A Young Man, a Profitable Company, a Big Honor

A Young Man, a Profitable Company, a Big Honor

Obama's Entrepreneurial Passage to India

Obama's Entrepreneurial Passage to India
To check out the post I wrote on President Obama's India trip and what that nation means to U.S. entrepreneurs, go to Portfolio.com.

When a politician talks fiscal responsibility, he or she is probably lying.

Hate to insert a dose of reality into all the political rhetoric. But all that talk about cutting taxes and getting rid of deficits?

I need to call it what it is: Bullshit.

Here’s the truth, thanks to Dave Manuel.com. In the last 40 years, the federal budget has been in surplus four times--from 1998 through 2001. So keep that in mind every time you see an ad with some politician talking about how he or she plans to bring fiscal sanity to Washington.  The fact is, politicians just find it easier to borrow to spend on their favorite programs.  For Republicans, that would be tax cuts for the rich.  For the Democrats, name your favorite social project.  For neither party is an actual balanced budget much of a priority, as history shows us.

I suppose those of us who think we would be better off if the federal government lived within its means and paid for such things as wars through the taxes collected have one hope in this dispiriting period: The one time in the last 40 years when we managed a balanced budget, we had a Democratic president and a Republican Congress.

Looking past the election: Can they work together?

Conciliation was the order of the day today for President Barack Obama.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, the man likely to be the next Speaker of the House, if polls are to be believed, sounded a similarly conciliatory note.

The two men showed in their weekly addresses that the next two years in Washington won’t be easy, but may not be the gridlock many expect. There could be common ground on taxes, on spending and on economic recovery, even if it isn’t easy to find.

Boehner made clear that his party was committed to a break from its own past of wild spending (the only time since at least the 1970s that the budget has been balanced was when Democrat Bill Clinton was in the White House and Republicans controlled Congress). Here’s some of what he had to say:
 

To cut spending, we have to change Congress itself. This is a new way forward that hasn’t been tried…Frankly, it’s a break from the direction that Republicans were headed the last time Americans entrusted us with the reins of government. The American people are in charge and they deserve nothing less. Together we can do these things and in doing so we can begin the drive to a smaller, less costly and more accountable government that honors our Constitution and respects the will of the American people.

The president, meanwhile, is also clearly looking to a Congress where it won’t be so easy to get his own way. But he, too, was making the case for comity in the future. He said:

Whatever the outcome on Tuesday, we need to come together to help put people who are still looking for jobs back to work.  And there are some practical steps we can take right away to promote growth and encourage businesses to hire and expand.  These are steps we all should be able to agree on – not Democratic or Republican ideas, but proposals that have traditionally been supported by both parties. We ought to provide continued tax relief for middle class families who have borne the brunt of the recession.  We ought to allow businesses to defer taxes on the equipment they buy next year.  And we ought to make the research and experimentation tax credit bigger and permanent – to spur innovation and foster new products and technologies. Beyond these near-term steps, we should work together to tackle the broader challenges facing our country – so that we remain competitive and prosperous in a global economy.  That means ensuring that our young people have the skills and education to fill the jobs of a new age.  That means building new infrastructure – from high-speed trains to high-speed internet – so that our economy has room to grow.  And that means fostering a climate of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow American businesses and American workers to lead in growth industries like clean energy. On these issues – issues that will determine our success or failure in this new century – I believe it’s the fundamental responsibility of all who hold elective office to seek out common ground.  It may not always be easy to find agreement; at times we’ll have legitimate philosophical differences.  And it may not always be the best politics.  But it is the right thing to do for our country.

It seems pretty clear that the man who already holds the most power in the United States, and the one likely to wield a pretty big stick himself, are looking ahead to a time when they have to work with each other. That’s actually a heartening thought. I certainly hope I’m reading it right.

Are electric cars for real?

On the day electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. officially reopened the only auto making plant in California, the NUMMI facility in Fremont, to build electric cars, J.D. Powers & Associates threw some cold water on the whole idea of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The respected J.D. Powers released a report saying that only 7.3 percent of the automobiles on the road come 2020 will be electric or hybrid. The report is something of a counter to all the hype electric vehicles have been getting this year. But some important players in Silicon Valley, Detroit, Tokyo, India and China expect a more rapid transition to an electric car, and furthermore, a cleantech, economy.

