MARKHAM - February 20, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today joined local leaders to dedicate the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail, which honors the fighter group's valiant service to the United States during World War II. Presented to the Chicago "DODO" Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, this dedication celebrates the Airmen's commitment to our country and important place in black history. State Representative Marlow H. Colvin (D-Chicago), State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider and Markham Mayor David Webb joined Governor Quinn in commemorating the Tuskegee Airmen's achievements.

"As Illinois observes Black History Month, I am proud to honor these men as an important part of Black history and American history," Governor Quinn said. "It is important to recognize our men and women who sacrificed to so much defend our rights. Their service to our country will always be remembered."

Formally known as the 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen were the first group of black pilots to ever fly for the U.S. military. Overcoming prejudice and discrimination, this elite group played an integral role in the Allied victory in World War II. The unit flew more than 15,000 combat sorties for more than 1500 missions and by the end of the war had earned more than 900 citations, including 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Today, the Tuskegee Airmen continue to serve our country as an organization working to provide youth with education opportunities.

Pursuant to House Resolution 28, sponsored by Rep. Marlowe Colvin (D-Chicago), the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail will be the stretch of Interstate 57 between Exit 339 at Sauk Trail Road and Exit 358 at Wentworth Avenue in Chicago. IDOT will place signs at these points to mark the historic trail. A copy of the resolution is attached.

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The memes for the current economic recession have been "income inequality" and "the 99 percent versus the 1 percent" as the 106 million Americans earning $45,000 or less each year feel the most pain from job loss, foreclosure, underwater mortgages and inflation.

Some say the solution is for the government to redistribute the wealth, perhaps by taxing the top money-makers at a higher rate. Real estate businessman Trevor Bolin, author of Take Charge and Change Your Life Today (www.bolininternational.com), says there's a better way and it's one that will make more people happier - and wealthier.

"I went from the bottom 10 percent at age 17 to the top 2 percent at 28 by making some changes in my life," says Bolin, who owns three realty companies in British Columbia.

"The system is very simple, but not all of the steps are easy. It requires self-discipline and changing bad habits, but it's all possible if you follow the steps. And I promise, following through on just one will dramatically affect your life."

Some of Bolin's strategies:

• Commit. Vow right now that you will follow through 100 percent on every step you take toward changing your life, whether it's making more money, losing weight or becoming a better parent. Commit to succeeding, not just surviving. Know that luck has nothing to do with it - it's hard work, attitude and giving back. Committing 100 percent means that, if you decide to read a book on investing, you won't quit after three chapters. If your goal is to drop 20 pounds, don't stop after 10.

• Change your attitude. Just as negative thoughts have the power to negatively affect outcomes, so do positive thoughts. Start each day with positive thoughts, and change negative thoughts to positive ones throughout the day. This may be hard at first, but the more you work at it, the easier it gets. Rather than wake up cursing the rainy day, be grateful for it. Water is one of our most valuable natural resources, and rain is cleansing. Remind yourself each morning of all the good things in your life - your health, your home, your spouse. Tell yourself that your meeting today is going to be engaging and productive, or your job interview is going to go well.

• Figure out your "Y." Your Y is your reason for everything. It's shaped by the past, formatted for the present and goal-formatted for the future. It's reflected in every decision you make. If you don't know your Y, your decisions will be made on the basis of habit, what you learned growing up, and what your immediate needs are. But if you've decided your Y is that you want the peace and security of financial success, you'll be guided by that every time you make a choice.

• Set goals. On a piece of paper write down all of your goals, short-term and long-term. Next, number them 1, 3, 5, 10 or 20 based on how many years it should take to achieve them. Losing 20 pounds? That might be a 1. Buying a new car? That could be a 3. Now, take your top five 1 goals and write down why you want them and how you plan to achieve them. Do the same thing for each set of goals. Having goals is vital and keeping them in front of you will help keep you on track toward achieving them. Most important - be sure to cross each one off as you achieve it. Take it from me, there's no better feeling.

Paying yourself first - saving a portion of every check - and giving back to society, whether through service or philanthropy, are also key to Bolin's roadmap for changing your life.

"It's all about having a plan," he says. "You can create success as long as you're putting a plan into motion."

About Trevor Bolin

Trevor Bolin owns three realty companies in British Columbia, including one in his hometown of Fort St. John, which was named the No. 1 RE/MAX small-density office in the world. He's also chairman of Bolin & Co. International Training, which offers coaching and seminars for business people. He has served three terms on the Fort St. John City Council.

