Several people have asked me if I think the administration is serious about reforming the financial services industry. I don’t, and here’s why:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36665

If you were serious about fixing a problem, wouldn’t you include the biggest part of the problem? Of course you would. But that’s not what the administration has done. No one did more to bring about the collapse of the financial services industry and no one is more in need of reform than Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. These are the two government agencies that provide housing loans. With a leverage ration reaching 100 to 1, these agencies are huge risk-takers. Shouldn’t they be included in financial services reform?

They should, but they are not because the Democrats defend these agencies and their mission of giving loans out to people who don’t always need them. And that’s more proof that this bill is about scoring points, not solving problems.

So let me get this straight: the Obama administration is pushing for new regulations on Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and the Securities and Exchange Commission just so happened to file a lawsuit against…Goldman Sachs!

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/obama-denies-link-to-timing-of-s-e-c-case/?hp

Of course, the president assures us there is no reason to be worried:

“The S.E.C. is an entirely independent agency that we have no day-to-day control over. And they never discussed with us anything with respect to the charge that will be brought. So this notion that somehow there would be any attempt to interfere in an independent agency is completely false.”

An entirely independent agency?  Not entirely.  The agency’s leadership is appointed by the president.

Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

You may have heard that the Democrats have a bill to “regulate” the financial services industry. But did you know that their bill will almost certainly create more government bailouts of Wall Street?

http://gopleader.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=181716

Here is how it would work: In exchange for new regulations, some of the biggest players on Wall Street (like Goldman Sachs) would get access to a pre-existing bailout fund. As the article notes:

“The FDIC, as the resolution agency for too-big-to-fail firms, would be given wide latitude to use resources to make payments to anyone in any amounts, at their own discretion.”

So if you didn’t like the Bush bailouts, just wait until you see the coming Obama bailouts if this bill passes.

This week we’ll be looking at the same issue the president is: financial services regulation. But we’ll be reaching some different conclusions than he has.

Would you believe that the very regulations the president will pitch this week in New York will actually weaken the financial services industry and make bailouts more likely?

Check the blog this week to find out why.

This weekend NASCAR hits the “Great American Speedway,” as the Texas Motor Speedway is known. And in preparation, I thought we should spend some time debunking the myth that NASCAR is somehow on the decline. Nothing could be farther from the truth:

http://www.thenascarinsiders.com/2010/04/15/is-nascar-starting-its-recovery/

Here is the real story: yes, NASCAR took a hit during the recession. Guess what? So did most industries. That’s hardly proof of a decline. But here is the good news: NASCAR has responded and made key changes that will make the sport even more successful. As the article notes:

“Over the last two seasons though we have seen a sanctioning body more willing to listen and embrace changes everyone can get behind. We saw NASCAR institute double-file restarts, more attempts at G-W-C finishes and the return to the spoiler.”

I think NASCAR will emerge from the recession even better than ever before. So quit worrying and start enjoying NASCAR!

Yesterday we talked about the great marketing that NASCAR does. Today we’re going to talk about one of the great marketers in NASAR, Eddie Gossage:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/news/story?id=5044233

In the story above, Gossage was determined to create some news coverage. So he used one of the oldest tricks in the book: the April Fool’s Joke. He claimed that he had convinced a local radio personality to change his legal name to “Texasmotorspeedway.com” Of course, after the story spread across the news wires, Gossage had to announce that it was all a joke. But think of all the free media coverage he got for that one joke.

Gossage is a marketing machine. Here is how he describes his own philosophy:

“There are all sorts of things that you can do during non-race times to help pay the rent. We’ve had eight different things going on at once where people were renting the track. If you drove by, it would largely look like the place was quiet, that the grass was just growing. But we use this place all year long.”

That’s great advice for any business.

Today we focus on the marketing of NASCAR. I’ve always been interested in marketing–how businesses market themselves to their target audiences. And few do this any better than NASCAR:

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2006/05/29/smallb2.html

As this article puts it:

“So what has NASCAR done to be so successful? First and foremost, it understands and manages the brand. NASCAR is more than a sport; it is a lifestyle. NASCAR officials have worked hard to build both functional and emotional equities into their brand. The functional attributes include nonstop thrilling and exciting entertainment, action and teamwork. Emotional attributes include being genuine, open to all, like a big family, and athletes that are role models and down-to-earth regular people. This combination creates a powerful connection to the fans and attracts sponsors.”

These are great lessons for anyone in any business. We could all do worse than to market ourselves as well as NASCAR markets itself.

NASCAR is big business; and it’s about to get even bigger. Here is blog that some business professors at Virginia Commonwealth write that focuses exclusively on the business of racing:

http://blog.vcu.edu/nascar/

According to this blog, NASCAR is looking to expand its horizons and move into the Middle East. As the writer notes:

“By expanding into the world of Middle East, there would be many benefits for NASCAR and the United States. One of the benefits would be expanding the fan base of NASCAR and promoting the sport. Addition of new sponsors to the game would benefit the sport, teams, tracks, cities, government and so on. Additionally, all of the current sponsors would benefit by getting international exposure and recognition.”

