A budget (from old French ''bougette'', purse) is a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other terms, a budget is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms.

In summary, the purpose of budgeting is to:

# Provide a forecast of revenues and expenditures, that is, construct a model of how our business might perform financially if certain strategies, events and plans are carried out. # Enable the actual financial operation of the business to be measured against the forecast.

Business start-up budget

The process of calculating the costs of starting a small business begins with a list of all necessary purchases including tangible assets (for example, equipment, inventory) and services (for example, remodeling, insurance),[working capital], sources and collateral. The budget should contain a narrative explaining how you decided on the amount of this reserve and a description of the expected financial results of business activities. The assets should be valued with each and every cost. All other expenses are like labour factory overhead all freshmen expenses are also included into business budgeting.

Corporate budget

The budget of a company is often compiled annually, but may not be. A finished budget, usually requiring considerable effort, is a plan for the short-term future, typically one year (''see Budget Year''). While traditionally the Finance department compiles the company's budget, modern software allows hundreds or even thousands of people in various departments (operations, human resources, IT, etc.) to list their expected revenues and expenses in the final budget.

If the actual figures delivered through the budget period come close to the budget, this suggests that the managers understand their business and have been successfully driving it in the intended direction. On the other hand, if the figures diverge wildly from the budget, this sends an 'out of control' signal, and the share price could suffer as a result.

Event management budget

A budget is a fundamental tool for an event director to predict with reasonable accuracy whether the event will result in a profit, a loss or will break-even. A budget can also be used as a pricing tool.

There are two basic approaches or philosophies when it comes to budgeting. One approach focuses on mathematical models, and the other on people.

The first school of thought believes that financial models, if properly constructed, can be used to predict the future. The focus is on variables, inputs and outputs, drivers and the like. Investments of time and money are devoted to perfecting these models, which are typically held in some type of financial spreadsheet application.

The other school of thought holds that it’s not about models, it’s about people. No matter how sophisticated models can get, the best information comes from the people in the business. The focus is therefore in engaging the managers in the business more fully in the budget process, and building accountability for the results. The companies that adhere to this approach have their managers develop their own budgets. While many companies would say that they do both, in reality the investment of time and money falls squarely in one approach or the other.

Government budget

The budget of a government is a summary or plan of the intended revenues and expenditures of that government.

United States

The United States federal budget is prepared by the Office of Management and Budget, and submitted to Congress for consideration. Invariably, Congress makes many and substantial changes. Nearly all American states are required to have balanced budgets, but the federal government is allowed to run deficits.

United Kingdom

The UK Budget is prepared by the Treasury under the direction of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Parliament rarely makes any significant amendments.

India

The Budget of India is prepared by the Budget Division of Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance annually. This includes supplementary excess grants and when a proclamation by the President as to failure of Constitutional machinery is in operation in relation to a State or a Union Territory, preparation of the Budget of such State. The railway budget is presented separately.

Personal or family budget

In a personal or family budget all sources of income (inflows) are identified and expenses (outflows) are planned with the intent of matching outflows to inflows (making ends meet). In consumer theory, the equation restricting an individual or household to spend no more than its total resources is often called the budget constraint.

Budget types

Sales budget: The sales budget is an estimate of future sales, often broken down into both units and dollars. It is used to create company sales goals.

Production budget: Product oriented companies create a production budget which estimates the number of units that must be manufactured to meet the sales goals. The production budget also estimates the various costs involved with manufacturing those units, including labor and material.

Cash Flow/Cash budget: The cash flow budget is a prediction of future cash receipts and expenditures for a particular time period. It usually covers a period in the short term future. The cash flow budget helps the business determine when income will be sufficient to cover expenses and when the company will need to seek outside financing.

Marketing budget: The marketing budget is an estimate of the funds needed for promotion, advertising, and public relations in order to market the product or service.

Project budget: The project budget is a prediction of the costs associated with a particular company project. These costs include labor, materials, and other related expenses. The project budget is often broken down into specific tasks, with task budgets assigned to each.

Revenue budget: The Revenue Budget consists of revenue receipts of government and the expenditure met from these revenues. Tax revenues are made up of taxes and other duties that the government levies.

Expenditure budget: A budget type which include of spending data items.

See also

Budget crisis

Budget Day

Budget process

Budget overrun

Budget surplus

Budget theory

List of European countries by budget revenues

Government budget by country

Canadian federal budget

Constitutional economics

Deficit

Envelope System

Film budgeting

Personal finance

Strategic misrepresentation

United States budget process

Union budget of India

United Kingdom budget

Variance analysis (accounting)

Zero-based budgeting

References

External links

Origin of the word

Category:Budgets Category:Home economics

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Name	Ray Stevens
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Harold Ray Ragsdale
Birth date	January 24, 1939Clarkdale, Georgia, United States
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Country, pop, novelty
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, arranger, pianist
Years active	1958–present
Label	NRC, Mercury, Monument, Barnaby, Warner Bros., RCA, MCA, Curb, CBS, Janus
Website	RayStevens.com
Notable instruments	PianoBanjo }}

Ray Stevens (born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939) is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.

Early life

Stevens was born Harry Ray Ragsdale on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia. While attending high school, Stevens formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group he named the Barons. Following his graduation from high school, Stevens enrolled in Georgia State University as a music major.

Career

Early career

Capitol Records signed Stevens to their Prep Records division in 1957, and produced the singles "Silver Bracelet", that Billboard predicted to be a teen favorite, and "Rang Tang Ding Dong", about a Japanese sandman, for which Billboard credited the 16-year-old Stevens' vocals as "strong, attractive". The latter song was a cover of a song recorded by Manhattan doo-wop group The Cellos in 1957, and written by Cellos bass singer Alvin Williams.

In 1958, Bill Lowery created the National Recording Corporation (NRC), and brought Stevens on board playing numerous instruments, arranging music, and performing background vocals for its band. Around that time, he had adopted the professional name of "Ray Stevens", which was inspired by his middle name and his mother's maiden name. Lowery was unable to collect debts from his own accounts and was forced into bankruptcy.

Stevens then signed with Mercury Records with whom Stevens recorded a series of hit records in the 1960s that included songs such as "Ahab the Arab", "Harry the Hairy Ape", "Funny Man," the original recording of "Santa Claus Is Watching You", and "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills". The song that introduced Stevens to most of his fan base is "Ahab the Arab", which reached #5 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1962.

