Weekend Digest: The David Letterman Edition

TV SHOW: A SESSION PREVIEW
This week on Talk Business & Politics:

A special session will start next week. Superprojects, super primaries, and super consolidation are on the docket. Our political roundtable tackles all the issues and previews what to expect. Hear what John Burris, Michael Cook and Janelle Lilley have to say about next week’s agenda.

A controversy involving a former agency director makes headlines. KATV’s Janelle Lilley and Jason Pederson explore.

Plus, Rex Nelson joins the show for his take on politics and he’ll break down his latest feature story in the current magazine edition of Talk Business & Politics.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics on Sunday at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.

TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTH CARE COSTS NOW LAW IN WASHINGTON STATE
The Puget Sound Business Journal posts that this past Thursday was “a triumph for proponents of transparency in health care costs in Washington state.”

Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation that will create what’s called an all-payer claims database where health insurers are mandated to provide information about the cost and quality of care.

This has been a long-awaited moment for many state health care entities but especially the Coalition for Health Care Cost Transparency, comprised of several state health care and business associations and some providers.

Broken down, what will access to this new information actually provide and how will it help employers make more informed decisions about which plans to choose for employees?

Go to this link for the complete story.

DID EMPOWERMENT ZONES WORK?
Marketplace calls it about even for one city where there were successes and failures. But what exactly were Empowerment Zones?

In December 1994, Andrew Cuomo, then an assistant secretary with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, stood at a podium to announce the names of six cities that had been chosen to take part in an ambitious federal push to alleviate inner-city poverty. The Empowerment Zone program awarded a $100 million block grant and a package of tax credits for businesses and employers to the six. Seventy four cities applied, but Baltimore put on a show, dispatching a caravan of school buses and a marching band to Washington to deliver Charm City’s application.

The winning cities, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia-Camden, had some leeway in how they’d use the funds, which were to be spread out over a decade. For Baltimore, job creation and job training in the poorest neighborhoods (called Empowerment Zones) were priorities.

Marketplace takes a close-up look at those successes and failures and what impact the Empowerment Zone money had in Baltimore for job creation and job training. How many jobs were created, but more important…how many are left? Click here to learn more.

DOES THE PITCH OF YOUR VOICE MATTER AS A LEADER?
Oh yes, reports Forbes.

“A recent study of CEO’s voices – and they were all male – found that the ones with lower voices made more money than higher-voiced counterparts in other companies.”

Add that study to the many other such studies about voices and leadership, and you’d be pardoned for freaking out if your voice doesn’t sound like James Earl Jones. How can you possibly succeed?

And what about women?

I get asked by women clients about voices all the time. If I’m a woman, does that limit my leadership – because my voice is higher than most male voices? If my voice is too low, does that backfire because people think I’m trying to sound like a man – or trying to sound too aggressive? If I have a soprano voice, should I try to lower it? And so on.

So how do you maximize your voice for effective leadership? Connect here for a lesson on “How to Find Your Voice as a Speaker.”

TWITTER’S CO-FOUNDER ON CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
In his post for Harvard Business Review, Biz Stone writes about a valuable life experience lesson he learned growing up that he realized applied to business as well.

There’s a valuable lesson in that experience — one that applies to business, too. Some people think of opportunity the way it’s defined in the dictionary — as a set of circumstances that make something possible — and they talk about it as if it just arrives organically. You “spot opportunity” or wait around for “opportunity to knock.”

I look at it differently.

Find out how at this link.

REPLACING THE PLASTIC BOTTLE
Unlikely entrepreneur Sarah Kauss had a moment of epiphany five years ago that resulted in the CPA leaving her secure job with an international real estate trust. Kauss, who carried an unattractive metal water bottle with her – in an effort to be environmentally responsible – watch a presentation on the global water crisis.

“A professor did a presentation about the global water crisis and the impact on the planet from plastic waste,” said Kauss. “I knew then that my bottle idea had to happen.”

Kauss got busy, sunk $30,000 in a stylish, resizable stainless steel bottle business, and S’Well was born. Her bottles keep drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours.

Since 2010, the New York-based firm has sold 4 million bottles. The business is profitable and saw revenue surge 400% between 2013 and 2014 – hitting $10 million last year. “We expect revenue to grow exponentially again this year,” she said.

Read more about this 27-year old startup success at this link.

