Brig Burton's

Why I Love Work

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 17:57:00 +0000

“I need to work. It’s the one time my thoughts will cooperate with me.”

― Dan Groat, Monarchs and Mendicants

As a teenager whenever I misbehaved, which was quite often, I would get hands on my throat, or a belt or metal ruler across my butt and legs from my dad. There were times I left the scene of a lashing with swollen, bloody legs. And there were times when I thought my dad wanted to kill me.

To escape the turmoil of life in a dysfunctional home, I fell in love with work.

I worked throughout my childhood from age 12 and up, even though it was still illegal to hire kids under 16 at the time in Texas.

I worked at baseball concession stands as a cook and cashier, McDonalds, Subway, the grocery store as a shelf stocker, and at Lexon Medical as a file clerk.

I routinely received employee of the month awards, and felt that I was a good, honest, hard worker, always looking for opportunities to make others’ jobs easier by going the extra mile.

Work was and still is a form of therapy for me.

Though work may not be an economic necessity, work, and the inner vitality and value that comes with it, is and always has been a spiritual necessity.

I love work.

That said, I felt school work was mostly trite and trivial. I graduated high school in the bottom 3% of my class with the equivalent of a D-average. I just didn’t care. I spent most of my days in class daydreaming of being elsewhere, as I was for the majority of my school experiences, a small boy who seemed to attract bullies and fights for whatever reason.

Some of the bullies I still remember by name would come up to me and punch me in the face for no reason at all, other than to prove that I wouldn’t fight back.

Others would spit on me, or pick me up and run me into a wall or try to shove me into a locker, or trip me or push me to the ground.

I did occasionally deserve the licking I got, as I had a quick wit and a sharp tongue. But my insults against others were typically minimal, as they led to fights I’d almost always lose on account of my small size.

That was, until I was introduced to boxing.

And then my love for work was channeled into a whole new path.

But that's a story for another day.

Increasing Power Thru Family Ties

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 16:05:00 +0000

"The family is a link to our past, and a bridge to our future.” – Alex Haley

I was born in Provo, Utah in December of 1976.

My given name was Kent Burton, named after my father, Kent.

My parents were both young, newly married, and attending Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. They were far from the home they grew up in, and from parents and family, most of whom still lived in Louisiana.

They never completed their college education, and I learned later in life that both struggled with severe depression. Both contemplated suicide when I was a toddler, and my dad confessed in later years to nearly pulling it off with a loaded gun to his head up in the mountains.

I’ll admit that I grew up in fear of my dad, and our relationship was often strained, if not explosive. He believed in being firm, since he felt his dad, McKay Burton, was too soft.

And although they were extremely devout in their LDS faith, my grandparents, McKay and Rene Burton and their 7 children and grandchildren have on the whole struggled with great tragedies in life, as their children or grandchildren have had numerous incidents of divorce, abuse, poverty, and crime. My dad and us children were one of the exceptions, comparatively, in many respects, or so it may seem..

McKay and Rene Burton’s ancestors both have deep roots that trace back to the early members of the Church, including direct ties to Anson Call and Joseph Fielding. Many of these early LDS church pioneers were beaten, tortured, raped and in some instances killed; almost all of the early pioneers had their property stolen from them, on account of mob violence and persecution against the early Church.

My mom’s parents, Moses, who was Lebanese, and Barbara who was mostly Scottish, were much more firm and disciplined with their children. Each of their 6 children have had relative success and happiness in their lives.

Many of Moses’ ancestors, the Attayas and the Salibees, fled from Lebanon due to Muslim persecution and hostility against them due to their Christian faith.

McKay Burton

May 21, 1924 ~ May 24, 2021 (age 97)

Moses Attaya

NOVEMBER 7, 1922 – JUNE 4, 2019 (age 96)

Both of my grandfathers were named after prophets. McKay being named after latter-day prophet David O. McKay, a close friend of the family when he was young, and Moses being named after the ancient prophet who helped deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt.

They both fought in World War II as pilots and suffered through the great depression in their youth. Both were very strong in their Christian faith, and believed in and fought for the freedoms it would seem we Americans take for granted today. I believe their generation was and is the greatest generation our country has ever seen.

On both sides of my family, my LDS-Christian father’s side, and my Methodist-Christian mother’s side, fleeing cruel and unfair opposition (even opposition sponsored by the government) is in our roots.

And so, my opinion of the government and its overbearing role in people’s lives - especially when imposing itself unfairly upon individual rights, or freedoms of worship or speech or commerce, isn’t very favorable.

For many more reasons which I’ll elaborate on in more detail later on, besides just my own upbringing and family history, I’m a Christian and a conservative libertarian.

This conservative libertarianism value system for me is defined as one who believes in the advocacy of economic and legal principles such as fiscal discipline, respect for contracts, defense of private property and free markets; fewer laws banning minor crimes, and the traditional conservative stress on self-help and freedom of choice under a laissez-faire and economically liberal capitalist society with social tenets such as the importance of religion and the value of religious morality through a framework of limited, constitutional, representative government.

Always remember that there is great strength in knowing our ancestors and great power in honoring the legacy of our forefathers.

Keep Fighting

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 16:44:00 +0000

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." - Dale Carnegie

I’ve been beaten, broke, and bankrupt.

As a teenager, I ran away from home and for a while I lived out of my car, and ate out of trash cans.

I was raised in fear, living in an abusive home with a dad that would beat, choke and threaten me.

I’ve been diagnosed as manic with severe depression, and told by the professionals that I would be on lithium and other hard-core medication’s for the rest of my life.

I dropped out of high school for a year before graduating in the bottom 3% of my class with mostly D’s.

I’ve lost a best friend to suicide.

I dated 823 girls over a near 10-year period in an attempt to find the one I was to marry and raise a family with, having my heart broken dozens of times in the process.

I’ve been down to my last $3.87 just days before Christmas with a wife and a baby girl and no presents to give under the tree.

I’ve lost millions of dollars in bad investments involving frauds and crooks.

And I’ve made it back again.

Fast forward to today.

I graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Business and Management Information Systems shortly after completing a 2-year mission sharing my testimony of the gospel to the good people in New Jersey.

I have a supportive and loving wife and four amazing children, ages 7-12.

Although I still have hard days and feel at times weighed down, I’m not on any antidepressants.

I’ve also obtained some measure of wealth.

My point in sharing this is that it doesn’t matter where you come from, or what you’ve done, or how many times you’ve failed.

There’s always hope.

The sun really does come out tomorrow if we move forward in faith.

Keep Fighting.

Corruption, Abuse of Power, and More Fake News and Defamation from a Government Agency

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 17:47:00 +0000

In 2019, my wife and I were arrested in front of our four children, without a warrant, on 23 fabricated, trumped-up felony charges, that were all dismissed as being without any probable cause.

The Court examined all of the evidence against us, and ruled that we had committed no crime whatsoever.

The judge actually reprimanded the prosecutor for bringing such a "ridiculous" case to her courtroom, and she further stated that this was the "worst" offence by a government agency she'd seen "in all [her] years as a judge", as she put it.

There was no probable cause of our arrest, and we were properly released.

During my time in jail, I asked the officers why they had arrested us.