In 1966, Stevens signed with Monument Records and started to release serious material such as "Mr. Businessman" in 1968, a Top 30 pop hit; "Have a Little Talk With Myself" and the original version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969, which became Stevens' first two singles to reach the country music charts. O.C. Smith covered the Stevens-penned ''Isn't It Lonely Together'' while Sammy Davis, Jr. covered ''Have a Little Talk With Myself''. Stevens continued releasing novelty songs, and in 1969 he had a Top 10 pop hit with "Gitarzan". Stevens also became a regular on ''The Andy Williams Show'' during the 1969–1970 season, and he hosted his own summer show, ''The Ray Stevens Show,'' in 1970. In Australia, Ross D. Wylie reached the top 20 with his cover of the Stevens-penned, ''Funny Man''. Stevens' collection of Hot 100 hits is evenly divided between serious and novelty.

As an A&R; man, music producer, songwriter, and music arranger he assisted countless artists in the recording studio during his years at Mercury Records and Monument Records, 1961 through early 1970. Some of the acts he was associated with during that time period were Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, Patti Page, Joe Dowell, Dusty Springfield, and Dolly Parton. Stevens was a writer or co-writer of several songs those particular acts recorded. '' My True Confession '', a Top-10 on the R&B; chart in 1963 for Brook Benton, was written by Stevens and Margie Singleton. Stevens was the arranger for an obscure Doyle Holly recording titled "My Heart Cries For You" which had been recorded previously by Stevens during the late 1950s.

1970s

Starting in the 1970s, Stevens became a producer and well-known studio musician on the Nashville scene. He recorded songs for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–1979. Stevens' biggest hit in the United States was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970). The single won a Grammy Award, was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, hit #1 on both the pop and Adult-Contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at #39. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. His other 1970 singles were "America, Communicate With Me" and "Sunset Strip", both of which reached the Top-20 on the Adult-Contemporary lists. His novelty song "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of The Blues)" made #2 on the United Kingdom chart in 1971 and in the US it reached #50. Stevens had a gospel/country hit single in early 1972 with Albert E. Brumley's "Turn Your Radio On", reaching the country Top 20. Two more of Stevens' songs in 1971 were also minor pop hits, "A Mama and a Papa" and "All My Trials," but both crossed over to the Top 10 Adult-Contemporary lists. Stevens frequently toured Canada and went overseas to the UK. A rock-infected gospel arrangement accompanied his version of "Love Lifted Me" and it became a hit single in Bangkok in the fall of 1972, finding its way into the Top-5 for the week ending September 30.

In 1973, Stevens had a top 40 country hit with the title track of his album, "Nashville", and increased his exposure on television by performing on a variety of prime-time programs of the era. In 1974, Stevens recorded perhaps his most famous hit, "The Streak", which poked fun at the early-1970s fad of running nude in public, known as "streaking". It made No. 1 in both the UK and the US and No. 3 on the country chart. In 1975, he released the Grammy-winning "Misty", which became his biggest country hit (reaching #3 on the country charts and #14 on the pop charts); he also entered the country Top 40 with a doo-wop version of "Indian Love Call", "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", and a ballad version of "Young Love" in early 1976. Stevens' tenure with Barnaby came to an end in early 1976.

Stevens joined Warner Brothers in 1976, where his debut was a strong showing with three hit singles in a row. The first was the up-tempo version of "You Are So Beautiful", which reached the country Top 20, then "Honky Tonk Waltz", which reached the Top 30. He then released a novelty single: under the pseudonym "Henhouse Five Plus Too," Stevens recorded a version of Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" in the style of a clucking chicken; it became a Top 40 hit in the US and UK in early 1977. In 1978 he had a hit with "Be Your Own Best Friend" on the country charts, and in 1979 he had his last Hot 100 hit (to date) with the novelty "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", which he released from the album ''The Feeling's Not Right Again.'' In the US, Stevens' singles would reach only the country chart nationally thereafter. He joined RCA in late 1979, releasing new material in 1980.

1980s

After joining RCA in 1980, Stevens continued having hit singles, but with somewhat less success than in the previous decade. His debut single, the Top 10 "Shriner's Convention" and then the Top 20 love ballad "Night Games" performed relatively well on the charts. In 1981, only one single made the charts, the Top 40 hit "One More Last Chance." In 1982, after he had released a few more singles, notably the Top 40 "Written Down in My Heart", Stevens left RCA and returned to Mercury Records, the label that made him a star in the early 1960s. This resulted in only one album, the 1983 project ''Me'', and only one chart hit, "My Dad", in early 1984.

Stevens then joined MCA in 1984 as a "country comedy" act and thereafter released only novelty song albums. The fan-voted Music City News awards named Stevens Comedian of the Year annually for nine consecutive years from 1986 to 1994. However, Stevens' singles were no longer making the Top 40 charts as they were considered comedy–novelty, and country radio resisted playing songs that were not serious. A few of Stevens' commercial singles charted on the Single Sales charts during this time, but only one single, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", made it to the Top 40. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" reached the Top 20, making that his final single to hit the Top-40 portion of the country singles chart. "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" is the only single during his 1984–1989 stint on MCA that came close to reaching the Top 40, stalling at #41 in 1987. Second to that, the other single close to hitting the Top 40 on the country chart was the #45 hit "The Haircut Song" in 1985.

His comedy albums were nonetheless enjoying widespread success. His first series of albums for MCA all made the country charts with several of them remaining on the charts for months at a time. His first two albums for MCA reached the Top-5 with ''I Have Returned'' hitting the top spot in early 1986. Afterward his albums routinely peaked in the middle of the charts. A 1987 ''Greatest Hits'' album became a platinum seller while several other releases achieved gold status. One of the trademarks of Stevens' string of comedy albums were the photo shoots. For example, on one album he's dressed up as Napoleon Bonaparte, on another he's Humpty Dumpty, and on another he's dressed as General Douglas MacArthur. Stevens' lack of airplay wasn't affecting his ability to sell records. National shows like Hee-Haw and a variety of programs on The Nashville Network that frequently gave exposure to all forms of country music.

1990s

Stevens left MCA in 1989 for Curb/Capitol Records. His first release arrived in 1990. The two labels split up soon after and Curb Records continued releasing material on Stevens. ''His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits'', a compilation project released by Curb in 1990, became a gold album by mid-decade. ''Lend Me Your Ears'' and ''#1 With a Bullet'' were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The latter featured the satirical hit "Working for the Japanese" in which Stevens sings about the American economy and how dollars are boosting overseas economies instead of its own.

