With all of the buzz about the new “Facebook” initial public offering or IPO, I started to dig a little deeper into my own personal usage of this online media. I use the term online media instead of social network because I’m not convinced that people are really socializing when using these networks. When I socialize with friends and family, our topics range from things that happened in the past, current events and what the future will bring. Depending on whom I am with, the boundaries and privacy of the conversation can expand or contract. Who or what we ...
(May 10, 2012) -- Indianapolis TV station WTHR has dropped a bombshell of a report concerning Indiana illegal workers who are collecting millions of dollars in tax refunds by claiming nieces and nephews living in Mexico as dependents. The reporter even interviewed the IRS inspector general who admitted he has been telling the agency about the problem for years, yet nothing is ever done. The report cites the address of one mobile home being used on tax returns claiming four families live there with 20 children. However, the station gets the resident of the home to admit that not...
Well... It finally happened. I have seen more than a couple of stores with more revenue in the shop than from sales of units. Wow, huh!? I’ve spent a lot of time mouthing words into dealers’ ears that they don’t have enough technical capacity; that is, too few techs. Not having enough techs can cause a whole raft of issues. I regularly hear complaints from dealers who don’t want to invest more in technical capacity. Who’d have thought that the point would be made by the lack of sales in the recent downturn?
(May 7, 2012) -- Recently, we attended a two-hour meeting where regulators and consumer advocate group attorneys were discussing the current and future state of the regulation of lenders. One of the key speakers, complete with power points, spewed forth on all the reasons that those that lend are going to hell when the regulators are done with them and they are allowed to die. With that understanding and realization, lenders should be better prepared to consider what their defensive posture should be.
(April 17, 2012) -- Here it is, April 17, Tax Day in America. It's the day working Americans have to settle their accounts with the government who already gave out a boat load of money and other entitlements to people who chose not to work. In December, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) issued a paper that outlined the most wasteful examples of government spending of the year. More importantly, are you paying your "fair share?"
FCCC travels to more than a dozen RV rallies every year and loves the opportunities these events provide for meeting our customers face to face, and offering tips and advice straight from the experts who design and build our chassis. Find out where we'll be this season!
During the past week I have had wonderful conversations with Jim Ashurst, Craig Kirby and Wilbur Botranger on the recent RVIA decision to open an office in China. Through the years we have been, and continue to be, very vocal against any engagement with a company that does not respect America, does not respect its people, and plays by a different set of rules than most civilized nations.
(March 22, 2012) -- This morning, I received an e-mail from a company in Anhui, China. They claimed to be a network service company representing another company called TianHua Company. TianHua was planning to register a domain I once owned, but with the .cn extension. They were staking claim to www.americasrvmall.com.cn. Although I no longer own the domain www.americasrvmall.com, the fact that the Chinese are seeking to register similar names with a .cn extension leads me to believe they are going to start holding American companies hostage in cyberspace. Imagine the chaos that would be creat...
A few weeks ago, the RV Industry Association announced it was opening an office in China. According to an official press release submitted by RVIA March 6, "The office will coordinate the association’s efforts to work with Chinese governmental agencies and the country’s developing RV and campground industries to remove regulatory barriers impeding the United States RV industry’s growth in China." Impeding the RV industry's growth in China? For some reason, I think it will work the other way around. The office will be a communications portal to ensuring that Chinese goods a...