Here’s what J.D. Powers analysts had to say about the growth expected in the electric and hybrid vehicle market worldwide over the next 10 years:

In 2010, the total number of passenger vehicles sold worldwide is expected to reach 44.7 million units. Of this number, approximately 954,000 vehicles—or 2.2% of the global total—employ some type of battery propulsion system, either hybrid electric or pure battery-driven. By 2020, global passenger-vehicle sales are expected to reach 70.9 million units, of which 5.2 million units (7.3% of the total) will feature some type of battery-powered configuration.

J.D. Powers’ analysts point out, rightly, that there will have to be major improvements in battery technology and electric drive trains, and prices will have to come down for those technologies before there’s widespread adoption.

But others, including one of the key backers of Tesla, expect those developments very quickly. And still others say necessity will drive that wave of invention.

Alan Salzman of Vantage Point Ventures told me in the spring that he expected electric vehicle technology and adoption to follow a similar curve to that of such technologies as the personal computer and flat screen television—once-luxury items that have become common objects as technology has both dropped in price and improved. Salzman expects a much more robust adoption of electric vehicles. Here’s what he told me:

We’re just into the first and second generation of electric cars. Looking at the past ability of Silicon Valley and other innovation centers to improve technology rapidly, the next generations will be better, faster, and cheaper. And that will mean much more rapid adoption of electric cars than is commonly projected, he believes. “So if it were a five-person car and it cost $25,000, comparable to a Prius, why would anyone drive anything else? I think the answer is, 'hmmm, I don’t think you would,'” he says. “So electric cars are an inevitability because the electric motor is inherently more efficient and more effective than a combustion engine.” While auto analysts expect slower adoption of electric vehicles, Salzman says they’re too pessimistic. He believes a tipping point in that phase could be reached in the next 10 to 15 years.

There are other reasons for both electric cars and new forms of energy to advance rapidly.

First, as famed oil banker Matt Simmons pointed out before his death earlier this year, the world has likely already passed peak oil production. Others dispute that claim, but there’s no doubt that oil is getting harder and more dangerous to find, as oil companies drill deeper and deeper under the ocean. And demand for energy is going to rise.

As I wrote this spring:

It took a century for citizens of the United States and Western Europe to achieve a robust standard of living. In China and India, the Earth’s two most-populous nations with a combined population of 2.47 billion, people are bent on achieving that same standard in the next 20 years. What that means is tremendous demand for the staples of modern life: energy, steel, concrete, clean water. New supplies will either have to be found or invented—fast. That’s why a number of venture capitalists believe the next big development in their industry and among the companies they support will dwarf even the information-technology revolution of the past two decades.

So that kind of outlook predicts robust growth not just for alternative energy to drive vehicles, but other portions of modern economies.

And when it comes to electric cars and hybrids, venture capitalists aren’t the only ones betting on electric vehicles--not by a long shot. The largest car companies in the world are also well into the game, as are some of the biggest makers of batteries, the key component in electric cars.

Toyota, the world’s biggest car company, invested $50 million in Tesla when that company became the first American car company to go public since Ford in the 1950s. Toyota--which already has the franchise on the best-selling hybrid, the Prius--is also paying Tesla $60 million to develop an electric drivetrain for its RAV4 crossover.

Tesla will be expanding its own offerings at the NUMMI factory opened last week. So far, the company has only built cars for the elite--six-figure, high-performance, two-seat roadsters. But at NUMMI, the company will be developing the Model S, an all electric luxury sedan. And CEO Elon Musk said he hopes to develop lower cost electric vehicles in the future.

Nissan and General Motors are rolling out either electric, or extended-range hybrids this year. And companies as diverse as China’s BYD, in which Warren Buffett is an investor; India’s Tata; Ford and Volkswagen all have plans for electric vehicles and better hybrids.

Perhaps as importantly, two of the world’s largest battery makers have announced a partnership to develop and market batteries for electric vehicles. Japan’s Hitachi, and Johnson Controls of Milwaukee are teaming up in the battery game.

Hitachi was one of the first companies in the world to develop lithium ion batteries, the core of current technology for electric vehicles. And Johnson Controls is the world’s biggest maker of lead acid batteries, the batteries used in current internal combustion engine driven cars.

