Will the Bush Dynasty Continue?

[keith]

Bush says brother Jeb would make "great president"



President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he thought his younger brother Jeb would make "a great president" but the two-term governor of Florida had given no hint about his intentions.

"I have no idea what he's going to do. I've asked him that question myself. I truly don't think he knows," Bush said in an interview with Florida reporters posted on the St. Petersburg Times Website.

The president said he had pushed his "independent minded" brother fairly hard about his plans after leaving the governor's office next January. He predicted Jeb could have a "very bright" political future.

"I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not," Bush said.

Asked if Jeb should run for president, Bush said, "I think Jeb would be a great president. But it's up to Jeb to make a decision to run."

Jeb Bush, 53, has said repeatedly over the past year that he will not run for president in 2008. He has not said anything recently to indicate a change in his thinking.

In an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published in mid-April, he was asked about his future when he leaves the governor's office.

Bush said: "There are two things politically that I won't do. I won't run for the Senate and I'm not running for president. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Jeb Bush's gubernatorial term ends in January 2007. George W. Bush's second presidential term ends in January 2009 and he cannot run again.

There has never been a case in U.S. history of two brothers serving as president.




Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.


Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

[keith]

America's Job Hotspots

Florida's Hot, Midwest is Not
By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

Looking for a new job? Think about heading to the Sunshine State. For the second year in a row, Florida metropolitan areas dominate the Milken Institute Best Performing Cities Index, a measurement of where jobs are being created in America.

The 2005 Index's top three metro areas adding jobs at rapid pace are in Florida, led by this year's top-ranked metro, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, followed by last year's top scorer, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Naples-Marco Island, in third place.

The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area is located near the John F. Kennedy Space Center and has a diversified economy with many aerospace and defense-related industries, as well as space-related tourism and a growing number of retirees.

Even severe hurricane seasons could not topple Florida's growth trends. The state's metros hold not just the index's top three slots, but five of its top six and 12 of its top 30.

"The state is creating jobs at a prodigious rate," said Ross DeVol, the Institute's director of Regional Economics and the report's lead author. "It has all the makings of a job-creating machine: good weather, low costs, a growing population, a strong tourism industry and little heavy manufacturing."

The index ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs. It includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of job, wage and salary, and technology growth.

The 2005 winners have similar characteristics: strong and growing service sectors, a robust recovery in tourism, growing populations and an increase in the number of retirees. As evidence, six metros in the top 20 come from the Southwest, including three in California (Riverside, Santa Barbara and Santa Ana) and two in Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix). The other is Las Vegas.

By comparison, the Midwest has none. The top-rated Midwest metro is Madison, Wis., at 35th. Nine of the bottom 10 spots on the index were from the Midwest -- five from Michigan and four from Ohio -- reflecting the region's troubled manufacturing sector. Flint, Mich., is at the bottom at No. 200.

Big-Cities' Rankings:
The top 10 performers of the 200 largest metros:

1. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.
2. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
3. Naples-Marco Island, Fla.
4. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
5. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.
6. Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
7. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W.Va.
8. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.-Mo.
9. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla.
10. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Ca.

Thanks to the presence of the federal government and a dramatic increase in the growth of technology firms in the region, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is the highest-ranked of America's largest 10 cities, at No. 7, followed by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. at No. 10 and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. at No. 15.

Small-Cities' Rankings:
In what amounts to a clean sweep, another Florida metro -- Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin -- also ranked No. 1 on the Institute's separate listing of America's smallest 179 metros, followed by Bend, Ore. (2), and Prescott, Ariz. (3).

1. Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Fla.
2. Bend, Ore.
3. Prescott, Ariz.
4. Panama City-Lynn Haven, Fla.
5. St. George, Utah
6. Madera, Calif.
7. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash.
8. Logan, Utah-Idaho
9. Yuma, Ariz.
10. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

The biggest movers from last year were Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash., which moved up 104 places (122nd to 18th), and Newark-Union, N.J.-Penn., which dropped 101 spots (39th to 140th).


Kate Lorenz is the article and advice editor for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.