At a time when many banks are failing, and the one's that aren't can be blamed for many of the economic problems facing our country, there's one bright spot: Credit Unions.
In testimony yesterday (March 24) before the Senate Banking Committee, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) CEO and President Dan Mica said that Credit Unions stand ready to loan as much as $10 billion to small businesses who have lost their lines of credit due to banks' hunkering down. The problem is that bankers years ago pushed for unrealistically small limits on how much money Credit Unions can loan out to businesses.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) asked bank representatives why the cap on business lending should not be lifted, even temporarily. The bankers were unable to give a reasonable answer. The truth, which could never be stated aloud, is that bankers fear competition from Credit Unions, and will do absolutely anything they can to limit their influence.
You can be a part of the solution! Look around for a local Credit Union and join. You'll meet good people, who make sound investments in people of your community. They have money to loan, and at rates which give bankers bad dreams. If you're depositing, you'll find better rates too. Why? Because unlike banks, Credit Unions are not-for-profit, run by volunteer boards, with dividends paid out to the members. Their costs are lower.
If you "live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in Riley, Pottawatomie or Geary County" Kansas, an excellent choice would be the K-State Federal Credit Union. Check them out here.
Also, read the whole story of Mr. Mica's testimony here.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Customer Service, US Airways' Style
US Airways is not known for it's customer service, but Business Week magazine reports in it's March 2 issue (p 31) that the airline's performance after Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River "may become a model for crisis management."
US Airways stages disaster drills at every location it serves three times a year. When their plane went down in the Hudson River, their "Care Team" went into action. A special toll-free number was activated for families to get information. More than 100 employees boarded a plane from corporate HQ to New York to help. The Managing Director for Corporate Finance carried a bag of cash and credit cards to purchase whatever the passengers needed. There were prepaid cellular cards and sweat suits available. Employees escorted passengers to hotel rooms or other flights. They arranged train or bus tickets and rental cars for those who (perhaps understandably) didn't want to fly. Some passengers lost their Driver's Licenses, so US Airways worked with top management at Hertz and Amtrak to make sure people could go on their way without proper ID.
US Airways has sent each passenger three letters updating them on status, and along with one letter was a check for a refund of their ticket price, plus a $5,000 advance to purchase whatever they needed to replace what was lost. Of course, some do-gooders are griping about the small amount of that check. However, US Airways has done something surprising: These checks were given out without the passenger having to waive any of his or her legal rights. This is, as one consultant put it, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."
Sounds like they got something right after all.
US Airways stages disaster drills at every location it serves three times a year. When their plane went down in the Hudson River, their "Care Team" went into action. A special toll-free number was activated for families to get information. More than 100 employees boarded a plane from corporate HQ to New York to help. The Managing Director for Corporate Finance carried a bag of cash and credit cards to purchase whatever the passengers needed. There were prepaid cellular cards and sweat suits available. Employees escorted passengers to hotel rooms or other flights. They arranged train or bus tickets and rental cars for those who (perhaps understandably) didn't want to fly. Some passengers lost their Driver's Licenses, so US Airways worked with top management at Hertz and Amtrak to make sure people could go on their way without proper ID.
US Airways has sent each passenger three letters updating them on status, and along with one letter was a check for a refund of their ticket price, plus a $5,000 advance to purchase whatever they needed to replace what was lost. Of course, some do-gooders are griping about the small amount of that check. However, US Airways has done something surprising: These checks were given out without the passenger having to waive any of his or her legal rights. This is, as one consultant put it, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."
Sounds like they got something right after all.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Ireland's worst driver
The mystery of Ireland's worst driver has finally been solved. Prawo Jazdy had been wanted all across Ireland for racking up speeding tickets and parking fines. Authorities knew he was Polish, and he carried a Polish driver's license. However, every time he was stopped, he managed to elude capture by giving a different address.
Finally, some bright boy in the Garda figured out that "Prawo Jazdy" is Polish for ... "Driver's License".
Turns out there were nearly 50 entries in their database for Mr. Jazdy. A notice has gone out to all officers to examine Polish licenses a little more closely in the future. I suspect that authorities all over Europe are doing a quick (and quiet) scrub of their databases, too.
Read the BBC story here!
PS: I just noticed that my previous post was number 100. Hmmm.
Finally, some bright boy in the Garda figured out that "Prawo Jazdy" is Polish for ... "Driver's License".
Turns out there were nearly 50 entries in their database for Mr. Jazdy. A notice has gone out to all officers to examine Polish licenses a little more closely in the future. I suspect that authorities all over Europe are doing a quick (and quiet) scrub of their databases, too.
Read the BBC story here!
PS: I just noticed that my previous post was number 100. Hmmm.
Friday, February 13, 2009
The New New Deal
If you do not get Imprimis magazine, you must start now! Subscriptions are free, it's a very brief read (5-10 minutes), and it's always excellent.
Warning: If you are of a liberal political persuasion, exposure to the truth presented in Imprimis could be a shock.
