by Peter Gorenstein and Farnoosh Torabi
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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Warren Buffett is worth $45 billion. That wealth isn’t only a factor of savvy investing and good business — the “Oracle of Omaha” is also known as a penny pincher. Buffett still lives in the same Omaha, Neb., home he bought in 1958 for $31,500.

Follow his frugal formula, and you too may wind up with a lot more money than you ever dreamed.

This week Financially Fit covers five tips to build wealth and success.

1. Live Below Your Means.
Being wealthy isn’t just a product of your salary or investment prowess; it’s learning how to save.

“We can make a lot of money, you can make a little bit of money, but the second you spend all the money is when people get into trouble. Saving is the key to preserving your wealth,” says Ed Butowsky, managing partner of Chapwood Capital Investment Management, a firm that manages money for wealthy individuals.

As many Americans realized during the booming real estate market, just because you think you can afford something doesn’t mean you should buy it. Keeping an eye on your bottom line will pay dividends over the long term.

Related Video

2. Bounce Back From Defeat
With nearly 15 million workers unemployed right now in the U.S., it’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t! Most successful and wealthy people have overcome obstacles and failure along the way. Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple when he was 30. Today, he’s a billionaire and a legend. Plus, after getting fired, he created another billion-dollar media company, Pixar.

“Bouncing back from defeat is something all great achievers have. They have this undying belief good things will happen and will continue to happen,” says Butowsky.

Take Michael Jordan. “His airness” was cut from his high school basketball team. Motivated by the rejection, Jordan became a star the next season. The rest is history.

3. Self-Promote
Regardless of the profession, the rich and successful tend to have a strong sense of self-worth — key to skillfully navigating an upward career path. Mark Hurd, who was ousted as CEO of Hewlett-Packard in August, couldn’t be kept down for long. Using his business skills and connections, in September, Hurd was named president of Oracle. (Hurd and Oracle founder Larry Ellison are known to be close friends.)

4. Have Street Smarts
Bernie Madoff lived the high life for decades, scamming unsuspecting clients, with a money-making formula that proved too good to be true. Only afterward did we learn that with a little due diligence, most clients could have easily uncovered the fraud.

But it’s not only the swindlers and the con men you have to watch out for. Many times, friends and family take advantage of the rich. Whether it’s a handout or an investment idea, Butowsky advises his high net worth clients that in most cases, it’s wisest to just say “no.” The best way to do that: have someone else do it for you.

“You need to really set up a wall between you and your family,” he advises. “If you don’t want to give them (family or friends) money … saying no is probably a good idea.”

5. Buy Cheap
The rich can afford to splurge, but that doesn’t mean they do.

John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager, bought his Hamptons “dream house at a bargain basement price,” according to Greg Zuckerman, author of the Paulson-based book, “The Greatest Trade Ever.” The story has it that Paulson eyed the home while it was in foreclosure. Finally, on a rain-soaked day, he purchased the home on the Southampton town hall steps. He was the only bidder.

On New York City’s Upper East Side, Michael’s— The Consignment Shop for Women— has been a bargain-hunting destination for more than 60 years. “We have a good percentage of women who can afford to shop on Madison Avenue but really like the idea of saving that money,” says proprietor Tammy Gates.

From Chanel to Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the store specializes in high-end designer merchandise for a reasonable price. Speaking of her clientele, Gates says, “they’re wealthy for a reason. They recognize that bargains keep people wealthy. Paying top dollar when you don’t have to doesn’t make sense.”

CONTACT:
Al Spry
“The Spry Show”
al@alspry.com
www.TheSpryShow.com

“Spry Show” Media Exclusive: Michael Lohan Speaks Out

Celebrity Michael Lohan opens up about his co-dependency addiction, his upcoming appearance on “Celebrity Rehab 5 with Dr. Drew”, his daughter Lindsay’s struggles with the law and drug addiction, and his work with children and families touched by drug abuse.

