From The Business Roundtable, “Business Roundtable Names John Engler President“:

Washington – Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, today announced that it has named former Gov. John Engler as its President, effective January 15, 2011.  

Engler currently is President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest manufacturing association in the U.S. A former three-term governor of Michigan, Engler has been NAM president since October 1, 2004.  

As NAM president, Engler has been a leading advocate for the nearly 12 million Americans employed directly in manufacturing, educating the public and policymakers on issues that affect this critical sector of the U.S. economy. Under Engler, the NAM has had unprecedented growth and has boosted its dues revenues by 28 percent.  

“As a Governor, John forged progressive public policy. As the NAM’s President, he has been an effective, articulate spokesman for manufacturing. He has championed U.S. competitiveness around the world – often working arm-in-arm with Business Roundtable – and has tirelessly advocated policies that create jobs in the U.S. Respected in Washington on both sides of the aisle, John has spurred NAM to grow in both size and influence, even as its members faced difficult economic times. His leadership skills, policy expertise and broad background in both the public and private sectors uniquely qualify him to be BRT’s new president. We’re thrilled that John is joining BRT at this important moment for American businesses,” said Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman of Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications.   (continue reading…)

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, was a guest on the Hugh Hewitt Show last night to discuss what steps new governors can take to improve their states’ business climates.

Hewitt booked Engler, a former Republican governor of Michigan, as a follow-up to Hewitt’s column, “Where The Action Ought To Be: A Once in a Generation Chance for the Midwest,” which proposed a course of action for new governors in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan: reforms to business taxes, education and the state legal systems.

Here’s a transcript of a portion of the conversation on tort reform, slightly cleaned up for clarity.

Hugh Hewitt: If you’re talking to Kasich or Walker or Corbett, any of these new governors, what ought they to focus on when it comes to asking their legislatures to give them some tort reform?

John Engler: There have been a number of state-level reforms that have worked that need to be replicated everywhere. They’re sort of nitty-gritty, getting down in to how we run the legal system, but clearly, some of the venue issues, so they can keep these cases from being shopped into the more favorable venues. That’s part of it.

Cleaning up the expert witness mess that sometimes exists, where you have people showing up purporting to be an expert who really have no credentials and no special expertise, but yet they’re on the circuit.

I think there’s also a case to be made in certain areas for absolute caps on damages on the non-economic loss.

And you have to get into workers comp laws. That’s a specialty area, but there are many abuses that were there in states, and some I’m sure still remain, where injuries way outside the course of employment are being compensated in that system, driving up costs.

So, each state has peculiarities and subtleties in their system, but in almost all cases there are groups, there are centers for legal reform in the nation, that are helping out at the state level. ALEC [American Legislative Exchange Council] has some recommendations. The American Justice Partnership has recommendations. There are people willing to help when we’ve got leaders who are willing to step up on those issues.

The payoff doesn’t come immediately, but it’s important. … (continue reading…)

Seems topical.

That’s John Cale from his 1992 solo performance memorialized as “Fragments of a Rainy Season.” Great, great presentation of his oeuvre, although the Dylan Thomas material is an acquired taste. The versions of “Cordoba” and “Dying on the Vine” are much better than the studio versions.

Coincidently, John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, addressed the Chinese envoy question in a response to a reporter’s question Wednesday. Engler said:

It’s long been our position that the Chinese currency is undervalued. I tell you what I’m reluctant to do is give the Congress of the United States a pass on fixing so many issues that are problems for manufacturing and have them try to act as though they’re the Politburo over in China. We’re not the Chinese government.
(continue reading…)

John Engler, President of the National Association of Manufacturers, spoke on Thursday, Oct. 21, to the Economic Club of Memphis. In the Q&A, he was asked about the elections. Engler:

I would hope a new majority in Washington would focus on job creation, on strategies that are important for manufacturing revival. I would advise: Do that every day, every week. That’s why you’re going to be given the opportunity to be the majority. Take advantage of it. If they disintegrate into a lot of warring little tribes and a lot of small-ball stuff, two years later they’ll all be thrown out. So I think there’s an opportunity.

I think from manufacturing’s perspective, we better be clear, and from entrepreneurial America, we better be clear when we go to Congress, here are some things we need you to do.

It’s not about the government creating the jobs. The private sector will create job if government will get out of the way. Give us permission. Let us get to “yes” on some of these.

The second thing is that you lose the House of Representatives, you’re the Democratic Party, you’re the Obama Administration, the temptation’s going to be to take these agencies and start trying to do everything through the agencies with different rules and policies and sort of run over the Congress.

