Massive Infrastructure Project

[molson_golden2002]

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/polit...p;th&emc=th

 

 

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama promised Saturday to create the largest public works construction program since the inception of the interstate highway system a half century ago as he seeks to put together a plan to resuscitate the reeling economy.

....

Mr. Obama’s remarks showcased his ambition to expand the definition of traditional work programs for the middle class, like infrastructure projects to repair roads and bridges, to include new-era jobs in technology and so-called green jobs that reduce energy use and global warming emissions. “We need action — and action now,” Mr. Obama said in an address broadcast Saturday morning on radio and YouTube.

 

Mr. Obama’s plan, if enacted, would be in part a government-directed industrial policy, with lawmakers and administration officials picking winners and losers among private projects and raining large amounts of taxpayer money on them.

 

It would cover a range of programs to expand broadband Internet access, to make government buildings more energy efficient, to improve information technology at hospitals and doctors’ offices, and to upgrade computers in schools.

 

....

Although Mr. Obama put no price tag on his plan, he said he would invest record amounts of money in the vast infrastructure program, which also includes work on schools, sewer systems, mass transit, electrical grids, dams and other public utilities. The green jobs would include various categories, including jobs dedicated to creating alternative fuels, windmills and solar panels; building energy efficient appliances, or installing fuel-efficient heating or cooling systems.

[pBills]

Great idea. Wondering how it will be paid for though. Granted putting people back to work will eventually spark the economy... still have to pay for it.

[Boomer860]

Great idea. Wondering how it will be paid for though. Granted putting people back to work will eventually spark the economy... still have to pay for it.

They are either prinitng money to pay them or giving the an IOU

[/dev/null]

They are either prinitng money to pay them or giving the an IOU

 

Like so: http://www.obama-facts.info/images/1000-dollars-obama.jpg

[John Adams]

Great idea. Wondering how it will be paid for though. Granted putting people back to work will eventually spark the economy... still have to pay for it.

 

Print money. How do you think?

 

Obama is hoping that all the people who are critical of FDR's New Deal are wrong and that the best way to get out of a possible depression is to spend your way out of it.

 

I am skeptical and concerned about Obama's spending. I hope I'm wrong.

[JimBob2232]

Print money. How do you think?

 

Obama is hoping that all the people who are critical of FDR's New Deal are wrong and that the best way to get out of a possible depression is to spend your way out of it.

 

I am skeptical and concerned about Obama's spending. I hope I'm wrong.

 

I am about as conservative as they come, but thus far, I have found little to criticize Obama about. This plan is a good one. The ONLY way to stop the crisis in this country is to stop foreclosures and the drastic fall of home prices.

 

There are many ways to do this. Bailing out banks, Giving money to homeowners, etc...

 

But this plan of infrastructure development is a good one.

 

1) It puts people to work (thus helping them keep their homes)

2) It builds infrastructure which is badly needed in parts of this country

3) It promotes energy independence

 

I know it is going to cost ALOT of money...but any plan we have right now will as well. This seems like a SMART way to do it. (note: this plan alone is not sufficient, but its a good start).

 

While we are at it...lets give a $4,000 tax CREDIT to anyone who buys an American-made automobile.

[molson_golden2002]

Thomas Friedman makes a few good arguments in his latest column about this.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07friedman.html

If Mr. Obama is going to oversee a successful infrastructure stimulus, then it has to include not only a tax on carbon — make it revenue-neutral and rebate it all by reducing payroll taxes — but also new standards that gradually require utilities and home builders in states that receive money to build dramatically more energy-efficient power plants, commercial buildings and homes. This, too, would create whole new industries.

 

Let us not mince words: The Obama presidency will be shaped in many ways by how it spends this stimulus. I am sure he will articulate the right goals. But if the means — the price signals, conditions and standards — that he imposes on his stimulus are not as creative, bold and tough as his goals, it will all be for naught.

 

In sum, our kids will remember the Obama stimulus as either the burden of their lifetime or the investment of their lifetime. Let’s hope it’s the latter. I like that book title much better.

[blzrul]

I am about as conservative as they come, but thus far, I have found little to criticize Obama about. This plan is a good one. The ONLY way to stop the crisis in this country is to stop foreclosures and the drastic fall of home prices.

 

There are many ways to do this. Bailing out banks, Giving money to homeowners, etc...

 

But this plan of infrastructure development is a good one.

 

1) It puts people to work (thus helping them keep their homes)

2) It builds infrastructure which is badly needed in parts of this country

3) It promotes energy independence

 

I know it is going to cost ALOT of money...but any plan we have right now will as well. This seems like a SMART way to do it. (note: this plan alone is not sufficient, but its a good start).

 

While we are at it...lets give a $4,000 tax CREDIT to anyone who buys an American-made automobile.

 

I had wondered if perhaps taking some of the bazillions that the current people are wasting (did you see one bank that got $$$ lost $9b IN ONE MONTH after they'd received the bailout?!) might help but...I see the same problem as the "tax rebates" earlier this year, that people are using it to pay down debt. So a rebate wouldn't help unless it was new spending.

 

I don't see any other way out of this mess. There are very real economic issues, no doubt about it, and we need to address those as well as the collective [emotional] depression that hangs over a bad economy. If people have work, and if they are optimistic about light at the end of the tunnel, we may all be able to pull through this. I am also a fiscal conservative and am VERY irritated about all the spending but I would rather see it spent on something that more directly benefits the average American.

 

On the tax credit thing for an American car...I don't know. I ran to a Chrysler dealer in 1985 wavin my American flag, proud to buy American. The car was a piece of junk and when I unloaded it 4 years later it wasn't work squat. In 1998 I tried again, this time with Ford. My experiences are shared on the Consumer Forum. Meanwhile my 1997 Civic, made in America, still chugs along at 130k miles with very low maintenance costs.

 

I think companies who bring jobs BACK to America should get an incentive, or companies who do not outsource.

 

You have to look at all this as if it were a family - if a family is faced with a crisis, where failure is really not an option because of the dire consequences...you do whatever you have to. Beg, borrow, steal, work 4 jobs, etc. Or in the case of the government, spend. It sucks, but I think it has to be done. Governments will always spend anyway - it's spending WISELY that I'd like to see more of.

[molson_golden2002]

Governments will always spend anyway - it's spending WISELY that I'd like to see more of.