In the 1990s, Stevens took new directions. The most ambitious was the opening of his own theater in Branson, Missouri in 1991. The theater business had been steadily growing in the small Missouri town of Branson for a period of years and by the time Stevens began building his theater the area was reaching its peak. Stevens benefited from the theater boom largely because his stage show was different from others. His reputation as a comedian and as an all-around entertainer meant that for most tourists his show was one of the destination spots judging by the number of sold-out performances he gave at the theater. When crowds reacted favorably to his music videos being played on a large screen at his theater Stevens began selling videos for his fans to take home.

In the spring and summer of 1992, his ''Comedy Video Classics'' became a million-selling home video through direct marketing and television advertisements. Commercials for Stevens' home video aired countless times throughout 1992, mostly in the morning hours and often during late-night. Branson was also experiencing its highest commercial peak in the summer and fall of both 1992 and 1993. Ray Stevens was back in the national media once again with his enormously successful home video and music theater. In the midst of all the success, though, Stevens closed down his theater after the 1993 season citing exhaustion and monotony after doing two shows a day, six days a week, for five to six months at a time. Several of his performances at his theater were filmed and surfaced in home video form. ''Ray Stevens Live!'' became another home video mail-order success in 1993 following the same path of ''Comedy Video Classics''.

Meanwhile, ''Comedy Video Classics'' had become available for retail distribution and it became a big seller again. In 1993, it was named Home Video of the Year by ''Billboard'' magazine in their annual end of the year publication which cites the most popular artists, songs, CDs, and video items of the year.

''Classic Ray Stevens'' was issued in the early fall of 1993. This was the first audio release from Stevens since early 1991. The album's title was a reference to the classical-looking photo shoot which features a bust of Ray Stevens mocking Beethoven. The home video of ''Ray Stevens Live!'' was released to retail stores in 1994 and it became a Top-5 success on Billboard's Home Video chart. The concert video often ranked above or below ''Comedy Video Classics'' on the charts. In the late summer of 1995, the movie ''Get Serious!'' was released on home video.

The movie, which runs 1 hour and 50 minutes, offers several plots and a collection of newly-produced music videos which act as commentary to the action. One plot point of the movie centers on a fictional record company for which Stevens records being bought out by a Japanese conglomerate. This is a reference to the consolidation practices taking place in the music industry. Another plot-point deals with Stevens' reputation as a comical singer and how the new executive of the fictional record company, based vocally on Paul Lynde, wants Stevens to change his image from comedy to classical opera. Stevens refuses and this brings to the surface another plot-point of the movie: political correctness. Seeking revenge on Stevens, the executive hatches a plan to ruin Stevens’ career by labeling him politically incorrect. The last plot-point centers on character defamation as numerous characters from several Stevens songs turn out to really exist and they want to sue the singer for defamation. This plot is based on a song that Stevens recorded in 1986 entitled "Dudley Dorite of the Highway Patrol" where a local policeman stops Stevens for speeding and afterward informs the singer that he's in a whole lot of trouble for using easily identifiable people as characters in his songs. The song was re-recorded specifically for the movie as Dudley Dorite is one of the main characters in the movie. He's portrayed by Stevens' long-time songwriting partner, C.W. Kalb, Jr..

The home video became another mail-order success throughout 1995 and was released to retail stores, via MCA, late in 1996. The video hit the Top-5 on Billboard's Home Video chart early in 1997 during a more than 20 week chart run. Stevens had by this point exited Curb Records.

Stevens found a new home with his previous label, MCA. MCA was responsible for the retail distribution of ''Get Serious!'' and for marketing Ray as a comical singer for the first time in the mid-1980s.

The reunion with MCA consisted of the retail release of ''Get Serious!'' in late 1996 and two new audio CD's in 1997: ''Hum It'' and ''Christmas Through a Different Window'', the latter release being a collection of Christmas novelty songs. After the MCA contract ended, Stevens became exclusive to his own label, Clyde Records, for a period of years.

On-line rumors began circulating about his death. The confusion may have arisen in the summer of 1996 following the death of a wrestler named Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. The singer Ray Stevens once recorded a wrestling song entitled "The Blue Cyclone". Stevens the singer reported to the media that his office had received thousands of sympathy cards due to the confusion.

In April 1999 Stevens was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer and had to cancel his series of concerts at the Acuff Theatre that summer. Stevens received a clean bill of health upon successful surgery and returned to the stage in time to deliver his Christmas concert series.

2000s (2000–2009)

After the partnership with MCA ended, he remained active on his own label, Clyde Records, until he found another home with Curb Records, returning to the label in 2001. Early in 2002, "Osama Yo' Mama" was released. It made the country Top 50, reached the Top-5 on the country single sales chart, achieved Gold selling status, and the album of the same name reached the country Top-30. After the release of this album Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri and re-opened his theater in 2004. He remained active there for three more seasons. He shut the theater down for good after the 2006 season, selling it off to cable network RFD-TV, which continues to operate it to this day.

An obscure release called "The New Battle of New Orleans" came along in 2005 as a response to the vandals and looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people confused the version of ''The New Battle of New Orleans'' by its principal writer, Chuck Redden, with the version by Stevens. The recording by the writer features much more pointed accusations and assertions and it is this version which appears on various web-sites specializing in lyric re-printing. The confusion arises when these web-sites credit Stevens as the singer of that version.

Ray and his songwriter friend Buddy Kalb removed a lot of the original lyrics in the song and supplied new lyrics in a more G-rated setting. In spite of the various lyrical re-writes by Stevens and Kalb, the overall point of the song that the locals expected and demanded too much from their government, is still clear. The song was issued as a single-only in 2005.

Curb Records, in the meantime, continued to release DVD music video collections on Stevens during this time. The music videos featured limited animation.

Stevens returned to releasing music once again in 2007, firstly in July 2007, with the single-only "Ruby Falls", a combination of jazz, blues, and country music, and secondly with the CD ''New Orleans Moon'', released on his own label. This CD contains various songs in tribute and honor to New Orleans and Louisiana. Stevens covers "Louisiana Man", "Louisiana", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", "New Orleans", and several more.

The following year Stevens issued the album ''Hurricane'', also on his own label. It was released in February 2008 at Stevens' on-line music store at his website then was released nationally in November of that year to a wider audience. This CD featured a wide array of comical songs including a pair of redneck anthems, "Hey Bubba, Watch This!" and "Bubba the Wine Connoisseur". The CD also marked the debut of "Sucking Sound", a political/economic song about Ross Perot and how his warnings of the flaws in a global economy, which were mocked in 1992, became somewhat of a reality by 2008 resulting in massive lay-offs and job losses.