In an exclusive, in-depth interview with host Al Spry and other members of the Orlando-based radio talk show, “The Spry Show”, Lohan claims that, although he is not a drug addict, he does suffer from the addiction of co-dependency. “I do have to resolve a lot of issues that I have with that. So they asked me on the show and it turned out to be a blessing.” When discussing his addiction, Lohan said, “This is a disease. There is no cure for it, and you just learn to deal with it and live with it.”

Lohan also updated the show about his daughter, Lindsay. “She’s at home again, and she gets off home arrest on the 29th, and she’ll be heading back to New York here for her birthday on the 2nd.” When asked about her recent alcohol test failure, Lohan pulled no punches. “Even though she’s my daughter, I will say this, if you’re in recovery, and I don’t care if you’re on home arrest or not, and if you’re allowed to drink alcohol but not use illegal drugs, you do not drink alcohol – bottom line. You stay away from it.”

When asked if Lohan feels responsible for Lindsay’s current troubles, he commented, “Watch the show and you’ll see how much responsibility I do take. All along I’ve said I’ll own up to my part. The time away from them and the decisions that I made surely hurt my kids. It didn’t help them.”

Lohan also talked about his involvement with helping addicts in a sea-based rehab program in South Florida. “I’m involved in a program down in Florida called “Inspirations. The producers of (“Celebrity Rehab”) are looking to do a show on “Recovery at Sea.”

The entire, unedited interview is available here: http://www.alspry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Lohan-Interview-6-25-11.mp3. All rights reserved. You may rebroadcast or print portions of the interview with proper citation of the source of the material, “The Spry Show” heard on the BIG 810 AM, Orlando every Saturday morning at 10, 1490 WWPR, Sarasota-Bradenton, and 790 WLBE, Leesburg, Florida.

ABOUT “THE SPRY SHOW”:

“The Spry Show’ is currently heard across central Florida on its flagship station, “Big 810 AM” WEUS, Orlando, 1490 WWPR, Tampa Bay, and 790 WLBE, Leesburg. More information is available at www.TheSpryShow.com.

ABOUT “CELEBRITY REHAB 5 WITH DR. DREW”:

Celebrity Rehab 5 is the fifth season of the first television series to chronicle the dramatic, unscripted real life experiences of a group of actual celebrities as they make the life-changing decision to enter themselves into a drug, alcohol and addiction treatment program with the sincere desire to achieve true rehabilitation and recovery. More information is available at http://www.vh1.com/shows/celebrity_rehab_with_dr_drew/season_5/series.jhtml.

Mick Jagger has confirmed that he’s formed a new group called Super Heavy.

The Rolling Stones frontman revealed that he has been rehearsing in Los Angeles with a star-studded line-up, which includes Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damian Marley.
Discussing the formation of the new band, Jagger said: “The four of us got together and thought we’d go into a studio and throw some things around, see what would happen, if we’d have fun.
In addition Super Heavy features AR Rahman, the award-winning composer behind films such as Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. “Dave Stewart and I said to each other, ‘Let’s phone AR Rahman, he’s in town, that’ll be different’, then we had another continent involved.
Jagger and Stewart have worked together on numerous occasions over the years, as have Jagger and Joss Stone.
Their most notable work together was for the Alfie soundtrack, which included a Jagger/Stewart collaboration ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ and a Jagger/Joss Stone track ‘Lonely Without You (This Christmas)’.
“We’ve got some more reggae songs, some rock, some ballads, some soul music” Jagger continued.
“We’ve got one song in Urdu, I managed to do one line in Urdu, only one! It’s not world music per se, a Womad festival kind of thing. It’s a much more accessible style, a lot of dancey things.”
Speaking about the songwriting process, he said “We’d all leap in with our ideas, getting excited about one another. We’re four vocalists, we’ve never worked like that before. It’s great because the whole burden’s not on you, and that made it fun. There are a lot of different musical styles, maybe even some we’ve invented.”
Referring to his day job, Jagger revealed: “If you’re a Rolling Stones fan there’s definitely stuff you can relate to. Other stuff that you can’t relate to so much, maybe if you listen you’ll enjoy it. I don’t think it’s so far off the beaten track that you can’t understand it.”

