Many quarters
These ideals have gained increasing support from many quarters of the libertarian and conservative movements, and prominent figures within the Republican Party. The Daily Caller provides a roll call of Internet Freedom exponents:
“These voices include TechFreedom president Berin Szoka, Mercatus Center senior research fellow Adam Thierer, Associate Director of Technology Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute Ryan Radia, and Netcompetition president Scott Cleland.
“It is also modeled off of the efforts of Republican politicians in both chambers of Congress.
“California Republican Representatives Mary Bono Mack and Darrell Issa, Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Oregon Republican Rep. Greg Walden, Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul and Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton are some of leaders in the House on Internet issues.
“Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul have lead Republican efforts in the Senate.”
The GOP platform also includes practical critiques of the FCC, outmoded telecom legislation, and the Obama Administration’s expense of $7 billion without measurable progress toward increasing broadband infrastructure in the United States. The latter is a matter of particular dismay for consumers and businesses in rural areas.
The GOP platform is, unfortunately but understandably, silent on two of the most contentious Internet issues of the moment: cybersecurity and Internet sales taxes. Platform language is not binding upon candidates, and it certainly doesn’t prevent them from addressing issues the party platform chooses not to discuss in detail, so the Romney-Ryan campaign may yet provide us with specific positions in these areas.
IKEA
More Sri Lankan investments in India – IKEA to invest.
The Union minister of Commerce has decided to redefine small and medium enterprises (SME) to make it possible for investment by the Swedish furniture giant IKEA . Union minister Sharma announced this at the India road show here.
IKEA furniture manufacturer has sought some changes in policy to come in with an investment of over Rs 10,500 crore into India. As per current definition, SME is a unit with $1 million investment that can go in for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). IKEA pointed out that once it started sourcing from SME in India, the growth would be fast and SMEs would have to exceed the investment limit.
Sharma said that the moment SME started selling its products to companies abroad its investment would need to go up and under the present law it would cross the limit given and make it not eligible for FDI. Sharma said that the present law was penalizing SME for doing well.
The government to attract FDI had relaxed the foreign direct investment rules last year to allow 100% FDI in single-brand retail . Earlier it was 51% but imposed numerous conditions such as mandatory local sourcing kept off foreign players.
A few investors such as Skechers, Pavers England, Promod and Tommy Hilfiger did express interest but were deterred by stringent norms in upcoming national manufacturing investment zones (NMIZ).
Sharma announced three additional national manufacturing investment zones (NMIZ) will be
coming up in Andhra Pradesh and two in Karnataka. Work on 12 more zones will start by the end of August. Talking about Sri Lankan companies’ investment , Sharma said Sri Lankan companies especially the textile firm Brandex, MAS textiles and Toray are coming to invest heavily in India.
He said Brandex apparels aims for fourfold increase in its exports from Vizag unit in the coming years. Not only Brandex is very upbeat on increasing its investment in India, every Monday about 50 million lingerie pieces are exported by them to Victoria Secret.
Small Business Confidence
Small Business Confidence May Mean Bad News for Jobs.
Business owners’ wavering confidence in the economy may signal more trouble ahead for the job market.
Small business optimism declined last month after six months of gains, according to today’s report from the National Federation of Independent Business. The net percentage of businesses that planned to increase their workforces dropped to zero, the lowest level since May 2011, and down from 4 percent the month before.
Small businesses create 65 percent of net new jobs, with most of that coming from a relatively small group of fast-growing companies, according to the Small Business Administration. After last week’s Department of Labor report showed the U.S. added just 120,000 new jobs in March, below expectations, how worried should we be?
“Next month, if we see the same data and it tracks March, then we expect the unemployment rate will add half a point” in the second quarter, says Holly Wade, the NFIB’s senior policy analyst who co-authored their report. “Over the last few decades, they’ve matched up pretty well,” she says. U.S. unemployment, at a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent, has declined from 9.1 percent last summer.
Other data point to a brighter employment picture. In March, small employers boosted payrolls by the most in two years, according to the Intuit Small Business Employment Index, which aggregates data for companies with fewer than 20 workers that use Intuit’s online payroll software. “Our numbers are the best numbers I’ve seen since the expansion began,” says Susan Woodward of Sand Hill Econometrics, who worked with Intuit (INTU) to create the index.
Woodward notes that the businesses in the NFIB’s survey may include larger companies, including manufacturers and exporters, that are more directly affected by the European debt crisis or slowing growth in China. The Intuit numbers reflect “really small businesses, and there are no enterprises among them,” she says.
The NFIB’s report, based on responses from 757 of the group’s members surveyed in March, reveals confidence among these firms is still at levels typical of a recession. The reversal in the gauge shows business owners still doubt the strength of the recovery, Wade says. “It’s hard to see consistency in the economy as a whole for owners and to know what the next month will look like,” she says. “At this stage, you would think we would be on some sort of trajectory that has a pattern to it, and the pattern seems to be hills and valleys.”