Weekend Digest: The Hillary And Huckabee Hit The Road Edition

TV PREVIEW: FROM HUCKABEE TO HEALTH CARE
On this week’s agenda:

Legislative leaders of Arkansas’ health reform task force are bringing open minds to the debate, but there’s no getting past their philosophies on the subject. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist and TB&P contributor John Brummett sits down with Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, and Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulpher Springs, to discuss and debate the Private Option, Medicaid reform and other aspects of the health care overhaul.

Plus, Brummett shares insight on his latest magazine contribution to TB&P – an article regarding the death penalty. He interviews former Attorney General Steve Clark, who oversaw Arkansas’ transition from the electric chair form of state execution to lethal injection. Brummett’s article offers a behind-the-scenes account of the first lethal injection execution of the infamous Ronald Gene Simmons.

Our political roundtable analyzes Mike Huckabee’s formal launch into the 2016 Presidential campaign. KATV’s lead capitol reporter Janelle Lilley, GOP strategist Clint Reed of Impact Management Group, and Democratic strategist and TB&P contributor Michael Cook offer observations and commentary. They’ll also lay out political predictions on a variety of subjects including Dennis Milligan, Tom Cotton, and a possible special session or two.

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

THE STORY OF HOW HONDAJET GOT ITS WINGS
Forbes says, “The delivery of the first HondaJets in the next few months is the culmination of a 29-year obsession to create a breakthrough small jet aircraft – quieter, roomier and faster than any rival on the commercial market.”
 
“My career objective was to create a concept for an airplane, and design and sell it by myself,” said the intense but soft-spoken (Michimasa) Fujino, a youthful-looking 54, with thick eyebrows and large wire-rim glasses competing for attention. “I don’t want to be [responsible for] just a portion of the product. I want to start by concept.”
 
In an age where engineering is dominated by anonymous teams his HondaJet, with its long tapered nose and distinctive engine placement on top of the wings, is a personal statement, the aluminum and carbon-fiber embodiment of an extraordinary decades-long journey that led him from his birthplace in Japan to a Mississippi college town, back to the boardrooms of Japan and, finally, to the helm of this manufacturing plant in North Carolina, 240 miles – as the private jet flies – from Kitty Hawk, where the Wright brothers took flight in 1903.
 
With a price tag of $4.5 million, the HondaJet is being marketed as a tool for business owners who have assets of $20 million to $40 million and want to keep tabs on their operations. But they’re just as likely to use one for a quick golf outing or weekend getaway.
 
Who will its main customers be and why does Forbes think the timing is right for the release of this slick jet?
 
Go inside the story at this link for an in-depth look at the creation of this beautiful aircraft and find out why “early demand is promising.” 
 
GAMIFICATION 
“What the heck is ramification?” you may ask.
 
Simply put, gamification is the integration of game mechanics into non-game related areas. It means taking job-essential tasks that can be mundane, repetitive and laborious and implementing game-like elements – namely, rewards, competition, and storytelling – to encourage participation, achievement, and productivity.
 
How does it work?
 
Find out here.
 
WHERE THE JOBS ARE (AND AREN’T)
Inc. explores conventional thinking which suggests that small business is where the jobs are being grown.
 
But the conventional thinking is also a bit misleading. It turns out the biggest job creators are actually big businesses, followed by startups. Over the past 10 years, the former have been responsible for the most net job increases. Meanwhile, startups create and destroy more new jobs every year than any other group.
 
Are you surprised? Shift your paradigm of thinking at this link. 
 
WHAT COULD KILL THE AUTO INSURANCE INDUSTRY?
Automated driving could, reports Fast Company.
 
“One day, robots and artificial intelligence could eliminate millions of jobs in America, even in industries that aren’t immediately obvious. A study not long ago from two Oxford University academics found that 47% of positions are at risk of computerization over the next two decades.”
 
That’s why so many people think the insurance industry could suffer in the age of advanced AI — particularly the auto insurance industry.
 
“The truth is, if it’s a safer way of driving, it’s good for society and it’s bad for our insurance business,” Warren Buffett said recently when asked about the effect of automated vehicles (AVs) on his Geico subsidiary. “Anything that cuts accidents by 30%, 40%, 50% would be wonderful, but we would not be holding a party at our insurance company.”
 
