Media-Economics professor says journalists create little value

By Robert G. Picard

Oxford, England – Journalists like to think of their work in moral or even sacred terms. With each new layoff or paper closing, they tell themselves that no business model could adequately compensate the holy work of enriching democratic society, speaking truth to power, and comforting the afflicted.
 
Actually, journalists deserve low pay.
 
Wages are compensation for value creation. And journalists simply aren’t creating much value these days. Read the rest of this entry »

Not irreverent, but a worthy “view” no-less

By Laura Tillinghast

The last scheduled night launch of the manned space flight program as we know it is tonight (tomorrow morning) at 4:39 a.m.  If you live in Florida, set your alarms, go outside, and look East for the blaze in the sky.  If you are really adventurous, get in your cars, drive to Titusville and pull off anywhere along US-1, turn on the AM radio and listen to mission control as it launches.

View of Space Shuttle from Cocoa Beach, Fla. in 2007

There are just four more scheduled shuttle launches this year – all day launches – then the shuttle program ends forever.  Tickets to view from NASA galleries go on sale 4-6 weeks prior to launch and are pricey, but again, you can watch from US-1 as well.  The new NASA budget does not fund Read the rest of this entry »

 There is a House in Washington…

by Tom Bortnyk

Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to reinstate “PAYGO”, the pay-as-you-go spending policy that requires expenditures to be financed with currently existing, rather than borrowed funds. On the surface, this appears to be a fiscally responsible guideline; during the Clinton years, PAYGO helped control the deficit and, coupled with the economic boom and a number of other factors, lead to the budget surplus.

But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that nothing about this bill addresses Read the rest of this entry »

Where is the leadership? Where is the outrage? Is the BOCC in bed with Kevin White? Who elected these people? Oh wait, we did.

By Chris Ingram

Are any of my Tampa friends as outraged as I am that the BOCC let Kevin White have a “do-over?” Where’s the outrage (and accountability?) What kind of message do you think the commissioners are sending to our kids that they let this little piece of Read the rest of this entry »

Republicans will steal from you too, so don’t feel too confident around GOPers either

By Chris Ingram

Facing dwindling poll numbers following the Obama-care fiasco, President Obama is now attempting to fool Americans into believing his Number One concern is jobs and the economy – as opposed to socialism and a government take-over of 1/5th of our economy. O-say-anything-Bama is also touting his concern over the federal debt – which is the Number One peril facing America’s future and its children.

Suddenly, Obama thinks fiscal stewardship, responsible government, and controlled spending are a bright idea. Of course, he’s full of Read the rest of this entry »

Washington politicians continue to pander, avoid tough problems, and focus on next election — not next generations. America gets what it deserves. Remember, we elected these people…

– Chris Ingram

CBO: Federal deficit projected at $1.35T

By Andrew Taylor, AP

WASHINGTON – The Senate Tuesday rejected a plan backed by President Barack Obama to create a bipartisan task force to tackle the federal deficit this year despite glaring new figures showing the enormity of the red-ink threat.

Read the full AP story by clicking here.

Podcast tabletop conversation between Susan Massey and Chris Ingram

By Chris Ingram

I recently had the privilege to have lunch with Susan Massey who is a lovely lady in Tampa. Susan is a familywoman, a businesswoman, a conservative, and a someone who truly cares about the direction of our country. She got active in politics just a few years ago after getting tired of seeing the direction our country is headed. She now runs a web site called “dontspreadmywealth.com” which focuses on politics with an economic focus. Susan recorded our conversation at lunch last week and you can listen to the podcast here. We discussed Obamacare, the Masschusetts election, the debt, and the direction our country is headed.

Good government is a non-partisan issue; where is the Democrat’s outrage?

(Editor’s note: read our previous column on Kevin White by clicking here.)

Chris Ingram, president of 411 Communications, and publisher of IrreverentView.com has mailed an ethics complaint to the State of Florida Commission on Ethics against Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White.

Ingram’s complaint stems from the sexual harassment lawsuit against White and specifically his Read the rest of this entry »