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Where's the bubbly over this jobs report?

Another Labor Department jobs report came out today.

Good news, yes? You bet.

The labor market added 288,000 jobs in June; unemployment dropped to 6.1 percent; economists say the economy has gotten its mojo back.

Break out the bubbly stuff. Toast the recovery. We’re back. Aren’t we?

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/03/investing/june-jobs-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Let’s not forget that as I write this brief post, the Dow Jones Industrial market has surpassed 17,000; the S&P is at a record high as well. Investors are happy. Why aren’t the rest of us?

The gloom-and-doomers have done a great job of bad-mouthing the economy. I know it was bad around here oh, about six years ago.

Some of who were working full time saw our salaries cut. Mine got whacked by 10 percent; the company I worked for quit contributing to our retirement plan, which amounted to another 5 percent pay cut. My colleagues and I felt everyone’s pain.

The Obama administration sought to jump start the economy. The other side was predicting fiscal calamity. It didn’t happen. Quite the contrary, the reverse has occurred.

Are they going to give credit where — I believe — it is due?

Do not hold your breath.

I’ll give credit right here where I think it belongs. The president stepped up and acted boldly.

We’re now seeing the dividend.

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Third time a charm for Mitt?

The political chattering class is clattering these days about a possible Mitt Romney run for the presidency — again.

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

History might be on Mitt’s side.

I think I’ll refer, incidentally, to the 2012 Republican presidential nominee by his first name from now on, given the media’s insistence on referring to the presumed Democratic frontrunner as Hillary.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/the-case-for-mitt-romney-in-2016-108532.html?hp=l7#.U7Vc31JOWt8

Mitt captured nearly 61 million votes in 2012, the highest total ever for a losing presidential candidate. He cut into President Obama’s electoral vote count from four years earlier. He had a serious chance to win the White House two years ago, but then stumbled badly when he was overheard talking about that dreaded “47 percent” of the population who’ll vote for Democrats no matter what, as they depend on government to do everything for them.

Some other stuff got in the way, too, such as Hurricane Sandy — which provided Barack Obama a chance to do some highly visible presidential things, such as go to New Jersey and put his arm around Gov. Chris Christie while promising all kinds of federal assistance.

History may foretell another Mitt candidacy.

Richard Nixon lost narrowly to John Kennedy in 1960; two years later he got thumped in the race for California governor and declared the media wouldn’t have “Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” He came back to win the White House in 1968, got re-elected in a landslide in ’72 and, then, well, resigned because of that scandal called Watergate.

Ronald Reagan became president on his third try. He threw his hat into the ring at the 1968 GOP convention. He then challenged President Ford in 1976 and nearly took the nomination away from him. He came back in 1980 to be nominated and then went on to defeat President Carter in a blowout.

Republicans seem willing to give their show horses second and third chances.

Mitt’s capable of running a stellar campaign. He’s got the pedigree, the money and now the experience. He lost the GOP nomination in 2008, won it against a field of Republican weirdos — e.g., Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain, to name just two of them — in ’12.

The 2016 field might not be so tough to conquer if he were to try one more time. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie? They all have soft spots in their armor.

Bring on Hillary vs. Mitt in 2016!

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Civil Rights Act turns 50

The Civil Rights Act became law 50 years ago this week.

Every American should be grateful it did and every American should wonder whether it could be enacted today. The Politico story attached here suggests it couldn’t. I tend to agree.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/why-the-civil-rights-act-couldnt-pass-today-108496.html

Look at the picture included on the link above and you’ll notice something we little of these days. You see Democratic and Republican lawmakers standing next to the president as he signs the landmark bill into law. These days? It’s politicians of one party or the other standing in front of the cameras.

Indeed, President Johnson knew as he signed the bill that he was committing an act that would change the political landscape — possibly forever.

LBJ was a rangy Texan who became president in a moment of extreme national heartache. He then vowed to carry forward the slain president’s agenda, which included passage of civil rights legislation.

He succeeded. President Johnson was well aware the cost politically that would fall on his Democratic Party, which had been based solidly in the South, where many Democratic senators and House members opposed the Civil Rights Act. That didn’t matter to LBJ. He knew he had to push Congress to enact a bill that guaranteed every American, regardless of race, the full rights of citizenship.

LBJ reportedly said as he signed the bill that it would “cost us the South.” It did. His Dixiecrat friends in the Senate warned him it would as he lobbied them to enact the bill.

It mattered only to LBJ that the country grant full civil rights to every American.

And think also that the president himself was from a state that once seceded from the Union to fight a civil war against the government over whether states had the inherent right to allow slavery to exist.

The Civil Rights Act changed the political landscape all right. It had to happen.

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Infrastructure now becomes controversial

Americans not even as old as I am can no doubt remember when infrastructure spending drew support from politicians of both parties.

It was a consensus deal. Get it done. We need those roads and bridges in tip-top shape. We drive our motor vehicles over them. We’re carrying the kids and pets in our SUVs. We’re hauling travel trailers across the country.