The singer also hinted that fans of The Rolling Stones might have to wait a little longer for another rumoured tour to materialise, as he is considering putting Super Heavy out on the road.
“If people really like it, we will. If they don’t like it we won’t! We haven’t planned to do a tour or anything, but if people really like it maybe we will. We’d love to get together and play some of it live,” he concluded.

“Only big dreams have the power to move men’s souls.”

I will make a list of everything I would do or attempt if I were absolutely guaranteed of success.  I will then decide upon one specific action and do it immediately.

2. Develop a Clear Sense of Direction.

“You become what you think about most of the time.”

Decide exactly what I want in each area of my life.

Write down my goals clearly and specifically:

Write “Goals” on the top of a piece of paper with today’s date.

Make list of 10 goals, in present tense, for achieving over the next 12 months. Begin each goal with “I”.

Set a deadline for each goal, and subdeadlines if the goal is large.

Make a list of everything I can think of that I will have to do to achieve each goal.

Organize my list into a plan of action-what I’ll do first and what I’ll do later.

Ask yourself  “Which one goal on this list, if I were to achieve it, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?” Circle that goal and make it #1.  Think and talk about that goal all the time-how to achieve it, all the different steps I can take to make it a reality.

Take action on my plan immediately.

Most important: Do something every day that will move me at least one step closer to my most important goal.

Always think on paper.  Sit down and begin writing out my goal and creating my plan to achieve them.  This exercise alone can make me a self-made millionaire.

3. See Yourself as Self-Employed.

“I am the captain of my soul; I am the master of my fate.”

I will accept complete, 100% responsibility for everything I am and everything I will ever be.

I am the boss of my own life.

I am the president of my own personal service corporation.

4. Do What You Love to Do.

“When you start doing what you love to do, you’ll never work another day in your life.”

If I won a million dollars, tax free, tomorrow, would I continue to do what I am currently doing?

I’ll identify the type of work that I enjoy the most.

What activities have been most responsible for my success in life to date?

If I could do any job at all and be successful at it, what would I choose?

Set it as a goal, make a plan, and begin moving in that direction today.

5. Commit to Excellence.

“The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence.”

I resolve today to be the very best at what I do.

I will join the top 10% of my field.  I will never be mediocre.

No one is better than me and no one is smarter than me.

Everyone in the top 10% started off in the bottom 10%.

My life only gets better when I get better.

What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would

have the greatest positive impact on my life?

Identify strengths and weaknesses in specific skill areas and make a plan to improve.

6. Work Longer and Harder.

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I work 40 hours a week for survival; everything over 40 hours is for success.

I will work all the time I work.

I’ll increase the number of hours I work each day.

7. Dedicate Yourself to Lifelong Learning.

“Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.”

Reading to the mind is as exercise is to the body.

I will read in my field for at least 30 to 60 minutes each day.

I will listen to audio programs in my car.

I’ll attend every course and seminar that can help me be better in my field.

I’ll select a subject that can really help me to be more productive in my field.

Set a goal to master it.

I’ll make it a “do-it-yourself” project, and will work it as if my future

depends on it, because it does!

8. Pay Yourself First.

“A part of all you earn is yours to keep, and if you cannot save money,

the seeds of greatness are not in you.”

I will resolve to save and invest 10% of my income throughout my working life.  I’ll take 10% off the top and put it into a special account for financial accumulation, and then look for every opportunity to add to this account.

Remember, $100 per month in an average mutual fund paying 10% per year over the course of a working lifetime will make me a millionaire.

I will avoid impulse buying.

I won’t become a victim of “Parkinson’s Law” (expenses rise to meet income).

I will begin to study money so that I understand how to make it grow.

I’ll never stop saving, learning and growing until I become financially independent.

9. Learn Every Detail of Your Business.

“If you become good at what you do, there is nothing that can stop you from getting paid more and promoted faster.”

I’ll identify the trends in my business.

What are the core competencies or key skills that I will need to lead my field in the future?

