Child Work Bill

  The bill I would sponsor if I was a Congressman would be the Child Work Bill.  This idea of mine is work and mentorship together with a pay check as a reward.  My Mom died when I was 13 and the way my Dad kept me out of trouble was putting me to work at an early age.  In high school my friends were doing drugs and drinking.  I was not perfect and heading down that path.  Football at East Grand Rapids High School kept me straight but what really shaped my life and future was working with my Dad.  He was my mentor and I worked harder than anyone at his place so I would not be labeled the spoiled kid.  My idea for kids that are heading down the wrong path is this:  kids get in gangs at 11 and 12 years old and it is hard to get them out once they are in.  If a counselor at a school saw a kid that was giving up and heading down the wrong path he would assign this kid to a business.  There are a lot of great mentors that own or run businesses like Home Depot or Meijer.  This kid would get paid $4 an hour or so, social security and Medicare would be taken out.  The business would get a tax deduction for this because of what they are doing to save a kid.  Yes businesses do have hearts.  The kid would work about 10 to 12 hours a week and the job he would do would not take anyone else's job.  The mentor would have him do homework at the job on his break.  When the kid got his or her first check it will be addicting like the drug pushers would like but it would be the legal addiction called free enterprise and if the pupil wanted to keep his job he would have to keep his grades up.  We are short of mentors for our kids.  This would solve that and could you see it in Los Angeles:  the gangs wondering where their recruits are?  This is my idea.  Agriculture has an age limit waved and golf caddies can also work 11 or 12, why not let troubled kids work with a business mentor?  Let free enterprise save them.  It will work.

Tommy Brann

My Idea on the Budget Now & in the Future

Once you become a politician you are labeled right or wrong.  You are expected to bring home the bacon for your district right or wrong.  Ideology gets involved in your spending decisions right or wrong.

I would have a Citizens Patriot Panel that has to approve expenditures in bills.  It would be like the Congressional Budget Office but with more power. This panel would be composed of regular citizens that meet a budget everyday and that, after reviewing the bills, would go back to running their small restaurant, working at the dollar store, teaching students or working in a factory, etc.  They would go back to Meijer and buy milk and to the gas station and buy gas. They would not have the perks of Congress and would have to stay in touch with reality.

The panel would be called the CPP which is the Citizens Patriot Panel .  We would chose them with the simple test of how they manage their finance.  Do they have a rainy day fund?  Do they provide for their family?   The panel would not have fancy offices or big budgets but would have impact.  I would predict after the panel shot down some stupid spending that the legislators, knowing that their requests would go in front of the panel, would be more focused and better stewards of our money.

The panel would not get paid and not be up for election.  The panel could be overturned by the Congress with a special vote that would have to put on C-SPAN so the everyday citizens could see the everyday politicians being turned down.  I would predict that the Medicare and Social Security deficit would be straightened out by this panel.  I really think our citizen's love our country and if they understood the code red deficit we have they would make sacrifices on Medicare and Social Security.  The citizens panel would give backbone to our elected officials.  They seem to need it.

American Dream

I was invited to a party awhile back.  I got an extra supervisor in and worked until 4:30 P.M. and left my restaurant to get ready for the party.  Sue had my suit dry cleaned, and it was a humdinger.  I didn't wear it though; I wore my black suit coat and my $10 pants and showed up to the party at 7:20 P.M.  Valet parking took my car and I walked into a 15,000 square foot house that was built like a hotel.  It was an amazing house.  I loved it and you know what, I was not jealous of the people who owned it.  I didn't think, "Tax them more, this isn't fair."  I looked at this house and said, "This is part of the American dream and that dream can make other dreams come true."  It made the heating and cooling business' dream come true by providing five furnaces and five air conditioners for this house.  It made the furniture company's dream come true by providing furniture to this 15,000 square foot house.  It made the caterer's dream come true by having a nice job that night (by the way, it wasn't Brann's catering, so my dream is still pending on that one).  It made the valet company's dream come true by working that night, and by me tipping $5 to the valet who retrieved my car.  So Congress, quit dreaming up ways to tax good, and yes, rich people and stop the class warfare.  My dream is for Congress to spend less or maybe the valet service can drive some of our legislators out of office.  That's my dream.

I Didn't Build That

I have to admit that I didn't build the motor I bought from Hobart for my dishwasher after it broke down Monday afternoon.  I did pay $1100 and in doing that I helped out Hobart, the worker that built the motor, and the repair man that installed it.  I didn't build the motor but the motor in my heart and my soul built my restaurant.  After 41 years at my 7000 sq. ft. restaurant I've only been away about 100 days.  Ask Sue, my wife; she will verify this.  Show her the picture from this post and see if she recognizes me.

Debt and Dishes

When I have a slow day at my restaurant I do a fast calculation of my assets:  dishes, booths, kitchen equipment and other paid-up assets.  It just makes me feel better after a slow business day that I am going to be OK.  I look at our country's debt and want to add up the assets our country has.  The American worker and family that is honest and puts in a hard day's work to support their family, that is worth a lot for our country, but what about our country's debits?  15 trillion in debt, leadership on both sides at a standstill, spending more money than we are taking in.  It is hard to see a future for our country unless we get this under control and I mean to the point of national legislators watching every penny.  I tell my servers one straw per drink, not two, but one.  In Washington DC we can not even afford one straw for our politicians' milk cartons during their nap break.  About 3 years ago I asked Vern Elhers' aid about having a balanced budget amendment.  Some people say that this is not the compassionate thing to do but I think that we have no choice.  A friend of mine told me about his family member who could not budget money and was always behind on bills.  He would help her with money but finally said, "I will help you out by giving you a budget and financial advise."  This was one family member caring about another.  I picture the balanced budget amendment as the same thing:  us caring about our country and getting things in order.  I am still waiting for Vern Ehlers' aid to call me back about the balanced budget amendment.  Maybe his aid could not afford the minutes on his government cell phone.  I can understand that.  Remember one straw per drink when you come in my place and if you're at Chilli's ask for three.