Concurrently in 2008, a tribute to the songs of Frank Sinatra that Stevens recorded was also being offered at the web-site store during the latter half of 2008. The album is titled ''Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What??'' and it became nationally distributed in February 2009. Stevens did not promote or publicize the tribute album. Later in 2009 he released ''One for the Road'', a CD aimed primarily at truckers. It was sold exclusively at the Pilot truck stops for several weeks prior to its release nationally. The CD contains a mixture of material ranging from truck driver oriented songs to somber ballads. There are also several re-recordings of his greatest hits added into the equation. There are fifteen tracks featured on the trucker CD in which the first three tracks, in addition to track seven, specifically deal with situations while on the road: "Concrete Sailor", "Convoy", "Right Reverend Road Hog McGraw", and "Hang Up and Drive". "Mary Lou Nights" and "Oh, Lonesome Me". "Retired" originated as a duet between Stevens and Brent Burns but for this CD it is delivered solo.

In 2009 Stevens was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and he appeared on the PBS series ''Legends and Lyrics''. A television show that Stevens stars in, ''We Ain't Dead Yet'', became available to subscribers at his web page. The subscription is to an exclusive section of his web-page called "Ray Stevens Backstage" and each month a different episode becomes available. The series focuses on senior citizens and it usually features a special guest each episode stopping by the main set, a retirement home, to perform songs.

In the early fall of 2009 Stevens released a holiday collection of songs titled ''Ray Stevens Christmas''. Late in November an EP became available featuring a couple of his serious Christmas songs but the main attraction was his cover of Seymour Swine's (a fictional group that recorded a stuttering rendition of "Blue Christmas") "Blue Christmas", complete with stutter. Stevens had also recorded a non-comical version of this song for his ''Ray Stevens Christmas'' release. The stuttering version can only be found on the EP release.

In December 2009, Stevens issued the single and on-line video "We the People", which quickly became a viral video and surpassed a million unique views in a month's time on You Tube. The video is critical of health care reform. Stevens followed this music video with "Caribou Barbie" in March 2010. This music video is supportive of Sarah Palin. The video uses a Palin impersonator and through the help of sight-gags it takes aim at several high-profile personalities on cable television.

2010s (2010–present)

Stevens issued another music video on YouTube, "Throw the Bums Out!", as a direct response to the March 2010 passage of health care reform legislation in the House of Representatives.

In April 2010 Stevens released a collection that includes a CD and a DVD, titled ''We the People''. The project features 22 political songs. The four music videos on the DVD are "We the People", "Caribou Barbie", "Throw the Bums Out!", and "Thank You". Stevens appeared in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2010, as part of the tax day rally associated with the Tea Party. On April 24, 2010 the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored the career of Ray Stevens in the recurring series "Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians". The special focused mostly on Stevens' career as a Nashville-session musician during the 1960s and 1970s.

On May 13, 2010, the music video of "Come to the USA", was released. This is a song dealing with the hot button issue of illegal immigration. The song uses exaggeration and small doses of satire to comment on illegal immigration acceptance internationally compared with the United States’ more passive policy. The song was written and recorded before the Arizona illegal immigration bill, SB 1070, was introduced to the nation. The music video became Stevens' second to surpass a million unique views on You Tube; the first being "We the People". Following the release of the "Come to the USA" music video Stevens found himself being spotlighted again on the Fox News Channel and then by ''The New York Times''. Stevens' ''We the People'' CD made its Top-10 debut on the ''Billboard'' Comedy Album chart for the week ending June 26, 2010, and it moved into the Top-5 for the week ending July 3, 2010. Meanwhile, a new music video, "The Global Warming Song", had become available on You Tube on June 29. The song, the sixth release from his ''We the People'' CD, is a broad exaggeration on the global warming topic, drawing inspiration from the concept of the Earth's temperature rising beyond control. The song depicts a couple of brothers who hold fort in a frozen wasteland with a money-making scheme of awaiting the arrival of climate change. The song is purposely silly and plays on the fears of global warming.

Starting in July 2010 and running through August most PBS stations aired a special titled ''Marvin Hamlisch Presents the 1970s: The Way We Were'' during pledge drive fundraisers. The special celebrates the music of the 1970s and Ray Stevens participated in the proceedings. Stevens' contributions include "Everything Is Beautiful", "The Streak", and "Misty". On July 31 Stevens made a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

On August 4, 2010 a new music video from Stevens made its debut on You Tube. This time around the subject matter is the Federal Government of the United States and the on-going war of words with Arizona over immigration. The song, "God Save Arizona", criticizes the policies of the Federal Government and it questions the competence of Eric Holder, the United States Attorney General with regards to the Federal lawsuit brought against Arizona. The beginning of the song starts out as a tribute to the U.S.S. Arizona during World War II before switching to a look at a modern-day verbal war between Arizona's State Government and the Federal Government.

Given the overall on-line popularity of his music videos on You Tube it enabled Stevens to reach a milestone in early September 2010. This milestone refers to the collective number of plays that all of his music videos had obtained up until that point in time. When the play totals for each officially-released music video were tallied the collective total reached ten million. "Come to the USA" obtained over four million You Tube unique views while "We the People" had obtained over three million.

Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri once again in mid September to kick off a nearly month-long engagement at The Welk Resort which ran through October 23. On the last date of his concert series at the Welk Theatre he participated in a Tea Party rally held in Branson earlier in the day. The rally was billed as 'the Pre-Election Pink Slip Rally and Concert' and it took place throughout most of the morning and into the afternoon. Stevens performed "We the People" and "Throw the Bums Out!" at the rally and that night wrapped up his concert series at the Welk Theatre.

On November 3, the day after the 2010 mid-term elections, Stevens uploaded a new music video on You Tube entitled "Nightmare Before Christmas". The song has nothing to do with politics or elections but instead deals with political correctness gone amuck as Santa Claus gets arrested and is charged with crimes against a politically correct society. In the video Stevens portrays himself, Santa, the prosecutor, and the Judge. Political correctness and the mockery of liberal-progressive special interest groups is at the crux of the song.

On November 29 Stevens alerted his audience via the social network site Twitter that he would be recording ten new political comedy songs. Several days prior, on November 23, Stevens announced on his Facebook page that he's in the process of recording a huge project of one hundred songs to be released at some point entitled ''The Encyclopedia of Musical Comedy Recordings''. On December 2, "Bad Angel", a song that Stevens published and his daughter, Suzi Ragsdale, co-wrote, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Country Collaboration category. The song's trio of artists are Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Jamey Johnson. It is available on Bentley's CD ''Up on The Ridge''.

