Obama's Plan: Where's Your Opportunity? Part II

Continuing in our analysis of The Plan, by R. Emanuel and B. Reed:

What’s the connection?
This installment does not attempt to debate the merits of, or offer an opinion on, The Plan. Rather, it accepts as reality the intentions and ability of those in power to execute it. An ongoing discussion on feasibility, motivation, or any other aspect of The Plan is most welcome, but beyond the scope of primary blog content. The goal of these installments is to illuminate direction and identify opportunities for small businesses in the changes prescribed by the new leadership in Washington, D.C.

The author of this blog encourages the reader to remain aware of current events but to remember that rarely and only in extreme circumstances do singular events alter the long term policy intentions of a Presidential administration. Events such as the recent bombing of sites inside Pakistan and/or the change in policy regarding stem cell research, especially when undertaken in such a nascent Presidency, should be understood to be positioning for the long haul. In short, the actions that dominate daily media reports are means, not ends. The Plan is about ends; this blog will suggest means by which they may be accomplished and opportunity areas created therein.

Background
The "bedrock principle" behind The Plan is, “You do your part, and your government, your company, and your country will do theirs (page 52).” By gaining followers to this principle, the authors hope to achieve a "new social contract for economic growth (p 46)" in America.

The first of The Plan’s tenets is “Universal Citizen Service.” To preserve context, the summary provided by the authors is restated here, in its entirety:

If you forget everything else you read in these pages, please remember this: The Plan starts with you. If your leaders aren’t challenging you to do your part, they aren’t doing theirs. We need a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us by establishing, for the first time, an ethic of universal citizen service. All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service. This is not a draft—nor is it military. Young people will be trained not as soldiers, but simply as citizens who understand their responsibilities in the event of a natural disaster, an epidemic, or a terrorist attack. Universal citizen service will bring Americans of every background together to make America safer and more united in common national purpose (p. 54).

Emanuel and Reed present two options for implementation, both centered on Americans aged 18 to 25. The first involves the creation of a new program:

[T]he nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They’ll be asked to report for basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we’re hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to address their communities’ most pressing needs (p 62).

The second option, “for those willing to make a longer commitment,” comes with a prescriped expansion of Americorps (p 62) http://www.americorps.org/.


Opportunities
Even as the US government increases its own responsibility and involvement with the economy and its players, there are limits to what it can accomplish. Successful marketers pose questions such as, “What needs are unmet/underserved?” Another way of looking at this might be to say, “What might be in it for me in supporting this effort?” The answer lies in fulfilling the needs of the client—in this case, your community; your government. They know where they want to go; how can we help them get there?

Needs that private enterprise may offer in the execution include:

• Transportation – of youth to and from training centers
• Lodging – of participants and facilitators
• Facilities – principle and support facilities, i.e. medical, storage
• Infrastructure – Where will the training take place? Some communities will require more change and preparation than others.
• Diversion – entertainment for participants and facilitators
• Training – supplying the subject matter experts, trainers, simulators, materials, etc.

Opportunities may also avail in the follow-through. What, the astute observer asks, happens once the training is finished and these young people return to their communities with this knowledge? How can the community take full advantage?

Ongoing reinforcement and ROI for the community can be realized, and private enterprise can find opportunity, through (for example):

• Community meetings on the training - facilitating and moderating discussions on the changing physical and psychological impact the initiative has on the community.
• Executing and managing changes to physical and procedural infrastructure that will inevitably result from the training. This will include residential, commercial and municipal areas.
• Rewarding these youth for their contribution, and validating their sacrifice.

How can we help to ensure these programs maintain an acceptable level of effectiveness? That conditions remain optimal for learning, retention and re-conveyance? How will a program like this alter this generation, and future generations, in terms of their worldview and stewardship? What will be their outlook and long-term goal for our nation?

What will the answers to these questions reveal for the next level of opportunities? And the next…?

WIFM
Anyone who has been given pause noticing our young people isolate themselves behind their iPod earphones will surely be able to appreciate the initiative to re-engage our youth. “Many aspects of our lives,” The Plan offers, “are simply not the common experiences they once were…Opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand (pp 66-67).”

Perhaps this is the time for which many entrepreneurs have been preparing; a chance to profit fairly while strengthening your community.

Next:
Next week’s installment will focus on “Universal College Access,” and will feature expert input from Jennifer Marshall, Director of Education for College Assistance Plus Denver http://www.collegeassistanceplus.com/.

Obama's Plan: Where's Your Opportunity? Part I

On this day, January 20, 2008, Barack Obama is inaugurated as President of the United States.

In 2006, Rahm Emanual http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/27/obamas-chief-of-staff-rah_n_138240.html, then a US Congressman from Illinois, penned The Plan: Big Ideas for America (The subtitle has since been altered, and is now “Big Ideas for Change in America.”) www.readtheplan.com with fellow Clinton White House veteran and liberal journalist Bruce Reed http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=3420. The book purports “a new social contract for the twenty-first century (Page xviii)” by way of eight high level directions they prescribe.

Emanuel and Reed split loyalties in the 2008 US Presidential election. Reed worked with Senator Hillary Clinton, penning the debate zinger, “change you can Xerox (
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15314.html).” Emanuel threw his support to fellow Illinoisan Barack Obama and was selected to be the new President’s Chief of Staff immediately upon the conclusion of the campaign. With the appointment of Senator Clinton to lead the State Department and multiple additional Clinton White House veterans to other posts, the split between the authors seems to have been temporary; the shared ideology intact.

As Obama’s actions reinforce his belief in the tenets put forth by Emanuel and Reed, as similarities exist between The Plan and Obama‘s Blueprint for Change booklet, and as he enters office on the wings of a broad mandate, small business owners and entrepreneurs have an opportunity to choose where they operate on the change curve. In a broad sense and at a high level, over the next several weeks this blog will dedicate itself to identifying the opportunities and challenges for these people and their businesses.

Objectivity will be a goal. Experts will be consulted and interviewed. Each topic will be addressed, as will changes that have occurred since publication--most significantly and consistently, the growing financial crisis that, three years ago, only a few had the courage to acknowledge and still fewer to confront.

The prongs of The Plan are:

1. Universal Citizen Service - “All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service (P. 54).”
2. Universal College Access - “[W]e will give the states tuition grants to make college free for those willing to work, serve and excel (P. 55).”
3. Universal Retirement Savings - “From now on, every job ought to come with a 401(k) (P. 55).”
4. Universal Children’s Health Care - “[C]ut the cost of health care so that every business can afford it and every child in America can at least get it (P. 55).”
5. Ending “Corporate Welfare” - The authors' central strategy to fund the aforementioned goals (P. 56).
6. Tax Reform - Simplify the tax code (P. 138), establish a corporate flat tax of 35 percent (P. 138) and increase the overall tax burden on the wealthy while decreasing it on families earning less than $100,000.00 per year (P. 145).
7. Winning the War on Terror - “[A]dding to the special forces…expanding the US Army by 100,000 more troops…a new GI Bill (P. 56),” and other reforms.
8. A New Energy Policy - “[A] sweeping campaign to develop new energy technologies (P. 56)” centered around decreasing dependence on foreign oil by emphasizing hybrid vehicles (P. 167).

Next week’s post will analyze the Universal Citizen Service notion, and suggest its potential impact on small businesses. Eventually, we will explore The Obama/Biden Blueprint for Change, and compare and contrast it with The Plan and current events.

Again, the goal of these explorations will be to identify and illuminate the opportunities for small businesses; to provide an opportunity to ride on the crest of the wave of change.