Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 30, 2011

12

LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

 Mountain Views News Saturday, July 30, 2011 

HOWARD Hays As I See It

GREG Welborn


A Life Well Lived

“Unfortunately, Congress 
consistently brings the 
Government to the edge 
of default before facing 
its responsibility. This 
brinkmanship threatens 
the holders of government 
bonds and those who rely on 
Social Security and veterans 
benefits. Interest rates would 
skyrocket, instability would 
occur in financial markets, 
and the Federal deficit would soar. The United 
States has a special responsibility to itself and 
the world to meet its obligations. It means we 
have a well-earned reputation for reliability and 
credibility - two things that set us apart from 
much of the world.” 

- President Ronald Reagan, 1987 

Reagan used the term “respon-sibility”, as in the 
responsibility of Congress to protect the credit-
worthiness of the United States. Congress never 
had a problem fulfilling this responsibility in 
the past; raising the debt ceiling eighteen times 
during the Reagan Administration, and seven 
times under George W. Bush. 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sees 
it differently, as he referred recently to a deal in 
which “the Administration gets its debt-limit 
increase”. It’s not, however, the “reputation for 
reliability and credibility” of “the Administration” 
that’s at stake, but that of the United States of 
America. 

$467 billion in U.S. Treasury securities are set to 
mature by the end of August, with $90 billion due 
August 4. Without an increase in the debt ceiling 
to allow a rollover of that debt, we (meaning not 
just Democrats or Republicans, Obama supporters 
or tea-baggers, but all of us as Americans) could 
default for the first time in our history. 

We are the debtors and, to a large extent, the 
creditors. 65% of treasury bonds are held as 
investments for the benefit of fellow Americans. 
I wonder what those serving our country in Iraq 
and Afghanistan, tuning in news from home, 
think of Congressional tea-baggers playing a game 
of chicken with the very bonds they’re relying on 
for their retirement. 

Much of the debt was incurred with lockstep 
Republican support during the previous 
administration; two wars costing $1.3 trillion 
since 2001, turning Medicare drug coverage over 
to private insurers, costing $370 billion over ten 
years, and tax cuts, unprecedented in a time of 
war, costing $1.7 trillion over 10 years. Now that 
they’ve maxed out the credit card, Republicans 
say they won’t pay the bill. As John Avlon wrote 
in The Daily Beast, “You can’t convince creditors 
that refusing to pay your bills is a brave stand for 
fiscal responsibility.

“It’s not about the deficit; when House Budget 
Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) 
submitted his proposal last April, analyses showed 
the deficit would go down more and faster were 
we simply to do nothing and leave things as they 
are. Just days ago, the Congressional Budget 
Office found the proposal from Senate Majority 
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would cut the deficit 
more than the one submitted by Speaker Boehner. 

Nor does it have anything to do with restoring 
confidence in financial markets. “(W)e want big 
reforms”, said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor 
(R-VA) just a few weeks ago, “I am not so sure 
that if we can’t make the tough decisions now, 
why we would be making those tough decisions 
later.” Now, however, Speaker Boehner proposes 
we allow a stopgap debt ceiling increase, then 
form another committee to study the matter 
and have the same debate again in a few months. 
According to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Boehner’s plan 
would be unlikely to prevent a downgrade of the 
U.S.’s AAA credit rating (though Reid’s plan likely 
would). A J.P. Morgan Chase analyst predicts 
such a downgrade could cost the economy $100 
billion a year in increased borrowing costs and 
the risk of another recession - with or without a 
default. 

In explaining the proposal, an attempt to 
schedule a regurgitation of this “debate” for the 
height of the election season, one need only be 
reminded of the promise Senate Majority Leader 
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made a week before 
last November’s mid-terms, that “The single 
most important thing we want to achieve is for 
President Obama to be a one-term president.” 
Most freshmen tea-baggers demonstrate as 
much short-term memory as they do long-
term historical awareness, and seem to forget 
how House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s petulant 
1995 government shutdown led to his party’s 
resounding defeat the following year. 