I’ll make a plan today to develop those skills and then work on them every day.

10. Dedicate Yourself to Serving Others.

“You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

All self-made millionaires have an obsession with customer service.

Go the extra mile. My success in life will be in direct proportion to what I do after I do what I am expected to do.  I’ll always look for opportunities to do more than I am paid for.

I’ll identify my most important customers, both inside and outside my company.  Who are the people I most depend upon?

Who are the people who most depend on me?

What could I do, starting today, to take better care of them?

11. Be Absolutely Honest with Yourself and Others.

“Develop a reputation for absolute integrity.”

I’ll return to my core values.

I’ll be true to what I really believe to be important in my life.

12. Determine Your Highest Priorities and Concentrate on Them Single-Mindedly.

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  Do what comes to your hand to do.

What are my highest value activities?

Why am I on the payroll?

What can I and only I do that, if done well, will make a real difference?

What is the most valuable use of my time right now?

I’ll identify the most important thing that I can do right now to achieve my most important goal and then discipline myself to do that, and only that,

until it is 100% complete.

My ability to do this, and this alone, can change my whole life.

13. Develop a Reputation for Speed and Dependability.

“Do your work; not just your work and no more, but a little more for the lavishings sake, that little more which is worth more than all the rest.”

Time is the currency of the 21st Century.

I will select one key task that I’ve have been procrastinating on starting, and resolve to take action on it immediately.

Keep repeating these magic motivating words: “Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!”

14. Be Prepared to Climb from Peak to Peak.

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.”

“Life is a process of two steps forward and one step back.”

I will develop a long-term perspective and will take the long view in everything I do.  Plan 2, 3, 4, and 5 years into the future.

Everything in my life moves in cycles and trends.

I’ll be calm, confident, and relaxed with short-term fluctuations in my fortune.

I’ll identify the key cycles and trends in my business:

Where is the market going?

What is changing and how will I have to adapt to these changes?

What steps should I be taking today to be ready to take advantage of the new world tomorrow?

Whatever my answer, take those steps now!

15. Practice Self-Discipline in All Things.

“Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

Self-discipline is the most important single quality for success in life and in becoming a self-made millionaire.

I will have a long-time perspective combined with an ability to

delay gratification in the short term.

I will only do those things that will guarantee that I ultimately achieve my long-term goal.

Self-discipline requires self-mastery, self-control, self-responsibility, and

self-direction.

The difference between successful people and failures is that successful people make a habit of doing those things that failures do not like to do. What are they?  The same things that successful people don’t like to do-but they do them anyway!

Successful people are more concerned with pleasing results.

Unsuccessful people are more concerned with pleasing methods.

Successful people take actions that are goal achieving.

Unsuccessful people take actions that are tension relieving.

Successful people do the things that are hard and necessary and important.  Unsuccessful people prefer to do things that are fun and easy and that give them immediate enjoyment.

I will change one thing at a time.

I’ll identify one area where lack of discipline is interfering with my success, and will decide today to develop discipline in that area.

I’ll tell others about my decision.

I won’t allow exceptions until that habit is firmly entrenched.  This decision alone could change my life.

16. Unlock Your Inborn Creativity.

“Imagination is more important than facts.”

I am a potential genius.

I can actually increase my IQ by disciplining myself to think

creatively all day long.

Take a clean sheet of paper, write my most important goal or most pressing problem at the top in the form of a question, e.g. “How can I double my income over the next 24 to 36 months?”

Now, discipline myself to write at least 20 different answers to my question.  Select one of my answers and take action on it immediately.

Action is everything!

17. Get around the Right People.

“You will be the same person in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

85% of my success and happiness in life is going to be determined by the quality of the relationships that I develop in my personal and business activities.

At every turning point, someone is standing there to either help me or hinder me.  Successful people maintain a network of high-quality relationships throughout their lives. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the person who goes home and watches TV each night.

Everything involves relationships.

Over 90% of my success will be determined by my “reference group”- the  people with whom I habitually identify and pass the time.