"Who had we ever wronged?" I asked.

"You should have settled with [defendant]" the officer told me.

The reality is that we had settled with the defendant, but had to sue them again for their not abiding by the terms of our settlement agreement.

The alleged "victims" cited by the officers of the law were none other than defendants in several civil lawsuits.

In each of these lawsuits, we were the Plaintiffs, suing these people for bad conduct and damages they had caused us.

Not the other way around.

But our adversaries were not having much success with defending our claims against them in the civil courts.

So they appealed to several law enforcement agencies, including the Mesa and Chandler police as well as the Attorney General. They even tried to get my Real Estate Brokers license revoked by filing a complaint against my license.

But each of these government agencies correctly concluded and told our adversaries that the matter was/is a civil matter, to be dealt with in the civil courts.

But then, one agency known as the Department of Public Safety ("DPS) with personal ties to one of the defendants we were suing was willing to seek to turn our civil dispute into a criminal case against my wife and me.

Six weeks after the wrongful arrest my wife and I endured, and after the Court found and ruled that there was no probable cause for any of the alleged crimes we were accused of by the prosecutor and the DPS, the DPS decided to "get back" at us by writing several completely untrue statements about my wife and me on their government press-release website.

While it's true that we were wrongfully arrested for the charges DPS accused us of, they fail to accurately report that there was no warrant for the arrest, and that all of the charges were thrown out by the Court (see below):

In spite of what has been inaccurately reported by our adversaries and DPS - and by extension the press and other media outlets that picked up on the inaccurate story - we are honest and we do what we agreed to do in each of our contracts with which we are bound by.

There is absolutely no legitimate finding of fact, or any basis of truth whatsoever for any of the things this corrupt DPS has accused us of.

The Arizona DPS is an agency with a very long list of internal corruption and internal arrests due to officer misconduct.

In fact, during the time of our wrongful arrest, the DPS website reported more internal arrests against its own corrupt agents than they even had against any external/public wrongdoers, suggesting a very serious and systemic corruption within the DPS.

(A small sampling of the DPS's long list of corruption and criminal acts are here - just 5 examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)

Although Colonel Frank Milstead of DPS has stated that “Every employee with the Department is held to the highest standards and levels of public trust. This department will not accept any employee’s breach of that trust and will take swift action to ensure those employees are dealt with appropriately,” that doesn't appear to be the case with the DPS agent assigned to investigate our case who has lied several times under oath and has sought to destroy our reputation by posting the knowingly false statements about us online.

Although we may rub people the wrong way with our personalities or the conservative and religious views we hold to, or the fact that we occasionally have to sue bad businesses for their misconduct or breaches against us, we have always sought to be honest and fair in all of our dealings with our fellowmen.

We hope and pray that in time DPS will do what their own attorney advised them to do: take down the knowingly-inaccurate post.

We also hope for relief from the Courts as the wrongs we've suffered by having our reputation damaged by the lies spewed by an overzealous DPS officer has been emotionally and financially devastating to our family.

Advise to an Introverted Entrepreneur Struggling with the Fear of Leading People

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 03:05:00 +0000

Advise given to a young entrepreneur named Jamal, who reached out to me yesterday, seeking advise from me struggling with recruiting and leading a team due to fear and feelings of being an introvert and not qualified.

Jamal,

Happy to help!

Have you taken the Meyer Briggs test by chance? I'm sometimes an ENTJ (extrovert) and other times I've taken it, an INTJ (introvert). So in a sense, I know how you feel...sometimes.

I would suggest 3 things:

1) join another nonprofit (other than the one you're trying to build currently) and volunteer to lead a committee - this will force you out of your comfort zone.

2) Spend 15-30 mins per day, first thing in the morning, visualizing the process of enthusiastically enjoying interacting with, and leading and recruiting people. Do this for 30-45 days (or however long it takes) consistently, and you should have no inner struggles.

3) In your heart, be willing to do EVERY job required in your company, but seek to hire skilled professionals to do the activities you either hate the most, or that you're not good at.

Hope this helps!

6 Common Mistakes Business Owners Make When Trying to Sell Their Companies

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 17:03:00 +0000

You want to sell your company. You're ready to retire, or move on to the next venture. How do you prepare your company for sale? Six common mistakes business owners make when trying to sell their companies are:

1. Not Knowing Your Industry's Standards - You don't want to find out after you've decided to sell that your company's working capital ratios, customer diversity, or average aging accounts receivables, are below industry standards. Better to know your the typical ratios and discover your weaknesses in advance, so you can reverse these into neutrals or strengths.

2. Holding Your Company's Assets in Less-Effective Legal Structures - I've met many owners who've made the mistake of holding their real estate in and through their Corporation. Others have made the mistake of owning their business in and through a C-corp when an S-corp (or visa-versa) would have served them better from either a tax-strategy standpoint, or in courting the ideal buyer upon exiting.

3. Improper Accounting Practices (Small & Easy Fixes) - Improper accounting practices are the number-one deal-killer. A common and sometimes minor issue is improperly accounting for certain expenses. For example, giving customers rebates upon delivery and then mistakenly accounting for the difference between the original sales price and the actual deliver price as a bad-debt write off. Doing so would make any novice buyer mistakenly assume the company has too much bad debt as a percentage of sales.

4. Improper Accounting Practices (Big & Nasty Problems) - Some accounting practices like those above are easy to fix. Others are deal-killers for almost any buyer. For example, it was recently discovered during due diligence that one of the businesses we had an offer on had unreported income to the I.R.S. of close to $2,000,000 per year for the past several years. Unlike tax avoidance using the maximum deductions allowable, some owners practice tax evasion by not reporting the income they've earned. The former if prudently applied will make you wealthy. The latter will almost certainly cost you more than you ever thought you saved and will likely put you in jail.

5. Unreported Off-Balance-Sheet Liabilities - Not all liabilities or potential liabilities show up on the balance sheet. For example, as a buyer I've found during due diligence that some companies have over-billed on government contracts. In another case a seller was liable for damages connected to a breached contract that occurred some time ago, but hadn't yet converted to formal litigation. In this case the statute of limitations for the breach of contract is 6 years, and so the off-balance sheet risk is a liability that must be factored in until the 6 years has run its course.

6. Waiting for Mr. Right - The perfect buyer or the perfect price and terms, are like the perfect spouse: they're a myth. One owner I know has been wanting to sell and retire for many years, but is still "married" to a price offered to him years ago, from a prospective buyer who has long-since lost interest and recently passed away. Since then, the business continues to deteriorate in value because the owner isn't emotionally committed. He wants to sell but is unwilling to settle for a fair price based upon today's valuation. When your heart is not in your business, time is your enemy. Waiting for the perfect buyer, or waiting for a better offer when you have a fair and reasonable offer on the table, is a mistake that has cost many businesses their entire nest egg.

Work On the Business, More than You Work In the Business

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:26:00 +0000

In his book, E-Myth, author Michael Gerber warns that most entrepreneurs get caught up in working in the business, rather than working on the business.

There’s nothing wrong with working the 40-80 hours per week – so long as you’re working on building marketing channels, hiring and developing and mentoring your team, innovating and coming up with new products or services, or seeking additional working capital to grow. All of these activities qualify as working on your business.

