Bergman Appointed to Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group

Taken from press release....

Traverse City, Michigan - Congressman Jack Bergman has been appointed to the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. The group works together to maintain the important relationship between the United States and Canada, and to facilitate bilateral discussions on important issue areas such as commerce, national security, environmental protection and trade.

“I am honored that Republican Leader McCarthy has appointed me to the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group. Michigan’s First District shares a border with Canada, and millions travel across the International Bridge every year to conduct business, shop, work, and enjoy what each country has to offer. As Michigan’s largest export market, Canada plays a critical role in our economy. Especially now as we implement the USMCA, I look forward to working with the Canadian Parliament to expand market access between both our nations. Not only do we share an important economic relationship with Canada, but we are also bonded together in our stewardship of the Great Lakes. In this new role, I will strive for increased bipartisan, bilateral discussions on how we can further protect the world’s largest source of freshwater for generations to come,” said Congressman Bergman.   

Upon appointment, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy commented, “With the USMCA’s entry into force earlier this month, the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group will help provide an important forum for the United States and Canadian legislatures to work together to ensure the deal’s success. The group will play a vital role in ensuring both of our countries reap the full benefits of this historic trade agreement, which is why I am proud to have appointed Jack to serve as a member of the group to provide his guidance and expertise. I’m confident that Jack’s principled leadership and relentless work ethic instilled in him over a four-decade career in the Marine Corps will assist the IPG in its goal of strengthening our respective countries’ economies through mutually beneficial trade for years to come.”

Additionally, Congressman Bergman is a member of the Great Lakes Task Force and the Congressional Northern Border Caucus, where he also advocates for collaboration with Canada on issues important to Michigan’s First District.

Ocean Beach Waves

I thought my readers might like Ocean Beach and the waves. Its a nice area but can get busy.

Why Are Democrats Are Out Funding Republicans?

Democrats are out-funding Republicans even though Republicans have important things to contribute to our economy and national dialogue. According to the article, "Democrats power past Republican Senate incumbents in fundraising." you will understand that the fundraising in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Iowa have gone more Democrat. There are a few reasons why this may be happening and there are a few things Republicans can do. That will mean a greater focus on the needs of the next generation and improving our lifestyle and economy in the long run. Republicans are not connecting well with a younger more diverse generation and it has nothing to do with essential focus of the party's core philosophies.

Customer Base Improvement: Focus on appealing to minorities through outreach and inclusion.

• Democrats appeal to a new generation of people that include minorities. With a higher percentage of people being minority it will be important for Republicans to re-brand themselves. 
• Much of the money they raise appears to be ground roots which would make sense considering the demographic they are courting. 
• Republicans have something to say on essential freedoms and the need to be inclusive of people within government. That message is not getting across well in their campaigns. 

Improve Social Media and Sharability: It is necessary to improve sharability of media and social media to ensure that a younger demographic can receive it. While there has been some improvement within the past few elections it doesn't go far enough.

• Messages should be built directly for their target audience (i.e. young versus old, rich versus poor, etc... but the essential message stays the same). 
• Balance between logic and emotion. 
• Make sure that the message is about doing whats right by people.
• Keep messages focused on essential truths most people can agree upon. 

Make Big Statements with Today's Social Movements: Go after offering solutions to some of the most important social movements of our time. These are the things people are interested in.

• People want change and the Republican brand will need to show things like how criminal behavior (non-police) will be thwarted and how misconduct by police will be held accountable. There should not be two different standards. 
• Another example is pollution. People don't want to live in a polluted environment. Encouraging companies to limit pollution is one thing but so is improving innovation that leads to less pollution overall. 
• Discrimination is taking large swaths of people out of our labor pool, limiting their motivations and damaging the Capitalistic system.

The Economy and Jobs: The economy and getting people back to work after COVID is important. That means we need a strategy on how to create stronger manufacturing, technology, and small business opportunities. 

• Focus bringing back American manufacturing and ingenuity. There are methods of improving the economy and redeveloping manufacturing in the U.S. I'm working on the Theory of Transactional Clusters but there are lot of other good ones too. 
• Think about strong schools that can compete globally on the market. Schools may be more online but there should be a high priority on education, learning, and innovation.  We want the best schools in the world because that gives American students competitive advantages but also greater influence in global culture. 
• Think about innovation, R&D, and development. We want an economy that will roar back to life and maintain its long term competitive position. This means that we need to focus on the encouragement of serious research and innovation that includes universities, R&D and entrepreneurship. 
• Retraining and opportunities. We know that there are many people in the country that haven't updated their skills in a long time. Helping people learn new skills that allow them to update and make more money can help our economy in the long run. High technology manufacturing jobs will be important.
• Digital and Export Infrastructure. Digital and export infrastructure will make a big difference in the competitiveness of our economy. This is an opportunity to update our networks for a stronger manufacturing and export approach. 

