Breaking the Small Business Code

Cutting College Costs - A Fable that is not so Fictional

    As the financial markets and tax revenues tumble, states like California are making steep cuts to education including cuts to the support for state-run colleges like the University of California (UC) and the California State Universities (CSU). The budget that will be signed today imposes a 10 percent across-the-board cut to the UCs and CSUs, saving $264.4 million.

    California is not alone. Massachussetts is planning 11.6 percent in cuts for their state colleges. Florida is starting at 4 percent but more cuts are planned. New York state is cutting between 6 and 7 percent. Google the phrase "xxx budget cuts to colleges" and insert your state for xxx and you'll see what you are facing.

    This means college administrators will soon be living the fable presented by John Lombardi of Louisiana State University at his blog "Reality Check" called "Budget Crisis, Academic Change:A Fable"!

    I STRONGLY recommend that everyone who cares about higher education - both inside and outside the education "industry" - read Lombardi's blog.  How you react to the story will help you understand why there is no clear path to making colleges more accountable and affordable!  Politics, political correctness, turf wars, protectionism, etc., etc., keeps the colleges stuck where they are. 

    What do you think is going to be cut by the all these colleges?  What do you think should be done? What sacrifices/changes can be made?  One thing for sure, aid will go down, class size will go up, space for new students will go down, services will go down, and tuition will go up!

   As the daughter of a college dean, I understand the desire to protect and provide resources that serve more intangible needs like obscure languages, art and music. But when your children are starving, having a Monet on the wall is probably NOT the best use of your resources.

    This brings me back to my question to the social media universe - "What is College For"?  What should we focus on in these times? What should money be spent on?

   

  

MBA and Jobs - Part 2

    I just read another article on how MBAs are having their visions of "corporate jets" crushed by the realities of the economy. One of the trends Business Week reports is MBA programs are seeing is more graduates interested in nonprofit and government jobs. Here is one of the most illuminating segments of the article:

"Better than Nothing

      Business schools have already been seeing some movement toward nonprofit professions, though historically those students have been outnumbered by investment bankers and consultants. Few new graduates—4.4% last year—typically take positions in nonprofits or government, says Kip Harrell, president of the CSC and vice-president for professional and career management at Thunderbird School of Global Management. However, the financial crisis and the scarcity of six-figure offers, could accelerate the do-gooder trend. Patrick Perrella, the director of MBA career development at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, broke it down this way: It's an easy decision "if your choice is a government job at a lower salary or no job at all."

    What I find interesting is how this is positioned as a cynical trend with students looking for jobs, period. I would hope that students who enter nonprofit and government service have a passion and an interest in their new industries.  As a taxpayer and advisor to several nonprofits, I would hate to think that these students are working in their jobs by default. 

     Something NOT mentioned in this article is the enormous cost of an elite/Ivy League MBA and the return on investment the student (and/or parents) get. Is it still a good "investment" if the job you get pays similar to one you could have gotten with just a bachelor's degree?

    Any comments from students who took a nonprofit or government job because it was available instead of their vision? Are you still okay with the cost and time you invested?

Taxes and College Support

                  

                         I am seeing serious BIG time feedback on many blogs about taxation, patriotism and "critical" services!  With the  melt-down in the financial market combined with the higher taxes that will come with the "bailout" with the losses in home equity with [pick your own financial problem], we have ANGER coming from many taxpayers!  And it is growing. . .

     One of the items in today's Inside Higher Education is a little tidbit about the income tax ballot item in Massachussetts and how the state universities are reacting.  The article was predictable with university officials warning about cut-backs and higher tuition to make up the tax losses. But what I find the most interesting is the responses. Here's one from ProfessorMojo, SUNY-Plattsburgh (I've added bolding for emphasis):

     "As usual, the academics focus on their own livelihoods as opposed to examining the larger issue at hand. Certainly, some taxation is necessary, and few would argue against funding a state university system. However, the issue is the state government’s constant desire to suck more money from the taxpayer as opposed to being responsible stewards of the public treasury.