Given all that, it should be an interesting 10 years. Will companies be able to quickly develop electric cars as something other than a luxury or an oddity? And will consumers across the world gravitate quickly to the change? Or will it be a slower movement, as the folks at J.D. Powers expect?

Of Fear, Sanity and Media Wars in D.C.

Of Fear, Sanity and Media Wars in D.C.

The Tea Party shows its true stripes

First, we were treated to Sarah Palin's buddy Joe Miller's bully boys handcuffing a reporter asking a candidate legitimate questions on public property and Miller saying the East Germans had the right idea about border control. Now Rand Paul's thug stomps on the head of a woman who disagrees with him. Whose country is it they're trying to take back: Stalin's Russia? Hitler's Germany? Thanks but no thanks.

Poll shows Obama surge

Looks like the elections might not be over after all, despite all the inside-the-beltway consensus that this year will be a bloodbath for Democrats and a triumph for Republicans.

A Newsweek poll shows Dems closing the much-ballyhooed "enthusiasm gap" with Republicans, and a jump in the approval rate for President Barack Obama. Here's what Newsweek has to say:

The poll finds that 48 percent of registered voters would be more likely to vote for Democrats, compared with 42 percent who lean Republican.President Obama’s approval ratings have jumped substantially, crossing the magic halfway threshold to 54 percent, up from 48 percent in late September, while the portion of respondents who disapprove of the president dropped to 40 percent, the lowest disapproval rating in a NEWSWEEK Poll since February 2010. 

Newsweek cautions that Bill Clinton experienced a similar surge in 1994, and Democrats still took a trouncing.

But maybe, just maybe, all the talking the president's been doing about his agenda and Republicans' lack of one is having an effect.

Meanwhile, most prognosticators still predict a Republican takeover of at least one house of Congress. So the Republican leadership, at least, better be thinking seriously about what they'll really do to work with the president if they gain a majority in one or both Houses of Congress. The public won't stand for more out-and-out obstructionism in the face of two wars and an economy in the tank.

And we do have the recent history of the Clinton and Reagan presidencies to show that the country, at least, can prosper under a divided government--if politicians on both sides of the aisle walk a little bit away from partisanship and toward cooperation.

Jerry Brown takes a shot at Meg Whitman's voting record

Jerry Brown, in his effort to return to the California governor's mansion, is taking shot at rival former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's record of avoiding the polls. Significantly, he made his case at a predominantly African American Church, the Los Angeles Times reports. Democrats nationwide are looking to get their voters to the polls to minimize Republican gains, since Republicans have a pretty clear edge when it comes to excitement this year. Here's what Brown had to say about Whitman's record of staying home, according to the Times:

 “A lot of people struggled a lot. People died to vote, so that’s why it’s so important to go out there and do it,” he told the audience at Greater Zion church in Compton.“You’ve probably heard that the person I’m running against didn’t vote most of the time,” Brown added. “But I’m not going to talk about that because you already know it.” There and at several other churches, Brown used biblical references to draw murmurs of assent from the crowd.“With your help and God’s blessings, we’ll make it work for everyone, not just the powerful, not just the people who seek out fame,” Brown told hundreds at First A.M.E. Church in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles before a reference to Luke: “The children of darkness in their own way are pretty smart, but this is the time for the children of light.”

Notably, the other Republican millionaire running for high office in California, Carly Fiorina, also has a spotty voting record.

Glenn Beck: A blight on the nation

If there’s anyone in America who shouldn’t be able to sleep at night, it’s Glenn Beck.

Oh, I know Rush Limbaugh has gotten rich spouting absurdity, but I’ve listened Limbaugh once or twice and I confess that he’s at least funny, wrongheaded as he is.

But Beck is getting rich appealing to the very basest instincts on the American right-wing fringe. I would say the same of someone doing the same on the left--but Keith Olbermann just doesn’t compare.

The latest Beck outrage is his inspiration, apparently, of a nut case in California deciding to arm himself to the teeth to waste progressives of all types. In my book, it’s the kind of thing that if there were a God of justice would land you in the lowest circles of hell. So sleep well on your pile of money Mr. Beck, and good luck destroying the Republic.

