How does the Miami Mercantile Exchange sound? Pretty good to Gov. Rick Scott, who has written a letter and made phone calls attempting to lure the Chicago Mercantile Exchange away from its Windy City home for the past century. Scott is jumping on a quote from CME Chairman Terrance Duffy, who reportedly expressed concern about a 30 percent corporate income tax hike in Illinois. "We don't want to leave Chicago," Duffy was quoted by the Wall Street Journal, but "we have to do what's right for our shareholders." St. Petersburg Times
Submitted 1 years 338 days ago

Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor unveiled a raft of new products Tuesday while its top executives spoke of better days ahead at a technology show and analyst conference in San Antonio. CEO Rich Beyer said Freescale has been on a three-year journey to cut costs, change its culture and spur product growth and sales, while paying down debt. The result was 27 percent revenue growth in 2010, to $4.5 billion, which was a bigger percentage gain than its peer group in the chip industry. Austin American Statesman
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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama victims of the April and May storms have been granted almost $42 million in disaster assistance loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the SBA said Tuesday. Less than a week remains before the June 27 deadline to file for an SBA disaster loan available to homes and businesses affected by severe storms, tornadoes, high winds and flooding that occurred between April 15 and May 31. So far, 753 low-interest home and business disaster loans totaling $41,991,500 have been approved. The SBA encourages anyone who received an SBA application to complete and return the form, because they could be eligible for grants. The Birmingham News
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Let's be honest here: If the illegal immigrants were Canadians or Danish, we wouldn't be making nearly as much of a fuss about it. And we'd all be up in arms if we had to show our "papers" to police if we were stopped, because so many of us "look" Canadian or Danish. But because most illegal immigrants are Hispanic, they can be "spotted." So our new, mean, Scott Beason-sponsored anti-immigrant bill calls on police to check papers when "immigrant-looking" people are stopped for another violation. Of course, police officers never have a problem in coming up with a "violation." The Birmingham News
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Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed sweeping changes to Florida's water management districts that he says will amount to a $210.5 million property tax cut for homeowners and businesses in 2012. “This property tax cut allows families and businesses to use more of their hard-earned money in the way they see best, rather than having to send it to a government agency,” Scott said in a statement. Scott signed SB 2142 in a ceremony at the South Florida Water Management District headquarters in West Palm Beach. The Miami Herald
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Wetlands that supply water for all of southeastern Florida have run virtually dry and can no longer replenish drought-parched wells used by public utilities, water managers are warning. Without the fresh water, district and local utility officials say, there is little to keep subterranean salt water from pushing its way into coastal wells and possibly tainting them permanently. The water conservation areas, located on the southeast side of Lake Okeechobee, are used throughout the year to carry water to coastal wellheads. But water levels in the conservation areas have dropped so low that the South Florida Water Management District has been forced to cut off the supply. Palm Beach Post
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Proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could cost North Carolina thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in business activity, warns a report by Families USA. The nonpartisan health and consumer advocacy group is pushing Washington lawmakers to avoid slashing Medicaid as they consider ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. “This is exactly the wrong time for Congress to cut a program that boosts the economy while also providing a boost to individuals and families facing hard economic times," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, in a prepared statement. Raleigh News & Observer
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It could get easier for unions to organize employees in Memphis and nationwide under rule changes proposed Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board. The board's Democratic majority voted 3-1 to rewrite the rule book in favor of speedy balloting on whether employees want a union to represent them. The plan, subject to a 60-day comment period and a public hearing July 18-19, would give companies less time to mount internal campaigns against unionization. It's sure to stir opposition among business advocates and Republican lawmakers who see it as a back-door attempt to advance the cause of Big Labor. Opinions were sharply divided in Memphis as well. Memphis Commercial Appeal
Submitted 1 years 338 days ago

Mark Cuban could spread his franchise ownership skills beyond just the Dallas Mavericks. During an interview with TMZ.com, Cuban said he'd be interested in acquiring the Major League Baseball Follow this company franchise, despite the financial mess of the surrounding that team. "If the deal's right and it's fixable; yes, I'd be very interested," Cuban said, during the interview. Dallas Business Journal
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The government is poised to propose new rules that aim to boost the safety of offshore drilling and tighten standards for emergency equipment guarding subsea wells, a top regulator said today. The looming rules will build on already broad changes that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has imposed since last year’s Gulf oil spill, said the agency director, Michael Bromwich, in a speech before the World National Oil Companies Congress in London today. Houston Chronicle
Submitted 1 years 338 days ago