and cohesiveness among the inhabitants.

I was mainly interested in the people’s thoughts towards education. It seems that most believe education is a top priority for the community for the simple reason that with an education, youth are better able to find a job/career and avoid a life of crime. All with whom I spoke indicated that they support elected leaders that place education as a top priority over other issues, such as railroads.

No Silver Bullet

2009-10-21T10:00:00.012-04:00

In my first post entitled, Sadness and Hope in Durkeeville, my observation pertaining to the tennis courts and lack of a skill center was not accurate. I learned the tennis courts are an integral part of a skill center operated by the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation (MWKF) after meeting, by chance, a board member of the foundation. Based this chance meeting, I realized I needed to conduct more research. I had the subsequent opportunity to meet with the foundation’s Executive Director, Terri Florio.

After my extensive conversation with Ms. Florio and tour of the facility, I have a new found appreciation for MWKF and the tennis courts. However, my research led to an interesting self-discovery period, which took me over a month to come to my conclusions that reinforced my prior convictions. Namely, helping the inner city solve its problems will not be easy and will require lots of fortitude over multiple generations. I hope that as a nation we have it in us because the results will pay dividends such as saving tax dollars and helping a group of people enjoy more freedoms and opportunities.

Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3) is unique in that it encompasses the inner city cores of central and northeast Florida, with the majority of the voters living in Jacksonville, FL. The common characteristics of these inner city cores are high poverty rates, greater incidents of crime and lack of job opportunities. There are many causes that lead to these less-than-desirable effects, but one form of intervention is programs like MWKF that work with the inner city youth to help them make better decisions so they can avoid a life of crime and conversely, have a greater chance of a more fulfilling and rewarding life than their parents and prior generations.

However, spreading the use of programs similar to MWKF is not feasible due to cost alone. Based on MWKF’s cost structure, I calculate it would require over $200,000,000 annually to help just the “at risk youth” in CD-3. There are other issues as well that prevent wide spread adoption of similar programs such as, lack of community support, not all youth will want to or suited to participate, etc.

There is no silver bullet or magic solution. So where do we start? Support programs like MWKF when we can. The following is also needed:
1. A desire in the community to affect change, which means acknowledging the issues and accepting responsibility when warranted;
2. A greater awareness, understanding and desire to help/mentor by those outside the community;
3. An ongoing constructive dialog between those in the community and outside the community; and
4. Effective leadership on local, state and federal levels.

What Came First, The Chicken Or The Egg?

2009-10-10T15:54:00.008-04:00

Today I visited Black Expo held at the Prime Osborn Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Beyond the niche market demographic the expo catered to, it was like most others I have attended.

I was more intrigued by the average income figure of the target market listed on the ‘demographic’ section of the website promoting the expo. The average income of African-Americans living in the area, which Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3) comprises, is slightly less than $27,000 per year or $2,250 per month and is $6,000 less the median income of all inhabitants of CD-3. I am intrigued by that income figure because of the causes and effects from such a figure.

The effects are easier to understand. I believe it is hard to live on that amount of income over an extended period of time, even more so if you are supporting more than one person. Arguably, one can only provide for current necessities and has little disposable income to purchase any kind of quality insurance (such as health, life, or property), to save for an emergency, to save for retirement, to invest in themselves by taking a course at a community college or online, and the list goes on.

There are probably multiple causes which are intertwined leading to less-than-an-average income. Without hope, persistence and a smart game plan, it would be hard to move up into a higher income level. The weak link is a lack of knowledge from an improper or poor education. But how does one know what a proper education is if they have been the beneficiary of an improper education. Hmm? It is kind of like, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Shrinking Standard Of Living

2009-10-05T22:54:00.005-04:00

I visited the neighborhoods of Deland, Florida in Volusia County that comprise Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3). It should not come as a surprise, but the neighborhoods were comprised of people that were less affluent than those that live in the other neighborhoods of Deland that surround CD-3. The issues of poverty, lack of employment opportunities, as observed in the other parts of CD-3, are here, too.

My first visit was with a community recreation center where I had the opportunity to speak with a man that was focused on helping young men avoid the life of crime. He himself had been in prison once. He turned his life around with the help of God and was now an associate pastor at a nearby church, but during the week he worked at the center.