Schouten, F. and Wright, D. (July 16, 2020). Democrats power past Republican Senate incumbents in fundraising. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/16/politics/senate-fundraising-second-quarter/index.html

Crimes Uninvestigated and Unaccounted? What does justice take in today's society?

I have been talking for some time about whether I should move from the area. I like the place and also like that I have a low house payment. The outdoor activities are awesome! However, what I have seen over the past year+ put serious questions in my mind on whether this is a safe place for me and my children. We are not talking about just because one person with sociopath tendencies got upset but a wider network of behaviors and serious lack of accountability.

First, it is important to make the argument that crimes impact community investment. When there are crimes it reduces the likelihood of return on investment (Rueda & Garcia-Perez, 2003). That means less jobs for local residents and less opportunities for the future of our children. The behavior I have seen I believe have an impact on investment in the long run.

I can say that I met most of the police officers in this town and most of them do a great job. However, the town doesn't attract a lot of investment. It could do much better but it doesn't. There isn't much desire to engage with outsiders and in turn the town continues to decline slowly year after year. Thus, in this case crime has a social context.

You can see some of that behavior in the close group of people who seem to create the center of the social life in town. You are either in or you are out. One must look the part, act the part, and be the part. That doesn't mean that there is wealth here or an abundance of famous people it means there is a culture of acceptance and rejection stemming from high school sports groups.

That creates a situation where outsiders are not really welcome and have no avenue because they weren't raised here. God forbid you tell someone they aren't allowed to do something or you enforce your boundaries. There may be an immediate attempt to gain support in this narrow group of people and encourage them to become proxies in harassment. At least that is what I experienced.

Yet the dysfunctional culture has an impact on local policing. Because these officers live in the community, want to get promoted, judges want to get re-elected, and so on and so forth they seem to follow the general trend of public opinion. The problem is that much could be based on dishonesty of a single individual, or a small group of individuals, that seek to gain something from exploiting a differences.

Its not something I've seen in other places. While the small town feel is great it is very difficult for outsiders to find a place. Most that have come to work at the hospitals and other places left within a few years. I'm sure there are statistics out there if one wants to dig through all the new names from local employers (Or new driver license in the area) and whether they are here a few years down the road.

So. we are left with a situation where if crimes are committed and there is no follow up on the crimes then where does that leave people. Part of me says this is where I was raised and I should stay here and fight for what I believe is right. The other part of me, including some close friends, say you should leave before someone successfully does something serious to you. Considering that one of the people involved in the "gang" is an officer that is a serious problem.

I might need to wait to get pulled over and have someone throw some meth in my car or something. I'm not sure how the tricks work in today's world. ...but based on a few actions and comments from people in the general public it looks like that is a plausible concern.

The problem is that I have this lingering belief that right is right and wrong is wrong. If we all ran when things got tough to somewhere else then racism, bigotry, and criminality wins. We would be cowards and people with ill intent would have their way. Our nation would continue to decline.

The other side of the argument that it isn't our responsibility. That is why we pay judges, law enforcement officials, and politicians. That means they must be willing to do the right thing even if the behavior wasn't put on YouTube and there isn't a public outcry. It means they must act with integrity beyond what helps their career or what is known to the public.

So I can say that I like almost all of the officers and believe they have the best intent for the community. Yet...what happened is practically public information because the perpetrators bragged about it and it would take very little effort to investigate. I believe most of those officers might not understand my background and children but they do think I'm a descent person. My interactions are positive and I try and help the community through encouraging a local business, investment in the area and Firefighting (So far I haven't had a big problem yet but some are definitely aware).

Because of what has been said there will be differences between those who met me and those who have obtained their information from the rumor pipeline. Therein is part of the problem. Lack of critical thinking and lack of an investigation with formal research logic being used. Much is based on trying to fit into a dysfunctional network.