On January 19, 2011 via Twitter, Stevens announced that he would take part in the annual CPAC gathering in Washington, D.C. The event takes place during February 10–12. On January 24 Stevens turned 72 years old and showing no signs of slowing down he embarked on what he referred to as a radio call-in tour. The first program that Stevens called was the Charlie Brennan radio show on KMOX in St. Louis on January 28 to promote a brand new recording about airport security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Next, on February 2, Ray called in to KWEL in Texas to promote his TSA song and the latest happenings in his career.

Stevens called-in to the Jim Bohannon radio program on February 4 resulting in an interview that lasted about one hour. On February 7 he called-in to the Martha Zoller program and a radio program that aired on Minnesota's KLTF. On February 8 a CD single along with an Mp3 single of ''The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore'' became commercially available. On February 9 Stevens was spotlighted on the XM and Sirius satellite radio program ''Cruisin' with Cousin' Brucie'' which spotlights 1960s pop songs.

Stevens performed three songs while at CPAC on February 10, 2011. The airport security/TSA song entitled ''The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore'' kicked off the performance while he followed it with "We the People" and concluded the appearance with a song entitled "Mr. President-Mr. President" which takes a comical look at how President Barack Obama is viewed by a segment of the population amidst domestic and foreign turmoil. On February 17 Stevens called-in to WSGI radio's Steve Jarrell program, "Big Daddy-o on the Patio". Later that same day Stevens uploaded the much-anticipated music video of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore".

On February 18 Stevens called radio stations KSCJ and KDWN to promote the music video and to talk about politics in general. By February 24 "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" soared past the 52,000 play mark on You Tube.

On February 25 Stevens gave an interview on radio station WPTF's Bill Lumaye program and later the same day appeared on the Fox Business Network program, Freedom Watch, hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano. In the television interview Stevens offered his opinions of the current political climate, the TSA, and announced that his next single would deal with President Obama's budget plan.

On February 27 the RFD-TV network reran a 1972 episode of ''Hee-Haw'' which featured Stevens as one of the guests. He performed Turn Your Radio On and Along Came Jones. On that same day, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" had amassed over 70,000 unique views on You Tube in a span of 10 days. Continuing the mostly talk radio station promotion of his TSA song Stevens called the ''Daybreak USA'' program on February 28 and on March 2 he called in to Ed Morrissey's radio program. On March 17 one of Stevens' previous music videos, "Come to the USA", reached the five million mark on You Tube. On March 25, via Twitter, Stevens announced that he taped a performance for an upcoming television show hosted by country singer Ronnie McDowell titled ''Music City Late Night''.

On April 14 Stevens decided to end his subscription-based web-site, ''Ray Stevens Backstage'', after a two year run. The site was aimed at providing the most ardent of fans with exclusive content. Upon its cancellation it was revealed that elements of the ''Backstage'' site would be incorporated into the main Ray Stevens web-site. A classic music video from Ray uploaded on You Tube in 2009 but taped in 1992 entitled ''The Mississippi Squirrel Revival'' surpassed a million on-line views. This became the third music video from Stevens to obtain at least a million on-line views. On April 25 Stevens uploaded a new music video onto You Tube entitled "The Obama Budget Plan". A video clip was highlighted on The O'Reilly Factor. The same day, April 25, Stevens released his latest collection of songs, ''The Spirit of '76'', which contains the previously mentioned "Obama Budget Plan", "God Save Arizona", and "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore".

The collection was available in its earliest weeks of release in digital download format. By May 1, Stevens' "Obama Budget Plan" on-line music video had generated over 95,000 unique views in less than a week's time. Later that same night news broke on the death of Osama bin Laden and as a result Stevens' music video from 2002 entitled "Osama Yo' Mama", which was uploaded on You Tube in 2009, experienced a resurgence in on-line activity. The video had received more than 990,000 unique views prior to the news of bin Laden's death and in the aftermath it received more than 20,000 additional plays causing it to surpass a million on-line views and as a result it became his fourth music video to surpass a million plays.

On May 5 Stevens called the Lars Larson show on radio station KXL to discuss current events. On May 11 he appeared at a conservative rally in Franklin, Tennessee billed as ''Conservatives on the Move''. Stevens made the rounds of the Fox Business Network in early June during a trip to New York to promote the Obama budget music video and his Spirit of '76 collection. On June 2 Stevens made an appearance on America's Nightly Scoreboard, an economics program hosted by David Asman on the Fox Business Network. The following day, June 3, Stevens made an appearance on Freedom Watch hosted by Judge Napolitano.

On June 4 Stevens appeared on Huckabee, which airs on the Fox News Channel and is hosted by Mike Huckabee. It was on the latter program that Stevens performed "Obama Budget Plan" for the first time on television. On June 27 Stevens appeared at a star-studded reunion at the Quonset Hut Studio. Legendary session musicians and artists gathered to celebrate the studio's history, perform songs, and tell stories about the recording sessions.

After a low-key July, Stevens kicked off the month of August being interviewed on WSM radio. The interview took place on a program hosted by WSM DJ and Grand Ole Opry announcer, Eddie Stubbs, titled ''Intimate Evenings''. The interview aired on August 1. The 2-hour series airs from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The host played several of Ray's songs and often mentioned how packed the venue was and how electric the atmosphere felt. A lot of time was spent on Ray's past (his career, after all, goes back to 1957) but yet there was also discussion of Ray's current recordings and activity. Ray offered his opinions on politics and other topical issues...bringing chuckles and cheers from the host and from the audience. Several days later, on August 9, the CD copy of his digital release from April, ''Spirit of '76'', was released to wider distribution. Previously the CD copy had only been available at the singer's web-site store.

On August 12 the "Obama Budget Plan" music video surpassed half a million views and by the middle of September it had surpassed 700,000 on-line views. On September 27 Stevens uploaded the music video, "Mr. President - Mr. President", and it quickly amassed more than 200,000 unique views in a little more than a week's time. A snippet of the video, during the first days of it's You Tube availability, was previewed on The O'Reilly Factor. On October 7 the song was heard on Mark Levin's nationally syndicated radio program. On October 10 Stevens announced that his upcoming novelty song encyclopedia will consist of 9 CD's and will be released in January 2012. In December his music video, "Obama Budget Plan", obtained 1,000,000 on-line views. It happened on Christmas Eve.

The release date for ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music'' was pushed back one month from January 2012 to February. The release date was February 28, 2012. Publicity for the collection started a week earlier when Stevens made an appearance on the GAC news/video program, ''On the Streets'', on February 21. Stevens gave an interview for the radio series, American Country Countdown, hosted by Nashville songwriter and half of the Brooks and Dunn duo, Kix Brooks. The interview is part of a segment known as ''The Back Forty''.