But the sad reality is that most business owners work in their businesses and become a cog in the wheel, basically creating their own self-made prison.

Hopefully you became a business owner because you valued freedom. If you’re the company’s top salesperson, or the only one capable of fixing this or that, then in those moments you’re no longer an entrepreneur/business owner working on the business as an independent object. You’ve become a technician or a manager working in the business.

As you prepare to sell your business, you’ll want to be sure that you’re building the business, working on the business, and not just in it. Sure there will be times when you need to roll up your sleeves, set an example, and scrub the toilets. But the systems and the people working within those systems, need to be built and developed by you.

Entrepreneurs: The Greatest Force for Good in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 05:06:00 +0000

"...people throw rocks at things that shine..." -- Taylor Swift

Entrepreneurs are the greatest force for good in the world.

Not the well-meaning politicians.

Not the scientists or the artists.

Nor the educators, athletes or celebrities.

And sure as all hell not the blood-sucking lawyers.

By definition, an entrepreneur is one who identifies unmet needs in the market, and then finds a way - typically against the odds of habit, naysayers and his own empty pockets - to forge ahead anyway to fulfill those needs.

Being an entrepreneur is therefore the most selfless and self-sacrificing voyage one could endeavour upon.

The stigma in society is just the opposite: namely that greed drives entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are therefore the target of much ridicule and protest by the masses of mediocre, day-dreaming, lottery-playing socialists.

Thank goodness for the few establishments that still embrace the mantra and mission of the entrepreneur. Thank goodness for the few who hold up the entrepreneur as one worth emulating and learning from, rather than targeting him for his follies and missteps.

It's an unfortunate truth that being in the limelight of success after coming through the hard-fought, lonely, less-traveled road of the entrepreneur makes one a more attractive target for attackers and critics.

Let us celebrate the spirit and the role of the entrepreneur.

My Favorite Books from 2013's Readings

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 01:10:00 +0000

My recommended reading list from my 2013 reads:

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand

Fiction. This book is woven with Rand's philosophy that the human spirit and the power of the one - the individual - eventually triumphs over the jealous masses and faceless institutions. Written half a century ago, it's still a timeless classic with a message that shows that the independent mind - the one who's truly made up his mind and set his course, cannot be deterred in spite of the mindless masses of jealous souls who look up with awe and greed. The book's message is more relevant now than ever.

The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olsen

Nonfiction. A personal development book with the philosophical mind-set to "start with a penny" in every aspect of life. Small, daily disciplines -- applied consistently -- win out over the big leaps every time. Inch by inch, life is a cinch, yard by yard is very hard. A reminder to show up, be consistent, be patient, measure your progress, and to let compounding do its magic over a long period of time.

Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

Fiction. A 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (also a wonderful mini-series staring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall). The book explores the characters Captain Call and Gus McCray and their difficult journey herding cattle from Texas to Montana during the 1800's. The two cowboys are complete contrasts, yet the best of friends. McCray is lighthearted, a wrangler and a joker who tends to enjoy life no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. Captain Call is a workaholic plowhorse with an uncanny ability to persevere and press forward with a single focus. I love the characters in this book - which explores the heartache and challenges of the early "entrepreneurial" cowboys of the young America.

How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton Christensen

Nonfiction. I checked this one out after hearing Christensen give a lecture on the topic during a TED talk. The Harvard Professor and author of bestselling "Innovator's Dilemma" explores the reasons why those who've so often found "success" as defined by the world's standards, end up miserable after several years or decades. Filled with personal examples and analogies, Christensen gives us some clues as to what's really important and how we might consider re-framing and measuring our life in the context of the things that really matter.

The Cure for the Common Life: Living in your sweet spot, By Max Lucado

Nonfiction. Not sure about the dogs on the couch cover, but a good read nonetheless. Using a gospel perspective with references to the Scriptures, Max shows the reader how to live the life God meant for each of us to live.

The Last Lecture, By Randy Pausch

Nonfiction. This book is based upon Professor Pausch's last lecture that he gave to students before he was lost to cancer. There are many gems of wisdom in each of his various chapters that help us to get a glimpse into the fragility of life and the things that really matter in this world.

Loosing My Virginity, By Richard Branson

Nonfiction. This autobiography by Branson takes us on an entrepreneurial adventure. I really enjoyed learning more about the way this multi-billionaire, serial-entrepreneur developed his daredevil philosophy to try everything at least once. Funny and crazy stories of a guy who truly lives life on the edge.

Are You Growing Grain...or Growing Men?

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 00:56:00 +0000

If you want a year of prosperity, grow grain.

If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees.

If you want a hundred years of prosperity, grow men

-- Chinese Proverb

At times, it may seem I'm not very involved with the various businesses that I own. I'm not what some would call an "owner-operator" in most cases.

I believe my work isn't specifically the technical or process-oriented tasks involved in running a company. My role is to find good men or women to build my companies, and then build them.

The only way to grow people is to:

1. Allow them autonomy and some freedom to make decisions,

2. Ask more questions, to pull out, rather than dictate and push down orders,

3. Recognize in them the goodness that is inherit in all people,

4. Recognize in them the specific talents and abilities that they alone bring to the enterprise.

I love the people I'm helping to grow.

And I love them, not just because they help build the companies I own, but because I'm truly vested in and investing into their development and personal growth.

In most situations, if you're investing into someone or something, it's because you believe in the prospects.

I believe in my people, and so I invest in them by empowering them to find the solutions to the problems they'll invariably face as operators of a company.

want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. - See more at: http://quotationsbook.com/quote/32845/#sthash.wilIqW8g.dpuf

oblem, craft a solution and sell that solution to others. As an interesting side note, it’s a common misconception that the word crisis and opportunity mean the same thing in the ancient Chinese language. This misconception initially gained momentum when John F. Kennedy incorrectly cited it in a sp - See more at: http://juniorbiz.com/40-chinese-proverbs-for-entrepreneurship#sthash.NYz8y1xq.dpuf

If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, gr - See more at: http://juniorbiz.com/40-chinese-proverbs-for-entrepreneurship#sthash.NYz8y1xq.dpuf

“If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow p - See more at: http://juniorbiz.com/40-chinese-proverbs-for-entrepreneurship#sthash.NYz8y1xq.dpuf

7 Strategies For Turnarounds

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:30:00 +0000

When evaluating the business opportunity, know in advance what your exit will be, and what improvements you will be implementing in the company.

There are 7 ways to turn a company around, in order below from most-preferred and profitable to the least preferred and least profitable.

Resurrect – Make changes to the company from within: a new sales contract or perhaps re-calibrating the marketing campaign, or a new innovation or disruptive technology. It’s easier said than done. If you can improve the company from the resources within the company, you’re more likely to successfully turn the company around under your own terms. When considering any business purchase, consider what opportunities are within the company that aren’t being tapped into or could use further development and attention. With personnel for example, often the expertise and ability you’re looking for already exists within the company. Peter Drucker famously stated, “Because its purpose is to create a customer, your business has two purposes and two purposes only: Marketing and Innovation. Marketing and innovation make you money, generate sales, produce profit. Everything else is an expense...”. Keep in mind that Innovation may come in spurts and with flashes of insightful breakthroughs. But Marketing requires steady, consistent application of conveying a cohesive message often. Have something good to say, say it well, and say it often.

