RUST COMMENTARY: SUCCESSFUL EXECUTIVES OFFER THEIR WORDS OF WISDOM

The Wall Street Journal recently gave high praise in its review of the book "If I Knew Then What I Know Now" featuring CEOs and other smart executives sharing the wisdom of what they wish they had been told 25 years ago.

It's not as good a book as I'd hoped ... but, still it has some good insights, such as:

1. "If a customer calls, and I consider it an interruption, I know I have to take some time off to adjust my attitude. -- Don Keough, retired president and COO at Coca-Cola.

2. "Sometimes you find yourself between a rock and a rock. That's the time to cut your losses." -- Jim Lindsey, former president of San Diego Pepsi Cola Bottling.

3. "Take time to sharpen the saw." -- "Red" Scott, CEO of Activa Group.

Dr. Pierre Mornell, psychiatrist and professor, suggests you "beware of 60-year-olds giving you advice about where wisdom comes from. You're the expert on your own experience ... so trust yourself."

Mornell also shared the old Sufi story:

The seeker goes to the mountaintop and asks the learned one:

"Where does wisdom come from?"

"Good judgment."

"Where does good judgment come from?"

"Experience."

"Where does experience come from?"

"Bad judgment"

* * * * *

U.S. National Debt Clock

The outstanding public debt as of Jan. 1, 1997 at 5:38:45 a.m. PST is $5,315,251,291,965.04.

The estimated population of the United States is 266,700,116. So each citizen's share of this debt is $19,929.69.

The debt is increasing an average of $700 million every day (average since Feb. 1, 1995).

* * * * *

Girl Scouts worth supporting

This week (Jan. 10-27 in Cape Girardeau), hundreds of young Dyer Countians begin spreading out across the area in the continuation of one of our nation's sweeter traditions: selling Girl Scout cookies. While this tradition has come under some criticism in recent years by politically correct groups who think the cookie selling is little more than child exploitation, we couldn't disagree more. Not only does the cookie sale help finance portions of Girl Scout activities throughout the year, but the individual girls learn valuable lessons about responsibility, accountability and dealing with people.

Some local Girl Scout activities include an international friendship event, lock-ins, public service activities and parade marches, including the Veterans Day Parade. This past year, many Girl Scouts turned out to welcome President Clinton to Dyer County. Of course, the non-eventful activities each week are centered on building camaraderie and good morals -- all through good, clean fun. Support through cookie purchases help finance these activities.

We'll leave the individual Girl Scouts the chore of actually selling the cookies. But if a young lady knocks on your door or stops by your office, challenge her to do a good job. Have her explain her products and the prices and why you should buy from her. And then, if it suits you, buy some. And if you don't need or want any cookies, don't buy any. That's a good lesson too, after all. -- Editor Jon Rust in the Dyersburg (Tenn.) News. (Note: He said it much better than I could.)

* * * * *

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt. -- Herbert Hoover.

* * * * *

When it is not necessary to make a decision, it is necessary not to make a decision. -- Lord Falkland.

* * * * *

China Sellout

In the first press conference of his second term, many were disappointed by President Clinton's weak answers on China's violation of human rights and its threatened crackdown on Hong Kong when the People's Republic of China takes over that island from the British later this year. For five years now, Clinton has followed a doctrine of "constructive engagement" with China. In real words, that policy means the U.S. won't make a big deal out of the oppression of their own people by the Chinese communists for fear that American corporations won't be able to access Chinese markets. Clinton's policy, which has the support of many Republicans, is a scandal and unworthy of this great nation. We were built on the principle that "all men are created equal." Any foreign policy that doesn't recognize this is doomed to fail.

The result of this policy has been the destruction of the pro-freedom movement in China. Millions of us were spellbound as we watched Chinese students and others defy the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square. Today there are no active dissidents left in China -- all have been imprisoned, exiled or killed. Christians have come under the heaviest pressure in years, and Catholics have been particularly persecuted. I am sure it will be nice for McDonald's to sell Big Macs in Peking, but American foreign policy ought to have a higher goal than that.

Activist Judges

The momentum is growing among conservative groups to elevate the issue of the out-of-control federal courts. We reported on the federal judge who said that porn couldn't be regulated on military bases. Another federal judge ruled that drunk drivers couldn't be sentenced to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings because AA is "faith-based." Last year, a judge threw out 80 pounds of cocaine evidence because the traffickers' flight from the police was reasonable and should not, the judge said, have aroused any suspicion. All three judges were Clinton appointees. What is more outrageous is that all three had been unanimously confirmed by the Senate. There has to be more accountability than this. -- Washington Update.

* * * * *

They're back! How about another million?

Surprise. Like a bad relative or a stray dog that's been fed one too many times, Kansas City is back. Not content with the money it has raided from our children's education, the urban maw now wants another $1 million for -- get this -- upkeep on sports stadiums. We say another million, because the stadiums already get $2 million of our tax dollars for upkeep.

Kansas Citians argue that this money is a good investment because the presence of the Royals and the Chiefs benefits the entire state. But why should a family of four, for whom a single game can cost several hundred dollars by the time the tickets, parking, gas and hot dogs are totaled, be forced to choke up more of its money for super-rich owners and seven- and eight-figure athletes?

The General Assembly should not only deny Kansas City's arrogant request, but it should get out of the business of subsidizing professional sports teams in Kansas City and St. Louis altogether. -- Joplin Globe

* * * * *

Refiguring It Out

The wealthiest Americans did not pay less taxes (in the 1980s). In constant dollars, the richest 10 percent of Americans paid $177 billion in federal income taxes in 1980 but paid $237 billion in 1988. The remaining 90 percent of households paid $5 billion less. The share of total income taxes paid by the wealthiest 1 percent of all Americans actually rose from 18 percent in 1981 to 25 percent in 1990. The wealthiest 5 percent of Americans saw their tax share rise from 35 percent to 44 percent. So the rise in the deficit was clearly not a result of "tax cuts for the rich." -- William A. Niskanen and Stephen Moore, Cato Institute.

* * * * *

New Federal Law Changes

The new year brought with it some law changes that were passed in the previous Congress. Following is a few of these laws:

-- A tax credit of up to $5,000 for most adoptions, $6,000 for adoption of a hard-to-place child, available to families with incomes below $115,000.

-- Higher fees at many national parks, as part of a plan to raise fees at 100 parks in stages for improvements to those parks.

-- A 2.9 percent cost-of-living increase in Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits.

-- A 3 percent pay increase for the military.

-- Allowing people 65 to 69 to earn $13,500 a year without losing any Social Security benefits.

-- Allowing small-business owners to deduct 40 percent of the cost of their health-insurance premiums.

-- Penalty-free withdrawals from IRAs to cover health insurance premiums, available to the unemployed.

* * * * *

Social Security

A bipartisan commission released its findings on saving Social Security, which is expected not to have enough money by 2029 to pay the benefits. The members of the committee could not agree on how to do this; however, they did come up with three basic plans.

-- Plan 1: 5 percent of each worker's pay would go into a personal account. Workers would decide how to invest the money. Payroll taxes would rise under this plan by 1.52 percent bringing the rate to 13.92 percent.

-- Plan 2: 1.6 percent of each worker's pay would go into a personal account. Workers would invest the money in stock and bond index funds managed by the government. Under this plan, payroll taxes would rise 1.6 percent, bringing the rate to 14 percent.

-- Plan 3: The government would invest up to 40 percent of Social Security surplus in a stock index fund designed to match the gains and losses of the broad stock market.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.