Actually Fast Company says some estimates are higher than that. How high and how quickly might it happen?
 
Follow this link for the answers.

MIKE HUCKABEE JUMPS IN
But The Washington Post asks, “Is a folksy showman willing to get meaner?”

It was as a lifelong broadcaster that the onetime “pastor on TV” perfected the conservative amiability that helped him win the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and could again set him apart from an increasingly crowded field of Republicans.

But in the GOP of 2016, when the sharp edge plays better than the soft smile, Huckabee enters the race facing a key question: Will the same “I’m not mad at anybody” on-air vibe that fueled his rise make him a non-starter for mad-as-hell early Republican voters?

“Since GOP voters are out for blood” what can “Mellow Mike” do to be “more political than polite”?

Click on this link for an intriguing profile and assessment of the preacher from Hope that along the way joined the congregation of the Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock as part of this story.

CAN THE IOWA STRAW POLL BE SAVED?
“Probably not,” reports The Washington Post.

Calling it “little more than a trumped-up fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa,” The Post says, “Between 1979 and 2011, that inconvenient fact was largely ignored as the straw poll was touted by everyone in politics as a critically important proving ground for anyone who wanted to have a chance in the Iowa caucuses five months later.”

That all changed in 2011.

Go to this link to find out why and if the straw poll has any chance to re-claim what it allegedly used to be.

LEADER OF THE PACK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
It’s Jeb Bush reports POLITICO.

“Jeb Bush leads the pack among Republican presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire, according to the latest WMUR Granite State Poll.”

The former Florida governor nabbed 15 percent among likely Republican primary voters, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio close behind with 12 percent. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker follows with 11 percent, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul attracted 10 percent. Others in the mix include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (6 percent); Donald Trump (5 percent); and Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry (4 percent each).

Which begs the question, “Where the heck is Chris Christie?”

Along with the candidates, polling numbers on pressing issues for New Hampshirites are surveyed among both political party’s voters?

For the results, connect to this link.

CLINTON’S IOWA POLL NUMBERS
“Hillary Clinton remains the overwhelming favorite among likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, despite ongoing scrutiny of foreign donations to her family’s foundation and lingering criticism over the former secretary of state’s use of a personal cellphone and email server for official business,” POLITICO reveals.

By more than 4 to 1, Iowa voters say Clinton is honest and trustworthy — 76 percent to 17 percent. By comparison, 84 percent say Biden is honest and trustworthy, versus 10 percent who say he is not.

Click on this link for a closer look at the poll numbers among likely participants in the Iowa Democratic caucus.

ISSUES, SCHMISSUES, CAN THE PREIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SING?
The New York Times posts, “The cacophony of presidential candidates is getting louder by the day, and while they have a variety of views on political matters, many of them have at least one thing in common — a love of music.”

From Mike Huckabee playing “Free Bird” in New Hampshire to Hillary performing on Rosie O’Donnell’s show they’re all here for you to watch.  Go here for the campaign audition show.

BLIND MOTHER-TO-BE MEETS HER UNBORN BABY
How could this be? Entrepreneur reports that the thanks all goes to a 3-D printer.

Huggies Brazil has produced a heartrending video entitled Meeting Murilo, in which a blind mother-to-be is able to glimpse her newborn son before his arrival thanks to a 3-D printed ultrasound.

The mother is 30-year-old Tatiana Guerra.

Cut to a 3-D printing mobile station, where Huggies is printing a plaque of sorts of Guerra’s fetus’ likeness. “I am your son,” it reads at the top in Braille. Guerra immediately breaks down, caressing the visage with trembling hands.

See for yourself at this link or try to between wiping the tears away.

STARTUP ALLEY
Would you like to have a cocktail at the push of a button? How about a replacement body part?

These were some of the seemingly outlandish — but not as far-fetched as you might think — products and ideas being pitched by start-ups in New York this week at AOL’s TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the many events for young companies clamoring for attention and funding.

Although the odds are stacked against most of the exhibiting companies, here are a few that caught my eye.

They will yours too if you follow this link from USA Today.