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David E. Ross

Oak Park, California 91377

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Republicans and some conservative Democrats are complaining loudly about the current federal deficit and the growing national debt under President Obama. Voters in Massachusetts elected a Republican U.S. Senator partially because of their concern over this issue.

Why is it that these complaints were not heard when President George H. W. Bush (Bush II) converted President Clinton's budget surpluses into deficits worse than the deficits of any prior administration? Why is it that few complaints were heard when Bush drove the national debt higher than any time in history?

No one seems to understand that Obama's deficits are largely a result of trying (1) to undo the economic disaster that started under Bush and (2) to conclude Bush's wars.

© 2010 by David Ross

Almost five years ago, I commented about how I hate shopping, especially for clothes. Today, that hatred increased.

I'm again looking for a short-sleeved dress shirt. I need an 18½ collar, a collar that does NOT button-down.

I went to four department stores, plus a few specialty shops:

• At J. C. Penney's, they have a Customer Service counter in the Men's Department. However, service there consists entirely of working the cash register. They have no employees on the floor to help customers locate merchandise. I had to wait in line at the register to ask for short-sleeved dress shirts. The clerk waved vaguely in back of me and said they were against the wall. I found only one short-sleeved dress shirt without a button-down collar. It was too small.
• At Nordstrom's, they do indeed have employees on the floor to help customers locate merchandise. One such employee kindly helped to find a beautiful shirt. I almost bought it until I discovered it was $125! I've never spent even $100 on two shirts.
• At Macy's, they bluntly said they never carry short-sleeved dress shirts.
• At Ross Dress for Less (not at all connected with my family), they had no dress shirts at all in my size. (I noticed that the service at Ross Dress for Less was at least as good as at J. C. Penney's.)

For whatever I am shopping, I find a severe lack of variety and choices. I attribute this lack to two trends in retail merchandising. The earlier trend was the change from local buying to centralized buying by department stores. This means that variations in local tastes and desires are ignored. The later trend was the consolidation of department store chains through mergers, eliminating some of the competition that would make the wishes of customers important.

Robinsons-May, where I unsuccessfully shopped five years ago, was since taken over by Macy's. Robinsons-May itself represented the takeover of J. W. Robinson's by the May Company. Fifty and more years ago, there were quite a few major department stores in the Los Angeles area, each independent of the others: Broadway, Bullock's, J. W. Robinson's, Coulter's, Silverwood's, May Company, Buffum's, Henshey's, Orbach's. If you could not find what you wanted at one store, your might indeed find that item at another. Now there are only three major chains. If what you want is not at one store, forget it.

Fortunately, I rarely wear a dress shirt; and the two nice dress shirts that I already own — both short-sleeved and neither with button-down collars — still fit me.

© 2009 by David Ross

Anyone who thinks government owns a monopoly on inefficient, obstructive bureaucracy has obviously never worked for a large corporation.

Copyright © 1997 by David Ross

(or never tried to deal with a health insurance claims department)

Community Service

• Elected to public office by the voters of Oak Park
  • Council member, Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council, representing the community to Ventura County government, 1975-1981
    Chairman, 1981
  • School Board member, Oak Park Unified School District, 1981-1989
    President, 1984 and 1987
• Member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, providing input to the Board of Directors of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District on the needs of Oak Park for recreational programs and park projects.
  • Representing the Municipal Advisory Council, 1978-1979
  • Representing the Oak Park Unified School District, 1983, 1985-1986, and 1989
  • Elected by and representing the public, 1992-1998
• Member, Temple Adat Elohim, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1974-present
  • Member Board of Directors, 1978-1979
  • Member School Board, governing religious, Hebrew, and nursery education, 1991-1993
• Trustee, Community Foundation for Oak Park, 1980-present
  President 1984-1988, 1990-2007
• Reviewer, Computing Reviews, 1985-2003
• Volunteer Help Desk Worker, Resource Center, Employment Development Dept, Simi Valley, CA, 2003
• Docent, Gardens of the World, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2005-present
• Member, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 Ventura County Grand Juries
• Member, Ventura County Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), 2009-present
  • Membership Secretary, 2009-present
• Member, Big8 Usenet Management Board, 2009-present

Hobbies

Copyright © 1999-2009 by David Ross
(Earlier copyrights exist as noted herein.)