Don’t forget to check this space tomorrow for a non-colorized (i.e., black-and-white) version of the NAM’s weekly TV program from the 50′s entitled, “Industry on Parade.” it’s so retro you’ll love it, complete with soaring music and everything. It wil be our weekly Saturday video.

Here’s a list of the Senators who voted against the nomination of John Roberts today. If they are waiting for a more qualified nominee, they won’t get one. Roberts, after all, has had a stellar legal career and has argued nearly 40 cases before the Supreme Court, a staggering amount.

Recall the following confirmation vote counts:

John Paul Stevens, 1975: 98-0
Sandra Day O’Connor, 1981: 99-0
Antonin Scalia, 1986: 98-0
Anthony Kennedy, 1987: 97-0
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1993: 96-3
Stephen Breyer, 1994: 87-9

Shame on these Senators — a few Presidential candidates past and future among them — for shamelessly kowtowing rather than putting partisanship aside and focusing instead on his impressive qualifications. In so doing, they have started down a most dangerous road. If you live in one of these states, you should tell them you don’t appreciate it.

Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)

Hey, if anyone’s out in Malibu today and runs into our favorite climatologist, Barbra Streisand, please point her toward this link . It will point her toward true enlightenment about the theory of global warming and the failed political gambit that was Kyoto. Did you know most countries won’t come anywhere near meeting their Kyoto Targets? Did you know it passed the Senate 95-0? Did you know that China and India aren’t part of it? it’s true, hand to God.

We’re just going to continue to lay out the fact, like buttah.

OK, we know we said yesterday’s report was the wrap-up of the NAM Board mtg, but we lied: there’s just another small piece of unfinished business. As we mentioned below, the Board passed a number of resolutions along the way. Here they are with links:

Here is the link to the resolution calling for making the Department of Commerce manufacturing strategy durable.
This is the resolution urging confirmation of John G. Roberts As the 17th Chief Justice of the United States.
This resolution dealt with Facility Site Security Principles.

And last but certainly not least is a resolution on Chinese currency manipulation.

No sooner had we posted last week’s Friday Follies that one of our 5 regular blog readers, John Merdian of Chillicothe, Illinois (“Where the Rails Cross the River”), sent us this item, a 1968 classic out of the Johnny Carson archives. For those of you who were hopeless Carson fans — or even if you only watched the tribute shows — you have no doubt seen this bit a dozen times. We can’t count how many times we’ve seen it, but it had been a while. It’s a famous routine with the dead-pan Jack Webb (as Officer Joe Friday of “Dragnet” fame) with Carson doing a quick back and forth alliteration. How either of them stayed in character is beyond belief.

It might be that it’s not that funny to anyone under 25, but for the older blog readers among you, it’s still good. For you young ‘uns, just chalk it up to TV history.Click here for the video.

Enjoy!

John Roberts was just confirmed by the US Senate to be the next Chief Justice of the United States by a vote of 78-22. Congratulations to Judge Roberts and thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of manufacturers who weighed in to make it so. You made a difference, you were a part of history.

More to follow.

Here is a link to what we said in our press release and here’s a link to view the roll call vote.

Something about pulling together 150 manufacturers in one place that things start to get real interesting:

– The Board passed a number of resolutions — one calling for Judge Roberts’ confirmation, and others on China and on site security. We’ll post them all tomorrow in this space.

– Energy continued to be the theme of this meeting. Whenever two or more manufacturers gathered, energy was the topic of the moment. The topic progressed like this: “Business is good, but energy costs are stifling; we need to do something about prices; we need to do something about supply; why not find new sources for energy like ANWR and the Outer Continental Shelf; why does France get 80% of its energy form nuclear and we don’t? Time to get Congress to act.” That’s how it went. Expect building pressure from the Heartland for Congress to set about the task of lifting long-outdated restrictions on finding new energy sources.

– “If Congress can blame China”, said one Board member, “It gives them an excuse not to work hard.”

– The Board heard from new SEC Chairman Chris Cox and Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing Al Frink. Both are friends, were well-received.

– Incoming NAM Chairman Jim Berges of Emerson said of our 22% cost disadvantage vs. our trading partners: This is “a headwind of our own making.” He went on to note that we rank 16th in the world in broadband deployment, largely because of a hostile and cumbersome regulatory scheme. Time to bring that into the 21st Century.

– Tiny Quality Float Works (15 employees) of Schaumburg, Illinois — their CEO, Sandy Westlund-Deenihan is one of our newest small manufacturer directors. A third (or is it fourth?) generation member of this 90-plus year-old company. They make a floating metal pump (“How do they do that?”, asked everyone). Somebody asks, “Do you export?” They do indeed — to seven countries! As NAM President John Engler always says, there is no division between large and small, the division is between those who are in the global economy and those who are not. Guess this makes Quality Float Works a “multi-national.”

All in all, new energy and leadership under John Engler. The gavel came down on the meeting today, but folks left with renewed vim and vigor. Manufacturers are and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. We drive the economy, we intend to drive the agenda as well.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings kicked off the proceedings yesterday at the NAM Board meeting in Washington. And, she did not disappoint. She’s a great speaker and delivered a message of part fear, part hope, but ultimately a hopeful call to action. She mentioned, among other things, that of 9th graders, 5 out of 10 minority students will not finish high school on time — or at all — and 3 out of 10 students overall will not finish on time or at all. She quoted the President, calling it “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” It truly is a national disgrace. Under the No Child Left Behind Act — which the status-quo-obsessed NEA loves to criticize — Spellings said that there has been more progress in test scores in the past five years than in the 30 previous years combined. Hard to argue with results like that, no? Minority student test score in early grades stand at an all-time hight. How can that be called anything but progress? Why isn’t this being touted on the Nightly News?

She really did a great job, was well-received by this room full of manufacturers, the biggest end users of the products our schools are turning out. And we do most of the recall work, too, so folks were interested.

Here’s a link to a video of her excellent speech yesterday.

OK, this was kinda a bust last week, but we’ll give it another spin. We’re watching the traffic numbers, we know you’re out there, know you’re reading, lurking. We’ll here’s your chance to get in the fray. let us know what’s on your minds by just clicking on the blue “Comment” tag below. Here are some topics to get you started:

– The John Roberts vote today

– How’s business?

– Barbra Streisand: Like buttah or Climatologist Extraordinaire…?

Anyone of a certain age remember the NAM weekly TV show, “Industry on Parade.” Well, watch this space on Saturday when we merge the vintage Poster of the Week with the Saturday Video and post a reel from the old “Industry on Parade series. We’ve seen it and guarantee you it’s an absolute hoot. You’ll love it, it’s so retro.

Tune in Saturday.