Getting Some Facts Right

Here are a few thoughts that might surprise you:

·         USA is best educated nation on earth

·         Health care in the US best on the planet

·         Public understanding of basic facts, history and geography best in world

·         Household income continues to rise steadily in USA despite recession

·         GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the US has fallen precipitately

·         Abortion is illegal throughout the USA

·         Medicare is broke

·         Social Security is broke

·         Federal Income Taxes have risen for upper income households

·         Federal expenditures have risen faster under Obama than any other administration in the past 20 years

The surprise? All of the above are false.

Remember that factoid if you plan to watch the Republican National Convention next week, or follow news accounts of what the RNC chooses to push in their press releases. They will spin almost anything to denigrate Obama and put a shine on anything republican ~ even if none of it is true.

All of the above bullet points can be disputed by science, research, or any other common search on the Internet. Every one of them.

And the search might do each of us some good. The facts, you see, are easily obtained. The trick is to ask the right question so you can find the logic path to the pertinent data. It’s is not knowing the facts. It is knowing what you need to know that is most important.

Knowing how to ask the right question. This is the penultimate finding of my many years in consulting. Clients want help. They ask outsiders for that help. But it almost always comes down to these elements:

1.      Fully define the problem you need help with

2.      Determine what you need to best manage the problem

3.      Seek information which will help design the needed solutions

The funny thing is most organizations have either the best information already among their staff, or have access to the right information readily available. In most situations they have both of those resources present.

What is missing is clarity of vision. They are too close to the problem and the people they must rely on to solve the problem. Perspective then brings fresh air to circumstance. An outsider provides that. The fresh air provides room for logic and calm to work. And asking the right questions!

Some answers to the bullet points shown at the beginning of this posting:

·         Americans do not spend more time being schooled; European nations do much better; Asian cultures exceed American standards by far

·         We pay more for healthcare per capita than any other nation on earth; but most nations with universal health care have lower per capita costs and higher health standards than the USA; check out Israel, United Kingdom just for starters

·         Any measure of the public’s understanding of math, science factoids and history show huge disparity between American scores and nearly any other industrialized nation; pitiful showing considering what American taxpayers pay per capita on education

·         Neither Medicare or Social Security is broke. As programs supported by actuarial-managed trust funds, both are doing quite well. Trouble is politicians keep playing word games in public to woo voters. Couple that with Congress’ penchant for borrowing cash from the trust funds to pay other government costs and you have some statistical difficulties in the future!

·         GDP continues to grow. Ask any economics department at any reputable university. The Government Accounting Office will confirm the data

·         Abortion is not illegal except in a few places the court system hasn’t overthrown the laws. Republicans want you to think it is unlawful, and if it isn’t, it should be. That depends on your religious beliefs, I think; and last I checked you and I can still believe as we want without laws interfering with those beliefs, at least with regard to abortion rights

·         Income tax rates for wealthy households are lower now than in many generations. Of course they pay more in taxes when their incomes rise; and they are the only demographic grouping in America that is experiencing rising income

·         Obama administration spending has risen 1.4% throughout his entire term of nearly 4 years; that includes the stimulus plan, TARP and all the other steps to save our financial system. In comparison, here are the following spending increases of several of the past administrations:

o       Reagan 1982 to 1985: 8.7% growth

o       Reagan 1986 to 1989: 4.9% growth

o       Bush I 1990 to 1993: 5.4% growth

o       Clinton 1994 to 1997: 3.2% growth

o       Clinton 1998 to 2001: 3.9% growth

o       Bush II 2002 to 2005: 7.3% growth

o       Bush II 2006 to 2009: 8.1%

o       Obama 2010 to 2013: 1.4%

Please note that the lowest spending growth was during Democrat Administrations. Clinton’s terms also witnessed not only surplus budgets but debt pay down. And despite inheriting 2 wars and an economy in shambles, Obama has stabilized the economy and carefully rebuilt a foundation for future growth.

Isn’t it time we got with the facts as a nation and worked together to solve problems and build opportunity for future generations?

August 25, 2012