On February 27 Stevens uploaded a brief video on You Tube promoting the collection. In the video clip Stevens appears on camera and talks about the collection. There is also footage of him performing at his recording studio. On February 29, just a day after releasing the 9-CD encyclopedia box set, Stevens' on-line music video, "Mr. President - Mr. President", passed the half a million mark in You Tube views. On March 8 Stevens appeared on the RFD-TV series, ''Larry's Country Diner'', and performed four songs: ''The Preacher and the Bear'', ''I Still Write Your Name in the Show'', ''Get a Job'', and ''Mississippi Squirrel Revival''. The songs are part of ''The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music''. Also on March 8th an article on Ray by a writer named Chuck Dauphin appeared on Billboard.com detailing the Encyclopedia's contents. The article also included Ray's feelings about the lack of an abundance of comedy songs on contemporary radio stations, the comedy song's lack of respect, and the unfounded stigma that exists about comedy songs.

Videos

Stevens' songs have been showcased in several videos. "Gitarzan" was featured on Disc 1 of "The Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection." Stevens videos were frequently offered via television commercials. 1992's "Comedy Video Classics" contained 8 music videos, winning the Home Video of the Year in 1993 as well as other awards. Two videos filmed at his Branson, Missouri theatre "Ray Stevens Live!" and "More Ray Stevens Live!" were released in 1993, although the second collection was only available to fan club members at the time. In 1995 he released a movie, "Get Serious!", which contains 10 music videos sandwiched within an actual movie. The film runs 110 minutes. The video collection "Latest and Greatest" was released in 1996. In 2000 he released "Funniest Video Characters" including the video to his 1985 song "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone." In 2004 "Greatest Video Characters" was released...this was a large all-encompassing collection of music videos from Stevens that had been released on previous collections. Stevens' video albums are released by mail order on his own label, Clyde Records. Beginning in late 2009 Stevens began releasing new music videos directly to You Tube. A lot of the music videos released by Stevens since December 2009 are political in nature. The music videos, many of which have obtained more than half a million unique views, have helped establish Stevens as a legitimate political entertainer.

Grammy Awards

Stevens has 11 Grammy nominations and won two Grammy Awards: one for "Everything Is Beautiful" and one for the arrangement of his country and western version of the jazz standard "Misty" (1975). Stevens was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Other awards and accomplishments

1969: Gold Single — "Gitarzan"

1970: Gold Single — "Everything Is Beautiful"

1970: Grammy — "Everything Is Beautiful" (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)

1974: Gold Single — "The Streak"

1975: Grammy — "Misty" (Best Arrangement of the Year)

1980: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

1980: Georgia Music Hall of Fame

1984: Gold Album — "He Thinks He's Ray Stevens"

1985: Gold Album — "I Have Returned"

1986: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1986: #1 Country Album Plaque from Billboard — "I Have Returned" (week ending March 15, 1986)

1987: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1987: Platinum Album — "Greatest Hits"

1987: Gold Album — "Greatest Hits, Volume Two"

1988: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1989: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1990: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1990: Gold Album — "All-Time Greatest Comic Hits"

1991: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1992: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1992: #1 Home Video Plaque from Billboard — "Comedy Video Classics"

1992: Ten Times-Platinum Home Video — "Comedy Video Classics"

1993: Billboard Home Video of the Year

1993: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1993: Platinum Home Video — "Ray Stevens Live!"

1994: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1995: Platinum Home Video — "Get Serious!"

1995: Country Weekly Golden Pick Award "Best Comedian"

2001: Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame

2002: Gold Single — "Osama Yo' Mama"

2009: Christian Music Hall of Fame

Music City News was a monthly subscription magazine which reported on the latest happenings among country music celebrities. The magazine's subscribers for the most part voted in the annual awards. Years later fans from all over the country could call and vote for their favorite acts in addition to the subscribers who used voting ballots. The winners of the fan voted awards were showcased nationally in an awards gala broadcast on CBS and later, The Nashville Network. Stevens won in the Comedian of the Year category nine consecutive years and performed on their awards telecasts on a consistent basis.

Stevens was the recipient of several publisher awards from BMI Music for songs he either wrote, recorded, or published. Some of the recordings that received these citations were ''Everything Is Beautiful'', ''The Streak'', ''Shriner's Convention'', ''Gitarzan'', and several songs recorded by Sammy Kershaw and published by Stevens.

In July 2009 Stevens began uploading music videos onto You Tube for the first time. Many of the uploads were of music videos that were made in the early and mid-1990s. His user name, raystevensmusic, has since released quite a few music videos on You Tube and by the late summer of 2010 a combined total of 10,000,000 unique views were obtained.

Discography

See ''Ray Stevens discography''

References

Roy, Don (1998). "Ray Stevens". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 507.

External links

Official website

Video magazine and subscriber's website

Category:1939 births Category:American comedy musicians Category:American country keyboardists Category:American country pianists Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American novelty song performers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:Georgia State University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:National Recording Corporation artists Category:People from Cobb County, Georgia Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)

de:Ray Stevens (Musiker) es:Ray Stevens fr:Ray Stevens no:Ray Stevens

Name	Paul Ryan
State	Wisconsin
District	1st
Party	Republican
Term start	January 3, 1999
Predecessor	Mark Neumann
Successor	Incumbent
Office2	Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget
Term start2	January 3, 2011
Predecessor2	John Spratt
Birthname	Paul Davis Ryan
Birth date	January 29, 1970
Birth place	Janesville, Wisconsin
Religion	Catholic
Spouse	Janna Ryan
Children	3 children
Residence	Janesville, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Miami University (B.A.)
Website	U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan }}

Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party and has been ranked among the party's most influential voices on conservative economic policy.

Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan graduated from Miami University in Ohio and reportedly worked as a marketing consultant to an earth-moving company run by a branch of his family. In the mid-to-late 1990s he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten, as legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and also as a speech writer for former U.S. Representative and 1996 Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Jack Kemp of New York. He won a 1998 election to succeed two-term Representative Mark Neumann in the United States House of Representatives.

Ryan is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he played a prominent public role in drafting and promoting the Republican Party's long-term budget proposal. He introduced the plan, ''The Path to Prosperity'', in April 2011 to counter the budget proposal of President Barack Obama. Ryan is one of the three co-founders of the Young Guns Program, an electoral recruitment and campaign effort by House Republicans.

Early life, education and career

The youngest child of Betty and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer, Ryan was born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin. Ryan's mother is an outdoors enthusiast who led her husband and four kids (a sister, Janet, and two brothers, Tobin and Stan) on regular trips to hike and ski in the Colorado Rockies. He is a fifth-generation Wisconsin and Janesville native and a great-grandson of Patrick W. Ryan, who founded the Ryan Incorporated Central construction business in 1884.

