Letters to Bush

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Dear Mr. President:

Food-borne illness is a huge problem for the general public and the restaurant industry specifically. Though the government has tried to create a better situation through regulation, I know another way to help eliminate the problem.

Several years ago, two of my competitors suffered outbreaks of hepatitis A, which is often spread by poor hygiene. Sadly, a patron died as a result. Hepatitis A is a terrible illness. I contracted it as a child and was so sick I wanted to die.

After these outbreaks, I decided to vaccinate everyone on my staff who handled food. The cost was $60 per person for the original shot and a booster shot one year later. I inoculated hundreds. Today, with the help of the local health department, the cost has fallen to $28.

We can drastically reduce hepatitis A outbreaks, such as the tragic one that occurred in Chi-Chi's Restaurant late last year. There is a vaccine, and it is cheap. Federal law must mandate use of this vaccine as a condition for food service employment. Please help.

Very truly yours,

Matt Prentice
President & CEO
Unique Restaurant Corporation
Bingham Farms, Mich.

Dear President Bush:

As an entrepreneur who runs an outsourcing company, I've noted with great interest your efforts to get more government functions performed by independent private contractors. As you've recognized, the private sector has been able to increase its efficiency by using free-market incentives that cannot be built into government agencies running identical functions.

Unfortunately, the government does not get the best results in what could be its most effective strategy to reduce federal spending. Why? Because of a flaw in the contract procurement process known as A-76. Under A-76, the agency in question develops the specifications for contracting out a given function. Once the competing bids have been submitted and reviewed, the agency can then come up with an alternative plan for keeping the function in-house. Given an agency's natural desire for self-preservation, it's no wonder that only 40% or so of the functions put up for outsourcing under A-76 end up being awarded to private companies. With such poor odds, many potential contractors do not bother to prepare a proposal. They regard the whole process as a costly and time-consuming crapshoot.

If you want to outsource more functions faster, don't begin the competitive bidding process until there's a clear commitment to outsource a function. If your agencies want to retain the function, force them to prove up front that the public interest will be harmed if the work is done by private contractors. You'll have more companies willing to bid on a contract, and they'll come in with lower prices, since you've removed the guessing game of whether it's a true contracting opportunity in the first place.

Oh, and by the way, you'll also be creating more private-sector jobs. You won't get much objection to that.

Sincerely,

Martin Babinec
President & CEO
TriNet Group
San Leandro, Calif.

Dear Mr. President:

As an entrepreneur and leader of a midsize business based in NYC that cleaned up much of downtown Manhattan following the attack on the World Trade Center, I appreciate the depth of responsibilities you have accepted as the leader of our nation.

However, I wish that you would turn more of your attention to education. Today's children are our future entrepreneurs, leaders, skilled workers, and artists, but it seems that we have increasingly given more lip service and less resources to education. Congress recently approved $87 billion for the rebuilding of Iraq, which shows that resources are available when a priority presents itself. There is, quite simply, no greater priority than education.

Respectfully submitted,

Damon Gersh
President & CEO
Maxons Restorations
New York, N.Y.

Dear President Bush:

As the owners of a financial advisory firm, we want to take this opportunity and thank you for the Economic Growth Tax Reconciliation and Relief Act (EGTRRA) of 2001. This piece of legislation, the largest tax cut in two decades, has given employees, executives, and business owners the formula to take charge of their own retirement in a prudent and rich way. EGTRRA impacts IRAs, profit sharing, unified credit, estate planning, and defined benefit plans, to name a few. There are literally hundreds of enhancements and increased limits embedded within this piece of legislation.

We are writing to you so that other advisers and consultants might recognize the huge value that EGTRRA can deliver. I feel that owing to the lack of awareness about this legislation, this tax jewel has not been fully discovered. Your administration could help educate the American people about this valuable benefit.

President Bush, thank you and your administration once again.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Matthew Gaglio, CEP & Harry J. Abrahamsen
Partners
Integrity Advisors Pension Consultants
White Plains, N.Y.