The buzz right now on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain’s VP pick. Until the news really develops, here’s at least an interesting item from Alaska news:

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) — TransCanada Corp., the nation’s largest pipeline company, won approval from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to build a $27 billion pipeline to carry natural gas from the Arctic to U.S. markets.

Palin on Aug. 27 signed a bill authorizing the state to award Calgary-based TransCanada a license to build the 1,715- mile (2,744-kilometer) link from Prudhoe Bay to the Alberta Hub in Canada, according to a statement. The license will be granted in 90 days.

Compare and contrast to the environmentalist obstruction around here to…bike paths! From The Examiner, an editorial about the Inter-County Connector:

Maryland officials included the 11-mile, off-road bicycle and pedestrian trail several years ago in a deal with litigation-happy opponents of the highway, who had blocked it for more than 40 years by appealing to the courts and regulatory bureaucracies at all levels of government. After fending off countless lawsuits and completing the most exhaustive environmental impact study ever done in Maryland, officials were finally able to begin construction earlier this year of the road, the Inter-County Connector that is scheduled to open in 2010. It is a desperately needed transportation improvement in the Washington region.

Now, the environmental extremists have turned against the bike trail, too, claiming it will increase runoff on local parkland. The runoff generated under the most extreme circumstances by a ten-foot-wide ribbon of asphalt crossing 87 acres of green space is negligible, but that’s not really the point. In any rational cost/benefit analysis, the minuscule amount of runoff will be more than offset by vehicle emissions that won’t be released into the atmosphere as less congested traffic flows more freely instead of idling at red lights and in bumper-to-bumper delays. But for bike trail opponents, taking the issue to court may slow or even halt construction of the road, again.

Two different world views.

From the liberal The New Republic’s well-done blog, The Plank, a post from Robert Gordon and James Kvaal, “Impossible to Pigeonhole“:

The speech once again demonstrated why Obama is so hard to pigeonhole ideologically.  He forcefully pressed classic Clintonian themes of government reform and personal responsibility, far more effectively than John Kerry ever did.  And he also dipped down to “second-tier issues” like family leave and bankruptcy (especially nice to hear after Joe Biden — who supported bankruptcy reform — joined the ticket), issues where “small” fixes can make a big difference.

But at the same time, Obama also made clear that “now is not the time for small plans.”  He offered a sophisticated defense of government, arguing that “what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves.”  And he went on to outline an agenda for health care and energy more ambitious and activist than Democrats have heard from their nominee in years.

The speech also had a serious populist edge.  Based on a quick count, Obama mentioned “companies” and “corporations” eight times – all but once (helping auto companies retool) in a critical tone.  In contrast, Bill Clinton mentioned them only four times in two speeches in 1992 and 1996.

The striking shift over time, not surprisingly, is that energy has replaced education as a top-tier issue.  Education and schools were mentioned 27 times in 1996 and 20 times in 2000, but only eight times in 2004 and 10 times tonight.  At the same time, the words “energy,” “oil,” and “gas” were not mentioned at all in the 1990s and only once in 2000, but they were used six times in 2004 and nine times tonight.

The anti-employer rhetoric has been a consistent and troubling theme throughout the Democratic presidential primaries. So much of the motivation for the raise-taxes rhetoric seems almost punitive, the desire to stick it to jobs-creators because of profits. What’s next? Defining some companies as patriotic, others as unpatriotic? It’s been suggested — more than suggested, endorsed.

Not a ha-ha Friday Follies, but still amusing to at least one Garry Moore fan…

“I’ve Got a Secret,” now that was a show, back when celebrities were familiar with fine arts, popular arts and even the avant garde.

John Cale — Mr. X on the right — went on to play viola  with the ’60s demimondic Velvet Underground (ridiculous Andy Warhol “Factory” staging here) and then ventured into more traditional piano and orchestral performances. More on the 1963 TV performance here.

For more manufacturing-related “I’ve Got a Secret” clips, here’s Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the TV, and computer/keyboard inventor Ray Kurzweil. Henry Morgan gets Kurzweil’s secret right away.

For government contractors…

From today’s WSJ, “White House Prepares Order On Union Organizing“:

The Bush administration is weighing an executive order that would eliminate a union-preferred method of labor organizing at large government contractors, according to people familiar with the situation.

Labor leaders prefer a card-check system in which workers can form a union if a majority of them sign a union-authorization card. Companies generally prefer a secret-ballot election.

