KC Confidential

CNN’s website tracking the impact of the government’s shut down, lists in excess of 85 agencies either boarded up or partially closed…

The 800,000 furloughed workers come from all the big names you’d expect; Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation and Treasury.

Those government employees are joined in their impromptu vacations by others from the EPA, EEOC, FDIC, FCC, FTC, IRS, GSA, NASA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, SBA, USDA and US Trade…to name only a few.

No telling when they’ll be back to work, but they should take this time, enjoy the families, go to the beach or play some golf. The weather’s still great; the scenery can’t be beat – go hit that little white ball! Continue reading →

IOWA – Infants Out Wandering

Oh man, how long has it been since we had a really great “wandering kid” story? Fear not, today I’ve got a double header for you.

Officers were trying to locate the parents of four children found alone in two separate locations in our fair city. The first child was found near 40th and Mill Street in Westport late Thursday morning in a diaper running across six lanes of the Southwest Trafficway!

Mom was found just after noon and the Cops have a couple of questions for her.

Then, over at 76^th and Monroe, just before lunch Thursday, they found another one. When authorities figured out where the little bugger lived, there were two infant twins inside the house alone and Mom said she’d only been gone about 20 minutes. Continue reading →

We all now know that the “ObamaPhone” has nothing to do with President Obama…

All the man has done is enjoy a wave of branding popularity, while not bothering to step forward and clarify that it’s not his program. Who would?

Like Obama or not, it’s been marketing genius.

I concluded yesterday by saying that if you think it’s had positive impact on Obama, it doesn’t hold a candle to what it’s done for TracFone/SafeLink telecom mogul Carlos Slim’s wallet (not to be confused with Carlos Danger).

It was George W. Bush‘s administration that allowed TracFone in the game to begin with, in 2008.

So who is TracFone? Continue reading →

Pisgah Inn

A recap of where we seem to be today from the “You Can’t Make This Up Department.”

And it just keeps getting better.

Mallory Micetich, spokeswoman for the House Natural Resources Committee provided an example of where the privately owned Pisgah Inn located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina had its parking lot blocked by park rangers. The government was shut down, and so was the Inn until 5 p.m. yesterday.

So much for privately owned property in a Federal Park area. Continue reading →

I left off yesterday on how the Universal Service Fund works, how it’s funded and why…

We learned the ObamaPhone actually had its roots in legislation passed by FDR in a deal between telecommunications companies and President Wilson, modified by Reagan and Bush.

Now let’s dig a little deeper.

USF/Lifeline doesn’t physically give away telephones to qualified candidates; they fund the companies who do to the tune of about $9.25 a month for the basic customer. Today, 38 states participate in the Lifeline program offering a free cell phone with 250 minutes per month and limited texts.

To qualify for a phone, you have to be at 125-135% of the poverty level and close to 20 million people have signed up; an increase of about 7 million from 4 years ago. Continue reading →