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Utah World Trade Newsletter
World Trade Center Utah is now publishing a weekly e-newsletter. If you are interested in Utah-related international news, you can subscribe here. This week's issue features a story about a trade mission to East Asia, and a profile on Jana Farr, a BYU alumna who was selected by Rotary International to be a Rotary World Peace Fellow. Farr will attend a masters degree program starting this September in England, where her studies will focus on peace building and conflict resolution.
Utah Business Climate Ranks High
Today’s Economic Development Corporation of Utah newsletter says Utah received back to back accolades from two of the top business media organizations on Wednesday. Forbes Magazine ranked Utah the No. 2 Best State for Business, up from No. 4 last year. At the same time, CNBC rated Utah the No. 3 Best State. Each report recognized Utah’s high quality of life and superior workforce available to business. The newsletter also features a story about Utah's Energy cluster and Gov. Huntsman's new energy advisor, Dr. Dianne Nielson.
Solid Job Growth, Resilient Economy
Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update this week focuses on employment. “Overall, U.S. job creation continued at a solid pace during June with the net addition of 132,000 jobs. The reported gain was very close to the 125,000 job consensus estimate of economists. Of note: job creation estimates of the two prior months were revised higher by 75,000 jobs. The U.S. economy added an average of 145,000 net new jobs monthly in 2007's first six months, down 23% from the 189,000 average monthly pace during 2006.”
Thredgold also notes that if all the woes that have befallen the U.S. economy over the past three years (sky-high oil prices, declining home prices and climbing foreclosures, sub-prime mortgage problems, a weak dollar, tight monetary policy, unpopular war and unpopular president and Congress, etc.) had been anticipated, there would have been an consensus among economists that serous recession would engulf the U.S. economy. Instead, U.S. economic growth has been solid with lots of positives. “The American economy is an amazing, complex, flexible and powerful entity,” Thredgold concludes.
Washington Watch
Hatch: Protect SCHIP $$
Sens. Orrin Hatch, Charles Grassley, and Pat Roberts call on Pres. Bush to "stop the Department of Health and Human Services from granting and extending waivers for adult coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program" (see press release).
Today in Political History
July 12, 1909: 16th Amendment is approved to tax income. (Source: Scrapthecode)
July 12, 1984: Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale announces Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate, the first woman to run for VP on a major party ticket. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others.”
-- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 34 (Source: Patriot Post)
Political Trivia
Utah State Senate
The Utah State Senate is a body of 29 men and women elected to four-year terms. About half of the Senate seats are up for election every two years. Each senator represents about 60,000 citizens. A Senate district may encompass a county, a portion of a county, two or more counties, or a combination. The Senate is reapportioned as desired or as required by law to ensure that each senator represents approximately the same number of constituents. (Source: Utah Senate)
National Politics
Best Stories From …
-- The Politico: "Lust, predation, hypocrisy. These behaviors were observed in humans, including Washington politicians, even before Republicans roared to power on Capitol Hill in the 1990s. But the [scandal involving] Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) ... is one more float in a long and flamboyant parade of sexual follies and scandals served up by his generation of congressional Republicans."
-- Los Angeles Times: "As President Bush struggles to maintain support in Congress for his Iraq 'surge' strategy, the three leading Republican presidential contenders have been quietly backing away from any commitment to continue the buildup."
-- The Hill: "Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) faces a crucial leadership test this month in managing his increasingly frustrated GOP colleagues on the Iraq war while pressing the White House's case that U.S. forces need more time to complete their mission."
-- Bloomberg: "Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, a champion of conservatives, and Rudy Giuliani, a favorite of political independents, may be the biggest beneficiaries if John McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination collapses, political experts say."
Blog Watch
-- At The Senate Site, Sens. John Valentine, Darin Peterson, Margaret Dayton, and Dennis Stowell post reports of their visit to Milford Flat, the site of the largest fire in state history, which Peterson, Dayton, and Stowell say can be blamed in part on failed environmental policies.
-- At Out of Context, Thomas Burr reports: "Rep. Jim Matheson often calls himself a fiscally conservative Democrat. He belongs to the moderate and frugal-minded Blue Dog Caucus and annually fights against an automatic pay raise for members of Congress. And now Matheson can make another claim about his position: he is more fiscally conservative than most of his Utah colleagues: Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob Bishop. That's according to a report by the watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, which tracked votes on efforts to cut pork in spending bills. Rep. Chris Cannon bested the whole delegation, scoring a 77 percent fiscal conservative record while Matheson came in second with 64 percent. The group famous for its 'Pig Book' of congressional earmarks gave Hatch a 59 percent, Bennett a 52 percent and Bishop the lowest of the delegation with 46 percent. I wonder how long it will take Cannon and Matheson to get this into campaign materials.
Lighter Side
Best of Late Night Humor
David Letterman: “Top Things Overheard In Line To Buy The iPhone”: “Finally, I can talk on the phone while watching ‘Laverne & Shirley’ ”; “Can I call Mars with this thing?”; “Sorry folks, Apple just announced it’s obsolete”; “I’ll be right back, I have to go take an iLeak”; “This is why the terrorists hate us”; “It’s $499 for the 4GB model, or $599 for the deluxe which makes waffles.”
Jay Leno: Happy birthday to President Bush, who turned 61 on Friday. But since he’s the president, he had his age commuted down to 59. ... President Bush told British reporters last week he wishes he was a better speaker—at least that’s what they think he said. ... As I’m sure you know, President Bush’s immigration bill failed to pass. It was voted down by the Senate. I wondered why the help at Wal-Mart seemed a little testy. ... In fact, some illegal aliens are so angry, they’re threatening to leave the country. ... Did you see all those doctors last week involved in that terrorist attack at the Glasgow airport? How scary was that? You thought the docs at your HMO were bad. ... Who watched that Live Earth thing? I guess they had a huge tree on stage—I thought it was a huge tree. Turns out it was just Al Gore giving a speech. ... Al Gore’s son, Al Gore III, arrested in Laguna Niguel, California. Police found marijuana in his car. Police searched the car after pulling him over for going 100 mph in his Prius. When his dad found out he said, “Whew, thank God it was a Prius. That could’ve been so embarrassing.”
Craig Ferguson: Did you watch the Live Earth concert against global warming? Neither did I! I was shoveling coal into my Styrofoam factory, enjoying roast penguin. |