Hurray for the Hobbit

You have to grab the good news where you can get it these days. So here's one happy bit from the Washington Post. Peter Jackson has agreed to direct "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The Hobbit." Put that together with the upcoming release of the upcoming release of the first part of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I, at least, am a happy camper.

U.S. to investigate China renewable cheating, and a roundup of big green business news

The Obama White House took action Friday that indicates the administration may really be taking jobs in the clean energy sector seriously, despite its disappointing performance so far on getting global warming legislation through Congress.

And there’s other encouraging news this week from the private sector on the green business front--one of the few areas of the economy that actually shows some robust job growth, and one of the areas that we should be looking to as we look to create a sustainable and powerful new economy.

The administration has agreed to investigate a complaint by the United Steelworkers that China is cheating when it comes to building its solar and wind power manufacturing. The union filed its complaint last month, arguing that the Chinese government was heavily subsidizing its clean energy industry, in violation of World Trade Organization rules and, apparently, our government is concerned enough to launch a probe of its own.

China has in the past few years become a clean energy powerhouse, quickly becoming the largest manufacturer of solar panels in the world and building a wind turbine industry from scratch. Most of that capacity has been directed at the export markets in the U.S. and Europe, instead of addressing the Middle Kingdom’s own gaping energy needs.

And that has organizations like the steelworkers concerned, lest the budding U.S. clean energy sector be strangled in its crib by unfair competition from abroad.

It’s important, too, because the U.S. industry is actually one of the few sectors of our economy that’s producing robust job growth, and because it is a cradle of innovation that others in the world are turning to for both inspiration and practical work.

Just this week, three events showed just how robust a powerful U.S. green companies and businesses could become, and how that could change our economy and the world.
First, on the jobs front, the Solar Foundation released its first ever jobs census for the U.S. solar industry and it shows big growth in jobs available--something so important it can hardly be overstated in an economy still stagnating with an unemployment rate near 10 percent following the Great Recession.

According to the report, jobs in the U.S. solar industry is growing jobs at a time when 16 percent of small businesses say they plan to cut positions.

Here’s a taste of what the jobs census has to say about solar companies and their job plans:

The Solar Foundation, helped by Cornell University, found that there were 93,000 jobs tied to the industry, about double the number in 2009, and 50 percent of the companies involved in it plan to hire in the coming months. Granted, that’s a small start, but I’d wager there are relatively few fields today where you could expect a similarly sunny outlook. And--and this is almost as important--the companies involved are small businesses, ranging from 14 to 24 workers, just the kind of companies that, if nurtured, could have limitless potential to grow into giants.

And while the solar power industry census shows a young industry that’s growing like a weed, the wind industry also got a boost this week with plans announced to build an underwater superhighway for electric transmission off the east coast, setting the stage to carry as much electricity from offshore wind farms five large nuclear reactors would.

The wind farms, of course, don’t exist yet, and the $5 billion transmission line from New Jersey to Norfolk, Virginia, will have to go through the arduous process of government approvals.But the project by Maryland’s Trans-Elect has some very impressive backers in Google, New York investment firm Good Energies, and Japanese firm Marubeni.

On its blog, Google points out, the transmission line would carry enough electricity to equal, “60 percent of the wind energy that was installed in the entire country last year and enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households,"

Google is an especially interesting investor, since the search and advertising giant has consistently shown it’s willing to put at least some of its massive amounts of cash to work on green energy projects. As I pointed out at Portfolio.com:

“The company has one of the largest corporate solar installations in the country at its Mountain View, California, headquarters. That installation generates 1.6 megawatts of power, enough for about 1,000 homes. Google has also invested in several up-and-coming alternative-energy companies—including solar firms BrightSource and eSolar and geothermal energy firm AltaRock.”

And on its corporate site, the company has this to say about a green future:

“The U.S. has a real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energy. The energy team at Google has been crunching the numbers to see how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. Our analysis suggests a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40 percent. Over 22 years, this plan could generate billions of dollars in savings and help create millions of green jobs.”

For another U.S. company in the green space, this week was a positive one as well. Tesla Motors Inc.--the electric car company that this summer became the first U.S. auto manufacturer since Ford Motor Company to go public--has attracted a $60 million investment from Toyota to develop an electric drive train for its RAV-4. It’s further evidence that the movement toward electric vehicles is gaining traction, and U.S. industry has the opportunity to be at the heart of that movement.

