Hope We Change

President Obama formally announced his re-election campaign yesterday, and Presidential comparisons are in order.  Judging from the list above, his chances are pretty good.  His approval rating is higher than President Clinton's, Reagan's and Nixon's, all of who won re-election handily.  Presidents Carter and Ford had lower numbers and lost.  President Bush II had a much higher number and also won.  President Bush I had the highest rating of them all, and lost.  Go figure.  The following article discusses the President's strategy to woo his party's liberal grass roots.   Given all that he's given them, that shouldn't be too hard.

Obama Kicks Off Re-Election Drive With Appeal to Grass-Roots Backers

In Case You've Wondered

Numbers are never definitive.  But, they are always important.  The Following is an excerpt from the federal government's Historical Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (1789-2016).  Noman found the White House Office of Management and Budget's website very interesting.  The full budget can be accessed by clicking the following link.  Try to imagine what the Founding Fathers would make of the information on this table, and of what has happened (and is estimated to happen) since 2009.

Office of Management and Budget

Be sure to listen to the Chicago Public Radio interview at the end of this post with then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama.  He candidly discusses redistributive change, the role of the courts and legislatures in achieving it, and the defectiveness of the traditional view of the US Constitution as a document establishing negative liberties--that it, as a document giving broad scope to state's rights and personal freedom by limiting what the federal government is empowered to do to its constituent states, and citizens.  He laments that the Founders didn't go further, to prescribe what the government must do on people's behalf.  This would naturally entail the government's doing things to people who stood in the way of its perceived affirmative duties.  Despite the exaltedness of this vision of government as provider, protector and leveler of all inequalities, some people would view Senator (President) Obama's view as an invitation to tyranny.

Year	Total
	Receipts	Outlays	Surplus or Deficit (−)
1789–1849	1,160	1,090	70
1850–1900	14,462	15,453	-991
1901	588	525	63
1902	562	485	77
1903	562	517	45
1904	541	584	-43
1905	544	567	-23
1906	595	570	25
1907	666	579	87
1908	602	659	-57
1909	604	694	-89
1910	676	694	-18
1911	702	691	11
1912	693	690	3
1913	714	715	−*
1914	725	726	−*
1915	683	746	-63
1916	761	713	48
1917	1,101	1,954	-853
1918	3,645	12,677	-9,032
1919	5,130	18,493	-13,363
1920	6,649	6,358	291
1921	5,571	5,062	509
1922	4,026	3,289	736
1923	3,853	3,140	713
1924	3,871	2,908	963
1925	3,641	2,924	717
1926	3,795	2,930	865
1927	4,013	2,857	1,155
1928	3,900	2,961	939
1929	3,862	3,127	734
1930	4,058	3,320	738
1931	3,116	3,577	-462
1932	1,924	4,659	-2,735
1933	1,997	4,598	-2,602
1934	2,955	6,541	-3,586
1935	3,609	6,412	-2,803
1936	3,923	8,228	-4,304
1937	5,387	7,580	-2,193
1938	6,751	6,840	-89
1939	6,295	9,141	-2,846
1940	6,548	9,468	-2,920
1941	8,712	13,653	-4,941
1942	14,634	35,137	-20,503
1943	24,001	78,555	-54,554
1944	43,747	91,304	-47,557
1945	45,159	92,712	-47,553
1946	39,296	55,232	-15,936
1947	38,514	34,496	4,018
1948	41,560	29,764	11,796
1949	39,415	38,835	580
1950	39,443	42,562	-3,119
1951	51,616	45,514	6,102
1952	66,167	67,686	-1,519
1953	69,608	76,101	-6,493
1954	69,701	70,855	-1,154
1955	65,451	68,444	-2,993
1956	74,587	70,640	3,947
1957	79,990	76,578	3,412
1958	79,636	82,405	-2,769
1959	79,249	92,098	-12,849
1960	92,492	92,191	301
1961	94,388	97,723	-3,335
1962	99,676	106,821	-7,146
1963	106,560	111,316	-4,756
1964	112,613	118,528	-5,915
1965	116,817	118,228	-1,411
1966	130,835	134,532	-3,698
1967	148,822	157,464	-8,643
1968	152,973	178,134	-25,161
1969	186,882	183,640	3,242
1970	192,807	195,649	-2,842
1971	187,139	210,172	-23,033
1972	207,309	230,681	-23,373
1973	230,799	245,707	-14,908
1974	263,224	269,359	-6,135
1975	279,090	332,332	-53,242
1976	298,060	371,792	-73,732
TQ	81,232	95,975	-14,744
1977	355,559	409,218	-53,659
1978	399,561	458,746	-59,185
1979	463,302	504,028	-40,726
1980	517,112	590,941	-73,830
1981	599,272	678,241	-78,968
1982	617,766	745,743	-127,977
1983	600,562	808,364	-207,802
1984	666,438	851,805	-185,367
1985	734,037	946,344	-212,308
1986	769,155	990,382	-221,227
1987	854,288	1,004,017	-149,730
1988	909,238	1,064,416	-155,178
1989	991,105	1,143,744	-152,639
1990	1,031,958	1,252,994	-221,036
1991	1,054,988	1,324,226	-269,238
1992	1,091,208	1,381,529	-290,321
1993	1,154,335	1,409,386	-255,051
1994	1,258,566	1,461,753	-203,186
1995	1,351,790	1,515,742	-163,952
1996	1,453,053	1,560,484	-107,431
1997	1,579,232	1,601,116	-21,884
1998	1,721,728	1,652,458	69,270
1999	1,827,452	1,701,842	125,610
2000	2,025,191	1,788,950	236,241
2001	1,991,082	1,862,846	128,236
2002	1,853,136	2,010,894	-157,758
2003	1,782,314	2,159,899	-377,585
2004	1,880,114	2,292,841	-412,727
2005	2,153,611	2,471,957	-318,346
2006	2,406,869	2,655,050	-248,181
2007	2,567,985	2,728,686	-160,701
2008	2,523,991	2,982,544	-458,553
2009	2,104,989	3,517,677	-1,412,688
2010	2,162,724	3,456,213	-1,293,489
2011 estimate	2,173,700	3,818,819	-1,645,119
2012 estimate	2,627,449	3,728,686	-1,101,237
2013 estimate	3,003,345	3,770,876	-767,531
2014 estimate	3,332,588	3,977,141	-644,553
2015 estimate	3,583,043	4,189,773	-606,730
2016 estimate	3,819,103	4,467,806	-648,703

