Today's Children Tomorrow's Future (R) (www.usa-positive-expectations.com)

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Saturday, May 14, 2005

More on the Job Creation Act of 2004 Where is the money!

March 18, 2005
Dear Mr. Zimmerman:

If you recall we had a discussion about the ethics of not teaching the poorest of the poor children how to read soon enough so they would not fall behind. Interesting how all this ties together and could actually be leveraged into action with the money from the Job Creation Act of 2004. Real interesting, I am sure you also see it as an opportunity.

The Caux Roundtable is fighting for moral capitalism because the populations equate greed, corruption and scandal with business. This is very similar to our basic belief that the speculators (short-term profiteer) in our society-- whether in government, education, business, faith-base, or on the main street are demonstrating the greed and holding back the middle and lower class economic growth. Many of our systems feed the short-term speculator, with more information in areas of public and private earnings and spending which result in divided growth that is not deeply rooted. When does the speculator get exposed? How do we make sure these exposures are not taken out of the context of the whole? How clearly society works together to distinguish the speculator from the effective citizen-driving real growth is one definition of peace and prosperity. One way to define together is to be 70-80% in agreement on the accountable chart of real actions responding to real truths and real expectations. We have tools and a Plan to help effective citizens do this and highlight those individuals and businesses that are meeting requirements. This plan needs a platform for the next 20 years.

I am certain we share the belief that recognizing the truth can go along ways toward neutralizing the speculator. Long-term growth requires character, virtue, morality, ethics, values, investment, time and consistency of purpose. AND, THERE ARE MANY EFFECTIVE
CITIZENS WILLING TO DO THIS! They live and work in business, non-profits, government, the school sectors and every other walk of life defined by our democracy and majority middle class view of choice and opportunity. But in order to get "back on track", working together, making investments for growth, peace, and prosperity, the core accountabilities and truths must be more absolutely confirmed by our various leaderships and directories of the powerful. Probably 90-95% of for-profit businesses aligns generally well with the effective citizen concepts of success, savings, sharing, democracy and the middle class authority. You have projected elements and relationships to make this clear to all; we are hoping you see ways to act with visibility.

Social investments broaden and deepen the middle class customer base spending power so more private risks and innovations are tested, tried, failed, and rewarded. Public spending is a major building block for world wide private for-profit investment decisions. Collaborate private-public spending is and will be required to reach the poorest of the poor for the benefit of 100% plus the world. The Plan capitalizes on the positives behind the separation of church and state when it prompts the government and the schools to ask for help in doing life-changing work for the good of 100% of the population. Demonstrations in the last 80 years show that social giving to the poorest of the poor to change lives is most powerful when delivered in a definition of one-on-one giving very close to the benefactor. We also have learned that effective citizens, businesses and governments that protects themselves from speculators give the middle class true choices and opportunities that expand values with deep roots and ownership. Needless to say USA VALUES-CDP has very tricky positioning of truths and realisms; little stretch space; no secular base; and a positive belief that it represents a real positive possibility. Our position is considered uncomfortable because powerful directories are being distracted by short-term action not addressing the most basic truths. Society is no longer looking for 70-80% agreement to benefit 100%. You have said it clearly from the perspective of the effective business citizen and our next steps might be similar on the basis of first things first.

Our work is to link first things first accountable societal efforts (everyone working together) to reach the poorest of the poor with secular opportunity and choice. Accountable means 100% of the children start kindergarten ready to read. Principals create and maintain the networks to deliver this new start for all the students in the school. The Plan can be visioned regionally, at the school doorstep and inside, in the early learning community before kindergarten, and in a higher tech community network of early reading and social skills development organized from the elementary school. The Plan achievement will generate a real ROI in the social cost arena of government, education and job creation. The Plan can be judged to be working in just 4-6 years at the school level. This plan has been demonstrated to be effective. The regional communication and the network building from the school locations are low cost efforts that can be projected to payback the investments required in the short-term. The delivery of the early learning is an extra cost activity that pays back at plus 16% ROI over 40 years (huge, but the bulk of return to society is after the child’s school years). This delivery will require a constant activity funding for at least 10 years before the savings offset the extra cost.

The money for this social investment has been given back to the effective citizen and businesses via the 2004 Jobs Creation Act. It has effectively been removed from the public sector and put back into the private sector. We must believe that new manufacturing job creation is only possible in the urban and poor rural United States if all citizens are literate and fully engaged in choice and opportunity. Our multinational companies have already pledged the money to job creation and small business and domestic manufacturers got a new tax deduction without having to pledge its use. Some estimate it to be at least 300 billion dollars one time (2005-2006) cash flow into the US economy from overseas and then 70 billion dollars annually. The 300 billion dollars is totally pledged by boards and CEO’s-- to job creation. (Newsweek 1-31-05, p34--and others) This is lots of money; it should be a huge positive; but it seems hidden in the weeds. It seems like government and education does not know it exists; and does not have a plan to ask for its application to first things first.

Triggering a portion of this money, for early education, delivered as a gift, is exactly what effective citizens and businesses will do (invest) to create growth and prosperity. But, leadership and the directories of power in business, government, and education will need to jumpstart this with moral and ethical fortitude. A moral capitalism that demonstrates faith, love, and hope to work together with this money could bring us together (it is in the private sector- placed there in faith by our federal government- for manufacturing job creation). The faith to change the lives of the poorest of the poor through accountable early literacy education, for 100% of the children, to realize a very high return could be judged as moral capitalism at the 6th level. This is long-term societal value building and might be the only way (focus on the age 3-6 child) to reach a 70-80% agreement on next step for the good of 100%. The truth is this effort would change the government and school landscapes in ways that only doing things right the first time could accomplish. The truth is this sets the stage for accountable continuous improvement in the activity cost of business, government and education.

I would be interested to know how an organization like yours could use the tools we have created. Please email me with any interest on your part to meet and discuss this.
Sincerely,
Thomas D. Wolfgram

PS 1. I captured this quote from Stephen B. Young, Global Executive director of the Caux Round Table- in my notes. "This opposition to capitalism would naturally evaporate if it could be demonstrated that business decision-making, though driven by self-interest, did, in fact, embrace vital externalities of consequence to the public interest. Those, like me, who believe that free market capitalism should be the economic system of choice are searching for a Holy Grail of analysis, one that would resolve the contradictions between capitalist valuation techniques and other ethical and moral frameworks of concern.
The end of inquiry should be an integration of virtue and self-interest. Self-interest emphasizes the internal rationality of capitalist calculations, while virtue brings into consideration needs and concerns external to the intersection of supply and demand curves. Such a Holy Grail of valuation is a theory of the firm that aligns stakeholder concerns with the strategic needs of owners of capital."
PS 2. The USA based Multinationals not only have been encouraged by the 911 Commission Report (very effective citizens) to help build effective literacy in the world (page 377) labeled an agenda of opportunity by the UN.
1. It would go without saying that we would do it internationally as we did it at home with our poorest of the poor.
2. What stronger statement could USA Moral Capitalism make about social value building. And only business will be able to realistically undertake this effort.
When the Federal government gives the Multinationals almost "tax- free" repatriation for the promise and commitment to create domestic jobs with the money, a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the corporation’s social commitment has been created.


USA VALUES - CDP Phone 507-452-2658 or 763-550-0769
Character Development Program Fax 507-452-2202
102 Walnut Street http://ulticharnetwork.blogspot.com
Winona, Minnesota 55987 twolfgram@wcprinting.com
(A 501 (c) (3) company)

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