Thank you Missouri!

Dear Missouri: 

Thank you, very much for the great idea to help reduce our budget shortfall.  While we
are not the source of your problems, we will however take the opportunity under consideration.
But we highly suggest that you get your facts correct.

Sincerely,

California

Apparently as the story goes, Missouri’s State Auditor in the effort to reduce costs has been
recommending the use of low cost Web-based travel booking businesses to keep costs in
check.

Now on the surface, that makes good fiscal sense.  Unfortunately the recommendation to use
such Internet services did not adequately address the issue of first applying preferential use
of Missouri based websites or travel agencies.

The caveat of lowest cost was unfortunately for the State Auditor Susan Montee used without
fore thought, whereby the standard modus operendi of utilizing the lowest cost providers was
used instead of looking to buy local, even with trying to keep costs in check.  Unfortunately this
action sent state expenditures out of state to Internet based companies, Travelocity and Orbitz. 

The benign and genuine effort has now figuratively blown up in her face and the political fireworks
have begun in Missouri as seen in the following article:

Identified in the Springfield News-Leader on January 17, 2007 in an article by Beverly Hannum Mansfield

     “The state auditor needs to make sure that all government entities spend their money
     locally at all levels. Cities need to buy local, then look to their county, next within the  
     state. County commissioners need to buy within their counties and cities first before  
     purchasing outside. And the state needs to spend state money within the state not  
     outside in other states. I do not think California is going to help Missouri out with their  
     expenses.”

However, it appears that the journalist and editors from Springfield News Leader need to do their
homework.  None of the major Internet travel booking services are located in California. Travelocity is in
Texas, Orbitz is in Illinois, Priceline.com is in Connecticut and Expedia is in Washington. Apparently this
journalist has some pent up animosity towards the Golden State!

While it is doubtful that California has taken action of having a  ‘Manchurian Candidate,’ in Missouri
- better yet in California's case, a ‘Sequoian Candidate’, it does conjure up an interesting
opportunity to lure public sector dollars from other states to the Golden State to reduce our budget
shortfall.  Thanks again, Missouri.  LOL

Tim Johnson
www.CaliforniaBusinessMinute.com