Welcome to the March Health and Medicine issue of NorthBay biz. This month, in addition to looking at what’s happening locally in the health and medical industries, we’re also featuring a special report on development and construction in the North Bay. So please enjoy all the distinct local coverage as NorthBay biz continues its 37-year tradition of serving the best interests of the business community in the North Bay.
Before moving on to my favorite part of this column, my monthly rant, let me briefly tell you about a special business event NorthBay biz is planning for April 19 at the KaiserAir Hangar at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport. Titled BIZ NOW—The Future Is Here, this half-day event is designed to attract business owners and top-level decision-making executives. We’re partnering with leading companies and top-notch local talent to produce this full-immersion event. The combination of multimedia and live experience will feature inspiring, practical and creative strategies that can make a profound difference to your future business. Let me say it this way: Business conditions have changed, but gravity hasn’t been suspended. Your leadership and vision are essential to shape what’s to come. By attending, we hope to help make sure that what’s to come for your business is by design, not by default. Hope to see you there on April 19. For more info or to buy tickets, go to northbaybiznow.com or call Joni Rosinski at (707) 575-8282.
Most of you reading this will remember when $1 million was considered a large sum of money. Somehow, over the past decade or so, it became pocket change compared to its successor, $1 billion. Spending on projects, mergers, acquisitions and deficits began to be measured in billions. The numbers grew rapidly—exponentially. However, in the past five years, another measure reared its head and became the yardstick: $1 trillion. Any idea how vast a sum that is? Here’s an attempt to get my mind around that number.
A trillion dollars is one million million, or one thousand billion. It’s a one followed by 12 zeros: $1,000,000,000,000. Our national debt is $15 trillion. Staggering. Thanks to some anonymous soul on the Internet, here’s another way to look at our national debt that better compares it to your household or mine.
U.S. tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 ($2.17 trillion)
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000 ($3.82 trillion)
New debt: $1,650,000,000,000 ($1.65 trillion)
National debt: $15,137,000,000,000 ($15.14 trillion)
Budget cuts: $38,500,000,000 ($38.5 billion)
Now we’ll remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s our household budget.
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New credit card debt: $16,500
Total credit card debt: $151,370
Total budget cuts: $385
What am I missing here? How long would our families survive given this imbalance of income versus spending and debt? What are the politicians thinking? This is fiduciary malfeasance to the highest degree.
What all this really comes down to is what we, the people, are going to demand of our government. Are we willing to settle for the incremental erosion of our personal liberties in exchange for a society where none can excel, but rather all wallow in mediocrity? A country where central planning replaces the freedom of each individual to succeed or fail on his or her own merits? Will we tolerate a government that continues to punish success and to pick winners not by the quality of their ideas but rather by the amount of influence they can earn by courting government insiders? If the definition of a “fair chance” for all degenerates into redistributing wealth from those who earn it to those who demand it as some sort of “right,” then our nation is doomed. This path is a direct descent into the current regime’s new normal. A place where ever lower expectations for individual success are reinforced with an ever increasing diminished economy. A place where a fully employed workforce is read about in history books. Going forward, if we want to restore our nation’s greatness, we need to abandon the social architects and replace them with more liberty under law.
Over the last three years, the national debt has increased by almost $5 trillion. That’s 5,000 billion dollars. So let me conclude with one last illustration concerning our debt ceiling: What do you think our elected officials—both here in California and in Washington—would do if they came home from work and found out there was a sewer backup in their neighborhood that resulted in their home being filled with sewage all the way up to the ceiling: Raise the ceilings, or pump out the sewage? Maybe it’s time to make that decision for them.
That’s it for now. Enjoy this month’s magazine