Finally, Wal-Mart continues to surprise with its commitment to the green movement. The world’s biggest retailer has long been a leader in cleaning up its supply chain and pressuring its suppliers to reduce packaging waste.

Now, Wal-Mart is joining the local food movement, on a global scale. The company announced this week it will stress local sourcing for its produce departments. That’s a pretty big commitment for a retailer of Wal-Mart’s size. The company makes about half of its money from its grocery operations.

China's rare earth power

We talk a lot about the power China could exercise over our policies thanks to the massive amounts of U.S. debt that nation holds. But there's another, less publicized, power that China holds, and one it's more likely to exercise, as Japan found out in a dispute with the Middle Kingdom last week. China controls some 98 percent of the world's rare earth minerals--which are essential to just about every gadget that makes our modern economy go, from cell phones to wind turbines. It would be wise for us to start digging for those minerals ourselves unless we want to be as beholden to China in the emerging new economy as we are to the Middle East for oil.

A First Amendment Right for Pastors

I consider myself pretty much a First Amendment absolutist--meaning basically that I believe in maximum freedom for both religious practice or nonpractice, and that unless you're shouting "fire" in a crowded movie theater, you should be able to say pretty much what you want to say, where you want to say it.        

That's why I applaud the 100 or so conservative pastors who plan to defy a 1950s-era law today and endorse candidates from the pulpit. I would probably disagree with their picks, and would say so in any forum available to me. But I do think they have the right to make their political beliefs known in a religious setting. If their parishioners are such sheep that they follow blindly their pastors' political recommendations, then so be it.

The ugly face of discrimination

Well, the hatemongers who send emails trashing Islam and their allies--that's right, allies--among Islamic hatemongers like Al Qaeda should be overjoyed by the news coming out this week.

The New York Times reports that complaints about workplace discrimination against Muslims are up. Muslims have been called "Osama" and "Camel Jockey," at their places of work. There are actually more complaints now than there were in 2001, after the attacks of 9/11.

It points to the same ugliness that has been abroad in the land since the 2008 election, when fools questioned Barack Obama's citizenship, and his religion, as if his religion should matter. By the way, he's a Christian, which makes him different from the author of our Declaration of Independence and Virginia's Statute For Religious Freedom, upon which or First Amendment is based, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, by the way, went through an intense study of the Gospels, cutting out all the miracles that struck him as nonsense. He also called priests and ministers "soothsayers and necromancers."

And the nonsense of today is that the U.S. is and always has been a Christian nation. That's simply not true. We don't tolerate our Muslim or Jewish or Hindu fellow citizens, we embrace them as Americans, with the same rights as all other Americans. At least if we have a grain of sense and decency. Unfortunately, both seem to be in short supply right now.

A Tea Party Tipping Point

A Tea Party Tipping Point

LSU Prof: Obama's oil tax proposals jeopardize thousands of jobs

It's easy to beat up on the oil companies and let's face it, for the past hundred years or so, oil companies have certainly made themselves odious enough to deserve any beating they get.

So it's not surprising that, after just such an oil company just spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama would choose oil companies as the target for tax hikes to pay for his plans to help small business out.

But now along comes LSU economist Joseph Mason, who says Obama's plans for closing oil company tax loopholes could cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the economy. Mason came out with estimates this morning that those costs would outweigh any benefits the tax hikes would bring.

Here's what I wrote about it this morning in Portfolio.com:

Mason estimates, the hike in oil company taxes would slash U.S. economic output by $341 billion and lead to $68 billion in lost wages throughout the U.S. “Though politicians think they are selectively targeting ‘Big Oil’ with these energy tax proposals, they would actually devastate thousands of small American businesses nationwide as well as the workers who depend on them. With at least 150,000 U.S. jobs at stake – in fields ranging from healthcare to real estate – it’s clear that the costs … far outweigh the potential benefit of increased government revenues that may be derived from the proposal,” Mason said in a release.

China's cheating on renewables, steelworkers claim

It didn't get a huge amount of play last week when the United Steelworkers filed a complaint thousands of pages long that alleges China is cheating to build the industries of the future. But it's a hugely important issue.

