Lester Flatt (guitar) and Earl Scruggs (banjo), “I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow,” the bluegrass predecessor of The Jam’s, “Here Comes the Weekend.”

We offer Flatt and Scruggs this week to mark adoption by the U.S. House of Representatives of H.Res. 583, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Lester Flatt has made an invaluable contribution to American art as both a songwriter and a performer, leaving an indelible legacy in bluegrass music.”

And wouldn’t it be cool if Olympics-bound skater Rachael Flatt were to do one of her routines to a Flatt and Scruggs song?

We’ve been reading governors’ state of the state addresses to see if and how they mention “manufacturing” or “industry” and their cognates as a very rough measure of their interest in their state’s manufacturing sector. In the President’s case, the term arose during his defense of the stimulus bill.

Today, it’s the same exercise for President Obama’s State of the Union.

The plan that has made all of this possible, from the tax cuts to the jobs, is the Recovery Act. (Applause.) That’s right -– the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill. (Applause.) Economists on the left and the right say this bill has helped save jobs and avert disaster. But you don’t have to take their word for it. Talk to the small business in Phoenix that will triple its workforce because of the Recovery Act. Talk to the window manufacturer in Philadelphia who said he used to be skeptical about the Recovery Act, until he had to add two more work shifts just because of the business it created.

And…

Next, we can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow. (Applause.) From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.

Tomorrow, I’ll visit Tampa, Florida, where workers will soon break ground on a new high-speed railroad funded by the Recovery Act. (Applause.) There are projects like that all across this country that will create jobs and help move our nation’s goods, services, and information. (Applause.)

 For earlier posts on state of the state addresses, go here.

Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board for Tuesday, February 2, at 4 p.m.

The HELP Committee then holds a mark-up session on Thursday, 10 a.m, to vote on confirming Becker, the SEIU and AFL-CIO lawyer who believes employers have no role to play if unions seek to organize a workplace.

Chairman Harkin appears to be responding to pressure from employer groups who have argued for a hearing. That’s good, but the speed of the hearing and subsequent mark-up suggest the goal here is not inquiry and deliberation, but the shoving through of a controversial nominee.

Earlier posts on Becker’s nomination.

Today’s Commerce Department report on durable goods orders edging up 0.3 percent in December after two consecutive monthly declines continues to show that the domestic economic recovery remains fragile and uneven, as gains in machinery and primary metals were nearly offset by declines in transportation, computers and electronics and electrical equipment. For the fourth quarter overall, durable goods orders rose at an annual rate of just 1.6 percent after a 15.8 percent gain in the third quarter.

Based on recent reports of U.S. exports, most of the upturn in capital goods shipments in the fourth quarter, which rose at an annual rate of 6.7 percent, was driven by increasing global demand, rather than an upturn in domestic business investment. In November, capital goods exports had their biggest 3-month gain in four years.

Earlier in the third quarter, capital goods shipments rose at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, with most of this increase fueled by a 10 percent increase in capital goods exports, since domestic equipment investment edged up just 1.5 percent in the third quarter. This scenario is likely repeating itself in the fourth quarter.

While tight financial conditions, heightened uncertainty and excess capacity remain serious domestic challenges, a rebounding global economy is helping the manufacturing sector recover from a very deep downturn. With half of U.S. capital goods shipments destined for global markets, the recent upturn in manufacturing activity clearly shows how important the global economy is to U.S. manufacturers.  

From the President’s State of the Union address:

[To] create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. (Applause.) It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. (Applause.) It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. (Applause.) And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America. (Applause.)

Very positive words on nuclear power. Now let’s see the permitting and political muscle from the Administration to move those “safe, clean nuclear power plants” to reality.

As for a comprehensive climate bill, passage seems increasingly unlikely in 2010. What is possible is a power play by the imperial EPA — the Administration — to impose a regulatory regime to limit greenhouse gas emissions, a policy decision that correctly belongs with Congress.

The President did not mention the EPA in his speech last night.

