CoachLee

Comments

Planning is critical but after 30 years of reading about all the planning action must be taken. If our leadership had taken action back in the 1980's when the writing was on the wall regarding technology, the workforce, education, etc. we would not be in the situation today.

Small businesses owners made course adjustments back then without all those paid plans (rebates to supporters, think quid pro quo) and many survived and even thrived. And have you ever noticed many of these consultants are outside of NW Indiana?

Of course there is the issue of where the dollars are banked for these firms? How many firms including local not for profits used regional banks?

I do believe in planning as did President Eisenhower who said plans are worthless but planning is everything. However he did not take 30 years to land on the beaches of Normandy.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith

March 27, 2013 9:20 am on RICH JAMES: There's more planning than doing in NWI
Thomas Jefferson advocated revisiting the Constitution every 5 to 10 years because he was a visionary and recognized things change. The problem is the motivation behind selecting Constitutional delegates. I agree with the Times this is probably more about exercising the authority of those already elected and ignoring the power of We the People.

There was political strife probably as much if not more during the original Constitutional Convention. So that argument is for the most post part invalid. However, the agendas of those involved were about securing liberty, Yes there were probably a few exceptions.

Look at who signed the original documents. Very few lawyers, mostly small business owners, farmers and statesmen such as Franklin, Washington, etc.

The main difference between then and now is we have far too many politicians focused on self interest, ignoring those who elected them, We the People, and absolutely few to no statesmen.

March 10, 2013 7:01 am on EDITORIAL: Constitutional convention is can of worms
I wonder the negative economic impact to all these false warnings from the time they started yesterday until today. Boy how did our ancestors work without weather alerts?

March 05, 2013 9:00 am on Winter storm blows through region
Another low information elected official who does not understand capitalism and that government can only create an environment for job growth by reducing taxes and compliance laws. Job creation by the government is code for pork barrel spending and payback to special interest groups.

February 02, 2013 10:00 am on Pelath demands GOP leaders act on jobs legislation
Maybe I am dating myself, but I thought Pres. L. Johnson declared a war on poverty back in the 1960s?. With have spent billions, no trillions, on poverty related initiatives with little measurable progress given the expenditures continue to increase instead of decrease.

Spending more money is not the answer and usually is not the answer.

I truly dislike the blame game. No one, let me repeat, no one looks good in a bad system that being our agrarian educational system where our school structure reflects a farming economy. Research from the University of Chicago among many others have determined summer vacations hurt those who are behind the most because the learning lost grows exponentially. The US is one of only three countries still on an Agrarian schedule.

As a former public educator, elected school board trust, retired from corporate and now an entrepreneur, the system does not work with good teachers and only reinforces bad teachers. The children suffer and our economy along with local communities bear the brunt of this suffering.

Add to this an entitlement mentality where people (many of whom are considered by today's standards in poverty) do not value of education because living off the government works for their parents. I have heard students say this to me.

The entitlement mentality also is not exclusive to those in poverty. We have young people graduating college thinking they are owed a job and it better be VP within 3 years.

We are living Einstein's definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith

January 04, 2013 7:52 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Poverty, not bad teachers, should be focus
Good column and again prayers with Mark's family.

December 14, 2012 7:22 am on MARK KIESLING: State can't swallow Pence cuts in one bite
The American public education system continues to win at the loss of our American Narrative. Our Founding Fathers did not create nor ever wanted a "true democracy" because that means majority rules. The Bill of Rights is a testimony against a true democracy.

We live in a Republic and the electoral College was to ensure the Republic prevailed.

I think we should be more concerned about illegal voters than changing something that has worked fairly well. There have only been a few times in history when the popular vote did not reflect the Electoral College vote. Yet there have been far more documented cases of voter fraud changing an election result.

How much easier do you want to make voting? Where is personal responsibility? Years ago people traveled for days to vote. Too bad many of our citizens do not share that same attitude.

Possibly it may also help to secure candidates who will not turn their back on their constituents once they get elected. Maybe finding those individuals might make more sense.

Personally, I could care less about what Europe does or does not do. Given their financial states, not a good example. We left Europe over 150 years ago and that was a good decision then and is a good decision today.

July 27, 2012 9:54 am on Americans should be offered more modern voting system