Loichinger Advantage

All writers ask the question. 

Whether a blogger or a columnist; we quietly do our work and wonder if anyone reads it.  The technology allow for interaction, rebuttle and opposing opinions, but life is busy.  I’m guilty of this myself.  I find addressing columnist opinions about as satisfying as filling out one more customer satisfaction survey.

So, we ask the question quietly to ourselves - is anybody out there?

Have you ever heard your friends and family members use that expression?

Today I feel it deeply and as profoundly as I have ever felt it.  I am very very lucky!  While my bank account would not tell you that I am a rich man, I have resources beyond belief.  I have a growing consulting business; now two actually.  My wife and I have great and deep friendships.  Our kids are growing into great people and love the careers they have chosen.

I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my consulting colleagues today, and in the midst of our rapid commentary on business, the economy and the world, we both realized the predicament that business owners have recently found themselves in.

Many of our friends have had businesses for many years, and BOOM, the economy falls or plummets into a deep dive.  As an owner, we push your chair back, watch, observe, act in ways that seem rationale.  Still, for some, it isn’t enough.  They have to close their doors.

Abraham Lincoln turns 200 today, and leaves a legacy that few will ever attain.  He is one of my favorite heroes - an exemplary leader.

He led and persuaded others with grand ideals, acted on his beliefs and most importantly, stayed the course.  Many people I meet today seem more caught up in the get it done, put out the fire, I don’t have time to think beyond today attitude.

He left us with legacy and demonstrated many firsts:  first republican president, first presidential assasination in U.S. history, the first and only president to hold a U.S. patent, and the first U.S. president to lie in state at the Capital Rotunda.  With each year that passes, his legacy and presidency become larger than life.

Does this title sound familiar?  We’ve been hearing more and more out of Washington D.C. as our financial and economic systems are being propped up by the government.  Now, two of the big three have been offerred bridge loans, aka - bail outs.

Don’t get me wrong!  I’m all for helping but have a few questions and editorial comments of my own.

Why do industry giants come and ask for governmental help today, and every other day, tell the government to stay out of their business?