Monday, February 20, 2012

During his weekly video address, Senator Chuck Grassley explains why the Federal Communications Commission should provide documents about its preliminary approval of the LightSquared broadband project now that the agency has withdrawn its approval.  Senator Grassley has been seeking full disclosure for nearly a year, arguing that the public's business ought to be public.  He said he is seeking accountability for the way the FCC administers valuable spectrum space.

Click here for audio.

Here is the text of Senator Grassley's address:

Since last April, I've asked the Federal Communications Commission for documents related to the agency's decision to fast-track the LightSquared broadband wireless project, despite concerns of widespread interference with global-positioning system devices.

The agency has refused to provide any documents.

This week, the FCC withdrew the preliminary approval it gave to LightSquared saying it was because of interference with GPS devices.

The FCC's action seems to acknowledge the point I've been making since April.  Prematurely granting a conditional waiver in a rush process is not the way to get the right result.

Now that the interference issue is settled, we need to find out more than ever why the FCC did what it did.  The agency put this project on a fast track for approval with what appears to have been completely inadequate technical research.  After all of this time and expense, still, no one outside of the agency knows why.

That's not the way the people's government should work.  The public's business ought to be public.  The FCC has backtracked on LightSquared.  If we don't find out how and why the FCC failed avoid this controversy, then it will keep operating as a closed shop instead of the open, publicly accountable agency it should be.

http://www.aapsonline.org/

Proponents of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) claim that doctors in the US spend four times more, interacting with the many health plans, than Canadian physicians spend interacting with the government.

In 2009, physicians in Ontario spent $22,205 on administrative costs per physician per year, while US physicians spent a staggering $82,975 each trying to get insurance companies to pay them. U.S. nursing staff, including medical assistants, spent 20.6 hours per physician, per week, interacting with health plans, nearly 10 times that of their Ontario counterparts. Many health policy makers conclude that a centralized system would be more efficient. But would that be better for patients?

Section 1104 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to figure out ways to simplify interactions between providers and health plans. Instead of private practices, the reform bill supports new groupings of physicians in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

In a bureaucrat's heaven, ObamaCare will centralize payments to ACOs where care would be controlled and physicians compensated according to strict government guidelines, including dollars saved by giving less care. Patients would be expected to do what they're told.

If physicians were farmers and patients were livestock, this might be feasible, but setting up an efficient assembly line system is not the way to provide compassionate, individualized high quality medical care.

As a matter of fact, even farmers and livestock did not do well with central planning of the collective farms that existed in the early 20th century in the Soviet Union. These were farms or groups of farms organized as a unit and managed and worked cooperatively by a group of laborers under State supervision. Private ownership of farms was no longer allowed and they were confiscated by the State.

The State promised to collect the meat and produce and distribute it fairly. But this did not happen and peasants, those who worked the hardest, lamented that they were not getting their fair share. When they revolted, their non-compliance was met with harsh retaliation, and life was reduced to stark subsistence.

People were forced into hard labor by cruel taskmasters as the supervisors were held accountable for the results. Lives were micro-managed by the central planners and freedom disappeared. The punishments became harsher when productivity declined. Eventually, it has been said that the people pretended to work and the State pretended to pay them. The Soviet Union fell under its own weight as the economy ground to a halt.

So do we need more centralized control in medical care? Or would decentralizing care and minimizing the middle man be even better?

American physicians and patients value independence, wanting to keep their interactions at a personal one-on-one level. Why not allow every patient to choose his own primary care doctor, keeping his phone number on speed-dial. When the patient wakes up with abdominal pain or blood in his urine, he should be able to pick up the phone, hear a familiar voice and make an appointment for the same day. At the end of the visit, he would pull out his check book or credit card, and pay a reasonable fee-- about the cost of an oil change plus new windshield wiper blades. In 90% of medical visits there should be no third party and NO administrative costs.

Many US physicians have allowed themselves to be swallowed up by a system that is extraordinarily complicated and costly. But others are beginning to see that the answer is to pull away from all third party payers and contract with individual patients. Each doctor saving $83,000 per year would result in lower fees for the patients. Physicians would experience the great satisfaction of having an ongoing relationship with their patients, providing quick, efficient, and competent care. After all, that is why we went to medical school.

The Accountable Care Organizations will be the medical version of Soviet collective farms. The Affordable Care Act must be repealed before it has a chance to ruin the best medical care in the world.

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