And Congress is culpable here. Over the years, Congress has given time and time and time again power to agencies to come in and fill in the blanks. They give them the blank check, and guess what, an activist agency head will start cashing those blank checks some day. So that is the second thing that a new majority has to do. It has to be judicious in the use of oversight, because a lot of this agency activity is counter to job creation. It’ll destroy jobs, it will make the United States less competitive, and they better do very, very rigorous oversight on these agencies and they ought not let them run wild.

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, was on CNBC’s Squawkbox this morning, part of the cable channels discussions leading up to today’s “Town Hall” meeting with President Obama, “Investing Investing in America.” In his interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick, Engler made these observations:

We’d like to hear the President say, “Look, there aren’t going to be new taxes ….” No new taxes at a time when we’re still trying to get the economy moving. Let’s call a halt to all the regulations. There are Senators and members of Congress saying let’s put the EPA on hold for a couple of years. George Schultz and a number of economists writing last week said the same thing. It’s all about jobs. We want to go back to work. We want to have that two trillion dollars that’s on corporate balance sheets to find that the U.S. investment environment is conducive to spending, to investing, and see confidence come back.

I saw in Forbes magazine, Becky, where we’ve actually dropped from second best business environment to ninth in the world. Why is that happening? (It’s) because of the uncertainty and the risks that we’re stacking one on top of another.

On U.S. global competitiveness:

I was in Houston, Becky, last week, talked to an executive of a company. He had been visited by the Singapore government economic agency. They came to Houston, Texas, and said, “Look, we’ve looked at your business. We think you ought to be building in Singapore. Here’s why it’s a good investment. Here’s what we can do on land, here’s what we can do on these incentives.” (continue reading…)

CNBC tonight premieres “Prosperity and Power: Making Washington Work for You,” with John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, as one of the participants. The hour-long show starts at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and CNBC’s Gary Kaminsky join in the discussions, which will be hosted by John Harward and Neel Kashkari. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will be on tape.

From the news release:

America elected President Obama in its quest for change, however two years after the election our nation is seeing a limited return on its investment. Now, the mid-terms are around the corner and the question on everyone’s mind is if anger and discontent can once again bring about change, taking control of the house and senate away from the democrats.

As we approach this momentous election Americans are wondering what will happen to their taxes, what will happen on wall street and if we will ever be able to reclaim our prosperity as a nation.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which diligently covers manufacturing and Wisconsin industry, today reports on the latest Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing report and the condition of the state’s manufacturers in “U.S. manufacturing strengthened in August.”  

ISM’s manufacturing index rose to 56.3 percent in August, up from 55.5 in July, and manufacturing has expanded for 13 straight months, indications that a “double-dip” recession is unlikely. Still, mixed signals.

Business has not rebounded to pre-recession peaks, but it’s much better than it was in 2009, said Dave Sucharski, general manager of Miro Tool & Manufacturing Inc., in Waukesha.

“Right now, all of the sectors of our company are busy,” he said. “The only downside is that orders are coming in with very short lead times.” To conserve cash, “customers are ordering things just when they need them,” he said, “and sometimes later than that.”

JS reporter Rick Barrett also notes points raised in the NAM’s Labor Day Report for 2010, released Wednesday.

“We have had four consecutive quarters of economic growth, but much of the increase was temporary in nature,” said David Huether, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.

“More than half of the upturn in the economy over the past year was from business restocking inventories. Now, with inventory-to-sales ratios back to reasonable levels, this source of growth will likely fade,” Huether said.

The NAM’s Labor Day report is available at http://bit.ly/LaborDayReport .

The ISM index — available here – rose by an unexpected amount, which sparked probably too enthusiastic of reports about the economy, e.g., the Wall Street Journal blog entry, “Surprising Many, Manufacturing Is Bright Spot.” Congress is back soon, and could easily tarnish that brightness.

As NAM President John Engler wrote in the introduction to the Labor Day report:

Any serious Labor Day analysis of the U.S. economy and employment must address the uncertainty factor. Costly tax and regulatory proposals enacted or being considered by Congress and the Obama Administration make employers apprehensive, investors cautious and consumers anxious. Policies that expand government, taxes and regulations also pose serious questions about the ability of business in the United States to compete in the global marketplace. The predictable result is a faltering recovery and troubling times for U.S. workers.