Hey, these are our public roads and highways and we need to spend public money to keep them maintained.

Remember those days?

They’re gone.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/obama-mocks-congress-highway-spending-108491.html

President Obama wants to spend money to fix our roads, bridges and highways. They’ll create thousands of jobs. And, yes, they’ll make our roadways safer for Mom, Dad and the Kids.

To no one’s surprise these days, Congress is digging in on that one, too.

Obama spoke the other day at a bridge that needs repair. He’s asking Congress to reauthorize money for an infrastructure trust fund that’s about to run dry. Congress isn’t moving on it. Imagine that.

The House of Representatives, where these spending initiatives begin, is run by Republicans who are angry with the Democratic president because of his taunts over his executive action. “So sue me,” Obama said the other day when he mentioned employing the executive authority he possesses.

The notion of spending money to keep the country moving safely is supposed to be a bipartisan effort. Sadly, nothing of substance enjoys bipartisan support. Who’s to blame? Republicans blame Obama; the president blames them.

The system is broken, ladies and gentlemen. Meanwhile, our bridges and highways are crumbling beneath us.

Repair our infrastructure before someone gets hurt.

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What about the Barfield Building?

Since I don’t get downtown in Amarillo as much as I used to, I find myself getting caught up with normally “routine” sights.

Take the Barfield Building, at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Polk Street.

It’s still a battered hulk of a building shell. It remains unoccupied. It’s ground-level floor is boarded up. Nothing’s going on there.

I keep hearing some faint rumblings about the place, but I keep wondering: When will something ever happen to the place, either good or bad?

The developer who’s owned the building since the 1990s keeps saying he plans to round up investors to help finance its renovation. Into what remains unclear.

Another investment group of Amarillo wheelers and dealers sought to foreclose on the building, seeking to wrest it from the developer. It didn’t work. He dodged the foreclosure bullet nicely and retains ownership of the 10-story structure.

It’s been vacant for as long as I’ve lived in Amarillo. That would be 19-plus years. A lot of good things have happened around downtown, particularly in recent years. The Barfield eyesore remains one of the critical negative elements of a downtown district seeking to remake itself.

Potter County officials have told me over the years that as long as taxes are being paid on the building, that’s all that matters to them.

Should it be all that matters to city planners who want to piece together a shiny new downtown business and entertainment district that is attractive to those who — such as me — don’t visit downtown on a regular basis?

I think not.

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Hey, Perry's got a good idea

Believe this or not, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry actually has put forward a constructive idea for President Obama.

Come to the Texas border with Mexico when you visit the state soon, Mr. President, and see for yourself what this immigration hubbub is all about.

Not a bad idea, governor.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/rick-perry-obama-come-to-the-border-108513.html?hp=l3

Perry made the suggestion on TV and said that if the president doesn’t visit the border region while he’s here to raise money then he doesn’t really care about the immigration crisis that’s erupted in several border states.

I’m one who doesn’t doubt Obama’s sincerity when he talks about the border crisis. It erupted when thousands of young illegal immigrants came to border states through Mexico; they hail generally from Central American nations, such as Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Many of them are children. Many of them have been caught up in human trafficking rings.

Mexico has been quite the poor neighbor in allowing these young people free transit through that country and into the United States.

Let’s suppose the president takes the governor up on his suggestion. My sincere hope is that the two men can meet privately and talk constructively to each other about how the state and the federal government can work together — for a change — on solving this pressing situation.

One more thought: If the president comes, governor, please avoid the finger-in-the-face stunt that your colleague over in Arizona pulled on the president.

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These 5 men have tin ears

The five men who voted on the U.S. Supreme Court to reel in a part of the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control provisions deserve a serious scolding.

They’re getting it now in the wake of that 5-4 court ruling that involves “closely held” companies, such as Hobby Lobby.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/hobby-lobby-supreme-court-decision-5-takeaways-108467.html?hp=r11

They ruled that these firms are not compelled to offer contraception coverage under the ACA. Some of these companies, such as family-owned Hobby Lobby, can cite religious grounds for refusing to provide coverage for female employees. IUDs, for example, are seen by some as a form of abortion. So, the court said, they don’t have to offer that kind of insurance provision.

Five justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito — comprise the majority. Of the four court members who dissented, three of them — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor — are, quite clearly, women; the fourth is Stephen Breyer.

The fact that five men decided this key ruling that affects women provides ammo for those seeking to make inroads in the upcoming mid-term elections. I’m going to bet that we’ll see this ruling show up in campaign ads around the country — perhaps even in Texas — as candidates seek to take note of the decision that has such an impact on the health care that women can receive from their employers.

Let’s add also that all five of the men comprising the court majority were appointed by Republican presidents. Let us also note that one isn’t likely to hear a single word, not one utterance, from those on the left complaining about “unelected judges” wielding too much power without having to answer to the voters for their decision.

