Everyone is finally realizing our economy is in the crapper. Write-downs already are are reaching the $100 Billion on the subprime mess.
Since it’s an election year, fiscal sanity is again thrown out the window as "Tax Rebates" is what we’re going to get. The tired GOP of "the consumer knows best how to spend money" will not be challenged.
So what will happen is we’ll be borrowing $150 Billion from China so we can buy $75 Billion worth of crap assembled in China, moved about with $75 Billion of oil from Saudi Arabia, to have it all end up being thrown in landfills.
If we are going to borrow $150 Billion, let’s do something worthwhile.
How many mass transit systems you could build for $150 Billion?
How much housing insulation could you provide to cut energy costs? How many new windows? Energy efficient washers, dryers, refrigerators, and air conditioners?
How many solar power plants or better yet, home-based distributed solar power systems?
Besides the war, the other huge economic problem is the $300 Billion a year we spend importing oil. Borrowing money to cut that number is good!
But this idea is dismissed, well, never considered, because it's unserious. Government spending is bad because the individual knows best how to spend a borrowed $150 Billion from China!
So since none of us are going to be able to individually make these things happen, if we’re really going to borrow this money, I wish we’d do something better with it. That’s what public works are for.
Though I've always thought deep down our plan in the US was to consume everything on the planet and get it in to our landfills. Then, we'll just mine those and have everything.