Ryan attended Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville and was sixteen years old when he found his father in bed, dead of a heart attack at age 55. Ryan's grandfather had also died of a heart attack at age 57, as had his great-grandfather also similarly died of a heart attack at age 59. Ryan began collecting his Social Security survivor's benefits until age eighteen, which he saved for college tuition and expenses.

Ryan briefly worked during college for the Oscar Mayer meat and cold cut production company as a Wienermobile driver. He went on to graduate from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a B.A. in economics and political science in 1992. Ryan also studied at the Washington Semester program at American University. Ryan was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity.

Ryan worked within the private sector as a marketing consultant to an earth-moving company run by a branch of his family after he returned to Wisconsin from Washington, D.C. .

Early political career

During his junior year at Miami University, Ryan worked as a college intern opening mail for the foreign affairs advisor assigned to Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten. In his early years as a D.C. staffer, Ryan moonlighted on Capitol Hill as a waiter at the Tortilla Coast restaurant and as a fitness trainer at Washington Sport and Health Club, among various other side jobs.

Out of fear that Ryan "...was destined to become a ski bum", Betty Ryan reportedly nudged her son to accept another congressional position as a staff economist attached to the office of U.S. Senator Bob Kasten.

After Kasten was defeated by Democrat Russ Feingold in 1992, Ryan became a speechwriter and a volunteer economic analyst with Empower America, an advocacy group formed by Jack Kemp, former education secretary Bill Bennett, the late diplomat Jeane Kirkpatrick and former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber.

Ryan worked as a speechwriter for Vice-Presidential candidate Kemp during the 1996 United States presidential election and later worked as legislative director for U.S. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. Ryan then returned to Wisconsin where he worked as a consultant to an earth-moving company and began campaigning for the 1998 U.S. congressional elections.

U.S. House of Representatives

Following his first election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, one of Ryan's priorities as a new congressman was to convert a truck into a rolling district office. This allowed him to keep regular congressional office hours with his constituents at various and far-flung locations across the Wisconsin First U.S. House District.

Ryan is one of the three founding members of the House GOP Young Guns Program.

In 2008, Ryan voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Wall Street bailout that precipitated the Tea Party, and the bailout of GM and Chrysler.

In 2010, ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked Ryan the ninth most influential US conservative. In 2011, Ryan was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address.

Committee assignments

Committee on the Budget (Chairman)

Committee on Ways and Means

*Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

Congressional Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus

International Conservation Caucus

Sportsmen's Caucus (Co-Chair)

Roadmap for America's Future

On May 21, 2008, Ryan introduced H.R. 6110, titled "Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2008". This proposed legislation outlined a plan to deal with entitlement issues. Its stated objectives were to ensure universal access to health insurance; strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security; lift the debt from future generations; and promote economic growth and job creation in America. The act would have abolished the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 2010. It did not move past committee.

On April 1, 2009, Ryan introduced his alternative to the 2010 United States federal budget. This proposed alternative would have eliminated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, lowered the top tax rate to 25%, introduced an 8.5% value-added consumption tax, and imposed a five-year spending freeze on all discretionary spending. It would also have replaced the Medicare system. Instead, it proposed that starting in 2021, the federal government would pay part of the cost of private medical insurance for individuals turning 65. Ryan's proposed budget would also have allowed taxpayers to opt out of the federal income taxation system with itemized deductions, and instead pay a flat 10 percent of adjusted gross income up to $100,000 and 25 percent on any remaining income. Ryan's proposed budget was heavily criticized by opponents for the lack of concrete numbers. It was ultimately rejected in the house by a vote of 293-137, with 38 Republicans in opposition.

In late January 2010, Ryan released a new version of his "Roadmap." It would give across the board tax cuts by reducing income tax rates; eliminating income taxes on capital gains, dividends, and interest; and abolishing the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the alternative minimum tax. The plan would privatize a portion of Social Security, eliminate the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance, and privatize MediCare.

On April 15, 2011, the House passed the Ryan Plan by a vote of 235-193. No Democrats voted for it, and only four Republicans voted against. A month later, the bill died in the Senate by a vote of 57-40.

Economist and ''New York Times'' columnist Paul Krugman took issue with the contention that Ryan's plan would reduce the deficit, alleging that it only considered proposed spending cuts and failed to take into account the tax changes. According to Krugman, Ryan's plan "would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population" but would produce a $4 trillion revenue loss over ten years because of the tax cuts for the rich. Krugman went on to label the proposed spending cuts a "sham" because they depended on making a severe cut in domestic discretionary spending without specifying the programs to be cut, and on "dismantling Medicare as we know it", which is politically unrealistic.

In response to Krugman, economist and former American Enterprise Institute scholar Ted Gayer was more positive toward the Ryan plan. Gayer agreed that, as written, the plan would cause a $4 trillion revenue shortfall over 10 years. He noted, however, that Ryan had expressed a willingness to consider raising the rates in his tax plan. Gayer concluded that "Ryan’s vision of broad-based tax reform, which essentially would shift us toward a consumption tax, ... makes a useful contribution to this debate."

Ramesh Ponnuru, writing in National Review, argued that the revenue loss to which Krugman refers is based on a comparison between Ryan's plan and current law, which "includes middle-class tax increases...cuts in payment to Medicare providers...[and] the expansion of the Alternative Minimum Tax." He added that "current law automatically raises the tax rates to pre-Bush levels in 2013...so if you're comparing the tax level with current law, Ryan's plan represents a tax cut" and "the CBO's actual projections for the Ryan plan show a debt level in 2021 that is $4.7 trillion lower than its projections for Obama's budgets."

Rick Foster, the chief actuary of Medicare, endorsed Ryan's plan as the best way to save Medicare from going bankrupt: "I would say that the Roadmap has that potential. There is some potential for the Affordable Care Act price reductions, although I'm a little less confident about that."

Political campaigns

Ryan was first elected to the House in 1998 when two-term incumbent Mark Neumann retired from his seat in order to make an unsuccessful bid for the Senate. Ryan won both a Republican primary over 29-year-old pianist Michael J. Logan of Twin Lakes, and the general election against Democratic opponent Lydia Spottswood. Ryan successfully defended his seat against Democratic challenger Jeffrey C. Thomas in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

2008

Ryan defeated Democratic nominee Marge Krupp by a wide margin in the 2008 general election.

