The Fourth of July represents more than cookouts and fireworks. It's a special holiday honoring our freedom. On this special holiday, take a moment to honor our service men and women, individuals who fight each and every day so that we may enjoy the freedom our country has to offer.

May all of you have a safe, happy and healthy holiday weekend.

The Fourth of July and Cherry Bombs
Up until I entered junior high school, from the time school was out until after Labor Day my family leased a house near Ocala on Lake Weir. It was a special place and time: mornings were spent swimming and exploring; hot afternoons, naps and fishing for bream and tired out, in bed and asleep by nine.

The most exciting time in the summer was the Fourth of July. The day would begin by attending the celebration at the American Legion’s, Legion’s Beach. It was an exciting festivity with plenty of activities to be enjoyed and food to be eaten: there was a watermelon-eating contest; hot dogs and hamburgers; three-legged and other races; and, the highlight of the day, boat races.

With dozens of law firms involved, tens of thousands of potential homeowner plaintiffs, and multiple defendants up the whole supply chain, the burgeoning flood of lawsuits concerning Chinese drywall has the potential to clog the judicial system in states and Federal districts where the drywall problem is significant. Bogging the courts down in multiple, overlapping investigations of the facts could also possibly create a mass of conflicting rulings.

Know Your Own Strengths
As an independent dealer, you learn real quick that there are a lot of bullies on the playground. In the last decade, on more than one occasion, salespeople or arrogant managers from competitors have promised that they would run me out of business. I’ve been told this so many times that I feel like Rocky Balboa when he responded to Clubber Lane’s threat by just saying, “Go for it.” Last year, an executive from a national company actually said to me, “We have more money than God and we will be the dominant player in Florida.” I sometimes wonder if God didn’t orchestrate the big financial meltdown in the fall of 2008 to just shut that guy up.

The University of Florida's Bureau of Economic & Business Research, a division of the Warrington College of Business Administration, has released its May 2009 Building Permit Activity Report.

This report breaks down county-by-county data for May 2008 compared to May 2009 in the state of Florida.

TAKE ACTION: Please take advantage of the upcoming Congressional recess, June 26-July 6, to inform your legislators of the burden the 1099 Form proposal would place on small businesses. The penalties on small businesses would not achieve the intent of the proposal and it is important that we keep this policy from being adopted as Congress considers revenue-raisers to pay for health care reform and other costly new programs.

Quickly send an e-mail message to your Representative and Senators by visiting NLBMDA's grassroots action center: www.BuildtheVote.org. You can also click the "Your Elected Officials" tab on the site to locate their local office information and place a call or schedule a meeting during the July 4th break.