The steelworkers claim China, through subsidies and protectionist tariffs, has created its suddenly formidable renewable energy industries and locked out competitors. In the past two years, China has created the largest solar industry in the world, and has torqued up its creation of a wind turbine industry. For the most part, those industries have been aimed at export markets mainly in the United States and Europe. But China's domestic market for energy of all kinds is going to be the largest in the world by far as the country rapidly industrializes.

And the jobs it's creating by building its solar and wind industries are exactly the green jobs President Barack Obama has touted as part of the future for the United States. Of course, international trade is never a zero sum game, and it's entirely possible that both China and the U.S. workers could benefit from the development of renewable energies, some of them still in their infancy. But if China's cheating to undercut the world in these key industries, as the steelworkers claim, the U.S. needs to play tough.

These energy jobs are too important to the future to cede to competitors. The nation must insist on a level playing field.

“Green jobs are key to our future,” said Leo Gerard, International President of the union. “Right now, China is taking every possible step – many of them illegal under international trade laws – to ensure that it will control that sector. America can’t afford to cede more of its manufacturing base to China. It’s a national priority to reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies. But if all we do is exchange our dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Chinese alternative and renewable energy production equipment, we will have traded away our nation’s energy, economic and job security.”

Go down swinging

Frank Rich has a great column today arguing that Obama may not be in the awful shape described by the "Cliff's Notes" versions of polls touted on cable news and the internet. He also argues that Obama should spend the next two months taking on the rich and well connected as the midterm elections approach. If the president does choose to speak directly to the real fears and anger of the American people, he could well pull off another victory.

After 9/11, The Real America

After 9/11, The Real America

Obama chooses the perfect foil

President Barack Obama is nothing if not smart, and those who are counting Democrats out during the mid-term elections at this early date may want to think again.

During a speech in Ohio, Obama picked John Boehner, the Minority leader who would like to be Speaker of the House, as his foil. He couldn’t have chosen better.

First, Boehner is a classic example of a politician without a fresh idea whose only contributions to the national debate for the past two years have been negative. Secondly, he looks like a two-legged rat. And finally, he is indeed the face of the Congressional Republican party, a group that, let’s remember, has done nothing constructive for two years; when they could have come up with common-sense alternatives to Obama’s agenda, or contributed ideas, the simply answered “No.”

As Obama said: “Some Republican leaders figured it was smart politics to sit on the sidelines and let Democrats solve the mess.” That’s Boehner, a cynical creature of Washington if ever one walked the earth.

A sad day remembered

Hard to believe it's been nine years since the attacks of 9/11/2001. I remember a few days later, our family driving through the countryside and as I looked at September fields of cotton, I thought outside forces could not bring us down, no matter how hard they tried or what atrocities they committed. I feel that way today. Only we can destroy America and what it stands for, and we can only do so if we forget our public spirit, and if we forget our great capacity to compromise with each other and get along as Americans, always moving to something better and bigger than our individual interests and opinions. Josh Moss has an excellent essay in Portfolio.com about some of the recent controversies--the pastor who wants to burn the Quran, the Islamic Center near Ground Zero. It's well worth checking out.

We're Number Four

We're Number Four

How Barack Obama Became Mr. Unpopular

How Barack Obama Became Mr. Unpopular

Small Biz Gets Health Care Prognosis

Small Biz Gets Health Care Prognosis

The New King of New Orleans

The New King of New Orleans

President Obama Tells Republicans To Drop The Blockade Of Small Business - Capital - Portfolio.com

President Obama Tells Republicans To Drop The Blockade Of Small Business - Capital - Portfolio.com

The Katrina Effect: How Entrepreneurs Helped Restore New Orleans

The Katrina Effect: How Entrepreneurs Helped Restore New Orleans

What's in a Name?

What's in a Name?

Where the Tea Party and Obama Agree

Where the Tea Party and Obama Agree

Small Business holds tight to cash

A survey out this week shows that small businesses are doing as well or better than they were last year, but they're holding tight to cash and most don't plan to make big hiring or capital spending moves any time soon. Such a finding may render moot all the debate in Washington about aiding small business through either tax cuts or easing of lending. Business owners just won't spend any way, until there's some sign of consumer confidence returning, as I point out in this article in Portfolio.com.

