Thanks to one of our regular and sharp-eyed blog readers for sending this along. We were one of the first to note that Castro can tap natural gas off our coast but we can’t.

As you can see from this article, Cuba is busy getting to the natural gas and oil that is there. They’re doing what all our competitors are doing, i.e., tapping their own energy. We’re the only ones with a moratorium. We’ve made progress on that front but this is a reminder that we need to keep pressing. Recent legislation opens up some of the Outer Continental Shelf, but there’s more to do.

Today we mark the passing of former President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., a man thrust into the national limelight, who governed during some very turbulent times. He left those times much less turbulent than he found them, serving as he did with great integrity and principle.

NAM President — and fellow Michigander — John Engler issued the following statement upon learning of the death of this great man:

“President Ford was a man of integrity, of strength and of courage. In a very divisive time, his decency and his leadership restored trust and rescued the Republic. President Ford always put his country first, regardless of cost, politically or personally. He did what he thought was right not just what was popular.”

“To Betty and the entire Ford family, we thank you for your remarkable husband and father who gave his all for his country. May a grateful nation remember his service and the sacrifices of your family. We pray that God will grant President Ford eternal peace and comfort you in the days ahead.”

In a Christmas Day op-ed in the WaPo, Bob Novak opines that we in the business community aren’t doing enough to blunt “the environmentalists’ well-financed propaganda operation.” Guess he’s not been reading the blog.

He quotes the (non-partisan) US Energy Information Administration’s analysis of the McCain-Lieberman bill to implement the Kyoto protocol, noting that it would, “reduce gross domestic product by $776 billion annually, raise gasoline prices 40 cents a gallon, raise natural gas prices 46 percent and cut coal production by nearly 60 percent.” A private sector group has estimated that the bill would cost 600,000 jobs. Oh, great. Just what the economy needs.

Novak notes — as we have, repeatedly — that most EU countries will miss their Kyoto targets and that China will exceed US emission levels by 2010, “meaning that unilateral U.S. carbon controls will have little impact on global emissions while driving American jobs to China.”

As we noted here just a few days ago, it seems that incoming House Energy and Commerce Committee chair John Dingell (D-MI) is intent on getting the facts before pressing forward on any of these ideas. He is also a guy with a pretty good understanding for — and appreciation of — the pressures facing US manufacturers and our contributions to the economy. Let’s hope this debate is driven by the facts and not the hysteria.

Front page story-hysteria in the WaPo this morning about polar bears likely being put on the endangered list. This after successive days when they noted that both the whooping cranes and bald eagle populations are doing quite well, thank you, even coming off the endangered list. Guess they’re impervious to climate change and it’s allegedly catastrophic results. Just go with it, OK?

Our friend and climate expert Bob Carter likes to talk about the importance of context in discussing climate issues. Depending on what you read, the polar bears have been around for somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 years, meaning they’ve survived and adapted through some dramatic warming — and cooling — periods before. Yup, the polar bear pre-dates the environmental movement, the EPA and even Al Gore. Hard to believe, we know.

No matter. The facts in this case just aren’t as heart-rending as the photos of cuddly polar bears wrestling. Gotta sell papers after all.

Before you start returning all those gifts at the store today, we thought you might be interested in what we have to say about how the economy will behave in 2007.

Our own Chief Economist Dave Huether has prepared a nice report on the economic outlook for 2007. In the report, he looks some of the key indicators of the U.S. economy: housing (slowing), manufacturing (continuing to grow with the rest of the economy), consumer spending (downward pressure), business investment (growing but at a slower pace) and other factors like labor, productivity, inflation and trade.

We’re not gonna tell you all the juicy details. You’ll just have to read it for yourself. What better way to spend these last few days of the year by curling up to the fire with some chestnuts and a well-written economic forecast? Click here to read it or here for our press release.

I was with some manufactures in Colorado Springs a while back. They had gotten together for the first time to talk about how they might be more effective as a business community after a lot of them were hammered by the downdraft in electronics earlier in this decade. I thought it was interesting that they identified as their top goal ways to be more innovative.

Fly across the country now to Pennsylania and that same topic is on the minds of Keystone State manufacturers. A recent issue of PA Manufacturer had a very good article about the innovation imperative. Appropriately enough, it is titled, “Open Your Mind to Innovation: See How Formalizing Innovation Can Create a Whole Other Paradigm for Your Manufacturing Outfit.”