My longest visit was with a group of two men and a woman sitting outside relaxing under the setting sun. All were frustrated with the economy and lack of job prospects. One even complained that his wages were stagnant, yet the cost of living had increased. I can fully understand his plight. He is not alone and I believe more people will join his ranks because of the effects from our past and current fiscal policies.

Our ongoing deficits and large national debt will eventually lead to inflation. Even worse will be anemic wage growth due to foreign competition unless workers can provide greater value obtained through ongoing/lifelong training and education. The good news is that those who can provide value by solving other people’s problems will find employment that provides financial security.

How Does SunRail Benefit The People?

2009-10-05T22:53:00.013-04:00

In Orlando today, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown and U.S. Congressman John Mica hosted US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray H. LaHood for a briefing session on the status of high-speed rail in Florida. More specifically, Secretary LaHood was there to put pressure on Florida to fund the SunRail project (a central Florida commuter rail system) so it has a greater chance to win federal funding for a high-speed rail system.

Even though I advocate rail transportation, the thing that bothers me about SunRail and the initial leg of the proposed high-speed rail in Florida is that it provides very, very little benefit to those in Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3). All this show and tell as seen in this photo makes me wonder whom my Congresswoman is really representing? I do not think it is the citizens of CD-3.

If she were truly representing us in Washington, she would be focusing all her hard work and dedication on those things that would provide a greater impact to our community such as:
1. Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education,
2. Healthy Families and Communities, and
3. Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.

Boys2Men Symposium, A Community Sponsored Program

2009-10-03T22:08:00.006-04:00

I attended the Boys2Men Symposium sponsored by Northside Church of Christ in Jacksonville, Florida. I visited the conference to see first hand the programs designed by the community to help young men in the community achieve success.

Based on what I saw, I would say the symposium was a success; however, this is an isolated program that primarily helps young men that live in the surrounding neighborhoods. There are many other neighborhoods that could benefit from such a program. The challenge is finding the resources, the commitment of a strong leader over an extended period of time, and support from the community to make it a success.

Harlem, NY Is Not In The District

2009-10-02T17:22:00.008-04:00

On my trip to NYC I visited the folks of Harlem Children’s Zone (as shown in this picture). I made a visit because it serves as a basis for Jacksonville’s New Town Success Zone. Prior to talking with a Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) staff member, I walked through Harlem to talk with people on the street to learn their thoughts about the organization.

Of those that knew of HCZ, all spoke favorably. I met a couple of families with young children whom were living in shelters in other parts of the city prior to moving into the zone so their children could benefit from the programs provided by HCZ. I also talked to a student currently enrolled in the programs. He beamed with a broad smile, because he credits the program for giving him the opportunity to attend college the following year.

Following my walk, I debriefed a HCZ staff member that I support their mission, but was concerned that we may be raising a future generation that may believe that these programs come free and will be free of charge for their children if and when they have any. I was told that they are aware of that and that their programs (beyond academic counseling) provide rewards only to those children that have demonstrated positive behavior (attending school, doing homework, etc..). Sounds fair and reasonable, but I am still not sure; however, HCZ has improved lives, which is a major accomplishment that I applaud.

Taking Control Of Washington

2009-09-26T21:37:00.009-04:00

I visited with folks in the eastern most precinct of Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3), 04H in Duval County. This is an older neighborhood that was probably built during the 1950s and 1960s as Jacksonville spread East to the Atlantic Ocean. Some homes and yards are nice whereas others have seen better days.

I had a very engaging conversation with a family. We talked for approximately two hours about:
1. Their disappointment with their current representation in Washington,
2. Their thoughts about the direction of our country, and
3. How to run a political campaign.

It was nice to see citizens so engaged in the political process. If more people were, then citizens of the United States would begin to take back control of Washington by electing people that represented them and not special interests.

Breaking the Cycle in New Town

2009-09-24T17:29:00.014-04:00

I recently visited a New Town Success Zone (NTSZ) monthly meeting in Jacksonville, Florida. New Town is an area within Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3) and is representative of many of the inner city areas of CD-3. It is high in crime, poverty, etc...

NTSZ is modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone and per NTSZ’s website, it is “a community collaboration with the Jacksonville Children's Commission providing intensive resources to families living within the New Town area - supporting children from cradle to college and beyond.” ‘Intensive resources’ is an understatement.

