Archive for December 17th, 2010

Omnibus Bill’s defeat is a big blow to ObamaCare … here’s why.

December 17, 2010

Obama and Reid almost got away with it.

At the last minute – in the lamest of lame duck session – Reid tried to push through a $1.1 trillion Federal budget.

The public uproar centered on the process (more backroom dealing), the magnitude (another $1 trillion), and the earmarks (over 6,000 and more than $8 billion).

Yep, it was a stick in the eyes of voters … I think Reid liked that.

But, Reid had to pull the bill last nite … accepting that he didn’t have the votes to pass it.

Interesting, because most of the uproar was just a distraction.

Bottom line, the budget that finally gets passed next year will be right around $1 trillion … you can make bank on that.

And, it’ll contain tons of wasteful spending … it’ll just be harder to find since it won’t be tagged “earmarks”.

So what’s the big deal ?

In my opinion, the omnibus bill was just a Trojan Horse.

Inside it was more than $1 billion funding for ObamaCare … to continue building the enforcement infrastructure.

There’s no way that the newbies arriving in DC will build that into the budget.  Many have declared that “defunding” ObamaCare is one of their top priorities.

That’s why Obama didn’t step forward and tell Reid to stop the foolishness re: spending and earmarks.

He couldn’t … he was getting the biggest earmark of them all.

Losing that, coupled with the states’ legal fight over the constitutionality of ObamaCare … 2011 will be a challenging year for ObamaCare as it’s supporters fight for $$$ and try to convince the courts that’ it’s legal.

Posted in ObamaCare | Leave a Comment »

Obama cites harsh rhetoric creating gulf with biz execs … their’s not his!

December 17, 2010

Here’s one from the “say what?” file …

At Wednesday’s CEO Summit, execs told Obama that

“ … an overwhelming majority of those in business believe the administration is hostile, with little or no understanding of how this saps the “animal spirits” required for taking risks on expansions and start-ups.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1e56086c-0882-11e0-80d9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz18Gn2QqtQ

OK, that’s not new news to most of us.

The President’s rebuttal:

“ …  the president expressed his frustration about the apparent disconnect between productive talks with the executives, and the harsh rhetoric directed at the administration by the business lobbyists they employ.”http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ea11431a-087b-11e0-80d9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz18GoEJFOK

After 2 years of vilifying virtually every company (except Google) with the harshest rhetoric on the planet, the President says the problem is biz talking trash about him.

You gotta be kidding me.

Ironic that the fate of his presidency is now largely in the hands of those who he has trash talked.

See FT, Only business can put Obama back on top, December 15 2010
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1e56086c-0882-11e0-80d9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz18Gn2QqtQ

My bet: the execs will continue to sit on cash and slow roll the hiring process.

Why?

They just don’t trust the guy …

Posted in Employment - Jobs, Obama Administration | Leave a Comment »

HTC builds a name, and profits for itself

December 17, 2010

TakeAway: In a short period of time, HTC has risen from a nameless contract manufacturer to the world’s market leader in Android phones.

With Android sales growing faster than iPhone sales, HTC is well-positioned to grow even more.

Such a position has given HTC more clout, and more profits than it could ever earn as a brandless company.

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Excerpted from Bloomberg Businessweek, “A Former No-Name from Taiwan Builds a Global Brand,” by Bruce Einhorn, October 28, 2010

… HTC, a brand virtually unknown in the U.S. two years ago, is the market leader in Android phones—the one segment of the market that’s growing faster than Apple’s iPhone. …

… with a market cap of 552 billion Taiwan dollars ($18 billion) the company is now the third-most-valuable Taiwanese technology company … HTC launched the first Android smartphone in 2008 … and has a 39 percent share of that market globally. Thanks to the success with Android … analysts expect sales to soar 78 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s far better than rivals Apple, Nokia, Research In Motion, and Samsung Electronics. …

HTC is an unlikely Android leader. When the company got its start in 1997, it manufactured personal digital assistants for Compaq. HTC followed the tried-and-true Taiwanese outsourcing formula of designing and manufacturing gadgets for other companies without a brand name of its own. … In 2002 … Microsoft awarded HTC a contract to make smartphones, and the manufacturer quickly became the world’s top producer of Windows phones. …

Even as the Microsoft business was growing, [the CEO] worried that a brandless HTC would forever remain a low-margin manufacturer of commodity products. … In 2007, the year Apple … [HTC] decided to move away from the anonymous contract-manufacturing business. Last year, HTC spent $100 million on a fourth-quarter marketing blitz, and … will spend up to $400 million this year. The company is now the world’s fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer after Nokia, RIM, and Apple, according to IDC.

HTC’s rise to the top tier of handset makers has given it more clout with partners … [and] wireless operators are more willing than before to work with HTC on technology and marketing plans. …

Edit by DMG

 

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Full Article
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_45/b4202037166312.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

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Posted in Mktg - Brands, Mktg - Product & Innovation | Leave a Comment »