So don’t believe any of the hype you may have read about NASCAR being in decline. On the contrary, it’s full speed ahead for NASCAR as it looks to drive into new markets in new parts of the globe.

This week is NASCAR week in Texas with the big race coming up this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. So it’s a good time to talk about what an amazing event Nascar is.

And it’s not just rednecks who are paying attention:

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/rick-perry-teams-up-with-nasca.html

Politicians have been intrigued by NASCAR since President Reagan appeared at a race in 1984 to salute Richard Petty. But now, Governor Rick Perry is taking it to a whole new level. By sponsoring the Bobby Labonte car, Perry’s name will be in front of the hundreds of thousands of fans at the track and the millions watching on television at home.

Pretty smart move, isn’t it? We’ll be talking about why NASCAR is such a hot commodity the rest of this week. So check in each day for our blog.

Here is another reason why I believe we can still fight back on health care: because the real law hasn’t even been written yet.

Here is something interesting that many people don’t know about the legislative process. Once a law is passed by Congress, it then has to have accompanying regulations that are written by the relevant agency. In this case, the Department of Health and Human Services will write what are called “rules” that explain exactly how the law will be implemented and enforced. And typically, the bureaucrats writing these rules have great discretion.

So I encourage anyone reading this blog who is concerned about the new health care law to contact the Department of Health and Human Services today and voice your concern. Go to www.dhs.gov and let the government know you how feel before it’s too late.

Today we are back on our topic of what can be done about the new health care law.

And we’re going to talk briefly about the action being taken by the attorneys general of several states. Essentially, they are filing a lawsuit that argues that the federal government does not have the authority to regulate whether an individual purchases a product or not. This would be the first time in history that it’s happened. It turns out, the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to regulate “interstate commerce,” that is, business transactions between companies doing work across state lines. It says nothing about individuals.

And since individuals are not allowed to purchase health care plans outside of their state, there is no way this new law meets the Constitutional standard.

Let’s hope the court recognizes this and rules this new health care law uncontitutional.

Today we are taking a one-day break from our series on what’s next for health care.

Instead, I want to give you an example of why so many people hate politics and so few people are willing to run for office.

I was surprised the other day to receive an email from Darwin Carter attacking my friend, Gary Black. Carter asked Black to resign from the Georgia Council Agribusiness Council. Apparently, Black’s crime is having the audacity to run against Carter for Secretary of Agriculture.

I did a little research on the claims made about Black (including that it is the “will of the people” that Black resign) and was unable to find any information about a call for his resignation other than by Carter. I did however take a few moments to look into Carter’s history and past elections and noticed that he was accused as far back as 1980 of running negative campaigns and “siphoning off funds” from legitimate candidates.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1994/3/9/gop-neophytes-vie-to-take-on/

I am confident that we are going to take back our Nation. We must stop the political corruption and campaign tactics that prevent our most talented leaders from serving. I know very few successful business leaders who are willing to get into politics and this is why it must change now.

This week our blog will focus on where we go from here on health care. And believe it or not, this battle is far from over.

There is plenty that state governments and local citizens can do to change the new health care law.

We’ll explain how this week on the blog.

Today we conclude our series on what’s in the health care bill by looking at something that many in the media have missed: health savings accounts.

HSAs were signed into law by President Bush in 2003. They allow individuals to set-aside money into an IRA that is tax free. So, rather than pay for medical expenses with insurance, the HSA allows you to grow money tax-free and then use that money to cover whatever medical expenses you may need. Typically, individuals still purchase catastrophic insurance to pay for major medical emergencies.

HSAs seems to be working. So why would we want to scale them back? Yet that’s exactly what Obamacare does. It limits the amount of money that an individual can contribute to an HSA to $2500. That’s not nearly enough money to make HSAs work for most families, which frankly, is why that dollar amount was chosen. The creators of Obamacare don’t want people paying for their own health care with savings.

Did anyone read this bill before we made it a law?

Here is something else that is bad about the new health care law: the reforms start later; the taxes start now.

That’s because the administration deliberately set the new changes to begin after the 2012 election; but to cover the costs over a ten-year period, the administration will start their new fees and taxes immediately.

http://www.heartland.org/healthpolicy-news.org/article/27359/Obamacare_All_Pain_No_Gain.html

As the article notes:

“The 10 percent tax on tanning salons starts this year. Beginning in 2011 our drug bills will rise because of a $2.5 billion tax on name-brand drugs and removal of the tax exemption for over-the-counter drugs purchased using a Flexible Spending Account. The penalty for nonmedical Health Savings Account (HSA) distributions will also double. Seniors will begin losing benefits as a result of cuts in the Medicare program. The average Medicare Advantage Plan enrollee will lose nearly $200 in benefits in 2011—rising by a dozen times that amount ($2,437) by 2019. Seniors in traditional Medicare plans will lose only $22 in 2011, but this will rise to $1,137 by 2019.”

Again I ask: did anyone think this through before we passed this law?