Based on my onetime observation, I was amazed at the amount of resources being applied to this small area. In addition to tax dollars supplied through the city, the police department, a local hospital, and several community/regional charities also contribute resources of one form or another to this area. More importantly, there are many individuals, including outsiders, investing their time and efforts to help others improve their lives.

It is in our nation’s best interest to help people in communities such as New Town learn problem solving skills, etc... so they can become self-reliant. Once self-reliant, these individuals can become productive members of society and possibly help others do the same.

However, I am just not so sure how sustainable and scalable the NTSZ model is in solving the challenges of poverty, crime, etc… throughout CD-3 and elsewhere, yet we need to start somewhere.

Redemption, Caring, Challenging & Resourcefulness

2009-09-19T21:54:00.017-04:00

I truly enjoyed my walk through the St. Nicholas area within Precinct 04S of Duval County. What made it so enjoyable were my observations from other areas of Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3) are starting to meld together. The four separate discussions and the associated takeaways that stirred me the most are titled Redemption, Caring, Challenging, and Resourcefulness and are shown below.

Redemption
I met a convicted felon who was on his way to work as seen here to the right. He was nice young man who had made a bad decision early in his life. He sold drugs (aka recreational pharmaceuticals) resulting in him spending three years of his life in the Madison, FL prison.

I have met multiple felons in my travels through the district; it seems a conviction (regardless of the time spent in prison) is a life sentence. I have not completed a formal study, but for most felons, one time in prison is more than enough to drive them from crime. However, making a living by being on the straight and narrow is hard.

Arguably, felons did not learn good life skills prior to entering prison (or they would have mostly likely not committed a crime) and did not receive any life skills while in prison that would help them make a decent income so they can avoid a life of crime. As a result, it is very hard to find work on which they can live without subsistence from others. When they do find work, it is typically mind numbing and minimum wage. I can see how some fall back into the trap to become repeat offenders. A mind (and a life) is indeed a terrible thing to waste.

I believe the gentleman I met on my walk is sincere about staying free of crime and I hope he can. Something told me he had a lot of people praying for him, me included.

Caring
I had a very long conversation with a man who had his own business. As I walked away from his house to cross a small field, he followed me. As he followed me, he explained that he was going to pick up a piece of trash he saw at the far end of the field. I told him that I would pick up the piece of trash since it laid in my way. What made this occurrence so satisfying is that this man cared about the appearance of his neighborhood and he was doing something about it.

Since I have started my walks, one thing that has been quite common is the abundance of trash in the common areas in the less affluent neighborhoods, as seen in these photos.I just do not understand why people litter. The only thing I can think of is that they have no respect for other people and other people’s property, which leads them to indiscriminately debase our planet we share together. I believe there are people in these neighborhoods who care and would like to see a clean neighborhood, but they may hate picking up after others, may be too tired after a long day to go down to the corner to clean up someone else's mess, etc. I do not blame them; cleaning up after someone else is not solving the problem. Solving the problem begins with early childhood development and teaching right from wrong, etc., but if the parents are not there or do not know right from wrong themselves, where do we start as a society? Not an easy question to answer, to what seems to be so minor at first blush.

Challenging
Another man I met had very good thoughts and challenging questions. He worked in the precinct, but lived in the ‘Northside’ section of Jacksonville, which essentially comprises the majority of the CD-3 in Duval County. I suspect he may live in Precinct 07P where I previously visited or somewhere nearby.

His views were both conservative and liberal. He felt we needed stiffer prison sentences, which I find interesting/amusing/sad/frustrating after my discussion with the felon just described above, yet he was for a nationalized healthcare. He believed parents needed to take more responsibility in raising their children, yet he felt we could do more as society to help out the impoverished.

I agree with him about parents taking a greater role in their children’s lives, but what happens when the parents are not there due to a broken family, parents working two jobs, etc.? Who takes care of raising these children? While he might be from the community, I felt he was out of touch with the more challenging areas of the district.

I recently learned from attending a monthly meeting of the Jacksonville Alliance of Black School Educators, an affiliate of the National Alliance of Black, that 40% of all children in Jacksonville are born to single mothers. This statistic is alarming because of the secondary and tertiary effects that it portends. By lowering that number, I am sure there would be a less of a need for more prisons 15 plus years from now.