2. Recruit – Similar to a resurrection, if you’re recruiting top-talent from the market or from competitors, who have the experience and domain knowledge you’re needing for the company, you can often dictate the terms and conditions under which those talent-infusions come on board. Whenever you consider buying a company, also look at the competing environment to find out who you might be able to recruit away and re-insert them into the company you’re looking to purchase. The biggest challenge with recruiting or promoting from the outside, especially in top-level positions, is that these individuals will not have the specific cultural upbringing as those already inside the company. Still, if the company is struggling, it likely needs help from the outside, including new ownership, new management, and new employees.

Refinance -- Often times the target company is encumbered with debt that can be refinanced under a new loan. The new loan may offer a lower rate or a longer amortization period. Taking out the old loan with a new loan is another way to make the company cash positive.

Re-equitize – Similar to a refinance, only you’re employing equity instead of debt capital. Equity can come from existing managers or employees, recruited, to-be-hired managing partners, the broker involved in the deal, friends and family, private equity groups, wealthy individuals, investors, or your own pocket book.

Re-amortize – This typically involves changing the amount owed or the timing of the payments to the creditors. Often, if the company is struggling or encumbered with debt, the creditors will take a voluntary haircut on the amount due, or will stretch out the payments or lower the rate, if they know there’s a plan. In the extreme cases, if the company has been more or less forced into bankruptcy, the bankruptcy judge can actually force the creditors to take a cram-down on the debt, which basically means the creditor takes a substantial haircut on the debt to align more realistically with the underlying assets’ actual, current valuation.

Re-sell – Selling the business as a going concern is far preferable than simply shutting it down or liquidating the assets of the business in a forced manner. If you find that you’ve purchased a business that you’re not cut out for, or you simply aren’t driving the business like it needs to be driven, it’s far better to put it in the hands of someone who can and is willing to make it work. If the company has value in the hands of someone else, sell it. If the company is doomed to failure, (for example a flawed or no-longer relevant business model) do not sell it: it’s better to shut it down and pull the plug than to sell a broken, can’t-be-fixed business to someone else. Refuse to sell refuse.

7. Refuse – If the company you bought cannot or should not be sold as a going concern, if there’s simply no way the company can be saved as it is now, begin selling whatever assets you can that have real value. In one of the biggest mistakes I made, I bought a company that was similar to another successful business I’d bought in the past. I had made 10x my investment on the previous one, and thought this one would be similar. I was overconfident. I hadn’t done my due diligence as thoroughly as I should and after 3 months of owning this company decided it was actually better to shut it down completely rather than try to sell it to someone else or try to fix it (it was not a ‘fixable’ company by the time I bought it; and it would have been wrong for me to try to sell it to someone else as a going concern business). When you buy a company, it’s easy to get sucked into the cashflows from the income statements and not take a good hard look at the balance sheet – the assets that can be sold should something go south. As Warren Buffet says, the first rule of investing is don’t loose money. Easier said than done, but a good follow up rule to this is to make sure your purchasing enough hard assets that you can cover your downside should the business go south. One of the biggest problems I see buyers make is they buy too much goodwill and not enough hard assets.

The 6-6-6 Rule of Thumb for Buying a Business

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:31:00 +0000

Before I met my wife, I dated (or went on a date with) over 823 different girls. Patience pays off: I married the woman of my dreams and she's the total package.

In looking at my numbers for the last 12 months, it seems it takes 6 initial views of a business for me to create 1 offer. I have to have 6 offers, to get 1 to accept. Of those that accept my initial offer, only 1 out of 6 actually ends up selling me his or her business.

I’ve looked at 200-plus businesses, of which I’ve put offers on 36 (7 of these offers were revisions of offers, or re-offers on the same company); of these 36 offers, 6 have accepted, and only 1 of them actually successfully closed.

Why didn’t I put offers on all 200-plus that I initially looked at? Because after receiving the financials, it was apparent that many of these companies were simply not worth owning, for any price, or there were few creative ideas I could employe to improve the company once purchased, or I wasn’t able to find the right managing partner to joint-venture it with me.

Of the 36 offers I put in, most did not accept. Anyone in business knows this: rejection is part of the game.

5 out of 6 refused my initial offer. I rarely offer a 2nd offer unless I get something reasonable back from the seller that leads me to believe that creating a revised offer might produce a favorable deal. Still, of the 6 that did accept my offer, only 1 of those 6 actually ended up in a purchase. Why? Because if you do your due diligence properly, you’ll almost always find skeletons in the closet. How the buyer and seller negotiate for concessions once those skeletons are discovered is another area for further consideration and negotiation.

You don’t want to be looking for excuses to modify your initial purchase price. But you do want to hold the seller accountable for any deviations between the representations the seller made (of which your offer was based) and the actual truth. If there’s a gap, then there needs to be a compensation for that gap.

For example, I made an offer for a manufacturing company that represented sales of about $1.2M and a net income of $180K. I made a fair offer based upon the rules of thumb for this industry, which were a percentage of the equipment and inventory plus a multiple of SDE (seller’s discretionary earning) of 1.5x. It’s been almost a year, but I believe the assets were represented as being worth $50K and the SDE was represented as $200K with the addbacks ($180K net income + $20K in seller’s personal expenses). My offer of $350K was reasonable and fair, assuming the seller’s representations were in fact accurate.

Turned out however that during due diligence, the net income figure was actually a loss on the tax returns, and the amount of addbacks didn’t come anywhere near $200K; it was more like $100K. I had to revise my offer to accommodate that gap, adjusting the offer to reflect the actual SDE. The seller refused, and last I checked, his business still hasn’t sold. He’s still representing to the market the inflated numbers he’s already been called out on, hoping someone will pay a higher price for numbers that don’t actually exist.

This process can be frustrating. It may take you 300-600 hours to find one deal that works.

Moral of story: it's a numbers game. As in dating and marriage: don't buy the first business you fall in love with.

Buy a Business with Good Economics First, Passion is Secondary

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:21:00 +0000

In the landmark book, “Good to Great”, Jim Collins identifies what he calls the Hedgehog concept, which is the sweet spot for companies who’ve successfully identified and practice doing 1) what they’re deeply passionate about, 2) what they believe they can become the best in the world at, and 3) what drives their economic engine.

In your search for a business, you may focus much of you attention on what you’re passionate about, at the expense of what truly makes good economic sense.

Case in point: you’re creative, and you love journalism and writing. You decide to apply your number one passions into the public relations or marketing fields. You’ve neglected to view the market as a whole however, and you wonder why the first few years in business (enjoying what little work you may actually receive) are a complete financial failure. There are millions of people who love that type of work. Could you be the best in the world at it? Hopefully you believe it before you set out upon that well-worn path to mediocre wealth. But the truth is, it’s a crowded space.

Compare with the entrepreneur who sees an opportunity in the market, such as picking up dog crap, or managing property, or digging big holes for home-builders needing basements. These are not attractive businesses most people are normally intrinsically drawn towards (passionate about), but the truth is, all three of these businesses typically do very very well financially. Being the best in the world at these activities may not be as challenging as you’d think because, there’s not a lot of people competing in these spaces. Go where people hate to go, to do a job that needs doing that nobody else wants to do, and you’re on the right course from a financial standpoint.