     We’re facing budget cuts here at SUNY, and it is noteworthy that my co-worker’s first reactions are to increase taxes and tuition as opposed to reforming the union-driven state spending practices that got us in this mess in the first place."

      I made no secret of my anger at the PORK inside the so-called bailout bill for the financial markets.  That pork will cost ALL of us more tax dollars and redirect them to places we as taxpayers have no say over!  I am ANGRY enough to support a ballot issue just like this for my home state of California AND for the nation over all!!!

      I think this brings up the reason for taxes.

     As I write this, there is a large brush fire in Northern L.A. County where the 118 and 210 freeways meet.  I listened to the City of LA officials point out that there are 1,000 firefighters on the line and that THIS IS WHAT TAXPAYER want from their government - protection of the people.

    I agree that colleges and universities are critical to the well-being of America as are many other essential services like roads and water. But where does the definition of "essential" that stop?

   This question comes from an article in Education Week that talks about the complaints about changes inside the Department of Education combining the Title I and Title III programs for English as a second language programs.  Obviously there are savings in combining the programs as well as oversight issues. But predictably, there are screams that "their" issues are so important that they "deserve" a separate agency.

    Just how many things can we afford to make "special"?  How many tax dollars can we afford to spend on what?

    I appreciate that everyone wants their special needs handled.  I understand it's easy to say mine's more important than yours.  But in TOUGH ECONOMIC times, you make priorities.  You cut back on things that are "nice" and things that might even be "important" and focus on what is essential.  But we need COMMON SENSE.   

   What do YOU think we should pay for?  Where should we say, yes, I know it's important but NOT as important as firefighters or colleges or ????

 

       

Pork Barrel Bill and Transparency by Blog

     You may or may NOT have heard about some of the shennanigans burried in the new "Relief" aka BAILOUT bill passed last night by "our" Senate from the "mainstream" media.  But no one else said anything including NPR other than "this was an important bipartisan bill" or showed the self-congratulating senators pushing to get to the microphone.  I saw just ONE outside expert commentator on Fox plop down a telephone book-sized bill that had evolved from Paulson's 3 page outline but he gave no details!  And the eMail alert I got from US News today also only summarized the high points that related to the crisis. 

       I was clueless about the bill's REAL details and contents until I started reading my morning blogs like "Don't Mess with Taxes".

     Thank you blogosphere!  Thank you "Don't Mess With Taxes!" and the 20 or so other blogs I subscribe to each day.  Yes, I know there are kooks and way-out-there blogs but there seems to be no where else to learn what is REALLY going on in our congress.  Blogs by citizens like me who share what they have learned seems to be the best place to learn what is really going on out there!

     Here's what got me so angry:  Did you hear about the arrow tax break provision? This little add-in waives the tax on child's practice arrows and costs taxpayers about $200,000 a year (enough to send 8 kids to UCLA free every year).  Granted, this is a very teeny tiny part of the NEW ADDITIONAL $108 billion (!) in businesses and individual taxpayer "sweeteners" that were added to make the bill pass.  BUT IT SHOWS how our politicians can't help but pork out everything -- something even as critical as this bailout bill!

    Politico lists some of the various "sweeteners" and their costs. While an kid's arrow tax may soon become great fodder for Saturday Night Live or Jay Leno, it is the poster child for PORK BARREL POLITICS.  The Senate sounding so serious about how critical their efforts were was nauseating this morning on the AM news.  They were all patting themselves on the back for a bi-partisan effort.  Yeah, bi-partisan means they both were equally adding pork!

    My client families and the members of the College Leadership Foundation's College eCoaching Club have been flooding us with questions on how to afford college with their savings and home equity cut or gone.  They want to know what they can do to pay for college while waiting on the "financial rescue" AKA "bailout" bill. Most think it will someone help them personally.

     My recommendation to these families is to call the House of Representatives and tell them to scrub out every ounce of pork.  Focus only on what Congress SAID was important to stabilize the financial industry if that is STILL as important as they make it sound.

    In my opinion, if this was soooo critical, they wouldn't have taken the time to stuff it like a goose full of special favors and little unknown tax breaks! 