As for the deficit, it was never the issue; rather, 
it’s one of continuing the massive redistribution 
and concentration of wealth begun under 
President Bush. A major objection Republicans 
had to Reid’s plan, though it reduced the deficit 
more than Boehner’s, was that it didn’t provide for 
diverting a sizable chunk of Medicare and Social 
Security funds over to private insurers and Wall 
Street manipulators - with the sick and the elderly 
covering the cost. 

The Republican budget cuts 12%, or $832 
million, from the Women, Infants and Children 
(WIC) program, which provides nutrition and 
immunization assistance to low-income women 
and their young children. As Rep. Jim McDermott 
(D-WA) points out, such cuts are not only “wrong 
morally” but “fiscally stupid”. According to the 
G.A.O., every dollar invested in WIC “generated 
$2.89 in healthcare savings during the first year 
after birth”. 

At the same time, they’ll threaten to bring 
down our nation’s economy in order to protect the 
average $2,700-a-week Bush tax cut given those 
with incomes exceeding $1 million a year. The 
estimated 325,000 to 475,000 mothers and young 
children kicked out of the WIC program under 
the Republican budget could continue having 
access if only the 321,000 households pulling in $1 
million a year could go back to their tax rate under 
President Clinton - for one week. Republicans call 
this “tough choices”.

In opening a column on the “left” with a 
quote from Ronald Reagan, I thought of his 
reminding of a “special responsibility” to protect 
those “things that set us apart from much of the 
world”. He’d probably have no more affinity for 
the Republican Party today than he had when he 
was out campaigning for Harry Truman. 


Dear readers, the editor of this paper has 
extended me great latitude in the editorials I 
write. I am appreciative of that freedom and that 
trust. Admittedly, this week I’m going to stretch 
that freedom a bit more than normal and depart 
from discussing national political and economic 
issues. Instead, I want to devote the space I 
have to something ultimately more important: 
to the impact on our community of a life well 
lived. In so doing, my personal religious beliefs 
will undoubtedly show through. I hope this is 
a good thing, but know that I mean no harm or 
insult to any by virtue of sharing how one person 
who lived her life fully committed to her God 
and living out her faith in Him has affected our 
community and what the ripples from that will 
be in the future.

By now, you’ve probably surmised that 
a dear friend has past away. Her name was 
Nancy Gauntlett. She was young, vibrant, 
accomplished, admired and loved by many – 
more than I thought genuinely possible, but I 
have yet to meet a person in attendance at her 
service that was not authentically and deeply 
touched by Nancy’s presence in their life. 

Nancy died suddenly, without warning, and 
at the feet of one of her daughters, who tried 
valiantly to resuscitate her. In human terms, her 
death was undeserved and massively unfair. I’ll 
stand by that statement the remainder of my life 
even as I draw from my faith the understanding 
that God’s ways are a mystery. But in human 
terms, this was wrong, it was unfair, and it 
angered me as it also saddened me. She left 
behind a hole in her family, among her friends 
and in this community, but what God has done in 
bringing glory out of this situation does much to 
fill the void and bring consolation to the loss. She 
will always be missed, and her family will ache 
for a long time. Without in any way diminishing 
that pain, allow me to share what her life and 
passing have done that is beautiful and glorious.

Nancy long ago in her youth dedicated her life 
to God and to His son, Jesus Christ. It was not 
a casual dedication – not the simple recitation 
of lines in the front of a church to a gathering 
of family and friends. Too many of us, myself 
included, have probably taken those occasions 
lightly. This was not Nancy’s way. She meant 
every word of the commitment she made to 
live life as God would want her to. It was a 
commitment which continued literally until the 
day she died.

Nancy’s job, long history in the Pasadena 
area and her active community service allowed 
her to meet and to get to know many people. 
She never stopped at just developing a causal 
acquaintance. If someone was willing, Nancy 
would want to know that person at a deeper level 
so that she could earnestly pray for their hurts, 
needs and hearts’ desires. She fully believed that 
these encounters were provided by God that she 
would have the opportunity to show His love in 
someone’s life. She cared for many, touched 
even more and brought scores into deeper 
relationships with God. To say that she was well 
used by God is an understatement.