Most people start with what they’re already passionate about, and using that narrow list to then work backwards towards what will procure them the most decent living (this is the typical strategic buyer). My suggestion is you start from the end and work backwards. Start with the companies or types of business that make good economic sense, and then find a way to love the business that will serve you well. Be a financial buyer first.

Top 3 Challenges Business Leaders Repeatedly Neglect to Face

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Today I met with a business coach. He's created a roundtable of CEO's and business owners who've been getting together monthly for the last several years.

When asked what the top 3 challenges he sees clients repeatedly make, he answered without hesitation the following, in order:

1. No written plan,

2. Managing growth or contraction in navigating a volatile up/down cycle in the economy,

3. Leading people and managing personnel issues within the company.

Are You a Creator or a Reactor?

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:29:00 +0000

The Important Distinction The stock market may go up - or down. But according to Jim Collins, that isn't the key distinction. Regardless of the market, what matters is whether you are a creator who is internally driven or a reactor who takes cues from the outside.

Creator

Internally driven, externally aware
Pursues creative strategy
Discovers genetic talents and applies them
Builds an economic engine to get things done
Many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities
Growth follows from creative contribution
Ambitious first and foremost for the work
Focuses on building relationships
Values self-improvement for its own sake
Sets 10-to-25-year audacious goals
Core values inform all efforts
Seeks self-actualization

Reactor

Externally driven, without intrinsic passion
Pursues competitive strategy
Agenda of competence set by the outside world
Gets things done to make a lot of money
Few once-in-a-lifetime opportunities
Seeks growth for growth's sake
Ambitious first and foremost for self
Focuses on transactions
Driven largely by comparison to others
Five years is long-term
Nothing is sacred; expedience rules
Seeks success

Principle of Freedom: You Must Own Property to Have a Right to Vote

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Because there are so many who've become freeloaders in our once-free country, it seems the only right way to correct course it to look back to our founding fathers and the original principles that brought about freedom.

One of those principles which became law was that only those with PROPERTY worth protecting should even have the RIGHT TO VOTE.

That was the way to insure only those with a "skin in the game" could have any voice in saying how those stakes got allocated.

When the country was founded, in most states only those with real property (land) or sufficient wealth for taxation were permitted to vote.

A few exceptions are in order to this rule:

1. If you've fought in the military for our country, you know what it's like to fight for a cause greater than yourself. You deserve the right to vote.

2. All voters must first pass a test, call it Freedom 101, and must retake the test every 4 years to ensure they know what the constitution of the U.S. says and what it means. Dito to elected officials, only their test should be every 2 years and should be much more intense (call it the 500-level test).

Billy says to Dale: "the ship we're on is sinking" to which Dale replies, "who cares, it's not OUR ship."

We've got too many on board a sinking ship who don't care, because, after all it's not their ship: they don't own anything worth protecting or fighting for.

Will Our Nation Stand this Test?

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:15:00 +0000

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," -- Matthew 5:43-44

If the inner world of our average citizen in this once-great United States is now divided against his neighbor, and not just divided against, but in hateful, vengeful opposition towards others, hasn't what we feared in the ways of our nation falling already taken root?

Communism requires us to first of all be divided against each other in class warfare. Second, it has to create within us some type of justification or rationale or motive for killing each other. In it's final stages, actual annihilation through genocide in the name of some utopia society brings the seeds of this pent up desire to fruition.

Keep in mind that over 135 million people (an estimated 500 million if you count abortion) have been murdered in the last 100 years. To give you some perspective, that's more than all the killings from wars of nation vs. nation in the entire history of the world.

These "killings from within" are not from external wars - but from societies whose leaders deemed one class of people inferior to another group.

If a leader of a nation can convince it's citizens to be divided against each other, to hate each other, to threaten to kill or take revenge against another group of people under its "care", then it can easily tip the balance in favor of killing its unruly citizens in a divide-and-conquer-like campaign plague.

Evil has come more subtly to us these last 50 years, not through abrupt revolution, but through a gradual process of moral apathy and through an evolutionary erosion of conviction. We've abandoned principles of truth and reason for the zeal of passion and self-justified pleasures.

A recent poll suggests that as many as 33% of U.S. citizens (I don't dare call them "Americans") now favor socialism over capitalism. The irony here of course, is that our fathers have fought in the Revolutionary war, the Civil War, World War I and II and Vietnam to fight against these types of oppressive ideas. Ideas that had taken root, and grown into revolutionary proportions that threatened our cherished American way of life - namely the principles of freedom, morality, truth, life and liberty.

Communism has an agenda. Its constituents are anything but dead. It has planted itself and taken root in these once 'United' States. Like weeds who've grown into roots, and roots who've broken the once firm foundation, we are a nation divided. And a nation divided cannot stand.

I'm young, but I've followed politics for over 30 years and can still remember watching the debates between Reagan and Mondale as a kid. I've seen some heated debates and such as I'm sure we all have over the years.

But I must confess, I've never seen a nation so torn, so divided, and yes, even threatening to kill others if their chosen leader isn't elected President. We have today hundreds of people who've threatened to kill Mr. Romney if he is elected, and many have threatened to kill or injure others supporting him as well.

If all things are created spiritually before they manifest in physical form, then the seeds of our destruction have already been planted, nurtured and brought to the brink of full bloom.

To the credit of those who stand with Romney, I have not as yet heard of one who has threatened to kill anyone. No, they opt to simply leave the country. But the question then is, where will they flee to? If America falls, where can anyone in the world flee to for safety?

My great grandparents fled their native land to escape the threats and persecution of Muslims who attacked them because of their Christian beliefs. America was a morally strong land. A land of hope, freedom, and opportunity. Strong and kind people hoping for a better life gravitated to American because she offered them freedom.

Now it would seem, our society has unraveled from within. But this is where we will stand. This is the last place we have to flee to, in spite of all her weaknesses and frailties. America is still the last best hope on earth.

I hope you will stand with me in remembering what America once meant to those who've given their lives for it. Let us stand up. Let us stand firm. Let us remember and defend the principles our fathers fought for in building and sacrificing for this great nation.

Let us love one another, no matter what.

Tale of the Tape: A Voter's Guide to Selecting Your Next President

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:32:00 +0000

Romney can be a dry, and admittedly a sometimes boring servant leader.

Obama is truly charismatic: a true politician getting nothing significant accomplished while pandering to the press.

Romney saved and invested in troubled companies with his own money.

Obama funded, bloated and bankrupted companies using your taxpayer money.

Romney gave over 30% of his income to charity last year, over $1.9Million of his $13.7Million in income was given to charity. And he's routinely given away over 16% of his money each year for the last several years, to charity.

Obama has given away less than .0001 of his income to charity, $80 on his $400,000 salary. In fact, Obama has spent over $1 Billion of your taxpayer money for his personal staff, and for family vacations - the most expensive, blood-sucking president in our country's history.

Romney turned deficit situations around with a heading-for-bankruptcy state in Massachusetts, and with the Winter Olympics.

