A few things I have been thinking about

It has been quite a while since I have written one of these posts where I address a number of topics, but while we are under this stay-at-home order, I have had considerably more time for thinking and, for once, I took advantage of it.

Leggett and Platt CEO's Salary

A few of you took strong exception to my post revealing Leggett and Platt CEO Karl Glassman's $10 million pay package.

Most of the negative comments could be placed into one of two categories.

It's none of your business how much he makes. And you are a horrible human being for bringing it up.

Karl Glassman is a nice man, does a lot for the community and truly cares about his workers. And you are a horrible human being for bringing it up.

All of the negative commenters agreed that I am a horrible human being and there is something to be said for reaching a consensus.







The reaction did not surprise me. I expected it. And if I had to write the post again, I would do it in a heartbeat.

The only part I might omit would be the snarky comment or two that I made.

On second thought, I probably wouldn't change a thing. That is how I write posts of that nature.

Besides, everything I wrote was the truth, came directly from SEC documents and it is an important story.

I never said Karl Glassman was a bad person and I am fairly certain that he is not. On the Facebook post I made when I posted the link I noted that Leggett & Platt did a lot of good for the community and deserves to be commended for it. I should have added that in the post.

Some of the negative comments said Glassman is worth every penny of it.

If you say so.

Over the past 40 years, the difference between the pay of CEOs and the average worker has increased far more than it should have. That is one of the reasons why publicly traded companies are required by law to post the salary and benefits packages of their five top officials. Stockholders and the public have a right to know how the company is using its money.







The pay packages these officials receive has grown more and more outrageous as the years go by. Should they be paid considerably more than their workers? Absolutely.

Should it be 280 times the pay of the median workers as Leggett & Platt noted in its SEC filing? Those of you who say Karl Glassman is worth every penny he is making obviously think it is.

A few days after I posted the CEO pay story, Leggett & Platt was forced to lay off 422 workers in Carthage due to COVID-19. I have no doubt most, if all of those workers will return to their jobs as soon as it is possible.

But under normal circumstances, if they were to lose their jobs because of the kind of occasional economic downturns we have, they would get some severance pay, qualify for a small amount of unemployment and then have to hope they can find other work.

As Leggett noted in its SEC filing, unlike his employees, Glassman is in a comfortable position should he happen to lose his job. His contract calls for him to receive an $18 million pay package if he is removed, plus he keeps his health and life insurance benefits.

I don't hold his contract against him. He has every right to get the best contract he possibly can and it is perfectly legal.

That doesn't make it right.

One other thing.

One Facebook commenter hit me with this dose of withering criticism.

"You wouldn't be writing about this if Leggett and Platt wasn't in Carthage."

If I were to write about the CEO of an Ohio company who has the same benefits as Karl Glassman, I wonder how many of you would think it was horrible that he had that kind of deal.

It also happens here.

That's why I report it.

City of Joplin Health Department COVID-19 Reports

On Facebook over the past couple of weeks, I have made some comments about the COVID-19 reports being issued by the City of Joplin's Health Department.

While the department has been prompt to notify the public when a new case has been confirmed, it has shared almost no other information.

We don't know if it is men or women. We don't know how old these people are. We have no idea of some of the places where these people might have been at what time and who needs to be concerned.







Immediately after I made those comments, I was inundated with people who proceeded to tell me that they can't release that information due to HIPAA guidelines.

Everyone is a HIPAA expert.

Everyone apparently except those at the Jasper County Health Department, who have been releasing information about the ages and communities of the COVID-19 cases, the Greene County Health Department, which has released similar information as well as alerting the public about places these people were and the approximate time they were there and the Newton County Health Department, which has also offered information about the communities and the ages of the cases.

No matter what the legion of self-proclaimed HIPAA experts seem to think, it does not prohibit health officials from releasing that kind of information. If it did, these other health departments would not be sharing it.

HIPAA is meant to protect the privacy of identifiable individuals. It is barely conceivable that if city officials were to tell us that the person was a female in her 30s in the northwest part of Joplin, that someone would be able to guess who it was.

If it is all right for the Jasper, Greene and Newton county health departments to share more information then what prevents Joplin from doing so?

In this case, we have a health department that is part of city government. While there is nothing that says they cannot share the information, there is also nothing that says they have to share it.

That would seem to have more to do with a city mindset about sharing information of any sort with the public.

As with the Leggett & Platt post, I was astounded by the number of people who said, "It's none of our business."

If you want to remain ignorant about what goes on in the world around you, that is your choice and certainly explains why many of you are so willing to accept anything that your elected leaders tell you is the truth.

I prefer to maintain my skepticism and fight for the public's right to know and I have a feeling most of you who are reading these words share that sentiment.

Support your local media

 For those of you who prefer to receive your information from credible sources instead of sharing conspiracy theories on social media, it is more important than ever to support the media sources that are providing reliable information, especially during a time when their numbers are dwindling to a precious few.

While I will continue to criticize the Joplin Globe (and when I do, the newspaper has it coming), I also want very much for it to remain as a local news source. If nothing else, consider taking a digital subscription to the newspaper. The Globe usually has a good introductory deal. I have read the Globe for my entire life and though it, like every other small town newspaper, is not what it was in the past, it is crucial that it remain as a stable news source for this area.

And that brings me to the Turner Report.

I deeply appreciate the new subscribers the Turner Report has received the past few weeks. When so many people are out of work or are concerned about what the future might bring, I am not going to ask anyone for money, though I am going to put PayPal buttons below for those who do care to subscribe or make a contribution of any amount.

But please, considering what is going on around us, if you going through any hardship of any kind, do not even think about contributing anything.

There are other ways that you can contribute, and many of you are already doing so, to my one-man news operation.

1. Spread the word about the Turner Report and Inside Joplin. While I have a few thousand regular readers, I am constantly amazed by the number of local people I have run into have never heard of it.

2. Please feel free to share on social media any post I make that you value and think others might value, too.

3. While you are having to spend time at home, consider buying one of my books in paperback or e-book form.

4. If you have read one or more of my books recently, please consider making a comment about the book, whether you liked it or didn't like it, on its Amazon page. This would be especially helpful for those of you who have read The Buck Starts Here since the COVID-19 situation totally sabotaged my plans to promote the book around the 75th anniversaries of Truman becoming president, VE Day and VJ Day. These comments also serve as word of mouth and let people know that others are reading the books.

5. Keep reading the Turner Report. I value the sense of community I have with my readers. I am fully aware that many of you do not always see things the way I do, but you know I am working every day to provide information that will make you better informed and commentary that will make you think. You know that I place the highest value on truth and that is what I work at sharing with you every day.

Thanks to all of you who have been with me since the Turner Report started 17 years ago and those who have started reading somewhere along the way. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

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