Non-Paper Daily, 2.18.09

Yeeks! Per a comment on the last post asking, er demanding, the return of the Non-Paper Daily, it is back.

*The stimulus package is official. At just under $800 billion it's big, but in the view of many economists, not big enough for the desired effect. We should start seeing the money flow relatively soon, in fact, the school where I teach was thinking of closing early due to budget restraints, but they may keep the doors open for the entirety of the year due to the influx of these funds.

Interestingly, I'm still very much up in the air about the stimulus package. On the one hand, without it there may be total economic meltdown. On the other, however, is the view that our current economic model of ever-increasing consumption simply cannot go no forever. Eventually it must change and perhaps this was the time for that change. As the saying goes, "Pain Causes Change." A new way of doing things is not going to just happen, it will be a result of dire economic times. We may very well be missing our opportunity for real, substantive, change

*Roland Burris, er "The Magic Man," is back in the news. During testimony before being appointed to Obama's old senate seat he said he had had no contact with Blagojevich or his associates. Apparently that wasn't entirely accurate, which is also known as a lie. Except, in his case, it was under oath, so it is known as a perjury. Ooops. Perjures, like drug traffickers, often go to jail. So the saga continues...

*The American car manufacturers are asking for more money. Looks like this time it will be for another $5-10 billion. I know if they fail it will cause extreme pain around the nation, but how long can we keep propping up failed businesses? If a mom and pop place downtown fails, they won't be receiving any stimulus funds. Since when did capitalistic theory state that once you get big you can no longer be allowed to fail?

Non-Paper Daily, 2.3.2009

*Tom Daschle, President Obama's nomination for the Health and Human Services cabinet position and leader of the "let's fix our health care system" group, withdrew himself from the nomination due to failing to pay taxes on services he had received from a political donor. The thing I don't understand: If you are that far up in the government, you must know that people (media, other political party, etc) are going to find out about these things, why do we keep seeing this?!?!

*As part of the stimulus package currently meandering through the halls of Congress, there is a piece known as the "Buy American" provision. This would require that stimulus funds be used on American goods (think steel, concrete, etc). This strikes me as misguided on many levels. First, Americans need to be leaders as we work out way out of this world-wide depression. Cutting ourselves off from the outside world will only make things worse. Second, my guess is this is a massive violation of free trade laws. Third, let's all try and think of a better way to put an end to the international good will that has resulted from Obama's election. Short of starting another war, this may top the list.

Non-Paper Daily, 1.28.2009

*The American Society of Civil Engineers reported: "More than a quarter of the nation's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Leaky pipes lose an estimated seven billion gallons of clean drinking water every day. And aging sewage systems send billions of gallons of untreated wastewater cascading into the nation's waterways each year."

Hat tip to Steve at Washington Monthly.

*The latest stimulus package, now around $850 billion, passed the House today with no Republican votes even after the Democrats made concessions they wanted.