A PRESIDENTIAL SENDOFF FOR A LATE NIGHT LEGEND
David Letterman retired this past Wednesday with his final show after 33 years as a late night talk show host.

He ended it with a brilliant show that was also at times touching and featured a cavalcade of stars a politicians including four presidents, who got in some shots as payback for all they took from Dave over the years.

David Letterman ended his 33-year run as host of the “Late Show” on Wednesday night, and four living U.S. presidents marked the occasion by bidding him farewell — or good riddance.

Who were the presidents and what did they say?

The Hill has the story at this link.

MORE LETTERMAN
POLITICO posts, “Senators, governors and oh-so-many presidential candidates have rotated through “Late Show With David Letterman” over the past decades, promoting platforms, suppressing scandals and mobilizing voters — all in exchange for a little ribbing from the late-night comedian.”

POLITICO takes a look at some of his political guests over the years and the one-liners that made us laugh … and campaign managers squirm.

Here.

THE GRAND ‘OLD’ PARTY
Literally the GOP is old, reports POLITICO.

It turns out that one of the Grand Old Party’s biggest — and least discussed — challenges going into 2016 is lying in plain sight, written right into the party’s own nickname. The Republican Party voter is old — and getting older, and as the adage goes, there are two certainties in life: Death and taxes. Right now, both are enemies of the GOP and they might want to worry more about the former than the latter.

“The party’s core is dying off by the day.”

Since the average Republican is significantly older than the average Democrat, far more Republicans than Democrats have died since the 2012 elections. To make matters worse, the GOP is attracting fewer first-time voters.

So how big of a disadvantage is this for the GOP in 2016 or will the party’s death rate actually matter?

Find out at this link.

CLINTON FOUNDATION REVEALS UNDISCLOSED PAYMENTS FROM DONORS
$26.4 million to be exact.

The Clinton Foundation reported Thursday that it has received as much as $26.4 million in previously undisclosed payments from major corporations, universities, foreign sources and other groups.

The disclosure came as the foundation faced questions over whether it fully complied with a 2008 ethics agreement to reveal its donors and whether any of its funding sources present conflicts of interest for Hillary Rodham Clinton as she begins her presidential campaign.

Go to this link from The Washington Post to learn how the money was paid and how it was initially tallied.

THE BEST COMMENCEMENT SPEECH EVER?
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Maya Rudolph‘s commencement speech at Tulane University has gone viral after the actor busted out two of her most famous impressions — Oprah and Beyoncé.

Rudolph was honored with a performance from Tulane’s Green Envy a capella group before taking the podium. Her speech went just over 16 minutes and was filled with comedy and advice. The fun began pretty much the moment she began speaking.

Bust out laughing at this link.

HAPPY ROCKEFELLER DIES AT 88
Her 1963 marriage to Governor Nelson Rockefeller “scandalized voters” says The New York Times “soon after both had been divorced.”

The furor was so great The Times says it “raised a political storm in a more genteel time and may have cost him the Republican presidential nomination in 1964.”

In an era when marital infidelity and divorce were toxic for presidential candidates, many Americans were shocked when Margaretta Fitler Murphy, called Happy, and Mr. Rockefeller, who was nearly 18 years older than she, married on May 4, 1963. He was in the second of his four terms as governor and a leading contender for the presidency at the time.

Learn more about the life of Happy Rockefeller and her marriage to the governor by clicking here.

FLOWER POTS AND ‘NERD NIRVANA’
They wore flower pots on their heads and were unconforming New Wave rock pioneers. Of course we are talking about the band Devo of “Whip It Good” fame.

But Devo was more than just a band. Fast Company says unlike many bands and artists who were at the mercy of their recording and production companies, Devo “confronted capitalism by embracing it, maintaining as much creative and financial control as they could in a major label system, and building an undeniably strong, unique brand.”

So-called “Nerd Nirvana.”

The cover of the 1980 catalog that came with Freedom of Choice depicted the band in their signature yellow protective suits, promoting their sale to help fans “Protect yourself from dangerous human elements and stay cool during meltdowns” — but the photo was additionally captioned with a lengthy disclaimer: “As you can see, Bob #1 isn’t sure he likes the idea of a DEVO Fan Club. Fan Clubs can be a silly rip-off. We at CLUB DEVO pledge not to let this happen to you.

Go back in time to take a wild ride with Devo and their genius “kookiness” that all ended rather “ugly” at this link.