"Never Say Never" - Eric Bischoff - BLOG 7/17/2008
Lets see…it’s been 72 days since I have posted a blog.
The campaigns for president have heated up nicely. Barack Obama has revealed his true political nature and has flip flopped on enough big issues to qualify as “just another politician”, and John McCain continues to find new depths when it comes to public speaking and the ability to inspire.
For anyone who may be interested: I’m undecided.
I traditionally lean toward the right, and believe very much in the principles of a free market and capitalist society. The socialization of the health-care system and associated pubic services, scares me to death. One only needs to look beyond the surface of socialized health-care in Europe as well as our neighbor to the north to see the folly in this concept.
Want to make health-care affordable to the hard-working middle class that is supposed to benefit from the Democrats idea of government run health-care? I won’t go as far as Shakespeare in Henry VI and suggest we “kill all the lawyers”, but I would like to see them held firmly and meaningfully responsible (real possibility of loss of license, and serious financial penalties) for frivolous and fraudulent lawsuits.
The cost of doing business (cost of goods in accounting jargon) in terms of legal expenses and insurance is staggering to drug companies, doctors, hospitals, and clinics. If the Democrats want to socialize something, let them socialize the practice of civil litigation in this country!
That’s it! In the process of writing this blog, I just solved one of the biggest problems (other than the cost of energy) facing our country! Can you imagine? If only government officials could file claims on behalf of plaintiffs in civil suits against members of the health-care industry (I think this is a great idea across the board, but lets start with health-care as it will benefit the most people in the shortest amount of time) and if only government lawyers could defend those individuals being sued, 95% of the frivolous law suits and the astronomic allocation of dollars (and passing them on to the consumer as a cost of goods) to defend baseless and fraudulent claims would evaporate instantly! Seriously, think about it: government pay-grade lawyers that drive fuel efficient Fords with no hopes of paying for a Porsche by filing a baseless claim (or even legitimate ones)! Over 50% of the costs of bringing a legitimate claim would disappear, and illegitimate claims would be as distant of a memory as $.50 per gallon gasoline! When these savings are passed along to the consumer (as market driven economics provide), the hard working middle class will benefit.
OK. I’m off my soapbox. Lets touch on some wrestling stuff.
On July 2, Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment finished production on “Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling” for CMT. This was an idea that my partner Jason Hervey and I have been working on for quite some time. As I have stated before, when we first brought the idea to Hulk, he liked it but was pretty committed to another show (Hogan Knows Best) and it was a question of timing. For me personally, it was also a question of whether or not I really wanted to commit to being involved in another wrestling project. Anyone who knows me well knows that I like new challenges. I must to have a “been there, done that” gene that makes it difficult for me to get excited about doing things that are in any way “less than” experiences I have already had.
This project certainly fulfilled that pre-requisite. In my book “Controversy Creates Cash” I discuss my “better than, less than, or different than” approach to creative strategy and solutions. This reality show hit on all eight cylinders by being different than any other wrestling show on television, and therefore in my own not-so humble opinion, “better than”. The wrestling ability of the cast and their performances improved so dramatically over the period of just a couple of weeks, that even the most cynical critics will be surprised. The effort that our production team as well as Jimmy, Brian, Brutus and Hulk, and a hundred others put into this effort really makes me very proud of the product.
It has also whet my appetite.
People continue to ask me if I will ever get back into the wrestling business in a competitive way. I ended “Controversy Creates Cash” with six words: “Probably Not, But Never Say Never”.
I’m glad I did.
ericbischoff.com/blog