Credit to Obama where it's due

The Economist, no fan of President Barack Obama's bold bailout of GM and Chrysler allows as how the bailout should have gone horribly wrong, but has instead largely succeeded. There's an analysis of why GM is in better-than-expected shape that I did at Portfolio.com.

Obama looks to Reagan

The Washington Post's Dan Balz has an interesting take on how Obama can survive the current downturn in his political fortunes. He points out that Ronald Reagan had similar numbers during the second year of his presidency, and that both president's numbers were accompanied by stubborn recessions and high unemployment. So if the economy rebounds by 2012, Obama could still sail to victory. The big if, though, is a robust recovery, which very few are predicting.

Carly Fiorina: A disastrous CEO wants to go to Senate

So let's get this straight. Carly Fiorina is running for Senate on her bona fides as the former CEO of a major American corporation. But here's the problem. She was widely viewed as a disaster for Hewlett-Packard. Stocks in the computer maker soared on the day she was canned. Mark Hurd, who succeeded her, has been unceremoniously dumped as well. But he was widely credited for rescuing the company from her mismanagement. So why on earth would we want her as a Senator when she's running on a record that's at best mixed?

A tempest in Manhattan

Frank Rich has a good column today on how the right-wing media led by Fox News and the New York Post ginned up controversy over the Islamic Center planned for lower Manhattan, and how that controversy undermines support for our last-ditch effort to salvage something from the war in Afghanistan.

Tough Choice Looms for Gulf Small Businesses

Tough Choice Looms for Gulf Small Businesses

Just for the record: Obama's a Christian

One in five Americans believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim, and nearly half of Americans don't know what his religion is.

Just so you know, Obama is a Christian. He may not be beloved by right-wing Christians like Focus on the Family. But he's a Christian. And for you birthers out there, he's also an American.As James Carville said, "Some people are just out and out stupid."

A New GM to Offer New Stocks

A New GM to Offer New Stocks

Icelandic Toasts Beer Partner

Icelandic Toasts Beer Partner

How Palin and fellow demagogues increased cancer victims' suffering

Remember all the geniuses like Sarah Palin claiming there would be death panels ready to pull the plug on grandma because health care reform included plans for palliative care?

Well, turns out a new study shows palliative care actually extends life as it makes it more comfortable for terminal lung cancer patients.

But thanks to demagogues like Palin and Rush Limbaugh and the lack of courage of our elected leaders, coverage for consultation about palliative was struck from the health care bill. Thanks Sarah and Rush, for killing the sick sooner and making them suffer more.

Palin's home state bellies up to the federal trough

The state where Tea Party darling Sarah Palin shoots moose and rails against government spending isn't shy about bellying up to the government trough.

Alaska, where they grow their politicians anti-government, got the biggest per capita share of stimulus spending. Think they'd be a little more grateful for all that government largess up there. 

Pizzeria Owner Found Obama a Good Listener

Pizzeria Owner Found Obama a Good Listener

Banks Find Few Takers in Looser Loan Atmosphere

Banks Find Few Takers in Looser Loan Atmosphere

A Lesson in Brass Taught by Blago

A Lesson in Brass Taught by Blago

President touts clean energy jobs, but Senate inaction puts jobs on hold

President Barack Obama used an event near Milwaukee to tout his clean energy agenda and the jobs created by the stimulus package early in his administration.

But there’s still a ton of work to be done to get the economy back on track, as a new survey of homebuilders out today shows. Homebuilders are more down in the dumps than they have been since the depths of the Great Recession, March 2009.

Little wonder they’re so far down, since there’s a huge backlog of foreclosed homes on the market, and consumers facing a 9.5 percent unemployment rate and five workers for every open job aren’t exactly in a big-spending mood.

As for clean energy, a cornerstone of job creation Obama promised during the 2008 election, it’s largely on hold, thanks to dysfunction and fecklessness by both parties in the U.S. Senate. A bill that should have been passed to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas would have created the funding to create the infrastructure needed for all those clean energy jobs and set a price that made clean energy competitive with fossil fuel.

But the Senate punted. The president can talk all he wants, but without a cost on carbon, and massive investment, we’ll be waiting a long time for those jobs of the future.