Resourcefulness
I met a retired gentleman who was in the process of repairing his tire which had a screw embedded in the tread. I mentioned I normally pay $20 to have it fixed at the tire store. He informed that he was retired and could not afford a $20 fee. However, he did have enough to purchase a repair kit for one-fourth that amount, which would allow him multiple repairs. After watching him repair the tire (as seen in this photo) I was embolden that I could do the same, which I figure would save me time in addition to the money. If I had not interrupted him with our conversation, I am sure he could have done the repair in under five minutes, which is far less than it would take me to drive to the tire store a mile or two from home. I suspect he is not alone in the district in being resourceful since the district has some of the highest poverty rates in the state of Florida and the nation.

Segregated Middle America at the Tip

2009-09-14T21:01:00.009-04:00

I visited the northern most precinct in Florida Congressional District-3 (CD-3), 07P in Duval County. The neighborhoods/communities were probably built within the last twenty years. The streets are wide with a sidewalk to one side and most homes sit on spacious manicured lawns. The homes are similar to the ones in Precinct 01H in Duval County. However, unlike the communities in precinct 01H, which are integrated, the neighborhoods I visited in 07P are essentially not.

I point it out because most other neighborhoods segregated by race in the district are less affluent. It is nice to see a whole community of African-Americans in the district who live in neighborhoods free of crime and poverty and have achieved, which I think most would consider being, the American Dream.

I welcome integration and think it is highly beneficial, but realize segregation still occurs today either by choice or design. I think most Americans want to look past the color of one’s skin, but there are cultural differences between the races that tends to separate us. However, through education, understanding and respect, we can overcome these differences to be a more integrated society. It is happening in communities such as those in Precinct 01H.

Retreat Indoors

2009-09-08T12:03:00.012-04:00

This past weekend I visited several communities within Precinct 01H at the north end of University Boulevard in Jacksonville, Duval County. Historic Sanford aside, these communities are some of the nicest I have visited in Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3) and are inhibited from a socioeconomic standpoint, by both black and white middle income individuals/families. The homes are relatively new, fairly large and nicer than the one my family and I live in.

Interestingly, I had hard time finding people willing to talk with me compared to other neighborhoods previously visited. A beautiful Saturday could be a contributing factor; however, I think it has more to do with the availability of A/C, lack of porches and that these people arguably have longer commutes to work and shopping than others. After a hard work day/week and a long commute, people retreat indoors where it is cool to unwind.

Of the people with whom I spoke, I observed a similar pattern of concerns to those observed in historic Sanford; once basic human needs are satisfied, concerns are more varied.

Two Worlds Aparts

2009-09-02T17:38:00.014-04:00

I visited two separate communities in Sanford/Seminole County. While only a mile apart, the communities were opposite in many ways. The most notable differences can be seen in the two pictures below.

However, the differences go even deeper than from a visual perspective. The concerns of the citizens occupying these different communities are just as stark. The people in the more impoverished neighborhood are concerned about basic human necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, whereas the people in the more affluent neighborhood are concerned about gun rights, abortion, taxes.

The best way to summarize the differences is to look at Maslov’s hierarchy of needs, which goes a long way in understanding those in the community and explaining what people seek from their representation in Washington.

The Ripples From Foreclosure

2009-08-31T22:57:00.020-04:00

I walked through a town home complex in the Lexington Square area within Precinct 14 of Jacksonville/Duval County. I talked to all types of people. I communicated with those that could be classified as working class, professional class, retirees, young families, singles, blacks, Hispanics, whites, liberals, moderates, conservatives. Most seemed content with a few mentions about trash and foreclosed homes with neglected yards (as seen here).

While this community arguably has a higher per capita income than other areas in the district, it is not immune to the effects from the recent economic downturn. If anything, it has been hit just as hard as the more impoverished areas.

Based on my conversations with people in this community, observations in other parts of the district, my experience as a stock analyst, and my understanding of the banking system, I believe we will continue to see more foreclosures. In general, I think foreclosures are highly disruptive to the stability of the family fabric as some families become homeless, move back in with parents or move in with friends. All situations surely lead to stress, which could result in violence, dissolution of a marriage or any other number of negative outcomes. I expect the ripples from these stresses to:
1. Continue to affect policies being made in Washington, D.C for the foreseeable future and
2. More importantly, leave an indelible mark on future generations, which is both good and bad.