So I'm thinking about what I am going to do. For now...I'm going to stick to the truth and see what happens. Trust me...I know that the truth isn't worth much to some people. Right and wrong have been so watered down that few understand the difference. Yet, I have this small spark of rational optimism that comes up and says if you say the right things, you do the right things, and you continue to push for the right things the world will eventually respond. Its a good karma thing!

It would be very much easier to sell my house and walk...but I don't think it fits well with my belief in my country and the sacrifices I have made, and my grand parents have made, to support the essential freedoms of our country.

The Responsibility of PhD's, Doctors, Professors and the "Learned" in Society

Society is complex and has lots of moving parts. Many times we make decisions on partial information and we fail to improve our society. Doctors have a responsibility to raise society to a higher level. That can be very hard if people don't feel the same way or they feel their own personal agendas are more important than that of society. Leadership generally relates to intelligence but it doesn't always relate to better decision making. Thus, the role of professors can often be multi-fold but at the end of the day it is to learn, investigate, share, and improve the world in some meaningful way.

Trust me when I say this but there are others who don't believe this is important.

Being a doctor means we have responsibilities for things such as....

1. Helping people think through alternatives
2. Raising knowledge through research
3. Having moral aptitude to tell the truth while others cover their ears.
4. Leaving society in a better place then when you came
5. Encouraging politicians and others to be responsible and think beyond themselves.
6. Raise the functioning of the industries they work in.
7. Help to develop better policies.
9. Teach and train learners to find rewarding occupations
10. Help others create a meaningful life.
11. Engage in life long learning and share what you have learned.
12. When wrong occurs to stand up and do the right thing even though others fail
13. To seek answers.

You may want to read this informative article on the purpose of professors in society HERE

Howard O. Brogan (1961) The Duties of the Professor, Improving College and University Teaching, 9:3, 104-105, DOI: 10.1080/00193089.1961.10534161

Michigan Gov. Whitmer COVID-19 Briefing 7/15/2020

This is being filmed live.

Venture Capitalism Under Utilized as a Growth Strategy for Escanaba

Venture Capitalism has the ability to rejuvenate small towns like Escanaba by support entrepreneurs that are willing to move to the area and start new businesses. This is just an article I'm writing for my own understanding and eventually sort of solidify some concepts for a theory.

What we can say is that Escanaba needs new blood. They need people who want to start businesses and create a positive culture that is open to people from different backgrounds. There is more than that needed. Locals also need jobs and that isn't going to come from doing the same old thing the same old way.

Thus any strategy needs to include drawing businesses to downtown empty stores, attracting entrepreneurs that will hire people and then financing them through low interest loans and adventure capitalism.

What we do find through COVID is that many businesses are failing but the stock market has risen. Thus investors are looking for new places to put money. There is no reason why the underdeveloped markets of Delta County can't be part of that.

Reading the article Venture Capital Data: Opportunities and Challenges in the Harvard Business School we can better understand that there isn't enough data for research purposes. We also may realize that if we provide more data on investment opportunities in the Delta County Chamber of Commerce we may raise investments.

The following was taken from the article.....

1. Venture capital is an increasingly important intermediary, able to transform capital into new firms and innovations in an apparently highly productive manner.

2. This intermediary is attracting increasing interest by policymakers and investors, but the availability of data as well as the consistency of the academic findings using these data are still lacking.

3. Roughly one in 500 or 0.2% – of the 600,000 firms (with employees) that are started each year (U.S. SBA (2012)).

4. Kortum and Lerner (2000) find that venture capital is three to four times more powerful than corporate R&D as a spur to innovation.

5. Kaplan and Lerner (2010) find that roughly 50% of the “entrepreneurial” IPOs in recent years are venture-backed despite the fact that only 0.2% of all firms receive venture funding.

We can learn from this situation to determine that venture capitalism is an untapped source for start-ups. There isn't a lot of data out there on them but we do know that if we provide more information on local start-ups and find ways to attract them into a cluster that has the most potential to grow we may also be able to fuel rejuvenation through multiple investments.

Kaplan, L. & Learner, S. (2016). Working Paper 17-012. Venture Capital Data: Opportunities and Challenges. Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-012_10de1f93-30e4-4a98-858c-4137556ec037.pdf

Kaplan, S. and J. Lerner, 2010, “It Ain’t Broke: The Past, Present, and Future of Venture Capital,” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 22 (2), 36–46.

Kortum, S., and J. Lerner, 2000, “Assessing the C