State of the Union Address - 24 Jan 2012

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
What benefit would China gain by refinancing our debt and reducing the interest rate to zero?
If, and only if, China believed the American economy which I believe is their largest trading partner were in danger of going "belly up" I bet they would do it. They have to much invested and invading the U.S. would be far costlier.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, if you have to borrow more, 0% is the way to go, that's a no brainer. The question is, would that fix anything but the infrastructure?
Increase jobs. Far better for commerce in a multitude of dimensions. So if it has to be done, isn't now the time to do it? Of course, that would be labled as "stimulus" and that's a bad thing.
 
Increase jobs. Far better for commerce in a multitude of dimensions. So if it has to be done, isn't now the time to do it? Of course, that would be labled as "stimulus" and that's a bad thing.
Infrastructure jobs are by nature temporary jobs. Not a totally bad thing as it would (if privatized) increase tax revenue and consumer spending, for a period of time, not a permanent fix. The value of "stimulus" has taken on a new meaning in the last few years. Once it meant to encourage growth, today it means to forcibly redistribute wealth and yea in general, not a good thing. IMO, the infrastructure relates to roads, bridges and things in that manner and is important to accessibility, it makes our lives easier(who knows what 0bama means when he says it). Another question is how much infrastructure do we need and how much can we afford today.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Infrastructure jobs are by nature temporary jobs. Not a totally bad thing as it would (if privatized) increase tax revenue and consumer spending, for a period of time, not a permanent fix. The value of "stimulus" has taken on a new meaning in the last few years. Once it meant to encourage growth, today it means to forcibly redistribute wealth and yea in general, not a good thing. IMO, the infrastructure relates to roads, bridges and things in that manner and is important to accessibility, it makes our lives easier(who knows what 0bama means when he says it). Another question is how much infrastructure do we need and how much can we afford today.
From the reports I've heard, we need alot of infrastructrure built and repaired. I remember after that bridge in Minnesota collapsed, they started doing extensive studies all over the country. But the nature of construction spending is distorted because we haven't done adequate maintenance for years. You can say it's temporary only if we continue the "build and ignore" policy. I think we should adopt the European road building techniques. Had an article in Time years ago. Much deeper base, far better results.
 
From the reports I've heard, we need alot of infrastructrure built and repaired. I remember after that bridge in Minnesota collapsed, they started doing extensive studies all over the country. But the nature of construction spending is distorted because we haven't done adequate maintenance for years. You can say it's temporary only if we continue the "build and ignore" policy. I think we should adopt the European road building techniques. Had an article in Time years ago. Much deeper base, far better results.

Can't disagree with the build and maintain, it's ridiculous that it hasn't always been that way.
The number of permanent "repair" jobs would be miniscule compared to the temporary "build" jobs, though some jobs could encompass both.
If I remember correctly the collapsed Minnesota bridge was closed for repairs when it collapsed and had been OKed by federal inspectors as just in need of repairs.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Must be a different bridge or I had forgotten some details. Either is possible.
Yeah. I just googled it. There's stunning video of the I35 West bridge in Minneapolis coming down. Disgraceful that a bridge that big could ever get to such a state of dis-repair.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Yeah. I just googled it. There's stunning video of the I35 West bridge in Minneapolis coming down. Disgraceful that a bridge that big could ever get to such a state of dis-repair.

Is that not what our gas taxes are used for? Or suppose to be, road repair, and license taxes, and tolls?
 
Yeah. I just googled it. There's stunning video of the I35 West bridge in Minneapolis coming down. Disgraceful that a bridge that big could ever get to such a state of dis-repair.
does that bridge fall under the jurisdiction of federal or the state?


OH, never mind, just realized you mentioned I35, that would make it federal
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
gm12012420120125030929.jpg
 

Just_another_day_at_work

Well-Known Member

wkmac

Well-Known Member
After finally watching the SOTU speech, I was able to condense it down to 87 seconds with the perfect observation to the evening's event.

[video=youtube;MYK6sTNhVL8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYK6sTNhVL8&feature=related[/video]
 
Top