The issue has become a factor in some Senate races and the presidential campaign. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, supports legislation favoring the card-check approach. Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, opposes such legislation.

The executive order would require large government contractors to use secret-ballot elections for union organizing or risk losing government contracts, say people familiar with the order. Though companies typically prefer secret ballots, some are willing to accept card checks to avoid a fight.

This is the first we’ve heard of it, so will have to do some more examination. At first blush, it seems a worthy reinforcement of the principle of the private ballot and the protection elections provide for real choice, not intimidation, in the workplace.

And it might be fun to see what stage in labor rhetoric comes after apoplectic.

(Note: NAM’s Executive Vice President Jay Timmons is blogging from the National Democratic Convention in Denver this week.)

The gavel has come down on the 2008 Democratic Convention. The parties have ended and the work begins in earnest for Democrats.

Tomorrow, Senator Obama will enter the final stretch of the 2008 campaign. It’s time to focus on the future and to leave the partisan speeches in Denver. It’s time to talk about:

• energy policies that increase domestic supply and promote alternatives
• lower taxes for all working Americans and their employers
• free trade policies that expand international markets for U.S. products
• protecting the secret ballot in union elections
• improving crumbling infrastructure to get our country moving again

It’s been an honor for the NAM team to attend the Democratic convention to promote manufacturing and the nearly 14 million men and women who work in manufacturing. Soon it will be the Republican’s turn on stage, and the NAM will be present in Minneapolis promoting the same common sense solutions to improve our economy, create jobs and improve the American quality of life. (NAM Policies.)

This year, let’s hold the nominees for President, Senate and the House to the highest standard possible. We need to ignore the predictable campaign rhetoric, reject the urge to be intrigued by the typical “gotchas” the media is sure to report, and look beyond the 30 second campaign commercials. We have an obligation to ask the candidates to outline their specific plans to improve America. Because when the music ends and the banners are folded, it is the philosophy, principles and policies of our elected officials that truly matter to real people in the real world.

(Note: NAM’s Executive Vice President Jay Timmons is blogging from the National Democratic Convention in Denver this week.)

Most Americans can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when a major historical moment occurs. I remember my precise location when I heard the joyous news that the Iranian hostages had been freed and a few months later the horrific report that President Reagan had been shot. I don’t think I’ve met another American who can forget where they were when the Twin Towers fell.

If you happen to see Tiffany Adams, NAM’s Vice President for Public Affairs, in about a quarter of a century, ask her about today – August 28, 2008 – and what she was doing. I’m looking at her right now, bounding to her feet at Invesco Field with 70,000 others who are screaming at the tops of their lungs. I guarantee Tiffany will never forget this moment, and if you know her, you know she will be more than willing to tell you about it!

A pro-business Democrat, Tiffany is a highly respected trade association professional in Washington and is responsible for organizing the hundreds of dialogues that the NAM sponsors between manufacturing workers and their Representatives and Senators. As a black American, she understands that today – 45 years to the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous speech – the King Dream is reaching a new pinnacle. Tiffany is proud and excited. And the tears flowing down her cheeks are clearly tears of jubilation.

The crowd was in rapt attention when the Senator said “Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.”

And so it is for millions of others who thought this day might never come. Americans revere history and they respect those who make it. Barack Obama deserves the respect of all Americans on this day.

In future days, the NAM stands ready to assist him in strengthening America, whether he is elected President or continues to serve the people of Illinois in the Senate.

Al Gore spoke to the crowd.  He seems to still be reliving the fact that Americans turned him away eight years ago. Really sir, it’s time to move on.

Astute column from Denver by Clive Crook in The Atlantic Magazine, who strikes a sympathetic tone about labor’s aspirations but assesses card check’s destruction of the secret ballot as wrong, both morally and as a political strategy.

From “More on unions and card check“:

A secret ballot protects workers who want union recognition as well as those who do not. That is why opposing it arouses suspicion. Membership has fallen at least partly because workers themselves doubt that unions best serve their interests, and with reason. Opposition to secret ballots does not reassure them. It is a self-serving demand, and plays badly with the centrists the Democrats need to bring in. It is bad politics, therefore, as well as bad law. …[snip]

The secret of success, arguably, is a culture of accommodation and non-confrontation. Unions can make it easier for firms to work in closer partnership with their employees, to their mutual advantage. But if the relationship is framed as nothing but a contest over rents–a zero-sum game, with no holds barred–the drawbacks seem likely to predominate. What may concern centrist voters is that Democrats are apt to press the unions’ case in precisely this spirit of confrontation. Anti-business sentiment is a dominant note at the convention. EFCA’s most enthusiastic advocates would like nothing better than to grind the faces of the bosses. You do not have to be a boss to be wary of that.