2010

Ryan defeated both Democratic nominee John Heckenlively and Libertarian nominee Joseph Kexel by a wide margin in the 2010 general election.

Electoral history

Year			! District	Democrat		Republican		Other
style="text-align: left;">1998
style="text-align: left;"	2000
style="text-align: left;"	2002
style="text-align: left;"	2004
style="text-align: left;"	2006

Personal life

Ryan married Janna Little, a tax attorney, in December 2001. The Ryans live in Janesville with their three children: Elizabeth Anne Ryan, Charles Wilson Ryan, and Samuel Lowery Ryan.

Ryan is a practicing Catholic and is a member of St. John Vianney’s Parish.

References

External links

Congressman Paul Ryan ''official U.S. House site''

Paul Ryan for U.S. Congress ''official campaign site''

A Roadmap for America's Future Paul Ryan's alternative to the United States federal budget

Profile at SourceWatch

Health Care Reform: The Long-Term Perspective at Cato Institute, June 2009

Monitor Breakfast conversation on medicare voucher reform at Christian Science Monitor, December 2010

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin Category:Miami University alumni Category:People from Janesville, Wisconsin Category:Wisconsin Republicans

de:Paul Ryan (Politiker) it:Paul Ryan ja:ポール・ライアン pl:Paul Ryan (polityk) sh:Paul Ryan (političar) sv:Paul Ryan (politiker)

name	Chuck Woolery
birth date	March 16, 1941
birth place	Ashland, Kentucky, U.S.
birth name	Charles Herbert Woolery
occupation	Game show host
years active	1969–present
notable role	Mr. Dingle on ''New Zoo Revue''
spouse	Margaret Hayes (1961–1971)Jo Ann Pflug (1972–1980)Teri Nelson (1985–2004)Kim Barnes (2006–present)
website	http://www.chuckwoolery.com/
children	6 (5 living) }}

Charles Herbert "Chuck" Woolery (born March 16, 1941) is an American game show host. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. He was the original host of ''Wheel of Fortune'' from 1975–1981, the original incarnation of ''Love Connection'' from 1983–1994, and ''Scrabble'' from 1984–1990 (and during a brief revival in 1993). He also hosted ''Lingo'' on GSN from 2002–07, and most recently hosted ''Think Like a Cat'', which premiered on GSN on November 15, 2008. Woolery started out as a singer and has occasionally dabbled in other entertainment roles including acting and talk show hosting.

Background

Woolery was born in Ashland, Kentucky. He is a devout born again Christian and spends a great deal of time involved in volunteering in ministry.

Career

Woolery served two years in the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school. In 1963, Woolery worked for Wasserstrom Wine & Import Company in Columbus, Ohio as a wine consultant, which contributed to his problem with alcoholism that put him in rehab for 4 years of his life. He was also a sales rep for Pillsbury. In the 1960s, Woolery and Elkin "Bubba" Fowler recorded as the musical duo The Avant-Garde which had one-hit wonder success in 1968 with the top 40 pop hit "Naturally Stoned". Also during this time, he sidelined as a truck driver to supplement his income. Between 1977 and 1980, Woolery recorded for Warner Bros. Records and Epic Records as a solo artist, with two low-charting singles on Hot Country Songs.

While co-starring as Mr. Dingle on the hit children's series ''New Zoo Revue'', Woolery's first game show appearance was on a 1974 episode of ''Tattletales'' alongside then-wife Jo Ann Pflug. Starting as an enterprising folk/pop singer, Woolery was also seen on a 1974 episode of ''Your Hit Parade''. On January 6, 1975, Woolery began hosting the game show ''Wheel of Fortune'' at the suggestion of creator Merv Griffin, who had seen Woolery sing on ''The Tonight Show'', and Woolery hosted for six years. In 1981, Woolery was involved in a salary dispute with the program's producers. Woolery stated in a 2007 interview that he demanded a raise from $65,000 a year to about $500,000 a year because the program was drawing a 44 share at the time, and other hosts were making that much. Griffin offered Woolery $400,000 a year, however, but NBC offered to pay the additional $100,000. After Griffin threatened to take the program to CBS, NBC withdrew the offer. Griffin dismissed Woolery from ''Wheel of Fortune'' and weatherman Pat Sajak replaced him as a result. Woolery's last ''Wheel of Fortune'' episode aired on December 25, 1981.

Since then, Woolery has made references to his termination from ''Wheel'' on some of his later programs, most notably in the 1990 finale of ''Scrabble'' and two episodes of ''Greed.'' Nearly all of Woolery's ''Wheel'' episodes are believed to have been permanently lost, due to NBC's common practice of wiping to save money.

Woolery has also hosted ''Love Connection'' (1983–1994), ''The Big Spin'' (1985), ''Scrabble'' (1984–1990, 1993), ''The Home and Family Show'' (1996–1998, co-host), ''The Dating Game'' (1997–1999), ''Greed'' (1999–2000) (Which was originally supposed to be hosted by Phil Donahue) and ''Lingo'' (2002–2007). In addition, he was the subject of a reality show, ''Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned'', and has been seen on television infomercials as a national spokesman for National Recreational Properties, promoting developing real-estate developments such as Holiday Island in Arkansas. He also hosted his own talk show, ''The Chuck Woolery Show,'' which lasted for only a few months in 1991. He has also hosted ''The Price Is Right Live!'' at Harrah's casinos, and appeared in the live stage show "$250,000 Game Show Spectacular" at the Las Vegas Hilton until the show ended in April 2008.

Woolery was the co-host, along with Cristina Ferrare, of the unique talk and information show ''The Home and Family Show'' in the late 1990s. It was considered an American reality TV show. Michael Burger replaced Woolery in the final year of the show.

Woolery, who has often spoken enthusiastically about bass fishing, sells his own line of fishing products, including the "MotoLure," a motorized lure that simulates the motions of a small fish. Woolery's passion for the outdoors has also enabled him to become the official outdoor spokesman on QVC, where he promotes many other signature products. Woolery has also played on the World Poker Tour ''Hollywood Home Game'' for the charity Safe Passage.

On October 13, 2007, Woolery was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Discography

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		! width="40"
	"Painted Lady"
"Take 'Er Down, Boys"
1980	"The Greatest Love Affair"

See also

List of game show hosts

Notes

External links

The Official Website of Chuck Woolery

Chuck Woolery's Official Facebook Page

Internet Movie Database Biography

Category:1941 births Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American television actors Category:American Christians Category:Living people Category:People from Ashland, Kentucky Category:American game show hosts Category:American country singers

es:Chuck Woolery fr:Chuck Woolery fi:Chuck Woolery