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Submitted 9 minutes ago

We’ve had enough. Yes, we just lost our second straight presidential election to Barack Obama. Yes, losing is painful and has consequences. Yes, when you lose, you make adjustments. Enough already. Let’s get on with it. Yes, we have plenty of changes to make. I’ve offered a list of seven ideas for change, former Gov. Jeb Bush has offered substantive thoughts, as have Senators Rubio, Johnson, Paul, and others. The points these gentlemen have made are sensible and merit serious discussion. And it should go without saying that we should continually challenge our own assumptions and evaluate our standing. But excessive navel gazing leads to paralysis. At present it looks as if the entire Republican party needs to go to counseling. It’s really getting embarrassing, all these public professions of feelings of inadequacy. Every day it seems another jilted high-placed Republican in Washington is confessing to the voters; “It’s not you, it’s me…” Politico
Submitted 10 minutes ago

In his latest tirade against the Republican "party of stupid," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has written an op-ed in Politico that rails against what he paints as the right's inability to stick up for its own conservative values. Instead of trying to mold to the current political landscape, the Baton Rouge native tells his party to wait it out until voters come back to the GOP brand of conservative politics. "We are the conservative party in America -- deal with it. We have a lot of dissenting voices. So what? Deal with it. The American public waxes and wanes. Fine. It will wax again soon enough," Jindal wrote in the Tuesday op-ed. "At some point, the American public is going to revolt against the nanny state and the leftward march of this president. I don't know when the tipping point will come, but I believe it will come soon," he added. Times-Picayune
Submitted 14 minutes ago

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is no fool, although at times he appeared to play one on the campaign trail last year when he was running for president. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been touting his New York "Open for Business" campaign to try to convince the world the state is not where businesses go to die. Perry's campaign is called Texas "Wide Open for Business," in what appears to be an attempt to one-up Cuomo. But can you blame Perry? Texas has no income tax. Cuomo recently launched his Tax-Free New York Plan to give businesses that locate on SUNY campuses a tax-free holiday for 10 years. But as is always the case in New York, those who locate in these tax-free zones would face a barrage of rules, including approval by a special board. Albany Times-Union
Submitted 16 minutes ago

Texas Gov. Rick Perry cast his trip to Connecticut this week as good, old-fashioned competition, not job poaching. He arrived in Connecticut on Sunday and visited Hartford and Stamford, the hometown of Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy (and where he was mayor for 14 years). The Greenwich Time wrote about Perry’s visit as did the Hartford Courant. Perry attempted to court Connecticut gun manufacturers that have threatened to leave since the state passed tough gun-control laws this year in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. He’s in New York today. Last week, Perry launched a $1 million radio and television advertising campaign in the two states, pitching Texas’ strong job creation, no income tax and other benefits. TexasOne, a privately-funded marketer, is paying for the ads and Perry’s trip. Dallas Morning News
Submitted 20 minutes ago

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange’s first trip to the Paris Air Show could have gotten off to a better start. Slowed by a downpour, the Montgomery contingent arrived three hours late Monday and nearly missed the first of several industry recruitment meetings. “We were a little late, but we did get there,” Strange said. It was the start of a busy day that included a visit with GKN Aerospace, which operates a facility in Tallassee. That plant produces components used by Airbus and others. It was last expanded in 2005, pouring $20 million into the facility and adding 250 jobs. Area officials are optimistic that more investment could be on the way as Airbus builds a new assembly plant in Mobile. Montgomery Advertiser
Submitted 20 minutes ago

Builders began work on more U.S. houses in May and permits for new single-family homes rose to a five-year high as residential real estate underpins an economy that’s generating little inflation. Housing starts climbed 6.8 percent, less than forecast, to a 914,000 annualized rate from a revised 856,000 in April, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Applications for one-family home construction increased to a 622,000 pace, the fastest since May 2008. Data from the Labor Department showed May consumer prices rose less than projected. Building permits that exceed the pace of ground-breaking signal further construction gains that will propel growth as manufacturing cools and federal budget cuts take hold. Inflation below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal gives policy makers the leeway to address joblessness as they consider at their meeting today and tomorrow when to dial down record monetary stimulus. Bloomberg
Submitted 22 minutes ago

A combination of rebounding sales and an unprecedented number of new models in the works has stretched the auto parts supply chain so taut that the entire industry is holding its collective breath that it does not snap and jeopardize the recovery. New car sales are on pace to exceed 15 million in the U.S. this year and as many as 85 million globally. A record 500 vehicle launches are expected by 2016. “Everyone has parts shortages,” said Carla Bailo, who heads Nissan Americas’ research and development in Farmington Hills, Mich. “The supply chain is one of our biggest threats. Everyone cut back and is now ramping up. We can’t get up to speed as quickly as in the past.” The Tennessean
Submitted 24 minutes ago

PULASKI, TENN. — Auburn Hills has some competition if Fiat decides to move its joint Fiat-Chrysler headquarters to the U.S. Tennessee officials are making the case to Fiat head Sergio Marchionne to select their state for the Italian automaker’s joint headquarters with Chrysler Group. Marchionne met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and others on Sunday at a ceremony to mark the expansion of Fiat subsidiary Magneti Marelli’s components plant in Pulaski. WPLN-FM reports that Marchionne said Tennessee officials have been “working me over pretty well.” When he rhetorically asked where those assembled for the ribbon cutting where they would prefer the headquarters to be, Haslam replied: “I vote right here.” Fiat holds a majority stake in Chrysler, which is based in Auburn Hills. Detroit Free Press
Submitted 27 minutes ago

ARLINGTON — Heavy metal rocks the General Motors Assembly Plant daily. A 7-foot-tall gear and 1.5-million-pound press are just two of the enormous pieces of equipment being pounded into place at the plant’s new metal stamping facility. The $200 million facility is being completed as the plant’s body shop and assembly line get enlarged and modified to build 2014 full-size SUVs. Meanwhile — just to keep things interesting — the 59-year-old factory is still producing 2013 SUVs amid the construction. Plant officials won’t comment on the progress of the overall $531 million project, which started in June 2011, or when production of the new SUVs will begin. But all of the new buildings are now enclosed in tan steel, and the number of construction workers at the site has dropped from about 1,000 a year ago to 100. “We’re on schedule, and that’s really all we can say,” said Paul Graham, manager of the plant. Dallas Morning News
Submitted 32 minutes ago