Is it raining?

from http://blogs.knoxnews.com

E-Verify Bill Amended to Exclude Employees With Driver's License

Legislation mandating that employers use the federal "E-Verify" system to check whether their new employees are illegal immigrants was amended Thursday to exclude employees that can present a valid drivers license.

The revision, adopted by the Senate Finance Committee late in the day, prompted business lobbyists who had opposed the bill as imposing unwarranted expenses and risk of penalties promptly dropped their objections. The move appeared to assure the measure, SB1699, will pass.

When you think its raining, it may just be a legislator peeing on you.

I didn't agree with the bill in the first place, as it's not right for the government to require businesses to enforce the law. Although I believe we as citizens have a moral obligation to follow the laws of the land and to make sure others do as well, to place the fear of penalty upon business owners is just too much. This law would place a greater burden and penalty upon businesses than it would upon the government whom doles out services and benefits to illegals. 

If we must create laws that restrict the free movement of capital including human capital I am more for an Arizona style law that allows law enforcement to enforce our laws.  

But in this case, I feel that our delegation of legislators, Mike Sparks, Rick Womick, Joe Carr, Jim Tracy, and Bill Ketron, have placed an abundant amount of energy into this bill. They have also said that it would be the reason for a rebound in the economy. So if the economy takes off, its because of this bill, and if it falters, its the amendments fault.  

just read Jim Rogers book, A Gift to My Children,

I am giving the US a little more time to get its act together, but I am worried about my children's future.
Seriously, this country is not ready to face the future. Our high school graduates can barely read and do 6th grade math. The government does not allow for the entrepreneurship spirit to thrive. We block the free movement of capital and people, soon it will most likely be ideas as well.
My ancestors came here looking for better opportunities and I may be like them soon.

QE2 worked so well we will soon need QE3

It's cost $600 billion of our money, and it was supposed to rescue the economy, but has Helicopter Ben's huge financial stimulus package, known as "Quantitative Easing 2," actually worked as planned?

House prices are lower than before QE2 was launched. Economic growth is slower. Inflation is higher.

I guess it depends. I think QE2 protected us from a large scale dose of deflation and sparked a massive boom on the stock market.

But even the stock market boom hasn't been what it appears. An analysis shows that most of the rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index under QE2 has simply been a result of the decline in the dollar in which shares are measured.

What is the truth? QE2 has created a massive new bubble in dollar-based financial assets, from stocks to gold. Meanwhile, it has had zero visible effect on the real economy.

Take jobs. According to the U.S. Labor Department, since last August the number of full-time workers has gone up by just 700,000, from 111.8 million to 112.5 million.

At a cost of $600 billion, that's $850,000 a job.

I believe housing is double-dipping, according to the National Association of Realtors; the average price of an "existing" (i.e. used) home was $177,300 in August, just before QE2. Today it's $163,700 -- or 8% less.

If indeed QE2 has created an entirely artificial bubble in all dollar-based assets, what does it mean when the Fed is done spending its money? Most likely we can expect to see higher interest rates to protect the dollar from falling further and therefore a severe turn in the economy.  

Meanwhile the illusion of a boom is causing all sorts of investors to take crazy risks. Witness LinkedIn's IPO, opens at 80 and rises to nearly 120 before coming back to its senses, its currently trading at 86 today.  Some economists are calling for a return to the gold standard. It certainly makes you wonder what's next. I do not think the average American public can stomach the medicine required to fix this mess and therefore expect another round of stimulus, QE3 anyone? 

An open letter to my students

To my students: (And anyone else who reads my blog)

I know in this day in age, time is so precious. Many of you do not have very much free time, but I suggest you spend more of that time reading instead of watching TV. Recently one of the blogs I follow, www.davidfoster.tv made a list of why you should read.

Here they are:

·  You should read for stimulation.  Oftentimes there is a debate between whether I read fiction, nonfiction, self-help, or only those books that teach me about business.  The truth is, any book, fiction or nonfiction, that stimulates your creative inner mind, that stimulates an inner dialogue, that leads you to new ideas is a good read.  It is amazing how your mind can make connections, creative connections that have almost nothing to do with what you're reading.  Reading stimulates your mind.  It is a must.

·  You should read for insight.  Often an idea, a paraphrase, an illustration will close the loop and allow you to get hold of  a new insight into a problem or even an opportunity.  Insight comes through stimulation of new ideas.  And those ideas are found in books.

·  You should read to remain relevant.  Everyone around you is reading.  People in your field are reading.  As a matter of fact, that becomes their competitive edge, when they know more information than you do.  How do you digest information and stay relevant?  Reading.  Reading the most relevant, effective books. When you're reading what everyone else is reading you remain relevant to the conversation.

·  You should read to write.  One little known fact is that all writers are readers; maybe not in their area of expertise, but they read.  They love to ingest the written word.  They know that a good book has been written and rewritten maybe a hundred times.  The ideas have been distilled and put into practical, forceful, compelling language.  It's where writers learn how to write better - by reading better writers.

·  You should read to stay interesting.  Readers are interesting people.  Interesting people have influence.  Influence is leadership; impact.  When you read, your conversation changes.  Your vocabulary increases.  Your knowledge of the world expands and you become a more interesting person.

Soon I will be starting an entrepreneur's club and I hope you guys join. We will be reading books that will prove to be very valuable to your education and will fulfill the above reasons as well! I'll also be posting what we are reading here on this blog so the rest of the world can join in on the learning! 

Immoral or out of touch? Bogus Property Values

Recently the DNJ ran the story Property appraisals to bring in $1.3M 

Location, location, location is what they say matters most for real estate values, but in Rutherford county the values of property falls, and yet, the county property assessor raises appraised values? What good are appraisals that are inaccurate? For the past 20 years government appraisals have been 10 to 20% below market value, and now the opposite is true. My house appraises for a value I'd gladly take if someone was willing to pay it. I have watched housing prices fall dramatically all over Murfreesboro. Zillow.com gives me the bad news in my Mint.com account all the time. With every sale, the value falls. 

I also recently read, Falling Home Prices More Than Erase $8,000 Tax Credit for Many Buyers, a blog post in the WSJ that serves as another example of news stating that values are falling. 

To say that property values are rising in Murfreesboro is a misstatement. 23,000 notices will be sent out by Bill Boner, of which only 5500 went down in value. I believe this is the county's way of raising taxes on the people. The county commission does not have the resolve to raise taxes because they know people will not stand for it, and either Boner is acting immoral or he is simply out of touch. 

We need a property appraiser that is willing to do the job honestly. They need to appraise the property for a more accurate market value.  When I raised an issue with our Boner last year about raising property values in a falling real estate market his explanation was upsetting to me. He said that if he didn't raise property values then the county commission would just raise tax rates. 

How is that validation for bad policy? 

Let the county commission raise the rate if that is what the county needs, but do not give out bogus property values. The county is stealing from the people when this occurs. 

I hope in the upcoming election cycle that we are able to find an assessor that is willing to tell the truth.  The people of Rutherford County deserve honest government. Not just when values are rising, but when they are falling as well.