President Obama is certainly right in saying it’s time for “making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.”

And yet, the Minerals Management Service just signalled that the agency would delay action on Outer Continental Shelf energy development 50 miles beyond Virginia’s coast. From Reuters, “Virginia senators slam delay in offshore drilling:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Virginia’s two U.S. senators on Wednesday urged the Obama administration to carry out a previous plan to lease almost 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) in federal waters off the state’s coastline to oil and natural gas companies.

The lawmakers said in a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that recent comments by a department official that the Virginia lease sale originally planned for late 2011 would be delayed until 2012 at the earliest are frustrating given that drilling creates jobs and needed energy supplies.

President Obama clearly acknowledged the critical economic importance of energy development in his State of the Union address on Wednesday. To demonstrate his seriousness, to stimulate economic growth and create jobs, it’s time to actually make and implement “tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.”

UPDATE (5:15 p.m.): Jane Van Ryan at the American Petroleum Institute has reaction from Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and more on the possible delay of OCS energy development, “Will DOI delay Virginia’s offshore drilling?“

From the President’s State of the Union:

[We] need to export more of our goods. (Applause.) Because the more products we make and sell to other countries, the more jobs we support right here in America. (Applause.) So tonight, we set a new goal: We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America. (Applause.) To help meet this goal, we’re launching a National Export Initiative that will help farmers and small businesses increase their exports, and reform export controls consistent with national security. (Applause.)

That’s a welcome target to achieve export-driven growth, and it’s notable that the President regards the export controls issue important enough to warrant a mention.

Correctly so, the NAM believes. The new Milken Institute study, “Jobs for America,” concludes “modernizing U.S. export controls could increase exports in high-value areas. By 2019, these policy adjustments could enhance real GDP by $64.2 billion (0.4 percent), create 160,000 manufacturing jobs, and heighten total employment by 340,000.” The in-depth analysis is here.

The President also reaffirmed the Administration’s oft-stated belief in the value of trade agreements.

We have to seek new markets aggressively, just as our competitors are. If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores. (Applause.) But realizing those benefits also means enforcing those agreements so our trading partners play by the rules. (Applause.) And that’s why we’ll continue to shape a Doha trade agreement that opens global markets, and why we will strengthen our trade relations in Asia and with key partners like South Korea and Panama and Colombia. (Applause.)

But let’s do more than “strengthen” — let’s ENACT. The President would have helped achieve the goal he had just set by calling on Congress to enact the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement, and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

As NAM President John Engler said in a press briefing Monday, “”We believe we absolutely have the votes for the Panama and Colombia agreements.” And… “We think if they’re serious on the jobs front, they have to look at trade. We’ve got a lot of companies that send a big amount of their production abroad for sale.”

NAM’s President John Engler and SEIU’s Andy Stern appeared on CBNC before the President’s State of the Union speech Wednesday. Engler used the NAM’s new report from the Milken Institute, “Jobs for America,” to describe a growth agenda that embraces a more competitive tax structure — lower corporate tax rates and a permanent R&D tax credit — export control reforms, and major investments in infrastructure categories like energy, transportation and communications.

The 10 minute clip is here.

Leading up to the State of the Union address…

• USA Today, “Obama’s theme tonight: Jobs“
• Reuters, “US Govt pushes any drilling off Virginia past 2011“

David Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance, issued a statement reacting to the news that the Interior Department will continue to delay the long-scheduled offshore energy lease sale in areas 50 miles off the Virginia coast:

When the governor of the commonwealth of Virginia asks the federal government to partner with his administration in an effort to convert the abundant reserves of energy off his shores into jobs, revenue and energy security for Virginians, you’d hope to see a sensible process move forward. If news today out of MMS is any indication, the federal government appears ready to delay that critical work for at least another year, meaning additional delays in creating jobs, reducing energy costs and getting the U.S. economy moving again.

The Administration should do more to show that it recognizes the tremendous economic opportunity that safe and responsible offshore energy exploration presents to the citizens of Virginia, and the nation at large.

