Oh. Well. When You Put It That Way....

You just have to read the excellent, straight forward, and fascinating interview with Caterpillar CEO, Jim Owens in today's Wall Street Journal. Owens provides a lot of insight on where the company is headed. He is a strong proponent of globalization, and makes no apologies for outsourcing.

One such tidbit:

WSJ: How do you make the argument that free trade is a win-win situation to someone who fears his $75,000 a year job will be outsourced to China?

Mr. Owens: It's a very difficult sell. It's like the guy who's making horse carriages when the car comes along. How do you make the case to him that the car's going to make the world a better place? We try to educate our employees on the importance of exports to us. We exported $10 billion worth of product last year, and many jobs in our U.S. facilities are very much geared to export markets. Many small manufacturing companies that supply materials to us probably don't consider themselves as exporters, but they are. If we don't export, we don't buy from them. So they lose jobs.

And then there's this:

WSJ: Will Caterpillar's U.S. work force shrink as it expands abroad?

Mr. Owens: We're going to have a lot more employment growth outside than inside the US. We [Americans] are 5% of the world's population. And today, we're more than 20% of global gross domestic product. So it shouldn't shock Americans or even worry us too much that 10 or 15 years from now we're going to have a smaller percentage of GDP because our country's not growing as fast as emerging countries. It doesn't mean that our standard of living's going to go down. It just means that theirs is going to grow much faster.

The entire article is worth reading. In fact, for anyone who's future is CAT dependent (i.e., Employed by CAT, anyone who owns property in Peoria, or who's job is dependent on CAT doing surviving and thriving- and in this town, who's job isn't?) it should be mandatory reading.

I'm not sure the link I provided will allow you to read the entire article. Greedy dorkwads at the Wall Street Journal only provide a teaser paragraph and then want you to subscribe. I will try to type the whole thing up later tonight. Nothing good on T.V. anyway. Meanwhile, I suggest you prepare for the future by learning Spanish. Brazil, according to Owens, is the best country to do business in right now.

Yummy Oscar Goodness

Actually, I didn't watch the Oscars because, frankly, I couldn't care less. If I have a lot of laundry to fold and Law and Order is a repeat, I might tune in to see the dresses. Polly does have a thing for fancy gowns, but never has an occasion to wear one. Sometimes I wish our town was just a little less casual. I would never dream of asking for a tax subisdized venue to justify my purchase of a designer garment. However, after a long winter of long underwear, lumpy/itchy wool fisherman sweaters, and frozen snow boots, a little glamour would be much appreciated.

I couldn't find any pictures of my fantasy lover boy, Russell Crowe, at last night's award show. However, I did find this lovely image.



Sigh. Rich, gorgeous, a genius, a gladiator, and a sexy Aussie accent. What more can a girl ask for?

So Help Me Gawd....

I completed my tax return over the weekend. Despite my pathetic salary, no refund this year. So help me Gawd, if any of my tax dollars are used for yet another useless yet wildly expensive TIF to subsidize luxuries for Peoria Civic Center-hoity-toity-pigs-at-the-trough, I will personally punish each and every council member who votes pro TIF by dumping a stinky bucket of slops on their front lawn. You want stay at the Ritz? Fine. Hell, I'd like to stay at the Ritz at least once before I die. Just don't expect tax payers to subsidize your spa day and thousand thread count sheets. What next? A TIF for city wide aromatherapy treatments?

When are these people going to learn that continually throwing good money after bad at a failed project/policy will not redeem it?

Any City Council candidate who hems and haws, ducks, bobs, weaves, dodges, or worse- states, "we need to study this further" on this issue should be boot kicked off the ballot. Period.



Hoity-Toity-Peria-Civic-Center-TIF-Pig enjoying a relaxing tax payer subsidized mud bath at the proposed downtown Hotel and Day Spa.

The Power of the Post

Two big, fat, huge, bow-from-the-waist-all-the-way-to-the-toes hat tips to bloggers C.J. Summers The Peoria Chronicle and the "pseudo anonymous blogger" (I really don't know who you are btw) at Peoria Illinoisan.

This time around the issue d'jour for the At Large City Council elections is the "Kellar Rail or Trail?" controversy. Have no doubt, many running wouldn't have a clue about this issue were it not for C.J. harping and educating the community about the costs and detriments that could occur should a rail line become a bike path. Previously, Polly was all in favor of the bike path simply because I live close to the rail line and don't see trains use it very often. I drive over the train tracks on Knoxville close to Junction City every day. In the last five years, I think I've been held up by a train crossing the tracks there maybe twice. As luck would have it, one time I was on my way to Proctor Hospital for stitches, but that is another story. However, C.J.'s insightful and well researched posts on the topic have me thinking twice. I chuckled when I heard that the proposed trail could be used for cross country skiing. Sure, it could, but this winter so could most sidewalks and unplowed city streets. The cross country skiing suggestion warrants the most obvious of questions: How profitable could another trail be for the community when it is freezing cold in this town at least six months a year? We have the Rock Island bike trail, which I when weather allows I can personally testify, it is well used. However, how much money does it actually bring in? I like to bike the trail during the spring and summer months, but to be honest, I've never stopped anywhere to buy anything. There have been times when I have run out of water and would have liked to purchase another bottle, but there isn't any place to do so for most of my eleven mile ride. Kellar Trail proponents say this trail will be different, but other than Junction City, does any retail outlet currently exist?

Peoria Illinoisan gets a hefty salute for thinking out of the humble blogger box and asking City Council candidates to participate in his issues quiz. Damn. I wish I would have thought of that! PI's quiz was more insightful than anything I've seen in the PJ Star. Polly's advice of the day: Be wary of candidates who state, "That issue has been put to bed by the current City Council, Park Board, etc." in lieu of providing a real answer. As we've seen with Fire Station 11 and the Garbage Tax, hot button issues don't die. Rather, they continually resurface and bite us all in the collective ass/pocketbook.

C.J. and P.I., you inspire and motivate me.