HLN – Carol Costello – Budget Deal Block

Just before my radio show on Thursday, Janiuary 18, 2018,  I joined Carol Costello on CNN’s HLN via Skype. We discussed the odds of a budget deal between the Democrats and Republicans. Plus, a take on using DACA and CHIP as a bargaining tool for Republicans. My other panelist was CNN Contributor and KABC talk radio host John Phillips

Here is a little clip.”There is no deal to be made when the President changes his mind every morning at 6am Eastern Time and tweets about it”
“You can only go so far with playing with people’s lives before people start to realize that you’re just being downright mean…”

And the full segment can be viewed here – https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6brt0DgdZ1fQkpOZGNSbVdhRGs/view
Let me know your thoughts below!

CNN International – Budget Impasse and Immigration Tough Talk

I was back on CNN International Newsroom LA late Wednesday night, January 17, 2018. Host John Vause discussed the budget impasse facing Congress, which party will take the blame, and how a border wall plays into all of it. Joining me were fellow panelists David Siders, senior political reporter for Politico, and Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Watch the segment below and let me know your thoughts!

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Updated Spreadsheet Salaries Exceeding Federal Pay Scale for Central Coast

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Thanks to the Santa Cruz Sentinel I have added sheets for Santa Cruz County 2012 salaries and Santa Cruz City 2011 salaries.

Take a look, it is an eye opener to see an estimated 32 employees in the city and 39 employees of the county of Santa Cruz exceeding GS pay. Two municipalities that must balance the budget every year, unlike the federal government, busting their budgets on overpaying employees.

UPDATE December 11, 2013 6:40 pm PST

Based upon requests from readers, I have added three new tabs to the spreadsheet with the eye-opening numbers (134 making more than $155k per year) from the University of California Santa Cruz, and the more reasonable California State University Monterey Bay and Cabrillo College (which happens to be one of the very best in the United States).

Click below for the Microsoft Excel format file (new xlsx format)

UCSC_CSUMB_CabrilloCollege_MontereyCo_SantaCruzCo_SantaCruz_CASalariesExceedingFederalLevels

Monterey County’s Lou Calcagno

KSCO AM 1080Today on KSCO Presents I was joined in-studio by Monterey County 2nd District Supervisor Lou Calcagno. His deep ties with the community, extensive agri-business background, and public service provided for an informative interview. His answers to my questions came not from a politician, but a concerned citizen helping his community.

During the conversation I mentioned a salary database. Below is the spreadsheet with Monterey County salary information along with additional tabs with federal pay information. Please take a look

Monterey County CA Salaries Exceeding Federal Levels

You can also CLICK HERE to go to the podcast page for a listen online or download of the mp3.

Monterey County 2nd District Supervisor Louis Calcagno
Monterey County 2nd District Supervisor Louis Calcagno

 

Pope, Port, Power

The Ethan Bearman Show

A new pope and another cruise ship is stuck, what is going on in the world?

Energy is the underpinning of nearly everything in our modern society. I will speak with David Ratcliffe, the recently retired CEO of Southern Company which is one of the United States’ largest energy providers about opportunity, energy, and success.

The Democrats finally put up a budget plan in the Senate, is it going to accomplish anything?

The Higgs Boson particle is revealed and announced. Or is it?

Insider hacking of the worst kind at the LA Times and Tribune Co.

Plus your phone calls and so much more.

Tune in to The Ethan Bearman Show, Sundays 4-6 pm Pacific, 5-7 pm Mountain, 6-8 pm Central, 7-9 pm Eastern on your favorite talk radio station or online at http://goo.gl/dpxUX

The studio number to call in during the show is 1-800-259-5791 or email me:  radio@ethanbearman.com

If your local station doesn’t carry the show yet, please be sure to call and ask for them to broadcast The Ethan Bearman Show on Sunday evenings!

Click HERE  for a complete listing of affiliates and ways to listen to the shows

And don’t forget that all shows are available 4 hours after airing for mp3 download or listening online at The Ethan Bearman Show Podcast Site!

Post Office Cutting Back

USPS Delivery Truck

The beleaguered United States Post Office (USPS) is making a reasonable business move in their latest announcement. I agree with canceling Saturday mail delivery. The surprising part is the news that packages will still be delivered on Saturday, just not first class mail.

We have all been hearing about the budget shortfalls facing the USPS for years. People not writing letters due to technology, competition from UPS and Fedex, and spiraling costs due to generous defined benefit pensions are all responsible for the budgeting problems.

And for those that claim the Post Office should privatize, I say no. Not only do we already have competition in the marketplace, but the Post Office is a function of government as defined in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution:

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

More from the Press Release 13-019:

The United States Postal Service announced plans today to transition to a new delivery schedule during the week of Aug. 5, 2013 that includes package delivery Monday through Saturday, and mail delivery Monday through Friday. The Postal Service expects to generate cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually, once the plan is fully implemented. 
“The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and CEO. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”
The Postal Service is currently implementing major restructuring throughout its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, the Postal Service has reduced its annual cost base by approximately $15 billion, reduced the size of its career workforce by 193,000 or 28 percent, and has consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations. During these unprecedented initiatives, the Postal Service continued to deliver record high levels of service to its customers.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.