The “answering” part will be left ultimately to voters who will get to determine who they want to sit in the president’s office and who they want to appoint the next Supreme Court justice when that opportunity presents itself.

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Thad Cochran: civil rights champion

The renomination in Mississippi of Republican Thad Cochran to another term in the U.S. Senate has brought up an interesting talking point.

Will the conservative Republican senator now become a civil rights champion to pay back the favor African-American voters delivered in helping him beat back a near-certain defeat in a GOP runoff?

Think about this for a moment.

Cochran was considered dead meat when he finished second in the GOP primary in the Magnolia State. The favorite to beat him was tea party golden boy Chris McDaniel. Then a strange thing happened.

Thousands of African-American Democrats who hadn’t voted in their own primary turned out to cast their votes for Cochran in the runoff. It turned out to be the difference for the six-term senator who reportedly will serve his final term in the Senate if he’s re-elected this fall. As for McDaniel, he’s not going away quietly. He’s continuing to raise a ruckus over the way he lost a contest he was thought to be a shoo-in to win.

So, does the senator now become a champion of, say, renewing the Voting Rights Act when it comes up? Might he resist efforts to make voting more difficult for voters — mainly minorities — who have difficulty providing photo identification when they register to vote? Will this lawmaker realize that with no more campaigns to run, no more challenges from his right to fend off and with no more money to raise he will be free to pay back those to whom he likely owes his latest political victory?

I rather like the idea of a conservative Dixie state Republican becoming a friend of African-Americans.

Is it political expediency? No. It’s political gratitude.

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U.S. loses to Belgium; back to other sports now

My World Cup fascination is now over, thanks to a 2-1 victory today by Belgium over a valiant U.S. team that found its way to the Round of 16 despite losing previous games.

I’ll need someone to explain that one to me. Later, perhaps.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/belgium-beats-u-s–2-1-in-extra-time–survives-late-rally-to-advance-223507512.html

I’ll go back now to awaiting the start of college football — American-style, the game played by 300-pound behemoths in helmets and pads. I’ll also resume my sporadic interest in Major League Baseball.

Allow me to recall one World Cup memory from a few years ago. I’ve seen such sports fanaticism up close.

During the 2006 World Cup, which was played in Germany, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting the country just north of there. We were in Denmark, attending the Rotary International Convention being held in Copenhagen and across the strait in Malmo, Sweden.

Denmark was playing in the World Cup — of course! One evening my wife and I sought a place to have dinner with some Amarillo friends of ours — fellow Rotarians Mike and Vicki Hooten — who also were attending the convention. We walked for many blocks looking for a nice place to eat, have a beverage or two and visit with our friends.

“Hey, this looks pretty good,” one of us said. We stuck our heads in the door. The place was packed with screaming Danes who, as luck would have it, were watching their national soccer team playing a World Cup match with, um, some other team.

Pandemonium ruled the place. As it did in the next place we visited. And the one after that, and after that one.

Cheers rang out through the streets of Copenhagen that evening as we walked through the city on the hunt for somewhere to have a meal. We finally settled on an outdoor place, an Italian eatery if memory serves.

We had a good time visiting with our friends. All the while we heard cheers ringing throughout the neighborhood as Danes cheered their team’s every move toward the other guys’ goal.

I have no clue who won that game. Nor do I have any interest in knowing.

Yes, it’s an international game. Most of the rest of the world is mad about this sport.

More power to them. I’m getting ready for college football to kick off.

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Israel vents its anger at Hamas

Can there be any doubt — any at all — as to why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke off peace talks with the Palestinian Authority?

Three Israeli teenagers have been killed by terrorists linked to Hamas, the monstrous group that helps govern Gaza, which is part of the Palestinian Authority. Israel in return has launched air strikes against the terrorists. Hamas is continuing its violent campaign against Israel, all the while joining the PA in some form of “unity government” arrangement agreed to by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

It was that unity government arrangement that angered Netanyahu enough to break off the talks. The PA cannot “have it both ways,” he said of Abbas’s agreement with Hamas and his desire to seek peace with Israel.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/west-bank-kidnappings/israel-palestinian-tensions-near-breaking-point-over-dead-teens-n145096

I cannot proclaim to be an expert on this subject, but I have had the honor of seeing Israel up close. I’ve seen some of the damage that Hamas terrorists have inflicted on Israeli cities close to Gaza. I’ve gotten a pretty good feel for how close Israel is to its sworn enemies and I understand fully how Israel must be on constant vigil against terrorist attacks from Gaza, the West Bank, Golan and Lebanon.

Five weeks touring Israel in the spring of 2009 gave my traveling companions and me a deeper appreciation for what the Israelis face every single day.

And now we have this latest tragedy involving the three teens who were captured in the West Bank.

Hamas comprises a lot of very bad actors. Those are the individuals with whom Israel must co-exist. If they have to bomb them to keep them at bay, then so be it.

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