Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business on the Price of Business with Kevin Price

The longest running radio show on CBS Radio in Houston can now be watched at http://PriceofBusinessTV.com.  We are just getting started and expect improved video quality, images, and so much more.  Visit the site and make sure to become a regular follower.

Source: New York Daily News

A leading Democratic consultant claims that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is tired of sparring with both Republicans and fellow Democrats and will quit in the next six to eight months.

“I would bet he will go after the midterms,” The London Telegraph quotes the Democratic consultant as saying.

“Nobody thinks it’s working but they can’t get rid of him - that would look awful. He needs the right sort of job to go but the consensus is he’ll go.”

Emanuel, 50, has been one of the most prominent faces of the Obama administration and a lightning rod for critics.

This year he battled Republicans on health care reform, watched the President’s approval ratings plunge, and found himself embroiled in controversy when the Wall Street Journal reported that he had called a liberal group ‘retarded’ in a closed-door meeting, prompting Sarah Palin and other conservatives to call for his resignation.

Emanuel, who has openly admitted he didn’t want the chief of staff job when it was first offered to him, said in a March interview with 60 Minutes, “It’s seven days a week, constant. And even at night, you’re never really calm sleeping. No matter how exhausted, you’re not calm. You’re never kinda off.”

The father of three also told 60 Minutes that the job is

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/06/20/2010-06-20_rahm_emanuel_obamas_chief_of_staff_to_quit_white_house_in_six_to_eight_months_re.html#ixzz0rSZGgiEI

Get the best in business and politica commentary from Kevin Price at http://PriceofBusiness.com.

Source: FoxNews.com

Kevin Price discussess issues like this and more on the Price of Business, M-F at 11 am CST. Visit the site, where you will also find his syndicated column.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is asking Republican lawmakers to approve billions of dollars in new spending to avert a scheduled 21 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients.

If GOP senators don’t allow the stalled proposal to pass, some doctors will stop treating Medicare recipients, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday.

Obama also urged congressional leaders Saturday to approve his proposals to pump more federal money into states where thousands of teachers, firefighters and other public officials face likely layoffs. In a letter, Obama described his plans as “critical and timely ways to further the economic recovery and spur job creation.”

Many GOP lawmakers, and some Democrats, have balked at further stimulus spending, fearing the deficit is getting out of hand.

The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said…(read more)

In one of the most contested races for the chairmanship of a state party, Steve Munisteri of Houston has been elected chairman of the Texas Republican Party.  More news to be released soon.

British Petroleum’s (BP) environmental disaster off the Gulf Coast has dominated the news headlines for several weeks.  Unfortunately, the media seems to have limited its focus on the oil spill and not on the ways it could have been prevented.

Since the disaster I have spoken to several energy industry leaders who have told me, on the basis of anonymity, that BP has a reputations of being slack in the way they drill oil and its safety standards do not compare to what US companies enjoy.  In fact, a similar accident on the part of a company from the US would have led to an immediate shut off because of the technological and safety standards.  I have been told that BP is “impatient” with US companies because in its view the latter “are” slow in their processes and are “obsessed” with safety.

The economic case for increased domestic drilling is simple and with our current economic crisis, it is more important than ever. It will quickly lower gas prices by increasing future supplies. What most opponents of domestic drilling fail to realize is that the mere threat of increased production can lower prices…(read more)

Price of Business Show contributors Gordon Arnold and Chrales Knobloch are reporting the following from the US Patent and Trademark Office:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has been busy, and last week announced changes to some of it’s patent programs that you should be aware of. 

Under the USPTO Project Exchange program, a small entity that had patents on file prior to October 1, 2009 that were unexamined, could abandon a prior patent application in exchange for expediting another unexamined patent application that was also filed prior to October 1, 2009. Now, any entity (regardless of size) can participate in this program, for up to fifteen applications through December 31, 2010.

