The 2010 Annual Letter from Bill Gates was recently released by the Gates Foundation. I highly recommend reading it if you get a chance. www.gatesfoundation.org
The Gates Foundation spends millions of dollars each year on projects in three main categories; Global Health Program, Global Development Program, and the US Program. The projects deal with disease prevention, economic relief, education, and many other issues that are of concern at the local level and across the world. The United States government could learn a lot from the Bill Gates Foundation model. Although the Gates family has an amazing amount of money to use for these projects, they are still making sure that the money that they spend is put to good use. Real-life applications to real-life issues. Their goals are to not just solve problems but solve these problems in a cost effective manner and be able to apply their work in a realistic setting. It makes a difference when you are spending your own money. All too often our government throws a lot of money at an issue but does not do the research to develop a workable strategy. I particularly like the sections on their improvements for public education. Teacher evaluations, the way they are most often utilized, are a waste of administrators and teachers time and do not give a true evaluation of a teacher's skills. How can a teacher improve if they don't realize where they lag behind? The use of webcams as a tool in teacher evaluations seems like a plausible advancement and with most classrooms already equipped with a computer, economically viable.
Where else in our country could the Gates Foundation approach be beneficial in our society?
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Wow, look at the comments from the bleeding heart liberal. Probably the most profound statement I have heard from the Bajdek, "All too often our government throws a lot of money at an issue but does not do the research to develop a workable strategy." I would have to agree this time - I will reach across those party lines and shake your hand. WASTEFUL is the nature of the game with the current administration (not saying the last one was too much better). Yet still, here we are, billions of dollars in budget deficits and continuing to spend.
ReplyDeleteI find it invigorating to see the Gates foundation take a step forward for the non-profit community. My dislike for the Red Cross and United Way have made non-profits seem like Congress - always looking to take more money and not do the appropriate things with it. But it makes sense, Bill Gates devoted his life to Microsoft, has pure passion for the company, and ran it properly to continue to make profits and stay in the black. It can only be expected to see him do the same with the Gates Foundation.
Does anyone else find it ironic that Congress looks down upon the businesses it has bailed out and wants to govern how they run, yet continually asks for a bailout from China and wants to tell China how they should run their country?
Kudos to you for posting the good work Gates does...I agree with just about all you have here. Of course, you know I'm going to spend a lot more time agreeing with your co-blogger here. The government is never going to learn a lesson...all they know is how to throw money at a problem. If there are going to be any changes to how things get done in this country, the responsibility to lies with the voter. There must be a demand for more qualified candidates, with actual real-life experience in running a business (profit or non-profit), sticking to a budget, and understanding the ramifications of not doing so.
ReplyDeleteVoters in 2008 did not do this. They voted for a trendy candidate who was flashy, and lacked the necessary experience in running anything. I don't blame Obama...he was just running with the momentum. And as much as it may surprise you, I do think the guy is pretty intelligent. If he just wasn't surrounded by all the wrong people, with the worng ideas, I think he has the charisma and qualities to make a good leader. But alas, this won't come to fruition, because the people around him won't allow him to do what the populace wants.
I very much look forward to the State of the Union write-ups.
While we're at it, can we just agree that Keynesian economics should be completely stricken as a valid economic model. It hurt my head to try and make sense of it when I was in school, and the last year alone should prove that it doesn't actually work. The government can not pull the strings to actually impact what happens with the cyclical nature of the economy...at best they can only delay it.
well said mike D
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