In the January Issue, there is an article by Burton W. Folsom, Jr. He holds the Charles F. Kline Chair in History and Management at Hillsdale College. In the article, he discusses the effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The amount of political wrangling, graft, and corruption involved in the handouts of Federal money is staggering. In addition, many of the programs created had unintended (and in some cases disastrous) consequences.
His concluding sentence:
Warning: If you are of a liberal political persuasion, exposure to the truth presented in Imprimis could be a shock.
In the January Issue, there is an article by Burton W. Folsom, Jr. He holds the Charles F. Kline Chair in History and Management at Hillsdale College. In the article, he discusses the effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The amount of political wrangling, graft, and corruption involved in the handouts of Federal money is staggering. In addition, many of the programs created had unintended (and in some cases disastrous) consequences.
His concluding sentence:
If history is a guide, we have every reason to believe that if President Obama institutes a New New Deal, then universal health care, federal bailouts, and jobs stimulus programs will be costly, will be politicized, and will fail.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The more things change ...
An interesting story today on the BBC about "banksters", a word which combines "banker" and "gangster".
In 1928, Professor William Z. Ripley of Harvard condemned the practices of Wall Street at that time. He called them "prestidigitation, double-shuffling, honey-fugling, hornswoggling and skullduggery".
He tried to warn then-President Coolidge, but the President was an insider on Wall Street, making money using some of the very practices Ripley was citing. The result was the crash of 1929 and a decade of depression. A depression, by the way, made much worse and much longer by the Socialistic programs of Franklin Roosevelt.
Alas, the situation is remarkably similar today. And we now have a President who will take a slim victory in the polls as a "mandate" to do things far above and beyond what Roosevelt ever dreamed of. I hope you have comfortable shoes. You'll need them when you're standing next to me in the soup line.
Read the BBC story here. There's an interesting twist at the end.
In 1928, Professor William Z. Ripley of Harvard condemned the practices of Wall Street at that time. He called them "prestidigitation, double-shuffling, honey-fugling, hornswoggling and skullduggery".
He tried to warn then-President Coolidge, but the President was an insider on Wall Street, making money using some of the very practices Ripley was citing. The result was the crash of 1929 and a decade of depression. A depression, by the way, made much worse and much longer by the Socialistic programs of Franklin Roosevelt.
Alas, the situation is remarkably similar today. And we now have a President who will take a slim victory in the polls as a "mandate" to do things far above and beyond what Roosevelt ever dreamed of. I hope you have comfortable shoes. You'll need them when you're standing next to me in the soup line.
Read the BBC story here. There's an interesting twist at the end.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Gotta Love Ted!
(stolen unashamedly from the Forwarded Funnies website, which means it's going around the net ... you've possibly already seen it.)
Gotta Love Ted
Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.
The discussion came around to deer hunting.
The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'
Nugent replied, 'Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, what am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French.'
The interview ended.
Forwarded Funnies: Gotta Love Ted
Gotta Love Ted
Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being interviewed by a French journalist, an animal rights activist.
The discussion came around to deer hunting.
The journalist asked, 'What do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'
Nugent replied, 'Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, what am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French.'
The interview ended.
Forwarded Funnies: Gotta Love Ted
Sunday, January 11, 2009
You're changing your oil too often!
The old "rule" about changing your oil every three months or 3,000 miles is just that ... OLD. Most cars and light trucks can easily go 7,500 to 10,000 miles on an oil change. The state of California just completed a two-year, three-million-mile study on Oil Change Intervals which proves that. You can read about it at The 3000 mile myth site.
If you're lucky, you're driving a vehicle which has an oil life monitor. These devices are available on most newer GM vehicles, many Chrysler products and some imports. They calculate the oil life based on the actual use of the vehicle. It's not necessary to change the oil until a message appears on your dashboard that it's time. On the two vehicles I own which are so equipped, the oil change intervals run 12,000 to 15,000 miles!
The simple truth is that both engines and oil have improved dramatically in the last forty years. Changing oil too often is expensive, unnecessary, and (perhaps worst) really, really bad for our environment.
(Please consult your vehicle's documentation for recommended oil change intervals. Some particularly harsh environments or rough uses will require more frequent changes, but 75-90 percent of drivers will fit into the recommendations for normal use.)
If you're lucky, you're driving a vehicle which has an oil life monitor. These devices are available on most newer GM vehicles, many Chrysler products and some imports. They calculate the oil life based on the actual use of the vehicle. It's not necessary to change the oil until a message appears on your dashboard that it's time. On the two vehicles I own which are so equipped, the oil change intervals run 12,000 to 15,000 miles!
The simple truth is that both engines and oil have improved dramatically in the last forty years. Changing oil too often is expensive, unnecessary, and (perhaps worst) really, really bad for our environment.
(Please consult your vehicle's documentation for recommended oil change intervals. Some particularly harsh environments or rough uses will require more frequent changes, but 75-90 percent of drivers will fit into the recommendations for normal use.)
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