Nancy also lived up to the highest standard 
of devotion to family. She saw her job – her 
love really – clearly 
as the training of her 
children to themselves 
live lives focused on 
God and dedicated to 
serving others. Like all 
of us, Nancy’s family 
experienced difficult 
times, various crises and 
plenty of opportunities to 
see the unfairness that is present in much of life’s 
occurrences. All of them occasions when faith 
would be tested and could falter. Nancy never 
waivered in praying for her family, relying on 
God to see them all safely through and offering 
a comforting word from scripture to soften the 
cruel blow or encourage the spirit. She did a 
wonderful job and served as a role model for the 
rest of us.

It is at this point in my story that I suppose 
I might get it wrong. Forgive me if I don’t 
communicate clearly or lovingly the glimpse of 
God’s handiwork that we all witnessed. Nancy’s 
service was a celebration of her life. Everyone 
heard in more endearing and touching ways 
than I can possibly communicate the devotion 
to family and community that was Nancy’s 
essence. We all came away – and I talked to 
many that day – more deeply rooted in our own 
walks with God and more steadfastly committed 
to taking the opportunities that God presents to 
be the tool of His handiwork and love here on 
earth. The ripples from Nancy’s life and from 
the service celebrating that life will be felt for 
years and by thousands. I cannot speak for God, 
but if ever there was a person whose passing 
would change lives dramatically and whose 
family was fully capable of suffering that loss 
while still finding peace and comfort therein, it 
was Nancy Gauntlett. She will be missed, but 
more importantly she will remain inspirational. 
Well done good and faithful servant. Well done!

About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is a 
freelance writer and has spoken to several 
civic and religious organizations on cultural 
and moral issues. He lives in the Los Angeles 
area with his wife and 3 children and is active 
in the community. He can be reached at 
gregwelborn@earthlink.net.


BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


Marketing vs. Advertising – Part II

by La Quetta M. Shamblee, M.B.A.

Last week’s article discussed the differences 
between marketing and advertising. This week’s 
article provides an overview of the basic tools that 
need to be developed to create a basic marketing 
kit for any small business. Your kit should 
include business cards, stationery (letterhead) 
and at least one set of marketing materials that 
you can distribute such as flyers, pamphlets, 
brochures or promotional postcards – and in 
2011 you need to create electronic versions of 
marketing materials to use for promoting your 
products and services online.

Think of your business card as a miniature, 
portable billboard that you share with individuals 
at every appropriate opportunity. The primary 
purpose of your business card is to provide 
information for potential customers to contact 
you. The design should be clean and not cluttered 
with excessive details that can be included on 
other marketing materials. Your letterhead 
should have a similar look and design as your 
business cards. Even though many companies 
now correspond primarily via e-mail, letterhead 
should still be designed for use when the need 
arises to send official correspondence. With a 
wide range of printers available starting below 
$100, many small businesses print professional 
quality letterhead on “as needed” basis by 
investing a bit more to buy a quality stock of 
printing paper.

The other marketing materials should be 
designed to serve a specific purpose. Do you 
need to provide general information about your 
expertise and what you are selling? Are you 
planning a special sale or the release of a new 
product? Is there a discount for purchases by 
groups of a certain size or for buying multiple 
items? Answering these types of questions will 
help you to determine the most appropriate mix 
of marketing materials that you need to develop.

The following marketing materials are listed 
from the least expensive to the most costly. 
Flyers of different sizes are still used by many 
companies to announce upcoming sales and 
promotional events. Promotional postcards are 
also available in various sizes and may be used for 
the same purpose as flyers. Tri-fold brochures 
are commonly used to provide an overview of a 
company and the goods and services that it offers. 
Brochures are often designed as booklets and 
contain more detailed information. In addition to 
business cards and letterhead, a tri-fold brochure 
may be the only marketing tool that you need. If 
you plan to attend a lot of networking meetings 
or similar events, you may need to develop a set 
of promotional postcards and keep an inventory 
that readily available when you need them.

Next week’s article will provide some tips on 
what to, and what not to, include in the design for 
your marketing materials. Readers of Mountain 
Views News will also have an opportunity to 
register for an upcoming introductory workshop 
on “Developing Your Marketing Kit.”


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