Price

        Price is such an essential part of product management and marketing  that I devote an entire chapter to the topic in my book  Business Fits.   Does a high  price  insure quality?  Definitely  not.     Does  a  low  price  indicate  poor  quality?  Definitely not.

        Many entrepreneurs start a business with the intention of competing on price, which is usually a formula for failure.  A larger, more established competitor is in a better position for a price war. 

        I was involved in a price war once when I was in the recreational vehicle manufacturing business.  We basically bought the business in an eight state area.  There was no way a smaller competitor with less financial reserves and a smaller geographic market could compete. 

        I know of several products that are poor quality, but have the perception of quality due to an extensive advertising campaign.  Companies often make a conscious decision to spend money on promotions and advertising instead of product quality. 

        Engineering is so good today that many products are only made to last as long as the warranty period.  Keith Elwick was the founder of Hawk Bilt.  He once told me that they originally made their products to last, but then the engineers got too good. 

        I give an example in my book of a product that did not sell because the price was too low.  When the price was raised, it sold very well and continues to sell today. 

        Some products need a high price to denote quality and exclusivity.  The cosmetics industry is a great example of this.  Cost of production is minimal.  The biggest portion of production cost is the packaging. 

        When I was a Ford-Mercury dealer, I noticed that many parts for a Ford, Mercury, or Lincoln, were identical, but had different part numbers and prices.  The Lincoln owner expected to pay more than the Mercury owner, and the Mercury owner expected to pay more than the Ford owner.  Ford Motor Company was kind enough to accommodate them. 

        Most pricing is called odd pricing or psychological pricing.  The idea is that $19.99 sounds less then $20.00.  This practice is very common and is especially successful with lower priced items. 

        When I was in the collector car business I did not use odd pricing on cars.  If I priced a collector car at $49,950, the customer only heard $49,000 and expected to negotiate from there.  I priced the car at $50,000 and told the customer we did not negotiate.  The car now had a much higher image of quality. 

        Shipping costs can affect the price of a product.  If the product has to be shipped to the customer, the shipping cost is often included in the price.   Shipping costs can turn off a potential customer.  I give a great example involving grass-fed buffalo meat in my book. 

        For more about pricing, read Business Fits which is available on Amazon. 

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

                   http://BusinessFits.com

Liberal Education

        When people graduate from a four-year college they often receive a Bachelor of Science degree or a Bachelor of Arts degree.  A BS degree is usually in the applied sciences like physics, chemistry or mathematics.  The BA degree is usually in liberal arts areas like literature, music, or art. 

        Of all collage degrees, a Bachelor of Arts is probably the worst for preparing the student for the real world unless they are going into teaching.  Teaching is a needed and honorable profession, but we might not need many more art history majors. 

John Adams, one of our great founding fathers, wrote this to his wife during the Revolutionary War:

“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.  My sons ought to study mathematics, philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.”

        We have become very spoiled in this great country.  Four-year college degrees are great for some people, but we also need students to learn specific skills necessary for our economy.  

        Too many people graduate from collage with no clue how to manage their lives.  They don’t know anything about essentials like personal finance or insurance.  I hope most collage and high school graduates have at least learned the 3Rs and how to find and evaluate information with logical thinking. 

        When I titled this blog liberal education, I was not focusing on liberal arts.  I was talking about how politically liberal our education system has gotten.  How can students learn logical thought if they only receive one side from their professors?  History has even been rewritten to present the liberal agenda.  This reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984.

        When Donald Trump was elected president, Hampshire College lowered their flag to half staff.  College professors in several universities cancelled or postponed tests and assignments because the students were too upset with Trump’s election.  This is ridiculous.    

        Our colleges and universities have gotten so politically liberal that educators are often denied tenure in universities if they are not liberal.  Students won’t learn logical thought if the professors they respect only give them their personal political beliefs.

        Notre Dame students are now protesting Mike Pence as their commencement speaker.  Notre Dame is a Catholic University and Pence is a Catholic and the Vice President of the United States.  Since when does free speech only apply to liberals?

        Students at a free speech rally in Berkley physically assaulted American veterans.  They wore masks and acted like anarchists.  These students need to wake up. 

        I would never hire someone this naïve, and many employers feel the same.  Maybe these students can get a government job or make a living as a liberal educator until the rest of the country wakes up and those jobs go away. 

        Liberal education has gone too far.  Appalachian State University offers a class called “What if Harry Potter is Real?”  The University of South Carolina offers a class called “Lady Gaga and the sociology of Fame.”  We need to teach our youth job skills, logical thinking, actual history, and government to prepare them for the real world. 

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

                   http://BusinessFits.com

Supreme Court

        Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed and sworn in as the next Supreme Court Justice.  Someone said we now have balance again with four liberals, four conservatives, and one moderate swing vote.  