We’re talking about thousands of high-wage jobs here, and billions in annual revenue that can be raised without imposing a single new tax. When it comes to promoting alternative energy resources offshore, the Administration has compiled an impressive record – and we applaud those efforts. This announcement signals that the Administration may not be looking to maximize our nation’s enormous oil and gas potential offshore with the same enthusiasm.  Those who support a balanced, commonsense national energy strategy look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to create jobs, improve our national and energy security and responsibly allow access to our abundant resources.

Politico reports, “Labor helps kills its own priority,” the priority being the anti-democratic Employee Free Choice Act. The story quotes Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO’s political director, on the Massachusetts Senate race where more union members supported Scott Brown, the Republican victor, than Martha Coakley, the Democrat.

Ackerman is also cited making this point:

Now, Ackerman said labor leaders are trying to scope out the best way forward. Among their options: trying to win changes through the National Labor Relations Board and revisiting the small number of Republicans who sympathized with labor’s complaints but didn’t support the original version of the legislation.

“It’s a critical issue and we intend to keep on fighting for it,” she said. But “I think there has not yet been laid out a clear strategy of how to win on the Employee Free Choice Act.”

Hence the AFL-CIO’s support for the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, where he could work to enact the Employee Free Choice Act administratively.  Becker is, of course, a legal counsel for the AFL-CIO and SEIU.

Here’s what the NLRB might do administratively:

• Implement “quick snap” union representation elections that would significantly limit the ability of employers to discuss union membership with their employees;
• Make rulings to limit the ability of employers to determine who is eligible to vote in such elections;
• Expand the scope of employer requirements to turn over employee names, addresses and phone numbers during organizing drives; and
• Require that union organizers have greater access to employees on worksites during organizing campaigns.

Becker has gone even further in his writings, arguing that employers should have NO role whatsoever when unions try to organize their businesses.

See also …

• Letter from Sen. John McCain to Sen. Tom Harkin requesting Senate HELP Committee confirmation hearing on Becker.
• NAM letter to HELP Committee opposing Becker’s nomination.

Oregon’s voters supported big increases on state individual income tax and corporate income taxes in the vote-by-mail election that ended Tuesday. Results were 54-46 percent on Ballot Measure 66, the individual income tax, and 53-47 percent on Ballot Measure 67, the corporate tax. (For results, see Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division.)

The Wall Street Journal page laid out the campaign dynamic in a Jan. 15 editorial, “Oregon at the Tax Crossroad.”

The public unions are the primary drivers behind the Oregon tax hike campaign. In recent weeks, national powerhouses AFSCME and the SEIU have poured close to $1 million into the state campaign to secure passage. Oregon’s public employees have one of the sweetest deals in America. Their average pay is about one-third higher than that of private Oregon workers, and Oregon public employees don’t have to pay anything toward their health-care benefits.

In the last budget, the Democratic controlled state legislature doled out a $259 million pay raise to the government work force, even as the state was facing a near $1 billion deficit. In the last three years, the state has added 25,000 new public employees while losing 40,000 private sector jobs. The union TV ads say the tax hikes are needed to preserve schools, roads and public services.

The Journal, perhaps anticipating the yes votes, noted the value of states as the “laboratories of democracy.” But this experiment has already been run. In raising taxes to protect the public employee unions, Oregon’s voters have followed the California model of governance and taxation. And look how well that’s turned out: California has lost 600,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000, 32 percent of the state’s manufacturing workforce.

Oregon’s unemployment rate is 11 percent, by the way.

Back in the ’60s, anti-growth Gov. Tom McCall famously told Californians to come and visit, but not to stay. Now Oregon’s voters have sent their own version of the message: California’s policies are welcome, it’s the jobs we’re telling to leave.

• Christian Science Monitor, “Oregon voters raise taxes on wealthy, businesses”
• Bloomberg, “Oregon Approves Tax Increase on Top-Earners, Business“
• Oregonian, “Oregon voters pass tax increasing measures by big margin“