SIMPLY PUT
Our friend Don George
in Atlanta had the lead letter in Saturday’s New York Times –
and totally nailed it:
Many Republicans claim that
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal did not succeed in bringing us out of
the Great Depression, but rather that the huge government spending related to
fighting World War II did.
Let’s assume
that’s true. I say, then, let’s spend as if we were in World War II
and our very survival depended on it. President Obama’s budget appears
to do exactly that.
A READER
QUESTION
Steve Baker:
“I saw Obama's
speech to the nation and the reply I have a question for you: Have the republicans ever confronted a
problem in the last eight years that they think cannot be solved by a tax cut? From foreign wars which have at all
other times been financed by tax increases or surcharges to anything else, all
of which greatly increased the national debt to unsustainable levels at a
time when, during prosperity, they should have been paying it down?”
BOBBY JINDAL
DIDN’T TELL YOU THE TRUTH LAST WEEK
“The central
anecdote of the GOP’s prime-time response to President Obama's speech . .
.. turns out to have been made up.”
Read the full story here.
And note this anecdote wasn’t offered off the cuff, in answer to a
reporter’s question or at a small cocktail party* – this was
Governor Jindal’s first ever televised address to the entire nation.
Surely he gave it some
thought? Wrote it out? Rehearsed it?
*Or in the heat of a
Presidential debate, as when Al Gore said he went to
tour a disaster with FEMA head James Lee Witt and it turned out he toured 17 other
disasters with Witt but toured this one with Witt’s regional director.
The Republicans blasted that entirely inconsequential, unintentional slip as
further proof that Gore should not be President.
NATIONAL HEALTH
CARE
Dan Flikkema: “National Health care would encourage new
entrepreneurs. You are correct that no serious person with a good business
idea ever decided not to start up because the top tax rate was too high. But
I’d bet a fair number decide not to because, in addition to all the
inherent risks and complications, they don’t want to or can’t
afford to lose health care benefits.”
SOLAR
Jim Kozma: “Scientific American had this article
about ‘A Solar Grand Plan’ several months ago. It seemed
pretty farfetched at the time. For one thing, they estimated it would
take more than $400 billion investment from the government.”
☞ Over
40 years (as per the article), that’s barely $10 billion a year.
Let’s do it faster.
. . . at least 250,000
square miles of land in the Southwest alone are suitable for constructing solar
power plants, and that land receives more than 4,500 quadrillion British
thermal units (Btu) of solar radiation a year. Converting only 2.5 percent
of that radiation into electricity would match the nation’s total energy
consumption in 2006.
☞ Not
to mention the panels we could put on many a sun-drenched roof, allowing quite
a few homes to go largely or entirely “off-grid” – and to
plug their automobile in at home each night rather than have to buy gas.
FIREFOX TIP
Gary Diehl: “The CoolPreview add on
puts a small 'preview icon' at the end of any link you hover over. If you then
hover over the icon, it opens the linked page in a small window so you can
preview it without actually going to it. You can go into this hovering window
and scroll it, make it larger, and read whatever is in it. When you click your
pointer outside of this window it fades away. I think people miss the power
of this little add on, particularly those that read a lot of blogs and newspapers
online. For example when I am reading a site like Huffington Post, any given
article may contain many linked words or phrases that refer to other articles.
Now I could click those links if I want to know more about the linked
article but that gets messy. It will take me away from the article I’m
reading or I will have to open it in another tab and bounce back and forth.
But with CoolPreview all I have to do is hover over the preview icon, the page
appears, I read it if I want and then click it away. I haven't had to leave
the original article at all. I do this on your column and many other sites as
well. It’s a great time saver and once you get used to it you'll find it
indispensable. At least I do.”
GLDD
Our little dredging company
has posted 2008 results, including some encouraging news on the size of its
backlog, here.
(“Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation is the
largest provider of dredging services in the United States and the only U.S.
dredging company with significant international operations, averaging 30% of
its dredging revenues over the last three years. The Company is also one of the
largest U.S. providers of commercial and industrial demolition services
primarily in the Northeast. Additionally, the Company owns a 50% interest in a
marine sand mining operation in New Jersey which supplies sand and aggregate
used for road and building construction. Great Lakes has a 118-year history of
never failing to complete a marine project and owns the largest and most
diverse fleet in the industry, comprised of over 180 specialized
vessels.”)
The world may end (clogged up with silt), but I bought
more at $2.33 last week.