        This is a shame.  We should not have liberals or conservatives as Supreme Court Justices.  All nine should be Constitutionalists who are only interested in supporting, interpreting, clarifying, and enforcing our Constitution and the laws of this country. 

        The Supreme Court’s job is not to legislate from the bench.  Legislating is the job of Congress.  Unfortunately, Congress has not done its job, largely due to partisan politics. 

        Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagen and Sotomayor are considered liberals, and in my opinion, do try to legislate from the bench.  Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and now Gorsuch, are considered conservative.  This is not always true as Roberts definitely voted as a liberal on Obama Care.  I would still like to know the rest of that story, but I know I never will.  Kennedy is the one judge considered to be a moderate and also a swing vote. 

        The lame-stream media considers any judge who supports the law and the Constitution over a liberal agenda a conservative.  I do not consider a judge liberal or conservative if they are not trying to legislate from the bench. 

        Gorsuch was confirmed by a US Senate vote of 54 – 45.  This is not the traditional super majority, but we are a democratic republic where a simple majority must be accepted to keep the country running. 

        It is interesting that only three Democrats voted to confirm Gorsuch considering that he was confirmed as a judge for The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit with a unanimous vote.  Sometimes liberal democrats act like junior high children in lockstep.

        Gorsuch will be one of the most competent and capable judges on the Supreme Court.  As a judge of The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, he has only had one decision reversed.  This is pretty amazing considering 81% of all rulings of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals, serving the liberal west coast, are overturned.

        Thanks President Trump, for a great pick for the Supreme Court. God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

                   http://BusinessFits.com

Lockstep

        Merriam-Webster defines lockstep as “a mode of marching in step by a body of persons going one after another as closely as possible.”  Wikipedia states lockstep is often associated with Nazi Germany that made Hitler’s youth groups march in lockstep.

        Merriam-Webster gives a second definition of lockstep as “a standard method or procedure that is mindlessly adhered to or that minimizes individuality.”  In lockstep is defined as “in perfect or rigid often mindless or unison – politicians marching in lockstep with the party line.”

        The Democratic Party is definitely marching in lockstep today.  They are negating anything President Donald Trump and/or the Republican Party propose.  It would not matter if it was the best thing that could ever happen to this country.  Democrats would oppose it.

        The lame stream media is saying President Trump and the Republican Party just had a defeat because the health care bill did not pass.  The Republicans were not in lockstep.  Is that good or bad? 

        That is funny because it took seventeen months for the lockstep Democrats to pass Obama Care with no one even reading the bill.  It has proven to be a total disaster.  Now, when Trump does not get a new healthcare bill in seventy days, the media proclaims it a failure.  

        If the Republican Party were in lockstep, they could be in total control and make the Democrats irrelevant.  The down side would be that it gives too much power to the Republican political elite.  I don’t want that and I don’t think President Trump does either. 

        Republicans were divided on the proposed health care legislation, because some, like the Freedom Caucus, did not think the bill went far enough.  Trump and many Republicans ran on the promise of repealing and replacing Obama Care.  The bill did not do that.  Advocates stated that it was the first of three bills to reform health care, but there is no guarantee the next two bills will pass. 

        I don’t believe the bill actually repealed or replaced Obama Care.  It was good it did not pass.  Obama Care will implode under its own weight, and then we can get better health care legislation.

        The Democrats made a huge mistake by not voting for this bill.  The bill did not repeal and replace Obama Care, but was trying to fix it.  It was the best chance and the only option the Democrats had of salvaging anything of Obama Care.  Their foolish lockstep mentality took that opportunity away from them.

        Common sense is the magic wand.  The best solutions are simple.  Even a lowly citizen like me could write a health care bill that would solve the problems and be less than ten pages long.  I outlined that legislation in my blog of July 24, 2012.  There are only six points to the solution.  But change is hard and politics makes it even tougher.  We have to remember the number one objective of most politicians is to get reelected.  The country comes second.  This is not the case with our current president.

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

http://BusinessFits.com

FBI Director

        James Comey is the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  He is the perfect example of a narcissistic political bureaucrat.  Comey considers himself to be above the law and accountable to no one. 

        James Comey has been called before Congress several times and is very flippant about it.  He has openly bragged that he is too “slippery” to tell Congress anything he does not want them to know. 

        Comey was once a Republican and now claims to be an independent.  I don’t think he has any Republican or Democratic political agenda.  Everything is simply all about himself, his power, and covering his own ass.

        My mother was a great judge of human character.  I once heard her say a man was so slimy that it made her skin crawl when she was around him.  That is my opinion of James Comey.