Blind Leading the Blind

2009-08-24T22:41:00.047-04:00

Monday August 24, Clay County Democratic Executive Committee hosted a town hall meeting with Florida Congressional District 3 (CD-3) Representative, Congresswoman Brown. As expected, discussion centered on healthcare reform. Even though the meeting was open to the public, approximately only 100 people were in attendance. The small crowd and Ms. Brown can be seen in the photo below.

The low turnout either indicates that people have little interest in what is occurring in Washington (which is not a positive sign) or that the meeting notice was not as well publicized as initially thought. Fortunately, the meeting was civil and there were few disruptions.

To my dismay, Ms. Brown demonstrated that she has very little understanding of economics and current events based on the following anecdotal evidence:

1. She mentioned that she was saddened that Florida had some of the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the country and verbally indicated she did not know why. I would expect my representative to know that Florida’s economy in based in part on tourism and when that dries up due to a sour economy, people lose jobs and when people are unemployed an extended period of time, they are more at risk of losing their home to foreclosure.

2. When she took an informal poll asking the attendees what they wanted in a healthcare bill, one commented that Medicare should be expanded to all, which drew praise from the crowd. I was hoping that someone would ask the hard follow up question about Medicare's funding status (I would have, but only Democrats were allowed to ask questions). I expected Congresswoman Brown to educate the attendees that the Medicare program is at risk of going insolvent, but she did not and I wonder why. I suspect she does not know because she did share negative news about other programs earlier in the meeting. As such, I believe this is a classic case of the blind leading the blind, which is extremely troubling for us long term. I do not expect citizens to know the details of federal government programs, but I think it is imperative that our elected representatives do.

I am not against government providing a healthcare solution or any solution for that matter if it works, but I have yet to see a successful government program implemented on a large scale over an extended period of time. However, I commend our current President for wanting to tackle the situation. We need more of these types of discussions because I believe they serve to educate the populace. With a more informed populace, we should be able to, as a society, make better decisions. Some of those decisions would include prioritizing our spending and saying no to the lower priority items.

What I find interesting with the current discussion on healthcare is that I have yet to hear much talk about fixing Medicare and its cousin, Social Security, which I think is important before expanding government healthcare to all. Both of these social programs will be stressed (even without adding the additional stress of a nationalized healthcare system) in the next two decades due to baby boomers at a time when we will be:

1. Trying to handle one of the largest debt loads the nation has ever faced; and

2. Trying to maintain our supremacy as an economic powerhouse when an ever-strengthening China will surely challenge us.

I understand the need to make healthcare affordable for all, especially for the working class and the uninsurable. If our leadership is blind, as my current representation appears to be, I suggest we go slowly. Conversely, if we want to go fast as our President seems to indicate then I suggest CD-3 needs new representation that has a better problem solving skills and a better understanding of economics.

Cleanse Thy Soul

2009-08-24T22:40:00.011-04:00

I recently worshiped with members of Mount Zion Commandment Keeping Church of the First Born of Central Florida led by Bishop Ron Johnson. I consider the Bishop a friend and believe he is influential in the community of Florida Congressional District 3 (FL CD-3) even though his church is not physically located in the district. His church has a small congregation, which I believe he prefers because it allows him to minister on a more intimate level. He is definitely a man of God and cares about all regardless of creed.

The day I attended there were less than 20 people in attendance. I walked in 5 minutes late, but the Bishop stopped the service to give me a warm welcome. Since he was not giving the sermon that day, he sat next to me. Between hymns and other parts of the service he whispered some context with me about some of the parishioners. I shared with him half way through the service that I enjoyed attending black churches because they are so uplifting and contrasted so much to the church I grew up in. After the formal service ended, I was able to see my fellow congregants with new eyes. I imagine that was his purpose of ministry, to open mine afresh.

Raised as an Episcopalian, I learned the forms of worship such as how to kneel without registering a complaint. As I got older, I took pleasure that I could kneel without complaint. Because of the rote structure of church service, if I were to show up late I could easily pick up the service in the Book of Common Prayer without even looking at the printed order.

