Content about Politics

The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indeces showed positive annual growth rates in three key metrics for the first time since the summer of 2010.

“Home prices gained in the second quarter,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Indx Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “In this month’s report, all three composites and all 20 cities improved both in June and through the entire second quarter of 2012.” 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed a victory to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort on Aug. 21 when it upheld the decision to grant a casino license to Joe Hardy, the founder of both Nemacolin and 84 Lumber.

The connection between the two businesses was factored into an objection raised by Mason-Dixon Resorts, which wanted to build its own casino but lost out when the Pennsylvania Gaming Board awarded Nemacolin the only slot machine license.

Demand for fencing in the U.S. is forecast to expand 7.1% annually through 2016, according to a report just released by The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based market research firm. Growth will be driven by an expected rebound in building construction from a depressed 2011 base.  Advances will also be supported by rising installation of high-value fences, such as ornamental metal and composite fencing.  Consumers are turning to these materials because of their favorable aesthetic and performance properties, the report said.

Home prices across the nation rose for the second month in a row, according to the S&P/Case Shiller Index, a closely watched indicator for the housing market. The average price of single-family, residential homes in the United States increased by 2.2% in May 2012 compared with the previous month for both the 10- and 20-city composites. On an annual basis, both composites and 17 of the 20 MSAs saw increases in May compared with April 2011. The exceptions were Boston, Charlotte and Detroit.

By Ben Gann, director of legislative affairs, NLBMDA

The Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act reforms the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule by restoring the opt-out clause and suspending the rule if the EPA cannot approve a commercially available test kit that meets the regulation’s requirements.

Housing economists, reading the tea leaves of recent building permits and home sales, are not yet ready to say, “It’s over.” But certain states are definitely showing a pick-up in business at both the builder and LBM supplier level. They say one of these states, surprisingly, is Florida.

Employee morale
The following is a response to the article, “Unhappy employees are staying put.”

“[Unhappy employees are] soon to be going, or at least when the economy improves — that’s when they will leave in droves because of extreme low pay and lack of respect from employers. Why wouldn’t they? No one likes being used or abused. Do you?”
— Rick Heath

On June 28, 2012, by a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on the grounds that the individual mandate penalty is a tax. Because the Constitution clearly gives Congress the ability to impose a tax, the Court ruled, all of the other questions surrounding the mandate are moot.

In its landmark decision issued on June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the health care reform law’s individual coverage mandate, rejected a provision intended to force states to expand Medicaid coverage, and left virtually all other parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) intact.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could affect the bottom line of numerous lumber suppliers with timberlands in the United States.

After the Supreme Court upheld the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said it will redouble its efforts to repeal the healthcare law.

“We’re disappointed by today’s ruling,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay in a statement. “The Court missed an opportunity to redress the many shortcomings of the law."

According to a report by Reuters, that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Friday said he was "seriously concerned" about whether the female plaintiffs suing Wal-Mart Stores have sufficient evidence to proceed with their re-filed gender discrimination lawsuit.

The group is again filing suit against Wal-Mart for allegedly denying them pay raises and promotions for gender-related reasons. The original class action suit of as many as 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart employers was dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.