Associate with positive people.  Associate with people who are optimistic, happy,  who have goals and who are moving forward in their lives.

Network continually. Join my industry and trade associations.  Get involved in their activities.

Whenever I meet new people, ask them to tell me all about their businesses, and, especially, to tell me what I would need to know to send clients or customers to them.  Then, as soon as possible, see if I can send some business their way.

Be a “go-giver” rather than a “go-getter”.

The more I give of myself without expecting something in return, the more rewards will come back to me from the most unexpected sources.

Identify the most important people in my life, both present and future.

What could I do to help them in their lives and work so that they would be open to helping me?  Identify the people I should get to know.  What could I do to help them in advance of my needing anything in return?

Remember, first you sow and then you reap.

18. Take Excellent Care of Your Physical Health.

“The key to happiness is a sound mind in a sound body.”

Strive for a proper diet, eating habits and 30-60 minute

walk 3-5 days per week.

Eliminate desserts, soft drinks, candy, and anything else containing sugar from my life.

Identify one health habit that I need to develop.  Set this as a personal challenge, and resolve to discipline myself until my new health habit is firmly entrenched.

19. Be Decisive and Action Oriented.

“Take arms against a sea of troubles, and in doing so, end them.”

The key to triumph is for me to try.  Think carefully and make decisions quickly.

Unsuccessful people are indecisive.  They know that they should do or stop doing certain things, but they do not have the character or will power to make firm decisions. As a result, they drift through life, never happy, successful or fulfilled.

Ask myself, what one action, if I did it immediately, could have the greatest positive impact on my results?  Whatever my answer to that question, just do it!

20. Never Allow Failure to be an Option.

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

The fear of failure is the greatest single obstacle to success in adult life.

“If you want to be successful faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.”

“Make a habit throughout your life of doing the things you fear. If you do the thing you fear, the death of fear is certain.”

I will dare to go forward.

I’ll take calculated risks in the direction of my goals.

I’ll identify one major fear in my life- e.g. failure, criticism, or disapproval- and resolve to act as if the fear didn’t exist.

Imagine that I was guaranteed success if I would only take action in the direction of my goals and dreams. Then, just do it!

21. Pass the “Persistence Test”.

“Nothing can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Persistence is the iron quality of character.

I will program my subconscious mind well in advance of the setbacks and disappointments that I am going to have on my upward quest toward success.

I resolve in advance that I will never give up, no matter what happens.

The courage to persist in the face of adversity and disappointment is the one quality that, more then anything, will guarantee my success.  My greatest personal asset can be my willingness to persevere longer than anyone else.

My persistence is a true measure of my belief in myself and my ability to succeed.

“Circumstances do not make the man.  They merely reveal him to himself.”

I will become the kind of person who never quits, no matter what the difficulty.  No matter what obstacle is put in my path, I will find a way to go over it, under it, around it, or through it.

What is the most difficult situation I am facing in my life today?

Whatever it is, imagine that it has been sent to me at this time to teach me a valuable lesson that I need to learn to be even more successful in the future.

What could that lesson be?  From this moment on, always seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty.  I will always find it, and it will help me in my quest to become a self-made millionaire.

Conclusion: Success is predictable.

Success is not a matter of luck or accident or being in the right place at the right time.  Success is as predictable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

By practicing these steps, I will move to the front of the line in life.

I am as good as or better than anyone I will ever meet.  I am an outstanding human being.  I have talents and abilities far greater than anything I have ever realized or used up to now.

I have within me the potential to accomplish wonderful things with my life.

My greatest responsibilities are to dream big dreams, decide exactly what I want, make a plan to achieve it, practice the strategies taught above, take action every single day in the direction of my dreams and goals, and resolve to never, never, never give up!

America is not broke.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Today just 400 Americans have the same wealth as half of all Americans combined.

Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer “bailout” of 2008, now have as much loot, stock and property as the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can’t bring yourself to call that a financial coup d’état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.

