Comments

• Green Jobs and Bail Outs mkogrady on 12/01/2008 at 11:54 AM

  Posts: 127 Avg Rating:

  Pelosi and Company missed the boat the past few weeks, but since they are keeping their plans (or intentions) secret for the moment I'll offer up an idea. The Auto Industry is looking for help, but with no firm plans in place there is a stalemate between the governement and industry. Why not have the Feds ante up $50 billion to pay the auto industry to design and deploy a mass transit system using light rail technology. The tax funds would generate jobs for the industry and the profits from the work can shore up weak sales figures for the Big Three. The result - thousands of engineering jobs (mechanical and civil) would be generated. Once the design is approved, the idle plants in the midwest can be retrofitted to make the Light Rail System components thus generating well paying blue collar jobs (including steel mills), the installaiton of the solution will generate more jobs and the overall maintenance and operations of the solution will create sustainable jobs that cannot be off-shored. The end result - the auto industry gets paid for creating their competition in case they fail to make economical vehicles (that actually sell), they can make a buck in the process that is used to fund their development costs for economical vehicles, they have a shot at the long term manufacturing of replacement parts and tax payers are created. No direct loans to the Big Three - yet a viable option for everyones prosperity. Pelosi and company get their Green System that cuts Global Warming and reduces pollution. The petroleum industry finally gets true competition and reduced demand (and reduced costs at the pump). Consumers have choice between mass transit and individuality. The taxpayers don't bail out anyone since they funded a new system in the first place. Make this a national priority and tie it to Homeland Security so no blue collar strikes can occur, Cap management pay to set an example of good stewardship with taxpayer dollars and design it to use Biofuels, Solar Electric or good old US Clean Coal and we can kill OPEC once and for all. An entirely new mass transit system designed to be green would be a keystone for our nations economy and global health. If any nation on the planet can pull this off, it the U.S.of A! Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: Green Jobs and Bail Outs ckmc on 12/02/2008 at 10:03 AM
    Posts: 1 Avg Rating:	Excellant post mkogrady.  Lets add high speed rail to those ideas.  We could use the existing rights of way on our Interstates to site high speed rail between cities.  It would be mounted on pylons above the crossovers and turnarounds and above weather (snow) problems. In a simple form, the trains would be suspended by tracks instead of running on tracks. Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • Re: Green Jobs and Bail Outs mkogrady on 12/02/2008 at 3:42 PM

      Posts: 127 Avg Rating:

      Thanks - I posted this exactly as shown to the Detroit Free Press Newspaper too. The idea of adding high speed inter-city rail was a good addition and the suspended rail idea works too. The light rail system could be designed like Rollercoasters are done today to minimize the space it takes to place the rail systems. Go to Arrow Dynamics (or google suspended roller coaster) website and you'll see all the amusement rides they have built. Take the concept a step further and design it to carry suspended passenger cars instead (no G force stuff), but travel at a respectable 40 mpg or so - just to move people around. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: Green Jobs and Bail Outs Kevin Bullis on 12/02/2008 at 5:16 PM		TR Staff Nanotechnology and Materials Science Editor
    Posts: 59 Avg Rating:	I've heard many great arguments for increasing mass transit. But the argument has always been that people won't give up their cars. What do you think? Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • Re: Green Jobs and Bail Outs mkogrady on 12/02/2008 at 8:16 PM

      Posts: 127 Avg Rating:

      I'm not suggesting we give up our cars, but if the government is actually thinking of giving billions away, why not make the Auto Industry earn it by taking their excess engineering talent and manufacturing plants that have been closed and put the to work making us a mass transit solution. As far as I'm concerned, they dug their own grave and should be allowed to make amends if they are so needy, but I am also stating - NO FREEBIES like the banks got. Getting screwed once is bad enough. I like my car, but a couple months ago we got clobbered by high fuel prices and we have no options but to pay. Gas is cheaper now, and there is no explaination what caused it to drop so far and so quickly. I say there was some market manipulation going on myself, but since there's no smoking gun - who can we blame? Mass transit may be a heck of a trump card for everyone. As for job creation, a light rail system becomes a Service Industry engine and is much more sustainable than Manufacturing. Service Jobs stay put in our borders! Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: Green Jobs and Bail Outs pmclachlan on 12/02/2008 at 6:12 PM
    Posts: 1 Avg Rating:	Spending on new public transport systems is probably a good idea but please do not let the automotive companies manage any part of it.  They have proved their ability to read the future and to make good decisions.  Give the future a chance. If any country could make such a mistake as you suggest it is the good old US of A.  Time for change guys. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	gov't and car companies shopa on 12/01/2008 at 11:01 PM
  Posts: 4 Avg Rating:	When the car companies get our tax dollars to keep them going, they should be required to look at ideas submitted by taxpayers. At this time, the car companies NEVER consider ideas from the outside. I have an invention that will make small cars safer in collisions. My website is www.safersmallcars.com Please help me if you can. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• Government Created Green Jobs dmillerfla on 12/02/2008 at 1:45 AM

  Posts: 2 Avg Rating:

  Government created jobs are just that, they might make up for some of the jobs lost this year but probably not produce a net gain.  While investment in infrastructure is good it does not replace profitable industry.  Bringing manufacturing and its related technology back by imposing import taxes would fix the job problem and also produce revenue; the import fees used to fund our re-industrialization. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • Re: Government Created Green Jobs devassocx on 12/02/2008 at 2:36 AM

    Posts: 29 Avg Rating:

    sure, lets help to make the deficit even larger by making all those green jobs using union people who are overpaid compared to their non union counterparts by more than 25$/hr. I guess these are all just tax $ and the FED can print as many as they need without any problems to the economy? And then we will make import tariffs so we punish the taxpayers/consumers even more. Will this sort of insanity ever end? Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • Re: Government Created Green Jobs TooMany on 12/05/2008 at 12:19 AM

      Posts: 13 Avg Rating:

      Consider this:  What is the meaning of money?  In the last two months trillions of dollars have disappeared; vanished into thin air. If it can disappear so easily, why not just print a lot more? Money has no intrinsic value.  Even tangible comodities like oil can, with virtually no change in supply or demand, suddenly become worth twice as much and even more suddenly be worth one third of that. How do you make economic sense of that?  Maybe you are worried about the wrong thing-overpaid union workers. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• Bryce Z for "Fixing the Economy with Green Jobs" BryceZ on 12/22/2008 at 3:14 AM

  Posts: 1

  The US economic crisis deepened last month, in order to fix and alleviate this economic financial crisis the government invests different projects that will provide jobs to many. This is great discussion about the current issues our economy was facing today; people used different method in order to cope up with today’s financial crisis. One of the most common methods is a Payday loan and many people were taking advantage of payday loans as the economy continues to get worse. Consumer prices have taken record drops for the second month in a row. But as prices drop, unemployment soars, causing Americans to hang on tight to their cash. Housing starts are at a 50-year low. Retail giants Best Buy and Office Depot are taking hard financial hits. To read more on the economy and payday loans check out this article. Rate this comment: (Reply)