Obama has, in spite of his promise to reduce the deficit by half, has actually doubled it, and continues to spend more than all the presidents in this nation's history, combined. That includes George W. Bush who liberals like to blame for "getting us in the mess."

Romney as a proven leader consistently takes responsibility for outcomes and results.

Obama blames his failures on Hillary, Bush, the Republicans, etc.

Romney has invested in and operated several successful companies and been a leader in his church in various high-ranking positions (bishop, stake president).

Obama, prior to being elected president of the United States, never ran a business, or led a team, or served in any type of volunteer-leader capacity.

Romney supports family and traditional marriage.

Obama switched from supporting traditional marriage to supporting and endorsing gay marriage, when it became politically expedient.

Romney is pro life, and supports preserving the life and the rights of the innocent, unborn child.

Obama is pro-killing babies if it's convenient for the woman. He also supports forcing business owners to pay for such procedures for their employees, regardless of one's religious views.

Romney has a long history as a job creator, and he favors pro-growth job policies, having created millions of jobs in the private sector.

Obama is a job killer, having created policies that choke businesses with regulatory red tape. Obama declared war on business owners when he said, "you didn't create that, someone else made that for you."

Romney has been a faithful Christian throughout his life, even when his faith has become a political handicap, he never denied his Christian faith.

Obama denied and abandoned his faith, not when Reverend Wright said that Americans deserved to die in 9/11 or when he said, "God damn America", but when his association with Mr. Wright became a potential liability during the 2008 elections.

Romney loves our country and believes we've acted in good faith to make the world a better place.

Obama has come out openly denouncing America and apologizing to other countries for actions in the past, actions that actually freed nations from tyrants and oppression. (for comparison, under Regan, more than one-billion people were freed from tyrannical or communist rule; whereas Obama's pro-Muslim policies in the middle east have made us weak and an easy target, there is less democracy and freedom in the world today as a result of Obama's foreign policies.)

Romney's policies as governor included compromise, working with an 87% democratic legislature, to make things happen.

Obama blames "the Republicans" for his inability to get the compromises wants from the house and Senate.

Romney turned Massachusetts around and made it the number-one state for job growth and education, by several measures.

Obama has "poured gasoline on the fire" by spending more on entitlement programs like free food stamps, cash-for-clunkers, internet, free section 8 housing, and free phones for people willing to beg him for it. This entitlement mentality has crippled our country's independent, once-self sufficient, freedom-loving spirit.

Romney lowered taxes for the average citizen in Massachusetts.

Obama has increased taxes for the average U.S. citizen by over $3000 per person.

Romney's plan is to eliminate the incentives that lead to destructive cycles of poverty and dependency.

Obama's plan is to eliminate the incentives of wealth creation.

Romney has never smoked or drank alcohol or taken illegal drugs in his life.

Obama has a record of taking illegal drugs and still has an addiction to cigarettes.

For me, the choice is clear, simple and so obvious and easy.

Who will you vote for, and more exactly: why?

6 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:13:00 +0000

According to research and numerous studies, there are 6 characteristics
that heavily correlate with successful entrepreneurs:

1. Commitment and determination

2. Leadership

3. Opportunity obsession

4. Tolerance of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty

5. Creativity, self-reliance and ability to adapt

6. Motivation to excel

Also, are 6 demographic/cultural factors that heavily
correlate with successful entrepreneurs:

1. Being the offspring of self-employed parents

2. Being fired from more than one job

3. Being an immigrant or a child of immigrants

4. Previous employment in a company with more than 100 people

5. Being the oldest child in the family

6. Being a college graduate

On the first list, I believe I've got a high dosage of all 6 attributes.

On the 2nd list, I've been there, done that, except for #3: I'm not an immigrant or a child of immigrants, and to be fair on # 1, my parents have gravitated more towards traditional employment rather than self employment during most of my life, having made several failed attempts.

Original report written by Tom Byers, Heleen Kist, and Robert I. Sutton, each from Stanford University

Romney a Liar? Try Again.

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 06:02:00 +0000

Who will lead us in the future? Who is most qualified and capable? What makes them qualified? Is it Goodness and Character? Wisdom and Intelligence? Experience? The ability to unite us as a nation? What makes one a great leader?

The intellectuals and central planners on the left want the best and the brightest to lead us. Fine. Please let me introduce to you one of the most intelligent and capable leaders this country has ever had the privilege of knowing: Mitt Romney. Romney is a results-guy, not an ivory tower, smooth talking philosopher. Romney wins on both the intellect and the roll-up-your-sleeves, get-it-done results.

They say Romney and the Republican party represent a party of corporate greed. Yet, Romney gives 16% of his massive income to church and charities. Obama's charitable donations? Less than .0002% (that's $80 on his $400,000 salary for those of you that are a bit slow on the math). So Obama fans loose on the 'he's a nice-guy' argument too.

They say Romney's religious beliefs are divisive with the average American. The irony here is that Obama has all but declared open war on just about everyone he can declare war on: the rich, the capitalists, the business owners, the wallstreet tycoons, the elderly, the unborn, and of course, the Christians. Further, Obama denounced his hate-inspired religion when it became politically convenient. Romney is true to his Christ-centered faith, regardless of the political ramifications.

The Obama camp is putting out the PR blitz against Romney and Ryan, on one hand criticizing the two for not getting their facts strait. Obama accusing Romney of integrity flaws in an effort to tear-down Romney's character is like Brittany Spears telling Celine Dion she's not cut out for singing.

Let's look at a few of Obama statements made in the past few years so we can measure up Obama's oratory-flattery and flat-out lies vs. Romney/Ryan's supposed "misleading the facts."

Here is just a sampling of the hundreds of news-worthy-documented lies - what Obama said vs. what he actually did:

"I’ve done more for Israel’s security than any President ever." (Are you kidding me? Obama aided Islamic Extremists take over of Egypt/ Libya)

"Rich don't pay their fair share." (the top 1% pay over 36% of the total tax revenues for our country)

"The Fence between US and Mexico is Practically Complete” (homeland security says less than 5%)

"There are No Earmarks in the $787 Billion Stimulus" (there were a TON of earmarks in the stimulus)

"We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." (Um...right - didn't happen, doesn't happen).

"My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church" (have you read his pastor's famous "God damn America" speech where he blames the U.S. for 9/11?)

"I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage." (Well, I guess he changed his mind a few months ago...)

"Under the White House’s budget proposal, we will not be adding more to the national debt by the middle of the decade. (he hasn't submitted a budget to Congress and he's certainly added significant debts).

Folks, we don't need another 4 years of hate, division, blame, and smooth-talking lies.

We need character. We need strength. We need a man who is both wise and good. We need someone capable of turning difficult, unsustainable situations around - situations that call for true initiative and influence and unity.

We need a leader.

We need a Mitt Romney.

To Fight or Not to Fight...That is the Question

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 08:49:00 +0000

In a game of chess, white initiates and has the first-move advantage, and black absorbs and defends against white's attack. If black is successful, he will have created a trap of sorts for white to fall into. An over-aggressive white play falls right into black's hands if black can build a good defense.