Additionally, the USPTO has expanded its acceleration pilot program that we announced to you back in December, 2009.  Under  this program, a patent applicant can file a petition to receive special status for pending applications in “green” technologies limited to specific classifications set by the USPTO.  This limitation to specific classifications,  which has resulted in a large number of petition denials, has now been removed.  This pilot program is limited to the first 3000 granted petitions.

If you wish to discuss the effect of these developments regarding any of your patents or applications, please contact us. There website is http://www.usptclaw.com/.

ARNOLD & KNOBLOCH, L.L.P. — Houston, Texas — is a full-service intellectual property law firm that provides comprehensive legal strategies to clients regarding patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition and other intellectual property issues.  Arnold & Knobloch services clients from Fortune 100 to small mid-market companies as well as in-house counsel, other lawyers and law firms, inventors, artists and writers.  Serving clients both domestically and internationally, Arnold & Knobloch offers strategic solutions that give clients business advantage and protection as they navigate a landscape crowded with competitors.

From HBD Editors. You would thing a story like this would receive major national play.  We happened to stumble on it because we are in Houston, Texas.  The Obama administration is very difficult to keep up with.

From KHOU.com in Houston, TX

PORT OF HOUSTON, Texas—The Port of Houston has reached an agreement to ship directly to Cuba, opening the door for more jobs and even a thriving cruise-line business.

“Our dream scenario is that we would end up in the cruise business with Cuba,” said Jim Edmonds, chairman of the Port of Houston Authority. “I think that would be a popular destination.”

The partnership has the potential to bring thousands of jobs to the Houston area, port officials said. Already the nation’s largest petrochemical complex, the Port of Houston directly and indirectly impacts 785,000 jobs in Texas.

The U.S. Commerce Department recently – and quietly – approved a shipping contract for a company looking to transport goods directly between Houston and the island nation. It marks another step in the process of the Obama administration thawing relations with the communist country.

A series of embargoes have strictly limited trade with Cuba since 1962.

But in 2009, U.S. trade with the island located…(read more)

From “The war on the working class continues”

I personally hate conspiracy theories.  like most, I hear such and my eyes begin to glaze over and I eagerly wait for the person to stop talking so I can move on to another conversation.  However, there is something about the Obama administration that makes it very difficult to not question the intent, as well as the consequences, of their policy choices.

Recently Eric Holder…(read more)

From FoxNews.com.  By Jonathan Serrie

The Obama administration may have given America’s labor unions a big break in their attempt to organize flight attendants, including about 20.000 at Delta, now the world’s largest airline and, historically, the least unionized of major U.S. carriers.

What’s changed is a 75-year-old rule that required a “yes” vote from the majority of an airline or railroad’s entire work force within a “class” or “craft” (such as pilots or flight attendants) in order to unionize. On Monday, the National Mediation Board announced new rules that would only require “yes” votes from the majority of employees who actually cast ballots.

FOLLOW JONATHAN ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND KYTE.

“This rule change… is arguably the most controversial change that the National Mediation Board has ever undertaken, at least in my 30 years of watching the industry,” said William “Bill” Swelbar, a research engineer with the International Center for Air Transportation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It appears quite driven by an administration’s policy to promote unionization and collective bargaining.”

Supporters say the new union voting procedures for airlines and railroads are no different from those long in place at other industries and, for that matter, democratic elections in general.

“The National Mediation Board (NMB) has taken an important and essential step towards ensuring a more democratic process for airline and rail workers seeking representation in the workplace,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a press release following the board’s decision.

But opponents fear the new rule could spark labor disputes at a time airlines are struggling to recover from the recession, increased fuel costs and security restrictions.

The Air Transport Association, a trade organization representing major U.S. carriers, issued this statement:

“We continue to believe the National Mediation Board does not…(read more)

Recently Kevin Price, Host of the Price of Business Show on CNN Radio, has been asked to explain the differences between a republic and a democracy.  He suggests a column he wrote on the subject and an excellent video that explains that a democracy was one of many more “radical” forms of governments that lead to tyrany.  Read the article, consider the video.  Very interesting.