The first meeting of the President’s  National Oil Spill Commission in New Orleans Monday (agenda) included nearly as much testimony on the Obama Administration’s moratorium against deepwater drilling as it did on the Deepwater Horizon accident. Many Gulf Coast residents view the moratorium — another one was issued Monday by Interior Secretary Salazar — as destroying jobs just as they’re most needed.

From Bloomberg, “Economic Damage of Drilling Ban May Dwarf Oil Spill“:

July 12 (Bloomberg) — The economic damage from the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be dwarfed by the Obama administration’s moratorium on deep-water drilling, the chief executive officer of a New Orleans business group said.

The six-month drilling ban, which the U.S. Interior Department revised today following lawsuits from local businesses, may affect as many as 24,000 jobs in Louisiana, Michael Hecht, president and CEO of economic-development group Greater New Orleans Inc., told a presidential commission today.

“Rigs were starting to leave” to drill in other nations, Hecht told reporters after testifying to the commission created by President Barack Obama last month. “The economic impact from the oil spill itself, however broad and long-lasting, will likely be dwarfed by the impact from the moratorium.”

National Association of Manufacturers’ President John Engler issued a statement yesterday on the moratorium:

Today’s announcement by the Obama Administration to place a new moratorium on any deep-water floating facility with drilling activities is a mistake. Manufacturers believe it is critically important to understand the causes of the Gulf of Mexico accident. However, canceling existing leases sets our country back in achieving economic and energy security while putting jobs at stake.  The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals have already spoken, and this new moratorium will only put our nation’s economy at a greater disadvantage.

 Manufacturers who make and supply equipment, services, engines, boats and materials such as steel and concrete will also suffer massive economic consequences as a result of the Administration’s overly broad moratorium. 

The expansion and development of the Outer Continental Shelf is vital to affordable, reliable energy and the long-term health of our economy and the prosperity of American workers.

Manufacturers will continue to work with the Administration and Congress to lift this new moratorium and expedite delivery of these valuable resources to American consumers. 

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, spoke via conference call with NAM members Tuesday from small- and medium-sized manufacturers, one of a series of quarterly webinars used to bring folks up to date on Washington activities.

On health care, the boss had lots to say. We’ve transcribed some of his comments, with only light editing:

Our priorities at the NAM are unchanged. We came to the health care debate in good faith, saying, “Look, it’s time we have health care reform because we need to reduce health care costs, and we ought to respect all the employer plans that are out there.”

The NAM membership, mostly everybody, provides health insurance to their employees, so we were in the category of “doing the right thing.” Now we’re in the category of “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Our priorities are the same:

• Let’s maximize for manufacturers the widest possible set of opportunities and choices to have different options, some of those very much more affordable than what we have today.
• Let’s improve for the entire system and reform the way we deliver health-care services.
• Let’s increase the transparency on the costs and the quality of that health care, regardless of who’s providing it.

We’ve long been at the manufacturers part of employer-based coalitions, which have sought to educate members of Congress and the public on what we think are the significant economic consequences of what’s being proposed up on the Hill. (continue reading…)

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, appeared on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program Tuesday to discuss “Jobs for America,” the new Milken Institute study that details the economic case for policies that will encourage competitiveness and growth of the U.S. manufacturing sector.

The program has posted a transcript of the interview — transcripts being one of the reasons we really like Hugh’s site, www.hughhewitt.com –and here’s an exchange.

HH: Now it’s a great report. It’s almost forty pages long, full of facts, full of details. What’s the key takeaway, Governor? I mean, people should go read it at the Milken Institute website, and I’m sure NAM’s got a link to it, too.

JE: We do, both Milken and NAM have links to this. We’re sending it all over Washington today to every member of Congress, to anybody that we think can influence Congress.

But bottom line, of course, it recognizes I think something your show knows well. Government doesn’t create jobs. Business creates the jobs, and we need to encourage that to happen.

And the report, I think, does something that we’ve needed to do for some time, and I’m just pleased that the NAM could have engaged the Milken Institute to get this done. We really go into the numbers. We dive deeply and say look, if you reduce corporate tax rates, if you make the R & D credit better, make it permanent, if you modernize our system of export controls, guess what’s going to happen? You’re going to create jobs, if we do all three of those things, nearly a million new manufacturing jobs, and nearly three million total jobs right there. And we’re going to add significantly to GDP. This is over a ten year period.

But the implications of this are very clear for Congress. What we need to do is encourage this investment, and get the private sector working. That’s how we get the economy moving.

Thanks, Hugh.