And I can see why. For us to admit that we have let a small group of men abscond with and hoard the bulk of the wealth that runs our economy, would mean that we’d have to accept the humiliating acknowledgment that we have indeed surrendered our precious Democracy to the moneyed elite. Wall Street, the banks and the Fortune 500 now run this Republic — and, until this past month, the rest of us have felt completely helpless, unable to find a way to do anything about it.

I have nothing more than a high school degree. But back when I was in school, every student had to take one semester of economics in order to graduate. And here’s what I learned: Money doesn’t grow on trees. It grows when we make things. It grows when we have good jobs with good wages that we use to buy the things we need and thus create more jobs. It grows when we provide an outstanding educational system that then grows a new generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists and thinkers who come up with the next great idea for the planet. And that new idea creates new jobs and that creates revenue for the state. But if those who have the most money don’t pay their fair share of taxes, the state can’t function. The schools can’t produce the best and the brightest who will go on to create those jobs. If the wealthy get to keep most of their money, we have seen what they will do with it: recklessly gamble it on crazy Wall Street schemes and crash our economy. The crash they created cost us millions of jobs. That too caused a reduction in tax revenue. Everyone ended up suffering because of what the rich did.

The nation is not broke, my friends. Wisconsin is not broke. Saying that the country is broke is repeating a Big Lie. It’s one of the three biggest lies of the decade: 1) America is broke, 2) Iraq has WMD, and 3) The Packers can’t win the Super Bowl without Brett Favre.

The truth is, there’s lots of money to go around. LOTS. It’s just that those in charge have diverted that wealth into a deep well that sits on their well-guarded estates. They know they have committed crimes to make this happen and they know that someday you may want to see some of that money that used to be yours. So they have bought and paid for hundreds of politicians across the country to do their bidding for them. But just in case that doesn’t work, they’ve got their gated communities, and the luxury jet is always fully fueled, the engines running, waiting for that day they hope never comes. To help prevent that day when the people demand their country back, the wealthy have done two very smart things:

1. They control the message. By owning most of the media they have expertly convinced many Americans of few means to buy their version of the American Dream and to vote for their politicians. Their version of the Dream says that you, too, might be rich some day — this is America, where anything can happen if you just apply yourself! They have conveniently provided you with believable examples to show you how a poor boy can become a rich man, how the child of a single mother in Hawaii can become president, how a guy with a high school education can become a successful filmmaker. They will play these stories for you over and over again all day long so that the last thing you will want to do is upset the apple cart — because you — yes, you, too! — might be rich/president/an Oscar-winner some day! The message is clear: keep you head down, your nose to the grindstone, don’t rock the boat and be sure to vote for the party that protects the rich man that you might be some day.

2. They have created a poison pill that they know you will never want to take. It is their version of mutually assured destruction. And when they threatened to release this weapon of mass economic annihilation in September of 2008, we blinked. As the economy and the stock market went into a tailspin, and the banks were caught conducting a worldwide Ponzi scheme, Wall Street issued this threat: Either hand over trillions of dollars from the American taxpayers or we will crash this economy straight into the ground. Fork it over or it’s Goodbye savings accounts. Goodbye pensions. Goodbye United States Treasury. Goodbye jobs and homes and future. It was friggin’ awesome and it scared the shit out of everyone. “Here! Take our money! We don’t care. We’ll even print more for you! Just take it! But, please, leave our lives alone, PLEASE!”

The executives in the board rooms and hedge funds could not contain their laughter, their glee, and within three months they were writing each other huge bonus checks and marveling at how perfectly they had played a nation full of suckers. Millions lost their jobs anyway, and millions lost their homes. But there was no revolt (see #1).

Until now. On Wisconsin! Never has a Michigander been more happy to share a big, great lake with you! You have aroused the sleeping giant known as the working people of the United States of America. Right now the earth is shaking and the ground is shifting under the feet of those who are in charge. Your message has inspired people in all 50 states and that message is: WE HAVE HAD IT! We reject anyone who tells us America is broke and broken. It’s just the opposite! We are rich with talent and ideas and hard work and, yes, love. Love and compassion toward those who have, through no fault of their own, ended up as the least among us. But they still crave what we all crave: Our country back! Our democracy back! Our good name back! The United States of America. NOT the Corporate States of America. The United States of America!