The Senate, where dysfunction reigns

George Packer has a fantastic piece in The New Yorker that outlines the struggles of those trying to get anything done in the U.S. Senate. I’d highly recommend that anyone interested in learning why our political leaders can’t seem to do the will of the American people--when that will can even be clearly determined--invest the time necessary to read this article.

Blackstone Makes Big Energy Play

Blackstone Makes Big Energy Play

Fed up workers ready to say good-bye

Daniel Gross of Slate has an interesting take on the spectacular exit of Jet Blue employee Steven Slater, and how it applies to the overall workforce.

Turns out, not surprisingly, that employees are tired of seeing their companies rake in the bucks while laying them off without a thought, pushing them to work more hours, driving down pay, and refusing to reinstate cuts made to 401(k) contributions. As Gross points out, big companies have been highly profitable, largely on the backs of cuts to payroll.

Here’s a quick thought to add. Steven Slater may not be the only one not willing to take it any more. A study from workplace supplier Regus finds that 40 percent of professionals are considering quitting their jobs after summer vacation.

Whitacre’s departure holds up GM IPO filing, and a few thoughts on the bailout

General Motors was expected to file the prospectus for its much-anticipated Initial Public Offering Friday. But it looks like the announcement that CEO Ed Whitacre is on his way out has delayed that filing.

Whitacre announced Thursday that he would be leaving the automaker in September, after guiding it through restructuring and restoring it to profitability. He’ll be replaced by Dan Akerson, lately of the private equity giant Carlyle Group and an appointee to the GM board by the Treasury Department when the government took its 60 percent stake in the automaker.

Akerson, like Whitacre, comes to running a car company without auto industry experience. Both men made their marks in telecom.

Reuters reports that sources say the IPO filing will be delayed to take into account the change at the top.

The GM IPO, through which the automaker plans to pay back the government, is expected this fall, and would mark a major victory for President Barack Obama, who forged ahead with a bailout in the face of significant political opposition.

And opposition remains. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley wants a probe of the IPO to ensure that the public will get top dollar when GM sells stocks again.

I certainly sympathize with that opposition; no one likes to see the government come to the rescue of a private enterprise, especially one mismanaged for decades as GM was. But it’s also hard to argue that the nation isn’t better off for having saved an industrial giant, as long as we get our money back.

There are even auto dealers now clamoring for more product from GM. Who would have thought that could happen a year ago?

How Harry Reid's cynical game playing doomed climate legislation, and a hope for its resurrection

A panel appointed by President Barack Obama has bolstered the argument for climate change and energy legislation and maybe won some coal state votes for such a measure.

The panel found promise in so-called carbon capture technology--in which carbon dioxide emitted by burning such fossil fuels as coal, oil and natural gas--is buried instead of being released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the number one gas responsible for global warming.

But here’s the catch for carbon capture, the panel found. It’s likely to be expensive, at least to begin with, and it won’t happen without a price placed on the release of carbon dioxide.

And Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader from Nevada, has sacrificed any meaningful legislation to reform America’s energy picture for his own political ends.

Here’s how. Earlier this summer, Reid precipitously decided to move immigration reform to the top of the agenda, ahead of climate change and energy legislation. It was a purely political move, designed to appeal to Hispanic voters in Nevada, where Reid faces a tough race. And it was a nakedly cynical move, too, that guaranteed that neither climate change legislation nor immigration reform would happen.

That’s because Sen. Lindsay Graham, the occasionally sane Republican from South Carolina, had been working with Democrat John Kerry and Independent Joe Lieberman on climate and energy legislation and when Reid put immigration ahead of it, Graham backed out.

Ironically, Graham had also been providing some bipartisan support for immigration reform as well, and pulled out of that initiative as well, dooming hope for such reform this year as well.

Reid had to know all that would happen, and he sacrificed two critically important pieces of legislation, and the opportunity to make that legislation happen, to his own political ends.

Does anybody wonder why folks can’t stand Congress?

In any case, here’s hoping that the next Congress will act in a more serious manner, and take care of such important matters as energy reform and climate legislation, which both President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain supported in the 2008 campaign. Then we can go forward with such technologies as carbon capture, and use them to bridge the way to a clean energy future.