This article is yet another example of why it is important to give the FCC the authority they need to conduct incentive auctions. Additionally, this article highlights importance that the unlicensed spectrum community (i.e. WiFi) plays in helping to relieve the strain on carrier networks.
House Republicans are working hard to ensure that the supply of available spectrum is adequate enough to meet consumer demand. Greater availability of spectrum, both licensed and unlicensed, will help drive innovation and create jobs. The wireless industry has always been capital intensive, but the recent move to build faster and more reliable networks to support a deluge of data has weighed on these carriers. |
The U.S. wireless industry spent $24.9 billion on capital investments like networks and infrastructure in 2010, the highest annual total since 2005, according to industry trade organization CTIA. |
But in 2010, AT&T and Verizon Wireless were the only companies to earn a return on their wireless network investments greater than their cost of capital, according to Bernstein Research. |
For the wireless carriers, average revenue per user has been falling in recent years despite increased smartphone adoption as the companies added more connections for lower-revenue devices like e-readers and tablet computers. In the third quarter, wireless carriers were being paid $46.09 a year by the average user, $2 less than a year before, according to UBS AG. |
Just in the last year, the amount of wireless data consumed monthly more than tripled among teens and doubled for just about every other age group, according to Nielsen. |
An entrepreneurial law firm in Cleveland tells their story of how the President's new health care, Affordable Care Act, inhibits the company's health care planning and expansion of their firm. New law could reduce our health care options |
With the upcoming health care excise tax, we expect problematic premium increases above and beyond those related to benefit payments. Then in 2018 and later, the administration of the so-called “Cadillac” tax appears likely to be incredibly burdensome to employers. We will have to tote up all of our expenditures in various categories and report them to the insurance company, which will then have to determine if a tax is due and, if so, which parties have to pay which part of the tax. Also, they have to price the tax into their premium model so they do not have to dip into their reserves to pay the tax. |
That means the employer will get hit with the administrative costs, the actual portion of the tax it owes and the tax passed through by the insurer. Just the administrative burden alone will be significant, even if little or no tax turns out to be owed. |
We have looked into expanded wellness offerings. In an entity as small as ours, the positive impacts of wellness programs are unlikely to be felt in our health care costs, since community rating puts everyone’s experience together. Those who are managing their chronic conditions, keeping their weight down and refraining from tobacco will be lumped in with everyone else for rating purposes. We believe that encouraging wellness is the right thing to do, though, so we will continue to sponsor and support wellness initiatives. |
Assuming that we will be able to continue to offer health insurance at all, it is likely that we will reduce the level of covered benefits and increase pay, so that employees can supplement their coverage, if that is what they want for their own families. |
The uncertainty about what will happen with the Affordable Care Act (both in its entirety and in its individual complex parts, some of which are written very unclearly and, in an ideal world, would get technical legislative corrections) is a definite barrier to planning for our insurance benefit program and expansion of our firm. |
Our health insurance program ranks third in expense behind only payroll and rent, so failing to control its cost clearly inhibits our growth opportunities. |
Our law firm has just under 70 lawyers and 50 support staff. We have a single office here in Cleveland. We started the firm in 2000, after leaving a large firm, at least in part so we could spend more time on lawyering than on administering and managing. |
Ms. Jackson's agency takes over automobile design. |
Here's one good way to consider the vote in 2012: It's about whether to re-elect President Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, which these days runs most the U.S. economy. |
The EPA heaved its weight against another industry this month, issuing a regulation to sharply increase fuel economy. Under this new rule, America's fleet of passenger cars and light trucks will have to meet an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a doubling of today's average of about 27 mpg. By the EPA's estimate the rule will cost $157 billion, meaning the real number is vastly greater. |
The National Automobile Dealers Association, which has opposed the EPA rule, has compiled Obama Administration documents showing the average price of a new vehicle will increase by $3,100 by 2025, thanks to the cumulative fuel-efficiency rules. Vehicles that currently cost $15,000 or less will effectively be regulated out of existence. The rule will reduce the mass of a car by 15% to 25%, decreasing safety. |
Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum
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The JOBS Act will advance wireless broadband service, spur billions of dollars in private investment, create thousands of jobs, help bring interoperable broadband communications to public safety officials, and reduce the deficit by approximately $15 billion. |
CEOs to Obama: 'Get Out of the Way' for Job Growth |
We asked several CEOs leading up to the speech what bold steps Obama could take to reduce the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. |
John Schiller, chairman and CEO of Energy XXI, said "if the government would get out of the way, from a regulation standpoint, and let us [XXI] do what we do good you'll see us continue to hire and grow this economy." |
Jon Faraci, CEO of International Paper [IP
27.77
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 ], told CNBC "to create jobs what we need is demand. This economy is 70 percent consumer driven, so we need consumers spending some of their discretionary income if we're going to have demand that's gong to lead to more jobs." |
"If we get demand, we’ll put more shifts on, our employees will be working more hours, and we’ll hire more people. Without demand we can have all the certainty in the world and all the clarity about regulation, but to me it’s not so much about confidence as it is about demand," explained Faraci. |
Indra Nooya, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo [PEP
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(-1.34%)
], noted that "anything that's done to address unemployment in terms of massive stimulus spending is going to exacerbate deficits. And anything that's done to address deficits in the short-term is going to exacerbate unemployment." |
* * NEWS FLASH FOR THE WHITE HOUSE & DEMOCRATS RUNNING WASHINGTON * *
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 In advance of today’s meeting at the White House, here again are the three things Speaker Boehner and Republicans have said all along are needed for President Obama’s debt limit increase to pass the House:
Republicans have repeatedly said any proposal that fails to meet this test is bad for job growth and can’t pass the House. Here’s Speaker Boehner again yesterday:
A survey by Resurgent Republic found Americans only support raising the debt limit “in exchange for substantial spending cuts and a commitment to reduce the deficit.” And according to US News & World Report, the American people are against tax hikes “in a big way.” Republicans are standing with the American people.