        The FBI Director should be accountable to Congress, but Comey considers Congress a joke.  He is not concerned if he is caught lying to them, and why should he?  Congress never found out who was responsible for blaming Benghazi on a video.  Eric Holder was held in criminal contempt of Congress when he was Attorney General, but never was held accountable.  Hilary Clinton was caught lying to Congress and later ran for president. Why should Comey worry about Congress?

        Comey is not worried about Congress, but President Trump scares him.  Trump is too rich to be bought.  He has power, so he can’t be intimidated, and he is too clean to be blackmailed.  The only option left for Comey to attack Trump on his lack of political correctness, or by making ridiculous assumptions from his tweets. 

        We have to start holding politicians and bureaucrats accountable for their actions.  Congress must start doing their job and show some teeth.  We cannot allow politicians and bureaucrats to be above the law or they will continue to only represent their own interests and not the people they should be representing.  Some people might have to go to jail.     

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

                        http://BusinessFits.com

Daylight Savings Time

        I hate Daylight Savings Time.  I think most people do.  Just as it starts getting light before I get up in the morning, we go on daylight savings time and its dark again.  It practically seems like I get up in the dark and go to bed in the daylight. 

        It takes me forever to adjust to the time change.  It is much worse than jet lag, but I have to admit that change is tough for an old fart like me.

        Every time we change the time, I have to reset clocks.  I count 25 clocks, watches and timers that don’t reset themselves in our house.  Changing them all always puts me in an even worse mood.  

        When Daylight Savings Time started it was just for the summer months.  Now its eight months of the year.  Maybe we should just stay on Daylight Savings time.  That is a bad idea, but better than changing twice a year. 

        What idiot came up with this idea in the first place?  History shows Daylight Savings Time goes back to Germany in WWI to save fuel.  FDR implemented it during WWII to save fuel and reduce the potential need for night blackouts. 

        I have heard a lot of arguments in favor of Daylight Savings Time.  Most are just plain BS.  The big one is energy savings.  This may have been valid at some time in the past, but  I don’t think it is today.  It costs just as much to light or heat a house in the morning as it does in the evening.  The cost of transportation to work is the same regardless of the time on the clock. 

        Farmers have been given as a reason.  This is crazy because the livestock and crops react to the sun, not a clock. 

        School children have been given as a reason, but this is a bad one.  Some children spend more time in the dark going to school which can be dangerous.  I have also heard proposals to start school later in the day because kids like to stay up at night and don’t want to get up in the morning.  They do not perform as well in the early part of the day.  Daylight Savings Time just compounds this problem. 

        Daylight Savings Time may be good for some businesses like golf courses, but is bad for others like drive-in-theaters.  We have a great 4^th of July fireworks display every year over the lake which we like to watch from our boat.  With Daylight Savings Time it stays light so late that it is almost July 5^th by the time the fireworks are over.  Maybe we should start them the night of July 3^rd so they bring in the 4^th of July.

        I heard medical experts discussing Daylight Savings Time on the morning news.  They stated that the physical health issues relating to the time change and sleep problems are small, but the time change does bring an increase in heart attracts.

        Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands do not implement Daylight Savings Time.  I wish other states including Wisconsin would do the same.  If it were put up for a vote to the people, I am certain there would be no more Daylight Savings time.   

        This would be a great non-partisan issue for politicians to take up.  Sorry, I forgot that there seem to be no such thing as a non-partisan issue regardless of how beneficial it is to the country.  I am fed up with partisan politics.  If it continues, the negative political party may cease to exist, and I don’t want to see that happen.

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

                        http://BusinessFits.com

My Seven Greatest Fears

        On January 18, 2012 I started Common Sense, Business & Politics.  My first blog listed my seven greatest fears for our country.   They were:

1.  Party Politics and corrupt politicians, as many politicians will do anything to stay in office.  Staying in office is more important than working for the good of the country. 

2.  Growing government, government spending, and government debt are out of control. 

3.  Deficit trade balances increase as manufacturing declines.

4.  Immigration problems increase as not one President in more than 40 years has enforced our immigration laws

5.  Health care costs are out of control as politicians try to solve a problem created by insurance with insurance.

6.  Religious freedoms of Christians are being taken away, and we have a problem dealing with radical Islamic terrorists.

7.  We have a work ethic problem, and government education and welfare policies have created a welfare society that is now in its third generation in some urban areas. 

        More than five years have passed and this great country has voiced its opinion that they agree with me.  They ignored the political elite, big money, and the lame stream media to elect a president that said he would do something about these problems. 

        President Donald Trump has done more to address the seven concerns I listed in the last fifty days than was accomplished in the last five years.

        God bless the United States of America.  God bless President Trump and guide him to make America great again.

http://BusinessFits.com