We're in the process of defending ourselves against 2 frivolous lawsuits that have been going on for a year. The allegations have been desperate. Our accusers have lied under oath. The damages they're claiming are completely imaginary and fictitious. Still, we've had to pay up the nose to have 2 different law firms represent us in defending our case.

I'm not an attorney. And the outcome of the trial is yet to be determined. But I must admit that firing my lawyers was probably the best decision I made. Why? Because they just don't give a crap. The irony is, they will charge you a fortune to do a terrible job for the simplest of things. They say the only ones who actually win in a legal dispute are the lawyers. I would agree. So, I figure I've already won half the battle by representing myself. We shall see if this decision proves fatal. Ultimately though, nothing related to money is fatal. If it's a money problem, it's not really a problem. If we think the problem is ever "out there", then that very thought is the problem.

There's a lot we don't know, but we try to stay humble, learn quickly and apply what we know. We're always willing to try something new and give it our best shot. That's what makes us - my wife and me - the entrepreneurs that we are.

In the endgame in chess, the king comes out to play. During the opening stages of the game, you castle to try to hide the king from the heat of the battle. But as the game progresses towards the endgame, and the major pieces are off the table, and the overall strategy has been identified, it becomes safe and sometimes necessary for the king to come out. Similarly, we've had to take the bull by the horns in doing the legal work ourselves these past few days. We've had to learn a lot and force ourselves into the discomfort zone.

The reason we will probably win our motions or the ultimate case trial isn't just because the claims our opponents are bringing are completely merit-less. Their attorney's have made serious mistakes that will end up costing their clients a fortune - about 10x whatever claims they may have hoped to gain against us.

Now I'll have you know a few things about these 2 cases:

1) We've been praying and fasting for these people we're going up against in court, both the principals and their lawyers. We've been praying that both our hearts and their hearts can be softened and that we might be able to come to a resolution amicably. We honestly do not wish any harm upon them or their families. We feel terrible about having to even pursue legal actions. But our time for defending these claims has expired. Now it's our turn.

2) We've offered them, repeatedly, concession after concession. We've lost a lot of money trying to be amicable and to "turn the other cheek". But enough is enough. We've tried to work out terms for repayments a debtor owes us (yes, he's the debtor, yet he's suing us - go figure). We've asked for forgiveness of claims that were simply illegitimate. We've tried to come up with 3rd alternatives. But, we keep getting stonewalled.

3) We've been the defendant in both of these cases - never counter-suing. Well, that changed tonight. We decided, after pleading and begging and praying and trying to talk reason to, well...sue. We're suing. We've absorbed their attacks and now, hopefully we can make our claims known to our judge and hopefully she will be persuaded by our facts and the rules of law.

As they say, if the evidence is against you, use the law. If the law is against you, use the evidence. And what pray tell, do you do when both the evidence and the law is against you? You scream like hell and make a fuss. Well - I don't recommend that last bit of advice, but that's what our opposition has done: a flurry of desperate hell-marry attempts at wild and baseless motions and claims.

Hopefully we can just put this all behind us once and for all. But if we need to go the distance for another year, we're ready and willing.

Bullies on the playground never really go away. Eventually, you've got to stand up to them and punch them back.

Quotes Regarding the Federal Reserve Banking System, and How Such an Institution Threatens our Liberties and Freedoms

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:49:00 +0000

The Rothschilds

"The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from it's profits or so dependent on it's favors, that there will be no opposition from that class." — Rothschild Brothers of London, 1863

"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" — Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild

Senators and Congressmen

"Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States" — Sen. Barry Goldwater (Rep. AR)

"This [Federal Reserve Act] establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President [Wilson} signs this bill, the invisible government of the monetary power will be legalized....the worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency bill." — Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. , 1913

"From now on, depressions will be scientifically created." — Congressman Charles A.
Lindbergh Sr. , 1913

"The financial system has been turned over to the Federal Reserve Board. That Board as ministers the finance system by authority of a purely profiteering group. The system is Private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other people's money" -- Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., 1923

"The Federal Reserve bank buys government bonds without one penny..." — Congressman

Wright Patman, Congressional Record, Sept 30, 1941

"We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it". — Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)

"The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the International bankers — Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Rep. Pa)

"Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are the United States government's institutions. They are not government institutions. They are private credit monopolies which prey upon the people of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign swindlers" — Congressional Record 12595-12603 — Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (12 years) June 10, 1932

"I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs....I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgivable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected." — John Danforth (R-Mo)

"These 12 corporations together cover the whole country and monopolize and use for private gain every dollar of the public currency..." — Mr. Crozier of Cincinnati, before Senate Banking and Currency Committee - 1913

"The [Federal Reserve Act] as it stands seems to me to open the way to a vast inflation of the currency... I do not like to think that any law can be passed that will make it possible to submerge the gold standard in a flood of irredeemable paper currency." — Henry Cabot Lodge Sr., 1913

From the Federal Reserves Own Admissions

"When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in out account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money." — Putting it simply, Boston Federal Reserve Bank

"Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities, intrinsically, a 'dollar' bill is just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries." — Modern Money Mechanics Workbook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1975

"The Federal Reserve system pays the U.S. Treasury 020.60 per thousand notes --a little over 2 cents each-- without regard to the face value of the note. Federal Reserve Notes, incidentally, are the only type of currency now produced for circulation. They are printed exclusively by the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the $20.60 per thousand price reflects the Bureau's full cost of production. Federal Reserve Notes are printed in 01, 02, 05, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar denominations only; notes of 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 denominations were last printed in 1945." —Donald J. Winn, Assistant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system

"We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system.... It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects remedied very soon." — Robert H. Hamphill, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank

From General Law

"The entire taxing and monetary systems are hereby placed under the U.C.C. (Uniform
Commercial Code)" — The Federal Tax Lien Act of 1966

"There is a distinction between a 'debt discharged' and a debt 'paid'. When discharged, the debt still exists though divested of it's charter as a legal obligation during the operation of the discharge, something of the original vitality of the debt continues to exist, which may be transferred, even though the transferee takes it subject to it's disability incident to the discharge." —Stanek vs. White, 172 Minn.390, 215 N.W. 784

"The Federal Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities..." — Lewis vs. United States
9th Circuit 1992

"The regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. ...but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations." — Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2d 1239 9th Circuit 1982

Past Presidents, not including the Founding Fathers

"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce." — James A. Garfield, President of the United States

"A great industrial nation is controlled by it's system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world--no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." — President Woodrow Wilson

Founding Father's Quotes on Banking

The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs." — Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President.

"If Congress has the right [it doesn't] to issue paper money [currency], it was given to them to be used by...[the government] and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations" — President Andrew Jackson, Vetoed Bank Bill of 1836

"History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance." — James Madison

Misc. Sources

"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing" — Ralph M. Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury

"To expose a 15 Trillion dollar rip-off of the American people by the stockholders of the 1000 largest corporations over the last 100 years will be a tall order of business." — Buckminster Fuller

"Every Congressman, every Senator knows precisely what causes inflation...but can't, [won't] support the drastic reforms to stop it [repeal of the Federal Reserve Act] because it could cost him his job." — Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." — Henry Ford

"[Every circulating FRN] represents a one dollar debt to the Federal Reserve system." — Money Facts, House Banking and Currency Committee

"...the increase in the assets of the Federal Reserve banks from 143 million dollars in 1913 to 45 billion dollars in 1949 went directly to the private stockholders of the [federal reserve] banks." — Eustace Mullins

"As soon as Mr. Roosevelt took office, the Federal Reserve began to buy government securities at the rate of ten million dollars a week for 10 weeks, and created one hundred million dollars in new [checkbook] currency, which alleviated the critical famine of money and credit, and the factories started hiring people again." — Eustace Mullins

"Should government refrain from regulation (taxation), the worthlessness of the money becomes apparent and the fraud can no longer be concealed." — John Maynard Keynes, "Consequences of Peace."

