THE MIDWEST's STATE OF DENIAL
Filed Wednesday, June 4. 2008
In this new global millennium, organizational titanics must be transformed into streamlined starships in both the public and private sectors. Do we have a comprehensive plan to get our regional states back on track? Some corporate enterprises have executed plans to make a competitive transformation at the cost of adding technology, expanding into new markets and cutting back jobs to reduce overall costs. Many others (along with states and municipalities) are lagging far behind. One of the key catalysts for economic change is having broadband connectivity and making it a No. 1 priority along with job creation for citizens. Politicians have to stop skirting around real issues and focus their efforts on making critical decisions. People don’t care about fluff issues especially when gas is nearing five bucks a gallon. In Wisconsin, people are quitting their jobs because the increased cost to commute across the region made it impossible to make enough money to sustain their commute. Is broadband telecommuting an answer? Since there’s no national policy on broadband connectivity or upgrading the nation’s network infrastructure, there’s only a small patchwork of states with policies having no common strategic direction or gigabit goal. Erecting a gigabit wireless network is a lot cheaper than building and maintaining a light-rail system that can only service a relatively narrow area. These are the new capital expenditure comparisons that legislators have to make. Most are still stuck in a 1950s framework of solutions. Out-of-touch advisors are giving anachronistic solutions. DENIAL IS NOT A RIVER Instead of attacking the real problems of crumbling and insufficient infrastructure, politicians, lobbyists and the news media continue to stumble along. They’re instead focusing on feel-good programs, phony issues and concerns and promoting the increase in the number of foreign visa holders. They’re not finding ways to get underemployed, skilled and degreed citizens into higher-paying jobs. While Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country, its universities fund out-of-country ventures and start-ups. Why? It sounds like there needs to be more media attention on these poor excuses for executives. Legislators need to execute a quick and comprehensive housecleaning of these people who have no allegiance to the state that pays their hefty, six-figure salaries. Today is a new day. It’s time for political accuracy instead of cloudy political correctness. No flowery argument from any academic can hide the fact that they’re taking money that should be invested on fixing that state’s economy and rolling the dice on some international ventures. I fail to see how they benefit the unemployed and underemployed of Michigan. Our Time? Same Budget Problems Here Illinois is also in the state of denial when it comes to what’s truly needed to again get the state viable. A proposed $30 billion roads and bridges program isn’t going to be the answer. That’s so 1950s. Where are the new ideas and new economic development visions to create and sustain jobs in the new millennium? Wake up, Wally and Beaver! Why do we again put an emphasis on roads and bridges when there’s just as dire a need to rebuild the aging network infrastructure and create technology jobs to build other layers of the infrastructure model? What’s needed is something more comprehensive to get the economy vibrant again. You need people who see into the future and don’t fall back into the 1950s solution playbook for catalyzing the economy. While construction jobs are good for Lumpy and Eddie, where are all the jobs utilizing 21st century skills? Are we just going to import and outsource them and create no future for good-paying jobs in cutting-edge areas? If you’re going to build roads, make sure you also lay fiber-optics down on every mile you dig. Create a state-of-the-art network infrastructure that can accelerate economic development in this state by attracting new corporate facilities to locate here. Though the incremental cost to the roads program is negligible, the added benefit is significant. This is a much smarter way to spend the money of taxpayers. Many universities are also not addressing the educational needs for global competitiveness. They have slashed strategic technology courses and have put emphasis on courses that are more likely to give you more articulate Starbucks servers than people who can design and build servers. There also needs to be a speedy sobering up of the drunken sailors in the legislature who left without setting a balanced budget. It’s only a shortage of a couple billion dollars. Someone has to step up to the plate and cut the spending. Corporations have been instituting cost-reduction programs for years. This imperative issue of slicing and dicing budgets that has cascaded from one industry to another is finally hitting the levels of government like a big tsunami. Why? The old faithful fountain of funding is losing its reliability for coming through like it had in the past. Don’t believe that? Then explain the continual implosion of consumer financial markets where some experts said it would only be contained in the subprime mortgage holders. In actuality, it’s creeping into the mainstream mortgage markets and expanding into car loans, student loans and boat-loan defaults. Government agencies and their executives better wake up to the fact that unlimited money is no longer there. This is part of the problem when trying to balance bloated budgets that don’t reflect reduced revenues due to job erosion and increased fuel costs. Sound like fantasyland? Fantasyland is the only place that’s going to be able to support the unbalanced budgets of Illinois. Does your state legislator represent fantasyland? Carlinism: You can’t build a solid economy on sinking infrastructure. Last modified on 2008-08-28 06:16 Trackbacks
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