So how do we make this happen? Well, we do it with a little bit of Egypt here, a little bit of Madison there. And let us pause for a moment and remember that it was a poor man with a fruit stand in Tunisia who gave his life so that the world might focus its attention on how a government run by billionaires for billionaires is an affront to freedom and morality and humanity.

Thank you, Wisconsin. You have made people realize this was our last best chance to grab the final thread of what was left of who we are as Americans. For three weeks you have stood in the cold, slept on the floor, skipped out of town to Illinois — whatever it took, you have done it, and one thing is for certain: Madison is only the beginning. The smug rich have overplayed their hand. They couldn’t have just been content with the money they raided from the treasury. They couldn’t be satiated by simply removing millions of jobs and shipping them overseas to exploit the poor elsewhere. No, they had to have more — something more than all the riches in the world. They had to have our soul. They had to strip us of our dignity. They had to shut us up and shut us down so that we could not even sit at a table with them and bargain about simple things like classroom size or bulletproof vests for everyone on the police force or letting a pilot just get a few extra hours sleep so he or she can do their job — their $19,000 a year job. That’s how much some rookie pilots on commuter airlines make, maybe even the rookie pilot who flew me here to Madison today. He told me he’s stopped hoping for a pay increase. All he’s asking for now is enough down time so that he doesn’t have to sleep in his car between shifts at O’Hare airport. That’s how despicably low we have sunk! The wealthy couldn’t be content with just paying this man $19,000 a year. They had to take away his sleep. They had to demean him and dehumanize him and rub his face in it. After all, he’s just another slob, isn’t he?

And that, my friends, is Corporate America’s fatal mistake. But trying to destroy us they have given birth to a movement — a movement that is becoming a massive, nonviolent revolt across the country. We all knew there had to be a breaking point some day, and that point is upon us. Many people in the media don’t understand this. They say they were caught off guard about Egypt, never saw it coming. Now they act surprised and flummoxed about why so many hundreds of thousands have come to Madison over the last three weeks during brutal winter weather. “Why are they all standing out there in the cold?” I mean, there was that election in November and that was supposed to be that!

“There’s something happening here, and you don’t know what it is, do you …?”

America ain’t broke! The only thing that’s broke is the moral compass of the rulers. And we aim to fix that compass and steer the ship ourselves from now on. Never forget, as long as that Constitution of ours still stands, it’s one person, one vote, and it’s the thing the rich hate most about America — because even though they seem to hold all the money and all the cards, they begrudgingly know this one unshakeable basic fact: There are more of us than there are of them!

Madison, do not retreat. We are with you. We will win together.

Starting this Saturday, you’ll be able to hear “The Spry Show” on a third Florida radio station! AM 790 WLBE, Leesburg will start airing us this Saturday afternoon at 2!

Many thanks to Mary and Tammy with WLBE, who believe in the positive goals of our show. Tremendous kudos to my talented crew – Tammalicious, Sugar Shane, and Tim. Technical thanks to the ever-classy John Hamilton, and a big hug to my Tampa Bay-area affiliate, Val Silver, owner of 1490 WWPR, for all of her support.

Finally, many thanks to our awesome sponsors! Without them, none of this would be possible. Stay tuned, as “The Spry Show Radio Network” keeps on growing!

Onward and upward!

Our show is designed to move fast, from topic to topic, but always in a fun and entertaining way. It’s PPM friendly (for you radio folks) for that very reason – you have to stay tuned in to see what happens next! From our “Entertainment Update with Lorelei” segment, to our NFL preview, our dueling movie reviews, “Loser of the Week”, to our top-notch celebrity guests, you never know what will happen next. And that’s the beauty of “The Spry Show” – we are truly reinventing talk radio every Saturday morning on the “Spry Show Radio Network”. So come be a part of the fun!