A couple of years ago, my employer, Jukt Micronics, got into some serious trouble with the bank.
We were into our line of credit further than we wanted. Business was ok, but we were in danger because of some slow-paying projects and a few other problems.
The bank said they would cheerfully continue to lend us money, but there were going to be some strings attached. And one of those string was....a consultant.
This consultant, who I'm going to call Batman (because he just might have been Batman), came in like a whirlwind. He toured our facilities and without even thinking about it.....
* Laid off 25% of our employees. We found that we didn't really need them.
* Sold off every excess part, machine, or asset he could get his hands on. Turns out, we didn't miss much of it. I'm still pissed that he got rid of 8 of my semi-tractor tires that I still think I really needed, and Marvel Variants is irked to this day about some case front parts that got chunked. But this freed up a lot of cash.
* Eliminated a lot of duplicated efforts. If something could be consolidated, he consolidated it.
* Put a policy in place that we couldn't purchase anything without his approval, and he didn't approve anything except raw materials and a few maintenance items. Turns out that we didn't really need anything new except raw materials and a few maintenance items.
* Renegotiated payment terms with almost every vendor.
* Made an effort at getting us out of every unprofitable business/sideline that he could.
(He didn't just slash and burn, though. He let me spend a small fortune on pallet rack.)
Our debt was a relatively small portion of our yearly income. Not much at all, really. But if we were going to avoid going further into the hole, the actions listed above were necessary. They weren't easy, but it's what we had to do. We're now doing well, thank you.
The U.S. government's debt, however, is approaching 100% of our yearly GDP.
Our government is borrowing $188 million dollars per hour.
We have troops all over the world, at no charge, protecting other countries from non-existent threats.
We have multiple cabinet-level departments that have totally failed to produce the results for which they were created.
We're paying for this by printing money to make up for what China won't loan us. Prices on everything are going up. Please don't be fooled by racket about wars, harvests, or scarcity. Ben Bernanke is printing money. He's ruining your savings.
We've paying to put more black men in government cages than the Confederacy ever dreamed of. When we try to reform marijuana laws, the narcs, cops, prison guards and beer distributors all lobby to keep them in their cages. This ain't cheap.
We're in the middle of a drug war that has killed more civilians than drugs ever have.
We could tax the wealthy at 100% of their annual yearly income. Take all of it. And we still wouldn't have enough to pay for what Washington is spending per year.
The people we laughably call "leaders" are suggesting plans that will have us spending less than our income within 6-12 years. Rand Paul's plan wouldn't cut defense, and would have us spending more than our income for another 6 years. Paul Ryan's would take even longer. The thing Obama trotted out on Wednesday didn't even rise to the level of Symbolic Gesture.
There is no other alternative. We must kill the beast. Cut. Privatize. Economize. Bring the troops home. Release the prisoners. Shut down the Departments of Education and Energy. Drive a stake through its heart. Put a morgue tag on its toe. Make it achieve room temperature.
We don't need to worry about the economic impact. I promise that if the government lets me spend my money, I will spend all of it. Every penny. Texas A & M university guarantees it.
This is the largest debt in the history of the universe. This is getting terrifying, folks.
We were into our line of credit further than we wanted. Business was ok, but we were in danger because of some slow-paying projects and a few other problems.
The bank said they would cheerfully continue to lend us money, but there were going to be some strings attached. And one of those string was....a consultant.
This consultant, who I'm going to call Batman (because he just might have been Batman), came in like a whirlwind. He toured our facilities and without even thinking about it.....
* Laid off 25% of our employees. We found that we didn't really need them.
* Sold off every excess part, machine, or asset he could get his hands on. Turns out, we didn't miss much of it. I'm still pissed that he got rid of 8 of my semi-tractor tires that I still think I really needed, and Marvel Variants is irked to this day about some case front parts that got chunked. But this freed up a lot of cash.
* Eliminated a lot of duplicated efforts. If something could be consolidated, he consolidated it.
* Put a policy in place that we couldn't purchase anything without his approval, and he didn't approve anything except raw materials and a few maintenance items. Turns out that we didn't really need anything new except raw materials and a few maintenance items.
* Renegotiated payment terms with almost every vendor.
* Made an effort at getting us out of every unprofitable business/sideline that he could.
(He didn't just slash and burn, though. He let me spend a small fortune on pallet rack.)
Our debt was a relatively small portion of our yearly income. Not much at all, really. But if we were going to avoid going further into the hole, the actions listed above were necessary. They weren't easy, but it's what we had to do. We're now doing well, thank you.
The U.S. government's debt, however, is approaching 100% of our yearly GDP.
Our government is borrowing $188 million dollars per hour.
We have troops all over the world, at no charge, protecting other countries from non-existent threats.
We have multiple cabinet-level departments that have totally failed to produce the results for which they were created.
We're paying for this by printing money to make up for what China won't loan us. Prices on everything are going up. Please don't be fooled by racket about wars, harvests, or scarcity. Ben Bernanke is printing money. He's ruining your savings.
We've paying to put more black men in government cages than the Confederacy ever dreamed of. When we try to reform marijuana laws, the narcs, cops, prison guards and beer distributors all lobby to keep them in their cages. This ain't cheap.
We're in the middle of a drug war that has killed more civilians than drugs ever have.
We could tax the wealthy at 100% of their annual yearly income. Take all of it. And we still wouldn't have enough to pay for what Washington is spending per year.
The people we laughably call "leaders" are suggesting plans that will have us spending less than our income within 6-12 years. Rand Paul's plan wouldn't cut defense, and would have us spending more than our income for another 6 years. Paul Ryan's would take even longer. The thing Obama trotted out on Wednesday didn't even rise to the level of Symbolic Gesture.
There is no other alternative. We must kill the beast. Cut. Privatize. Economize. Bring the troops home. Release the prisoners. Shut down the Departments of Education and Energy. Drive a stake through its heart. Put a morgue tag on its toe. Make it achieve room temperature.
We don't need to worry about the economic impact. I promise that if the government lets me spend my money, I will spend all of it. Every penny. Texas A & M university guarantees it.
This is the largest debt in the history of the universe. This is getting terrifying, folks.
1 comment:
Great Post!
I would love to see who the Government hires as a consultant
Post a Comment