     SO what are your feeling on this mess?  Mine can't be printed because it would scorch the screen I am so angry.  Pass this blog along so Google will pick up all your comments and maybe we can get the idiots  we elected to come to their financial senses!  STOP THE PORK BARREL POLITICS disguised as crisis!

 

Response to the Market Meltdown - A Person POV

    

         In the last 4 hours I have received so many calls and eMails on the meltdown and cries for help from college-bound families that  I have lost count!  So I wanted to put up my two cents worth from my personal point of view as a college funding expert, a grandmother of two, and as a business owner.

                       This is an OPEN LETTER TO ALL POLITICIANS & THE MEDIA

    You work for me.  I vote, I pay taxes, and I love my country.  I want you all to stop and listen to me - the voter - for a change.  I didn't rip off anyone, I don't have a golden parachute and I didn't dump bad home loans on Wall Street.  Yet I and my grandsons are the one who will ultimately pay for your programs, cushy pensions (which are not in the market) and for your blame game politics.

    First, stop all the finger pointing.  I DON'T CARE who created the mess.  Stop bickering, grab a mop and clean it up.

     Geewhiz, I feel like I am listening to a bunch of 5 year olds who think it's more important to blame the other person for playing with matches than stop and fight the fire.  I want to grab both sides by the collar and give them a time out.  WHERE ARE THE GROWN-UPs in all this? Talk to me like I have a brain.  Stop trying to do 10-second platitude filled soundbites.

    And oh by the way Ms Pelosi, don't insult the other guy when you need him to help solve the problem.  Excoriating the current administration and the Republicans as being to blame  (true or not) from the floor of the House and then expecting them to support your bill is NOT good leadership. We need people working together and blame (coming from both sides) is not good team building tactics. 

    Second, EVERYONE stop saying it was the "other guys" and explain exactly WHAT HAPPENED.  Today's captain of the ship may NOT be responsible for the ship sinking if it was badly built and maintained by the previous captains!! Let's have a REAL examination of why it sunk so it DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN!!!!   I'm an engineer and politics have no place in examining a failure if you want to learn from it and keep it from happening again. So . . . 

Shut up about who's to blame and start bailing together  or we all go down together!

    Lastly, vague generalities and blame makes me think my elected officials on both sides don't KNOW what happened or why.   As a responsible citizen, I have done my homework.  I did the research, looked at the graphs and even I can see what happened when.  WHY CAN'T YOU?!!!

How can  I trust whatever plan you have to fix things IF you apparently don't know what you are fixing!!

      I don't want platitudes and slogans -- I want facts and concrete answers that lead to reasonable and clear fixes. I don't want pages and pages of special deals and carve-outs and attached amendments.  I want to be able to CLEARLY see what you are doing, what is supposed to happen and see accountability ON YOUR SHOULDERS TOO!

     And oh by the way, all you "reporters", start REPORTING!!  I don't want you to be a commentator who is parsing it for me into little bite-sized pieces like I was a child.   Don't disguise the news wyhen it is clearly editorial opinion.  WHERE is the neutral research about WHAT happened, the WHY and the mudraking for players on BOTH sides of the aisle?  You are sooooooo transparently biased I can't trust you any more.  I want facts not thinly disguised and sneering interviews.

      I want someone to step up and say we had a good idea in making housing more affordable but it had unforeseen consequences because we measured success wrong.  We had a good idea but making lenders lend when they shouldn't for political reasons backfired.  Our programs encouraged people to cook books and dump risky debt.  I want to hear you say it is not good policy to do the same old junk bills filled with special pork and singling out those who only took advantage of what you created.

   Stop looking for whipping boys ("the rich"), stop pointing fingers ("them"), and start giving me answers.  THEN I MIGHT want to elect/re-elect you to fix the problem no matter what party you're from.  I want leadership NOT politics.  I want answers, not slogans.  I want accountability, not blank checks. I am not allowed to spend more than I make, not allowed to dump my bad debts and not allowed to stay in business by blaming the other guys for my mistakes!

   So get together, stop name calling and get to work on something that I can understand and trust in. Let me know what you did, why you did it and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY if the fix doesn't work.

   That's my two cents . . .