Myopic Management

Chris Daly of Yucaipa, CA rubs one of Noman's sore spots.  Commenting on William McGurn's column, "Caterpillar's Problems With Peoria," he explains that before "'professional managers' [read MBA's] took over and, among their other changes, turned people into 'human resources,'" there was no need or desire for a union.  Within a few years of their ascent at Caterpillar, not only was Peoria unionized, it was involved in a virulent strike.  Daly blames it on MBA's "myopic management style."

What About Management's Role?

The original article is here: 

Caterpillar's Problem With Peoria

Noman takes McGurn's point about unions.  But, he also takes Daly's about management.  It's a little personal because Noman has been laboring in the MBA education field for 20 years, teaching Business Ethics, and Organizational Behavior to intelligent, ambitious and often skeptical quant jocks.  MBAs are people, too.  And people can be worked with to see the human stakes involved in management decisions.  It's simply that they have so much faith in numbers (as opposed to in things you cannot measure), so much exposure to tools and techniques (and so little to discernment and judgement), and the curriculum is so tilted towards accounting, finance, operations and other high-quant subjects (as opposed to conceptual, humanistic or, dare I say it, philosophical subjects) that their education actually handicaps them.  What Daly writes is precisely what MBA students should strive not to achieve once they are given responsibility for managing people.  It doesn't require more sophisticated techniques of manipulation, or persuasive communication.  Rather it requires a greater preoccupation with being trustworthy, learning to curb opportunistic impulses, and coming to value excellence over victory--which all too often proves to be Pyrrhic.  Take heed: numbers are always important; they are never definitive.

It Could Always Be Worse

At 5am, Noman awoke from sleep as if by a thunderclap--head and chest splitting down the middle.  He stumbled to the medicine cabinet, downed some Ibuprofen, and fell back to sleep in a fog of pain.  Two weeks of incessant cough, with fevers working mercifully down from highs of 102 degrees, were taking their toll.  Three hours later, Noman awoke as if by a second thunderclap--to the angelic choir of no-children ## 6, 7 & 8 playing.  The bliss he experienced startled him; he wasn't in pain.  His temperature was normal, and his bones no longer throbbed and ached like on old jalopy's.

Noman remembered the farmer's tale, who complained to his rabbi that he couldn't stand the tumult in his house. 'How many children do you live with?' asked the rabbi. 'Ten,' said the farmer, 'and they never stop making a clamor.' "This is what I want you to do,' said the rabbi, 'bring your chickens into your home and come back again.' The farmer didn't understand, but did what he was counseled to do.  This progressed until the man had brought pigs, cows, horses and every animal he owned into his house.  'So, how is your problem?' asked the rabbi.  'Terrible!' lamented the farmer.  "I used to get a little sleep before.  Now I can't get any.'  'This is what I want you to do.  Remove the horses, and come back again' said the rabbi.  So, the farmer removed the horses, next the pigs, and so on until all of the animals were out of the house, and only his family was left. "So, how is your problem now?' asked the Rabbi.  "Gone!' replied the farmer.  I sleep like a baby now that the house is so quiet.'

Noman never realized before how blissful it was just to feel normal.  He humbly thanks God for the favor.  But, being no man, he hastens to assure the almighty--if its OK with Him--that maybe he's had enough favors for awhile.

Prepare For Landing

Coming home from retreat is a little like what I imagine reentering the earth's atmosphere after space flight is like: bumpy, challenging and dangerous.  It's good to get away periodically though, and come home reloaded with grace and a couple of resolutions. 

Despite no-child #8's whining--he is sick, and two-years-old--and no-child #5's piano practicing, which reminds Noman of Janey in "It's A Wonderful Life," this year's reentry has been pretty smooth.  'Heaven, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."  

Noman is a lucky fellow