El Tiempo Article on Delacare 2008

The El Tiempo Hispanic magazine interviewed Mike. Click the link below to read the article (in both English and Spanish), page 5.

URL: http://www.eltiempohispano.com/PDF/th85.pdf

Mike on Education…

Audio Clip: Mike Protack on Education. Listen to Mike talk about education on WGMD, September 8, 2007.

Mike on Healthcare…

Audio Clip: Mike Protack on health care insurance Listen to Mike talk about health care on WGMD, September 8, 2007.

A Few Economic Facts…

SLOW GROWTH?: The Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators was up +0.4% in the first half of 2007. Their report said that the Index “continues to suggest that the economy is likely to grow in the near term, albeit at a slow pace.” (See: http://www.conference-board.org/economics/bci/pressRelease_output.cfm?cid=1). Durable goods orders were up almost six percent, far stronger than had been forecast. The strongest sectors included commercial and military aircraft. This is a positive sign for longer-term economic growth.
New-home sales increased. At this point, even a neutral report would have been welcome, but the increase caught everyone by surprise. Still, new-home sales were about ten percent lower than they were a year ago.

THE MORTGAGE MARKET: I went to a seminar titled the “Mortgage Meltdown” this past week. It was put on by a mortgage broker I often refer people to. It was very well done. The bottom line seems to be that the mortgage industry just went too far. It became too easy to get a loan. Many who should have spent another year or two saving got loans before they were ready. In the past, price appreciation bailed these people out because they could refinance or sell and recover some equity. We are now in the midst of a “correction” in the mortgage markets which is impacting all markets.
Many of these mortgage lenders were in the business of reselling all of their mortgages immediately and turning around and lending more money. As the sources for purchasing mortgages, especially subprime and “Alt-A” mortgages have been drying up, these lenders have been closing their doors. Fortunately, one of the larger such lenders, Countrywide, seems to be in a position of surviving. Warren Buffet recently made some noise that he might invest in Countrywide, and that rumor alone sent the price of the stock in Countrywide up.

FORECLOSURES AND REAL ESTATE: A recent report from RealtyTrac, a real estate research firm, indicated that home foreclosure filings rose 9% in July and were up 93% over the same period last year. A total of 164,644 foreclosure filings were reported in June. Membership in the National Association of Realtors is expected to decline for the first time in a decade. The organization ended 2006 with 1.4 million members, almost double the 716,000 it had in 1997, but expects to close 2007 with 1.3 million, a drop of more than four percent.
Have a great week!
Doug MacGray

Douglas R. MacGray, J.D., C.F.P.
Senior Vice President, Financial Planning

The Need for “Green” Tax Incentives

Delaware should support these “Green” efforts with tax incentives. A great idea.

PNC Bank goes green with downtown branch
Parent company a pioneer in adopting new technologies
By LESLIE A. PAPPAS, The News Journal
Posted Friday, September 7, 2007

The PNC Bank branch at 300 Delaware Ave. in downtown Wilmington reopened Thursday after undergoing $2 million in renovations. (Buy photo) The News Journal/ROBERT CRAIG
PNC Bank’s remodeled Delaware Avenue branch now features recyclable carpet, high-efficiency lighting and countertops made of compressed wheat.
(Buy photo)
The News Journal/ROBERT CRAIG
When PNC Financial Services Group broke ground on its 647,000-square foot corporate processing center in Pittsburgh, a member of the city’s Green Building Alliance asked Gary Saulson, the bank’s director of corporate real estate, for an hour to talk about making the center “green” certified.
“The horse has left the barn, it’s already under construction,” Saulson recalled telling the woman.
He finally agreed to meet for a half hour.
“Two hours later she was still here,” Saulson said, “and two and a half hours later I made a commitment to making it a green building.”
That was in 1998. Two years later, when PNC’s Firstside Center opened in Pittsburgh, it was the largest corporate building in the country to receive LEED certification — short for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” — the national benchmark for environmentally sustainable construction.
Such green focus is what PNC officials had in mind when the company opened its newly renovated branch at 300 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington on Thursday. PNC spent $2 million on the environmentally friendly renovation, using recyclable carpet, energy-efficient lights, low-odor paints and compressed-wheat countertops.
Today, PNC has 42 LEED-certified buildings, and is planning to renovate all 1,100 of its branches using green materials.
The LEED Green Building Rating System is “the Good Housekeeping seal of approval” for green building standards, said Jill Kowalski, executive director of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council. “It’s very broad and it looks at all impacts.”
Issued by the U.S. Green Building Council, the voluntary certification judges buildings based on factors including site selection and development, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere impact, indoor environmental quality, materials and innovation in design.
Since its founding in 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council has certified 1,004 commercial buildings worldwide.
So far, only one building in Delaware has achieved LEED certification.
The J. Richard Carnall Center, the Bellevue headquarters of PNC’s subsidiary PFPC, is LEED Gold certified, boasting everything from recycled flooring to electric-vehicle recharging stations in the underground garage.
Others in Delaware hope to add their names to the list: at least fifteen projects have applied for certification, including nonprofit, commercial and government agencies.
AstraZeneca has three LEED projects in the design phase, including two in Delaware, said AstraZeneca spokeswoman Kate Klemas. One is considering use of geothermal and solar technology, Klemas said.
For more information about LEED certification, go to www.usgbc.org.

Tracking Crime in Delaware

The following link gives a great snap shot of crime in Delaware

http://php.delawareonline.com/crime/

Delawareans Falling Behind: Income per Household

The nation’s median household income increased for the second straight year in 2006, but it still has not rebounded to the level at the start of the decade. Incomes for 1999 have been adjusted for inflation.

Delaware Income 1996 per household. 57,334
Delaware Income 2006 per household 52,833 A drop of 7.8%

The key to making Delaware the First State in this Great Nation is to increase economic growth and restrict runaway government spending.

We need to pursue a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights which keeps budget increases to a maximum of inflation plus population growth and have a top down independent review of all state agencies for efficiency, purpose and value to the taxpayer.

To increase economic growth we must tackle the issue of health care, offer large tax incentives for start up and small businesses and look for a replacement for the Chrysler Plant in Newark, De.

Support for Charter Schools

The News Journal has reported some bond and finance issues with the Delaware Military Academy which of course will have implications for all charter schools. The nuts and bolts of the issue boil down to the amount and type of support the state of Delaware will give to Charter Schools. As a parent there are two things you should give a child:an education and values. The state of Delaware should support parental choices in education at every level.

The Delaware Military Academy is a first class charter school, I visited this school in the first year of enrollment and left the school amazed at the enthusiasm of the students. It was the last day of school and students did not want to leave the school for the summer. When I was a student there was little of that sentiment for me. Commandant Baldwin at the DMA has done a superb job.

The answer I believe is simple; Charter Schools should get public money for capital expenses. If and when the need for a charter school arises and the charter school offers something different than what the local public school can offer the state should support the Charter School to the fullest extent.