There are no surprises. As Speaker Boehner told Fox News, if President Obama wants to raise the debt limit, it’s time for him to put a plan on the table that meets these requirements and can pass Congress. |
* * NEWS FLASH FOR THE WHITE HOUSE & DEMOCRATS RUNNING WASHINGTON * *
Posted by
Don Seymour
on
July 13, 2011
In advance of today’s meeting at the White House, here again are the three things Speaker Boehner and Republicans have said all along are needed for President Obama’s debt limit increase to pass the House:
Republicans have repeatedly said any proposal that fails to meet this test is bad for job growth and can’t pass the House. Here’s Speaker Boehner again yesterday:
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Help Wanted on Factory Floor
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U.S. manufacturing companies, long known for layoffs and shipping jobs overseas, now find themselves in a very different position: scrambling for scarce talent at home. |
Large and small manufacturers of everything from machine tools to chemicals are scouring for potential hires in high schools, community colleges and the military. They are poaching from one another, retraining people who used to have white-collar jobs, and in some cases even hiring former prisoners who learned machinist skills behind bars. |
Even with unemployment near 9%, manufacturers are struggling to find enough skilled workers because of a confluence of three trends. |
First, after falling for more than a decade, the number of U.S. manufacturing jobs is growing modestly, with manufacturers adding 25,000 workers in April, the seventh straight month of gains, according to payroll firm Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. The Labor Department's jobs report on Friday is expected to show moderate employment growth in the overall economy. |
Second, baby-boomer retirements are starting to sap factories of their most experienced workers. An estimated 2.7 million U.S. manufacturing employees, or nearly a quarter of the total, are 55 or older. |
Third, the U.S. education system isn't turning out enough people with the math and science skills needed to operate and repair sophisticated computer-controlled factory equipment, jobs that often pay $50,000 to $80,000 a year, plus benefits. Manufacturers say parents and guidance counselors discourage bright kids from even considering careers in manufacturing. |
Manufacturers say the U.S. education system doesn't produce enough students strong in math, science and engineering. About 5% of bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. are in engineering, compared with an average of about 20% in Asia, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation. In the most recent comparison of math and science test scores of 15-year-old students by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, American students trailed far behind those from China, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany. |
The White House and the EPA say they both want to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, yet they contradict themselves by putting in place onerous regulations that limit our ability to tap into our domestic energy resources. Reducing regulations and empowering Americans to tap into American sources of energy is the best way to achieve our goal of energy independence. EPA chief: Gas price spikes not our fault |
The EPA is getting blamed for a lot of things these days, but Lisa Jackson says rising gasoline prices are not her agency’s fault. |
The EPA administrator insisted Tuesday that upward pressure on gas prices “is not coming from any environmental or health regulation.” |
Nor is increasing demand for fuel in nations like China and India to blame for cost spikes, Jackson added — at least not yet. |
“What appears to be the most important factor at work is our dependence on imported energy,” she said. “This is what leaves us vulnerable to jumps in prices. When something changes thousands of miles away, the American people pay for it at the pump.” |
Jackson said the White House is working to fix that, with President Barack Obama’s plan to slash oil imports by one-third by 2025 by increasing domestic production, encouraging energy efficiency and supporting the development of cleaner fuels. |
March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue
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(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government. |
That $1.0528 trillion in spending for March equaled 8.2 times the $128.179 in net federal tax revenue for the month. |
To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program. |
The federal government’s cash-flow situation was summed up pungently in Senate Budget Committee testimony by Erskine Bowles, who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and is now the co-chair of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. (See video below.) |
“I'm really concerned,” Bowles told the committee last month. “I think we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. A lot of us sitting in this room didn't see this last crisis as it came upon us. But this one is really easy to see. The fiscal path we are on today is simply not sustainable. |
“This debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer and they are truly going to destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do something about it,” said Bowles. |
“I used to say that I got into this thing for my grandchildren,” Bowles said. “I have eight grandchildren under five years old. I'll have one more in a week. And my life is wonderful and it is wild. But this problem is going to happen long before my grandchildren grow up. |
“This problem is going to happen, like the former chairman of the Fed said, or the Moody's said, this is a problem we're going to have to face up,” he said. “It may be two years, you know, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. But if our bankers over there in Asia begin to believe that we're not going to be solid on our debt, that we're not going to be able to meet our obligations, just stop and think for a minute what happens if they just stop buying our debt. |
“What happens to interest rates?” asked Bowles. “And what happens to the U.S. economy? The markets will absolutely devastate us if we don't step up to this problem. The problem is real, the solutions are painful, and we have to act.” |
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