Covid-19 UPDATE: Corporate Bailouts and Food Pantries

Written By:  Arnie Olsen

Back on March 22nd, I published an article breaking down what a corporate bailout would mean for the 4 largest airlines in America.  Since that time, the CARES Act has gone from first being introduced in the Senate on March 19th, through very public negotiations and eventually to being signed into law by the President on March 27th.  Now, 19 days after I published my original article, I thought it would be useful to provide an update.

Business Planning in the Age of Covid-19

Written By:  Arnie J Olsen

There is little that is more stressful for a small business owner than entering a period of time where revenue is dramatically decreased or even cut off completely, but in the face of these extraordinary times, there are some decisions you can make that could mean the difference between surviving and losing your business.

What a Corporate Bailout Really Means

Written By:  Arnie J. Olsen

The promises being made by airline CEO’s to not use funds to buy stock, to limit executive compensation and to not pay out dividends to shareholders is a nice start, but let’s get real…the executives of these companies are using employees as hostages in an attempt to save their own ass, and here is why…

Why Loans Will Not Help Small Businesses During Covid-19

Written by Arnie J Olsen

All of the talk about providing loans to businesses to help them get through the Covid-19 crisis is totally missing the point, and shows how out of touch Washington is with the actual needs and daily lives of small business owners.  Loans do not help when all they do is cover the expenses accrued during a period of lost revenue that will never be regained.

It is literally like agreeing to make payments on a car loan but never getting to drive the car…why would anyone agree to do that?

Realistically, as soon as you accept that you are stuck walking either way, you will quickly see that (as a business owner) you are better off just walking away, rather than take on those payments.

PAUSE: A Real Plan To Survive AND Thrive Economically During Covid-19

We need a different plan to deal with the economic situation created by Covid-19, and this is it.

Written By:  Arnie J. Olsen

Well, nothing like a global pandemic to show just how unprepared our country is to deal with a real crisis, and at the same time show how truly unoriginal the Federal government is when it comes to ideas about what comes next.  Basically, the knee jerk reaction is to spend money, and depending on which party you talk to, you see plans to help one segment of our society or another.  While spending is not necessarily wrong (though the partisan preference are), there is no amount of spending that will make this go away, nor even make the effects of the situation any less lasting and harmful to the economy at all levels.  To do that takes something much more creative, so take a deep breath, slow things down, and let’s make some rational decisions that get right to the heart of the matter.  We need a plan that helps everyone, from top to bottom, big businesses to the minimum wage worker, and we need to not bankrupt the country in the process, yet the current plans being discussed could cost the country $1.25 trillion PER MONTH!

We need to PAUSE!

Biden or Bernie: The REAL Issues of 2020

It has certainly been quite a week in the 2020 race for the White House, with a dramatically different landscape than what we were looking at just one week ago today.  Since that time, we have watched 4 of the 6 major Democrat candidates withdraw from the race, and as a result of a pretty sweeping series of victories on Super Tuesday, we have witnessed Joe Biden’s campaign, apparently on life support 10 days ago, rebound to become a legitimate front runner once again, with only Bernie Sanders remaining as a contender.

Memo to DNC: Electoral Math and Remember Your Job

Written By:  Arnie Olsen

“The Democratic National Committee is committed to taking back the White House in 2020 and electing Democrats at every level — from the school board to the Oval Office. But we can only do that together.”

The above is the stated purpose on the homepage of the DNC.  I point that out because something that seems to be lost on more people with each passing day is that their job is NOT to run preference elections and caucuses in every state and bend to the will of the people, as counter-intuitive as that sounds.  Their job is simply to win general elections for the Democrat Party, at all levels.  Now obviously, there is a LOT of grey area in that statement as winning elections requires the support of the people, so they cannot simply trounce all over the preferences expressed throughout the primary process, and there are rules in place within the DNC that take that into account.

The following article will make the case that the best outcome of the primaries and caucuses that we should all be hoping for is not that a specific candidate “wins” the nomination outright before the Convention, but rather that as many candidates stay in the race and split the Pledged Delegates the rest of the way, forcing a brokered convention per DNC rules, allowing the Super Delegates to come into play, and Pledged Delegates to be released from their obligation on a second ballot.  This is the only way to be sure that Democrats ultimately put forth the best candidate to win the Electoral College.

NOTE:  I am not advocating for or against any particular candidate, but rather for a process that will give Democrats the best opportunity to win in November.

The “Death” Tax: Another GOP Propaganda Machine Con

Arnie J Olsen

February 26, 2020

In response to one of my recent Facebook posts, I found myself in a debate about the Estate Tax…and yes, I am a glutton for punishment apparently.  Well, anyway, my response, while off the cuff, was awfully long and I don’t care to ever have to type all that again, but since I know the argument will certainly come up again (as GOP rhetoric has no limits), I just decided to drop it into a blog article for future reference and wanted to share.

I will also add that I was going to copy and paste the original comment I received, but it seems to have been deleted since I read it and began my response, but if you are at all familiar with the debate, you know what the talking points were:

• Double Taxation.
• Unfair.
• Penalizes small family farms and businesses, and prevents parents from handing down their life’s work to their children.

You get the idea.

2020: The Healthcare Debate

Healthcare is going to be most likely the most important issue of the upcoming campaigns for President and every other federal office we are going to be asked to vote on.  In a recent Fox News Poll that was released on January 26, a couple of interesting results included:

• How approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling healthcare?

38% – Approve               54% – Disapprove             7% – Don’t Know

• Which of the following issues do you think is the MOST important issue facing the country today?

1. 1. Health care                                                  13%
   2. Partisanship and lack of unity                13%
   3. Climate change                                           12%
   4. The economy and jobs                              12%
   5. Political corruption                                    12%
   6. Immigration and border security           10%
   7. Terrorism                                                       7%
   8. Gun policy                                                      6%
   9. Foreign policy                                                3%
   10. International trade                                       1%

Who is Actually Looking Out for American Workers? Changes to Rules Regarding “White Collar” Exemptions to Overtime Pay

Written By:  Arnie J Olsen      11/28/19

Trump touts deregulation “savings” of $535 million!  2.7 million American workers pay the bill!

We all hear soundbites on the various things Donald Trump and Republicans have either already done since winning the 2016 election, but rarely do you hear what these rhetoric laden statements actually mean for the American people, and with all of the daily coverage of the bigger news stories, you may not even be aware some of these things are happening, much less get a factual account of what they mean to you and others.