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits." — SIR JOSIAH STAMP, (President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain):

"The modern Banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banks can in fact inflate, mint and unmint the modern ledger-entry currency." — MAJOR L .L. B. ANGUS:

"While boasting of our noble deeds were careful to conceal the ugly fact that by an iniquitous money system we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery. — Horace Greeley

"People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt on the project (Muscle Shoals Dam) nor contribute a pound of material, will collect more money from the United States than will the People who supply all the material and do all the work. This is the terrible thing about interest ...But here is the point: If the Nation can issue a dollar bond it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good also. The difference between the bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money broker collect twice the amount of the bond and an additional 20%. Whereas the currency, the honest sort provided by the Constitution pays nobody but those who contribute in some useful way. It is absurd to say our Country can issue bonds and cannot issue currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurer and the other helps the People. If the currency issued by the People were no good, then the bonds would be no good, either. It is a terrible situation when the Government, to insure the National Wealth, must go in debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control the fictitious value of gold. Interest is the invention of Satan." — THOMAS A. EDISON

"By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft." — John Maynard Keynes (the father of 'Keynesian Economics' which our nation now endures) in his book "THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE" (1920).

"Capital must protect itself in every way...Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd."-- Taken from the Civil Servants' Year Book, "The Organizer" January 1934.

"...I am convinced that the agreement [Bretton Woods] will enthrone a world dictatorship of private finance more complete and terrible than and Hitlerite dream. It offers no solution of world problems, but quite blatantly sets up controls which will reduce the smaller nations to vassal states and make every government the mouthpiece and tool of International Finance. It will undermine and destroy the democratic institutions of this country - in fact as effectively as ever the Fascist forces could have done - pervert and paganise our Christian ideals; and will undoubtedly present a new menace, endangering world peace. World collaboration of private financial interests can only mean mass unemployment, slavery, misery, degradation and financial destruction. Therefore, as freedom loving Australians we should reject this infamous proposal. -- Labor Minister of Australia, Eddie Ward, during the inception of the World Bank and Bretton Woods, he gave this warning.

Creating Jobs & Security: Codeword for Slavery

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:56:00 +0000

It takes a great deal of faith and effort to sustain freedom.

When I hear politicians promising to create jobs for the people, or when I hear citizens demanding that it's every citizen's right to have a secure job, I believe we've lost the true spirit of what it means to be an American.

Security is an illusion born out of fear. Freedom is a byproduct of those living by faith.

Is our country the land of the secure? Or is it the land of the free?

Home of the scared? Or home of the brave?

The more a nation leans towards favoring security out of fear, the more power and freedom will be extracted from the lives of its citizens.

You want 100% employment? Look no further than the ancient Israelite captivity in Egypt. You want it? You got it: 100% employment equals slavery.

People who cling to security the most end up in prison. That's why they call it maximum security.

Speaking of the typical job vs. prison, let's note the contrast.

I read this years ago, and have always thought it funny and somewhat sad considering our tendency to cling to job security. Compare the contrast between prison life and the typical job:

In prison you spend the majority of your time in an 8' X 10' cell.
At work you spend most of your time in a 6' X 8' cubicle.
In prison you get three meals a day.
At work you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for that one.
In prison you get time off for good behavior.
At work you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.
In prison a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
At work you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.
In prison you can watch TV and play games.
At work you get fired for watching TV and playing games.
In prison they ball-and-chain you when you go somewhere.
At work you are just ball-and-chained.
In prison you get your own toilet.
At work you have to share.
In prison they allow your family and friends to visit.
At work you cannot even speak to your family and friends.
In prison all expenses are paid by taxpayers, with no work required.
At work you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for the prisoners.
In prison you spend most of your life looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out.
At work you spend most of your time wanting to get out and inside bars.
In prison you can join many programs which you can leave at any time.
At work there are some programs you can never get out of.

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." - W. Somerset Maugham

The 3rd Alternative: Worth a Shot

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:09:00 +0000

In his new book, "The 3rd Alternative", Stephen Covey explains the paradigms and processes necessary for resolving conflict.

Being involved in a lawsuit at this time, I'll admit being a bit skeptical about the probability of success. I suppose my skepticism is already part of a flawed paradigm. So, why even try?

There's a saying that goes, "you can't make a good deal with a bad partner." I would agree.

Another one of Covey's principles from 7 Habits which I fully believe is that it takes 2 independent people to be in an interdependent relationship. If you're dealing with a fragmented person, which frankly is what we're dealing with here - how do you create a 3rd alternative solution - a win-win solution - an interdependent solution - with a fragmented and shifty person?

The evidence, the law, the contracts, - everything is in our favor on this case. We have a right to claim what's due under the demands of just laws and binding contracts.

But, the whole premise behind the 3rd Alternative mindset is that there is in fact a 3rd alternative out there somewhere that's better for both parties, so long as the 2 opposing parties work together to try to create this 3rd Alternative.

And so, I figured it's worth a shot.

I called and left a message to the defendant in the case, basically stating the following script as outlined in the book:

"Hi ________, this is Brig. Hey I've been thinking about this book I've been reading called The 3rd Alternative, and I wanted to see if you would be interested in sitting down and discussing a possible solution that's better than either one of could have come up with on our own. The premise behind this book is that there is in fact some 3rd alternative solution out there that's actually better for both of us. I'm not sure what it will look like, and I frankly don't have any ideas just yet. But rather than beating our heads against one another, perhaps we can think of something together that would give us what we both want. I want to see you and the company succeed. I also feel I've been wronged and that our case is pretty solid in that we're owed what was agreed upon and we're entitled to be paid. But I'm willing to give this a shot if you're interested in having a discussion. If you're more comfortable having your attorney present, that's fine too. If you're interested, you have my number. I look forward to hopefully connecting with you and talking soon."

I haven't heard anything back, but I'm hopeful we can at least make the attempt.

Should anything come of it, good or bad, I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Top 15 Quotes from Ronald Reagan

noreply@blogger.com (Brig Burton) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Today is Ronald Reagan's birthday. If he were alive today, he'd be 101. To remember him and his legacy, I've listed some of my favorite quotes below.

1. All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

2. Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty

3. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

4. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged

5. Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

6. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

7. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

8. If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

9. Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.

10. It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

11. People do not make wars; governments do.

12. Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15

13. Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.

14. There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

15. When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

In a time when men's hearts are failing them, and the cause of freedom seems but a faint wisper from yesteryears, our hearts long for the time when men like Reagan stood firm, upholding and defending the principles of our founding fathers.

We miss you, Ronald Reagan!