Stellar Year for Business
Leaders of the Salt Lake Chamber will talk about the 2007 banner year for business in the “State of Business” report today at 2 p.m. at the Chamber offices. Utah’s largest business organization will also unveil its 2008 legislative priorities, which will include health system reform, transportation funding, investment in education, and support for the Downtown Rising initiative.
Utah is Most Competitive State
This week’s Economic Review newsletter from the Economic Development Corporation of Utah says Utah has long enjoyed a pro-business environment, lower taxes, and fiscally responsible state government, all of which have helped make the state number one in the nation in economic competitiveness, according to two national reports.
BRC Open House
The Zions Bank Business Resource Center, which serves entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profits, is celebrating it's second anniversary with an open house on Jan. 24. The BRC is also starting a series of free monthly "Sunrise Seminars," which will be held the fourth Thursday of each month and address topics of interest to the small business community. The first Sunrise Seminar will also be held Jan. 24. Read more about the Sunrise Seminar's in this week's issue of Taking Care of Business.
Four-Letter Words
Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update this week says the December jobs report can be summed up with a few four-letter words: “ugly…weak…soft…poor…and shaky (OK, that one was five.)”
But Thredgold still isn’t quite ready to jump on the recession bandwagon: “Given the weakness in the December employment data, it is likely that more and more economists will shift to the now sexy recession forecast…
…for the moment, I will not. Our view of recent months was that the chance of recession was around 30%-40%, a number that data demands to now be around 40%-50%. Further data in coming months will obviously help clear the clouded view. I may have to move to the ‘Woe is Me, Recession is Upon Us’ camp at some point, noting that my earlier forecast was too optimistic.” Thredgold suggests that aggressive action by the Federal Reserve and a $100 billion fiscal stimulus (tax cut) program by the president and Congress could help avert a recession.
Washington Watch
New Cannon Website
Rep. Chris Cannon has launched a new campaign website. Designed by former Bush/Cheney webmaster and well known conservative blogger Patrick Ruffini, the website includes interactive features, video, a campaign blog, online contribution opportunities, social networking tools, and more. To check it out, click here.
Today in Political History
Jan. 10, 1776: Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.
Jan. 10, 1861: The Florida legislature votes to secede from the Union.
Jan. 10, 1920: League of Nations comes into existence. (Source: Perspicuity)
Jan. 10, 1946: The first General Assembly of the United Nations convenes in London. (New York Times)
Wise Words
"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power not longer susceptible of any definition."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, February 15, 1791 (Source: GMU.edu)
Utah as Viewed From the Outside
(From the 2008 Almanac of Politics by National Journal Group)
“Today, Utah sees itself as a busy generator of wealth, with a raft of successful businesses and a knack for high-tech innovation – and longer work weeks than the rest of the nation. Utah achieves all this with cultural attitudes and demographic patterns that resemble the America of the 1950s. Utah has the highest percentage of households headed by married couples, the highest fertility rate for non-Hispanic whites, the youngest median age of first marriage, and the lowest rate of birth to unmarried mothers. It has many more children per capita than any other state, and this can make its economic statistics misleading: Utah has a relatively low per capita income (because all those kids aren’t earning salaries) but ranks much higher on median household income. It is the youngest state, with the largest families and one of the longest life expectancies, and the highest rate of volunteering.”
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- The Politico: Columnist Jeanne Cummings: "When Hillary Rodham Clinton choked up in a New Hampshire diner talking with other women almost forlornly about her presidential hopes, some women voters may very well have seen themselves. ... That helps explain why some women broke for Clinton in the last hours of the New Hampshire primary ...."
-- The Hill: Clinton's chief strategist Mark Penn "predicted months ago that the senator would face a 'near-death experience.' ... During an interview on 'Nightline' in early September, Penn warned that the then-'sunny' times of the campaign would not last forever. [Said Penn:] 'Well, you'd never get through one of these primary campaigns without a near-death experience. It's -- it's never happened.'"
-- U.S. News & World Report: Columnist Michael Barone sifts through the fallout of the NH GOP vote and concludes: "I wrote a few days ago that there were 60 scenarios for the Republican nomination. I think we're down to about 52 ..."
-- Newsweek: Columnist Howard Fineman: "We could be in for a long, perhaps very long, presidential campaign -- in both parties. [The Clinton and McCain victories in NH mean] the race in both parties could go on into the spring, if not beyond."
Blog Watch
-- UtahSenateDemocrats reports: "It's official. [Gov. Huntsman] has appointed Karen Mayne to fill the Senate seat of her late husband Senator Ed Mayne. ... She will be sworn in January 21, 2008, the first day of the 2008 General Legislative Session. Senator Karen Mayne is already hard at work in her Senate district, communicating with constituents and helping them with their needs. We extend a warm welcome to Karen! We know her. We acknowledge her political experience and her community service. She is the ideal person to continue the endeavors launched by Senator Ed Mayne. She's off to a great start!"
-- The Tribune’s Glenn Warchol has multiple posts up covering a wide range of topics at the new Salt Lake Crawler.
Lighter Side
Best of Late Night Humor
(From Patriot Post)
David Letterman: From the “Top Ten Signs You’re Watching Bad Election Coverage”: TV reporters seem to be using the word “dude” a lot; Because of the writers strike they show reruns of the Reagan-Mondale election; Exit polling question: “Did you have trouble finding the exit?”; Three candidates each received 50% of the votes; Top half of screen shows election coverage, bottom half is “American Gladiators”; Pundit says it’s looking unlikely Bush will be re-elected; It’s 3 hours of Dog the Bounty Hunter yelling racial slurs; Still haven’t projected winner from Iowa.
Jay Leno: Congratulations to Barack Obama, the big winner in the Iowa caucus. He got 57 percent of the youth vote and 100 percent of Iowa’s black vote—a guy named Larry. ... And congratulations to Mike Huckabee, the Republican winner. Just one appearance on the “Tonight Show” and he won! ... Hillary Clinton came in third—third! Apparently she chose the wrong talk show to appear on. ... One of Hillary’s campaign people said, “[Iowa’s] defeat is just a bump in the road.” Kind of like the scene in “Titanic” when the guy goes, “What was that?” “Oh just an iceberg...” ... Isn’t it about time reporters stopped asking stupid questions? [To Barack Obama] “Do you think America is ready for a black president?” Like he’s gonna go, “Oh you got me! C’mon honey, let’s go home.” ... It finally stopped raining. Even though we’ve had all this rain the last couple of days, forecasters say California could be looking at a three years’ dry spell due to a weather pattern called La Nina. Ever notice when we have bad weather we blame it on the Mexicans? |