This article, by Evan Pattak, shows how companies can build innovation into their other processes and faults those executives who only think innovation is sparked by a eureka moment and not cultivated. They take a look into Wilton Armetale in Lancaster County that got a group of employees together for their “Skunk Works” meeting to brainstorm about “off-the-wall product and distribution concepts.” Ken Lefever, the company’s president and CEO, says “One of our rules is: no idea is a bad idea. We don’t laugh at it. Skunk Works determines if we will move forward.”

While this sounds like something everyone would do to envision their next generation of products and processes, it appears that what Wilton Armetale is doing is somewhat unique. The PA Manufacturer article says that too many companies are only focused on controlling costs and too few have an innovation process that should include these elements:

* talk to customers about current products to gain insight on how they might be improved or where there is gap
* measure results such as time to market for a new product or set a revenue goal
* question everything; an outside facilitator might be useful so a company can think out of the box.
* create a culture of innovation by being open to suggestions from all parts of the company
* designate a process change leader.

If you want to read the whole article, click here and go to page 6.

Christmas is the season of giving, and giving is a subject manufacturers know a lot about.

Manufacturers and their employees contribute, not just during the holidays, but every day to charities and community groups that help people all across this country.

Business owners and their employees appreciate that they owe much to the communities where they live and work.

And they give back.

There are thousands of examples among the members of the National Association of Manufacturers. And it’s not just the big companies, the everyday names we hear so much about.

For example:

This list could go on and on — So many companies involved with local charities that make sure families enjoy a happy holiday season, complete with meals and toys for needy children.

Manufacturers are happy to support their communities. It’s part of being a good corporate citizen, with the spirit of the season.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Comes the WaPo in an editorial today, apparently emboldened by the Democrats’ takeover of the Congress, shopping some old tired solutions to the nation’s problems. Today’s topic is “inequality,” as in “income inequality” and guess what they propose? Stop us if you’ve heard this one, but it’s more taxes and more spending. Yeah– worked like a charm last time, right?

They start by repeating — and re-heating — the fiction that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has bought into the inequality myth. But in fact, what Paulson said was that folks feel like they’re falling farther behind because of the bite that health care and energy prices are taking out of their pay. He was right about that.

Then the WaPo goes on to resurrect editorial language that appears to be from the 1960′s archives, touting tax increases and more spending on education. Only one problem: the tax cuts have resulted in all-time high tax receipts. Big shocker there. Guess what folks do when taxes are lower? They plow it into spending and investment, at least that what manufacturers do. And it powers the economy, grows it. More spending = more growth = more taxes.

On education, the plain fact is we’ve spent increasingly more and watched performance drop. Doesn’t seem to be any one-to-one correlation between education spending and the improvement in the public school system. But it’s a nice thought. In the absence of real reform, you can always throw more money at the problem.

As the Dems convene, they have said repeatedly that they will make every attempt to steer the middle. Incoming Ways and Means Chair Rangel has backed off earlier statements that seemed to say the tax cuts were gone. Incoming Financial Services Committee Chair Frank has said it might be time to take a look at Sarbanes-Oxley. Incoming Energy and Commerce Chair Dingell has expressed real caution on some of the more extreme “climate change” solutions from the left.

Let’s hope this mood holds and that the old and failed solutions shopped by the WaPo — tax hikes and more spending — don’t end up carrying the day.

Among the many things for which we give thanks this Christmas is that Carter Wood joined our ranks this year. He came first as an NAM speech writer but then we conscripted him into blog service as well. He has risen to the occasion and you have seen many of his posts here this year, all well-written, pithy and smart. (Unlike some others….)

On a rare slow day, or in a sleepless night, he composed this great manufacturing version of Clement Clark Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” While Carter’s off enjoying a well-deserved Christmas break with his family, we wanted to post it here on Christmas Eve, for your enjoyment. In years to come, we can see this overtaking the original — being read by manufacturers the world over to their little ones as they slumber with great expectation of the great manufactured things to come.

Factory Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

When I spoke to the Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) a few weeks ago, I met some executives from SAMA–the Sarasota Manatee Area Manufacturers Association. Like MAF and other associations in Florida, they are gearing up to make sure the Sunshine State has the kind of workforce that will attract new investment and help keep current manufacturers in the state.

One of their intersting programs is the Banner Center. SAMA and other Florida associations partnered with a group of community colleges and the Florida Advanced Technologial Education Center (FL-ATE)–funded by the National Science Foundation–to set up this excellent program. It is designing a curriculum and certifications for manufacturing employees. It’s still in the works and the SAMA newsletter discusses it and other initiatives Floridians have under way that focus on the manufacturing workforce. Take a look at SAMA’s report by clicking on this link to it.