Typically, the service will last an hour, but inevitably when I was younger it seemed like two. However, my friend’s church service lasted two and a half hours, but sped by in what seemed like an hour. Based on the few churches I have attended in the district, I am beginning to understand why faith is a big part of CD-3. One feels part of a community and your soul feels cleansed after attending. Amen.

Crime Ridden Neighborhood, Indeed

2009-08-20T14:56:00.014-04:00

Earlier this week I visited an Orlando, Fla. neighborhood bracketed by I-4 to the north, Holden Ave to the south, OBT (Orange Blossom Trail/US441) to the east and Rio Grande Ave to the west. While the area was clean, what I found so striking were the not so subtle signs of crime. One of the more visible signs was a billboard with the word 'rape' in large bold letters within eye shot of three separate large apartment complexes that catered to families.

I just caught a glance of the billboard from the corner of my eye, but I believe it was a 'public service announcement' to help those that were victims of such a hideous crime. What was equally disheartening were the single women standing alone nearby at either a bus stop or street corner wearing short skirts and low cut tops; their appearance told me they were looking for more for than just a ride to the mall. I wonder how some parents of young girls that live in this neighborhood ensure their safety from predators.

At one of the apartment complexes, I met two security guards. I found several things interesting from this meeting:

1. The guards were young, not the older ones seen driving around in pick-up trucks at malls;
2. They wore bulletproof vests, wrap around sunglasses and carried several firearms. They definitely looked like they were ready for action; and
3. They gave me their business card so I could call them if I got into any trouble. I chuckle at their reasoning for giving me their card because I try to envision myself pulling out their card to find their number so I can dial it while I am running, ducking or hiding for my life. Yeah right.

However, from their point of view, having a business card and being willing to stand accountable for those to whom they give it, is a validation of the professionalism they aspired to in performing their job. I thanked each for their kindness and admire their service.

Based on my conversation with the security guards I thought it would better to walk the streets nearby that were lined with houses. At the first two houses I visited, I met two disgruntled old men. Our meetings were very brief. Both men slammed their front doors in my face. I wondered why they would be so angry, but upon leaving their neighborhood in the opposite direction from which I entered, I found my answer.

The quiet working neighborhood they had moved into many years ago had become crime ridden. Upon leaving, I met separate groups of recreational pharmaceutical salesmen just one to two blocks away. I can see how these men could be frustrated. The homes may be paid, but the resale value has probably not appreciated over the years and may even have depreciated, which limits their ability to move.

Further limiting their ability to 'vote with their feet' is their advanced age. If they have not already retired to live on a fixed income, they soon will. As a result, I think they must feel/believe they are kind of trapped in what may seemed to be an ever-worsening world around them. I just wonder how many others in the district feel trapped too.

Sadness And Hope In Durkeeville

2009-08-08T15:54:00.007-04:00

I am truly baffled by the placement of multiple, infrequently used, very well maintained tennis courts in a community rife with poverty, crime and abandoned property; please see photos below.

I recently talked to citizens of precinct 09K within the historic community of Durkeeville in Jacksonville/Duval County, FL. I visited this community after the recent murder of Mary McAllister less than a week ago.

One concerned citizen questioned the wisdom and display of good judgment, building approximately 10 tennis courts in her neighborhood. I could not agree with her more since those courts could not be used due to locks holding the gates firmly closed.

I further agree with the lady that skill centers, not tennis courts are needed by the community. These skill centers would help children and young adults build skills that would be useful in finding a job/career that would provide a living wage, not a minimum wage.

While I talked to quite a few people in the community, I briefly talked to an elderly woman who by all intents and purposes appeared to be taking care of her grandson, arguably not an uncommon occurrence given the high crime rates in the area. The young boy struck me as being misplaced; he seemed so innocent. Maybe it was that his demeanor and politeness contrasted so much with the rough neighborhood just outside the front door of his grandmother’s dilapidated old house (similar to the one shown here).

I still wondered a day later when I wrote this; how will this boy will fare because I can see his potential. I am concerned that drugs and crime will be in his future since they are literally around the corner. However, I hold out hope that:

1. His grandmother will still be around because it appeared she truly wanted a better future for him given the old National Geographics strewn about on the bookshelf by the front door, and

2. That there will be some in government more in tune with community needs prior to providing future community services.

Feel free to write me, with how you feel at: votegilman@gmail.com