Michael1942's Blog

Darrell Edward Issa (/ˈaɪsə/; Arabic: عيسى‎; born November 1, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for California’s 49th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. His district consists of portions of southern Riverside County and northern San Diego County. The district was numbered as the 48th District during his first term and was renumbered the 49th after the 2000 Census. Since January 2011, he has served as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa is a self-made millionaire with a net worth estimated at as much as $450 million,^[1] making him the wealthiest currently serving member of Congress.^[

Mr. Issa has spent a lot of our (voters) money publicly pursuing  unproven issues against the Obama administration, first it was Attorney General Eric Holder to the point of issuing a contempt of Congress and finding that it was a waste of time as the AG was not aware of the failures in the gun running scam that went south. Now this representative is pursuing the tragedy in Syria where the ambassador and others were killed in what appears to be a planned attack under the cover of the anti government Syrian uprising. Now a military person has stepped up to say that more military back up was requested but was not given. Unfortunately there is no good information readily available on this but it seems that Mr. Issa is bent on castigating the current administration for what may end up as another witch hunt. It is really convenient to issue information like this that is not fully vetted in an election year, since Mr. Issa with his impressive fortune is backing a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. Issa is no doubt one of ardent detractors of the current administration and probably a dissenter on many of current President’s policies. I would think that Mr. Issa would be more in favor of what is right for the American voters as  his family background is rooted in the Arabian peninsula. The issue I have with these types of representatives is that they have no interest in good government if it does not further their own ambitions and personal agendas. Remember Joe McCarthy, Sara Palin and Newt Gingrich?

A debate is just that a debate, it is a structured argument much like a trial by jury. The 2 sides present their sides and hope they have done enough to win. Political debates are no more than bashing contests, if you ever followed the BBC series “the prisoner” then you know what I mean. Debates are a farce much of it is political theater which has nothing to do with the real issues and serves to confuse the few voters who really understand the issues but provides the fact checkers and pundits something to talk about. The real truth is in the character of the debater and what they have done. No one aspiring for a high office has any idea of what is involved in the occupation of the office. The unfortunate part of this is that the major parties have nothing in mind beyond their control of the American Presidency and Congress. They  have the interests of big business as their guide and future potential employers. The parties are not required to run the government just elected representatives who do the job they were elected to do. An  Independent voter is what is required to make government work.

What’s in it for me? This could very well be the constant question  from Congress. Each Congress member has a staff of assistants and ancillary people to read and keep them up on the business of the Congress (bills on the floor, etc)  which brings me to believe that  much of the pending legislation is not read directly by the people who have to vote on them. It is possible that votes are sometimes uninformed or inadequately researched. This is aside from the normal quid pro quo dealmaking. There are so many lobbyists jockeying for  the ear of a committee member that some are literally “camped out” the doorsteps of the Congress. Keep in mind that some of these Lobbyists are former members of the Congress or work for former members and their associates. With this type of network it is small wonder why Washington Does Not Work!!

Fact checking has become a part of political campaign coverage. This has given rise to organizations that do this as a business or avocation. The current candidates and their staffs should avail themselves of these organizations to insure that what they say is correct. Why should they do this when it is apparently more appealing to the voting public to hear salacious,  sometimes spectacular lies and misinformation. We voters have always listened intently to hear the worst about a candidate but not so much when the truth is uttered. When we hang on the misinformation, we also hang ourselves. Fact checkers give us a way to the truth and thereby in a better position to vote intelligently.

After spending many years in retail as an  equipment salesman, equipment cleaner, and rental agent for photographic equipment. Continuing on as a flooring and wall covering salesman and installer, I have found that managers who have not had the basic frontline experience in retail cannot properly manage a retail operation.  The things that make a retail operation successful are customer service (no service ,no customers), having the product in stock and proper pricing. The ancillary items are a clean store (especially bathrooms). The  important thing then is customer service which involves all of the above along with a friendly face to assist in the purchase if needed.  Apparently many companies have forgotten this concept and have lost market share. A couple of examples are     HD and SHC which both were and are being managed by  people whose retail knowledge is limited to maybe their making a purchase somewhere but not recognizing the process of the sale at the time. The mantra seems to be : “you are a manager and have ultimate responsibility for success”. This does account for the support people who have no hands on retail experience  yet are responsible for store setup and product line up on the shelves. With the computer age arrived the desk bound retailers who design layouts and shelf spacing without ever having worked in a store. This leads to continual changes in the set up and shelf spacing aside from the normal seasonal changes. This is disruptive to the workers and the customers, the workers spend more than average amounts of time moving merchandise around instead of maintaining stock levels on the shelves. The customers spend more time seeking  a product they purchased before and cannot readily find it since the area was reset. At this point some leave the store without making a purchase or seeking assistance. That is dollars on the hoof going somewhere else perhaps never to return.