* UPDATE 12/11/08: Las Vegas: The Suicide Capital Of America

Post from: All in a day's work...

Las Vegas’ New Slogan

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what FDR did when he was faced with a crisis – order the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes: The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail. This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.
2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You’re going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the “loan,” and because we know they will default on that loan, you’re going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)
3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I’m proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the ’70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury. This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure — and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.

In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That’s been their Big Idea for the last 30 years — layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who’s going to have the money to go out and buy a car?

These idiots don’t deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.

What’s good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

That’s some commentary Michael Moore will be articulating tonight on Keith Olbermann – something I plan on watching.

Post from: All in a day's work...

Congress To Big 3: “We’ll Just Buy You Out”

OpenCRS lays out the numbers for us:

Congress has approved a total of about $864 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks:

1. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) – Afghanistan and other counter terror operations,
2. Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) – providing enhanced security at military bases, and
3. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

Of that total, CRS estimates that:

• Iraq will receive about $657 billion (76%),
• OEF about $173 billion (20%), and
• enhanced base security about $28 billion (3%),
• with about $5 billion that CRS cannot allocate (1%).

About 94% of the funds are for DOD, 6% for foreign aid programs and embassy operations, and less than 1% for medical care for veterans. As of July 2008, DOD’s monthly obligations for contracts and pay averaged about $12.3 billion, including $9.9 billion for Iraq, and $2.4 billion for Afghanistan.

In an August 2008 update, the Congressional Budget Office projected that additional war costs could range from:

• $440 billion for the next ten years, if troop levels fell to 30,000 by 2010, or
• $865 billion, if troop levels fell to 75,000 by about 2013.

Under these CBO projections, funding for Iraq, Afghanistan and the GWOT could total about $1.3 trillion or about $1.7 trillion for FY2001-FY2018.

So, you can compare wars and their costs against GDP if you want to, but I don’t see what that even matters! Who cares? The point is, Osama bin Laden is laughing in his cave, grave, or wherever the hell he is, because he’s accomplished his task – bringing our financial system to it’s knees – and that’s exactly where we’re at right now.

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Iraq War Soldiers or Corrupt Corporations – Who Deserves Your Money?

Thanks to my wife Natalie, luckily I’m not in that dire a strait, but believe me, if it weren’t for her, I’d be a piece of wet toast out in the rain today.

So, to all you people that have a lock solid secure job, congratulations! For those that don’t, be as frugal as possible. Luckily, that’s something I actually am pretty good at.

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Think Your Job Is Safe? Think Again

The Brookings Institute has outlined 7 key issues at stake for the 2008 G-20 Financial Summit:

1. Financial Regulation and Supervision
2. Stabilize Emerging Economies
3. Reform the Aid System to Fix the Slow-Burning Global Poverty Crisis
4. Beyond the G-20: Why the WTO Is More Important than Ever
5. Now Is the Time for Permanent Governance Changes
6. Keep the IMF at the Center
7. What the U.S. and Asia Should Do: Establish a Global Financial Crisis Secretariat and an Asian Financial Facility

Here’s to hoping it’s a very productive meeting for us all:

and here’s to saying good-bye to the past:

* Update: Assessing the Key Outcomes of the G-20 Summit – Heads of state unanimously rejected protectionism and asked their trade ministers the need to reach agreement, before the end of the year, on the critical issues for the conclusion of the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda. If adopted, this could be the most significant and tangible result of this first G-20 meeting.

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2008 G-20 Financial Summit: 7 Key Issues At Stake