Not Even Clinton Could Have Saved Us?
I watched Bill Clinton's address to the Democratic National Convention out of curiosity. Would he try to help President Obama, whom he clearly disrespects, or would he find subtle ways to undermine him? It was Clinton who gave Ed Klein the title for Amateur, Mr. Klein's best-selling book that thrashes the President from cover to cover. And so the most memorable line from Clinton's speech, the one where his self-love is on clear display, assured us that nobody, not even his eminence, could have turned around this economy in four years.
Weir Minerals wants to expand in Madison and add 100 jobs. Given the economic climate and the city's need for tax base, and given the company's commitment to safety and environmental stewardship, it should be a slam dunk, right? Are you kidding? This is Madison, after all, and any local business that serves the controversial sand mining industry probably can expect some hectoring – justified or not.
Can we first stipulate that when President Obama uttered those now famous words "You didn't build that," he was referring to infrastructure? The remark, which is faulty for an entirely different reason than many have asserted, gave Mitt Romney's commercial craftsmen plenty of fodder to treat the President like a piñata, but then political candidates are indeed having a few problems with context these days.
Michael Bina is looking for a few good executives – actually, several hundred. Bina runs the quarterly Business Pulse survey for Nicolet Bank in Green Bay, but it's spreading its wings beyond Packerland.
Steve Cover's brief tenure as the city of Madison's director of planning and community and economic development has given local developers reason to be optimistic about Madison's economic future.