Our emphasis. Cook wrote about card check earlier in the week, which we cited here.

According to the Commerce Department’s revised estimate released today, the economy grew at a solid 3.3 percent pace in the second quarter.  This is 74 percent faster than the advanced estimate of 1.9 percent growth released last month.  While consumer spending edged up a little faster, rising at a 1.7 percent annual rate, than initially reported, the bulk of the improvement in the health of the economy came from trade.  Export growth was revised up to 13 percent (compared to 9 percent growth in the advanced report) while imports fell by 7.6 percent (compared to -6.6 percent in the advanced report). 

As a result, net exports (exports-imports) contributed 3.1 percentage points (or 94%) of the total 3.3 percent growth in the second quarter.   This is the single largest quarterly contribution to growth from trade in 28 years (2nd quarter 1980).  Exports alone were responsible for half of GDP growth last quarter.

Thanks to a more-competitive value of the dollar and solid growth overseas, trade winds are propelling the economy forward just at the right time.  Since the housing recession started in the first quarter of 2006, trade has added more to GDP growth than housing (residential investment) has taken away. 

Today’s news should be a wake up call to members of Congress, especially those who are dubious about the benefits of trade and claim that Free Trade Agreements, which work to level the playing field and make U.S. manufacturers more competitive, hurt American workers. 

The trade deficit, which was 5 percent of GDP in the second quarter, is mainly a reflection of our country’s reliance on foreign sources of energy.  By themselves, imports of petroleum made up 69 percent of the entire trade deficit in goods and services last quarter.  A comprehensive national energy strategy focused both on increasing efficiency as well as increasing domestic production will help reduce our reliance on energy imported from abroad.

The trade deficit in manufactured goods with our FTA partners, however, has narrowed over the past few years and through the first six months of this year, has turned into a suplus!  Congress can help manufacturers further by passing the three FTAs (with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea) that are awaiting congressional approval.  Economically, its a no-brainer.  Lets hope that the politicians on Capital Hill can show the political courage, ignore the foes of free trade, support U.S. manufacturers, and pass these agreements.   

 These issues are discussed more fully in this year’s, NAM Labor Day Report, which was just released.  I’ll write more about this tomorrow.

(Note: NAM’s Executive Vice President Jay Timmons is blogging from the National Democratic Convention in Denver this week.)

The capstone event the NAM team attended on Wednesday was a reception hosted by the Third Way Democrats. Third Way is a group of thoughtful policy professionals who believe partisan politics get in the way of creative solutions.

NAM is a proud supporter of Third Way. Although we won’t always totally see eye-to-eye on all issues, the organization is one of the few in Washington willing to look past campaign rhetoric in order to bring together non-traditional allies to devise policy proposals to help real people in the real world, and make America more competitive.

Senator Tom Carper (DE) was in attendance. NAM’s CEO, John Engler, worked closely with Senator Carper when the two were Governors. That productive relationship has extended into their new leadership roles as they have collaborated on common sense proposals to reform our litigious legal system in order to reduce the cost of doing business in the United States.

Senator Blanche Lincoln (AR), another attendee, is expected to be a major player in the next Congress when tax reform proposals are offered. Senator Lincoln has a history of reaching out to stakeholders, and the NAM expects to work closely with the Senator and her staff next year on tax policies that will enable U.S. manufacturers to better compete and succeed against our major trading partners.

Free trade, in particular, is an area where the Third Way can make an extraordinarily positive impact next year. The NAM has been actively working with the group to craft meaningful proposals to advance pending trade agreements, pursue new agreements that would open additional markets to U.S. products, reduce non-tariff barriers, and enforce our existing agreements.

Third Way is clearly in touch with members of their party: Fully 62 percent of Democrats say they benefit from free trade, according to a nationwide poll conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association this month. Data released today by the Commerce Department explains why this perception is a reality. Second quarter Gross Domestic Product figures show a stronger than expected 3.3 percent annual rate of increase in real GDP. Exports contributed 1.65 percentage points of that 3.3 percent growth. And “net exports” (trade balance – exports minus imports) contributed 3.1 percentage points of that 3.3 percent growth, because real imports (price-adjusted) fell.

Third Way Democrats understand free trade works. Hopefully their philosophy and the realities of the positive impact of free trade will prevail after the campaign rhetoric subsides.