The economy: the big fix

[CT08]

After hearing Hillary's plan to give $30 Billion to banks to ease their current woes due to the mortgage meltdown, I thought to myself: This does not fix the problem and it is a waste of a lot of money. The banks would be fine (as they are now...crybabies) but the people are still in economic turmoil not being able to afford to purchase anything...let alone the people who own houses and equity in proper mortgages are seeing the value of their houses/nest-egg being depleted.

$30 Billion...that's a lot of coin for a temporary non-solution.

If it were up to me, and I had $30B, this is what I'd do:

Invest in companies like this: www.teslamotors.com and others to create assembly lines for electric cars and here's why:

1. Work to build assembly lines and rehab old car assembly plants that have been shut down for a number of years...not to mention staffing these lines and dealerships etc. creating jobs where needed.

2. New infrastructure at gas stations to supply energy for these cars, which the gov can tax (a little)

3. New school structure for mechanics on how to work on these new cars.

4. Less demand on foreign oil would bring the OPEC price down as the country converts to electric. Also, would mean we wouldn't have to be in constant war in the middle east. No need for oil, no need for war.

5. The environment would be better off.

6. With all these new jobs and new avenues of employment due to a national roll-out of electric cars, more people would have more money to spend within the economy to jumpstart it back up to where it used to be. Imagine people affording their mortgages again. Whatta dream!

On top of this, a complete rehaul of the lending system that made it legal for banks to offer sub-prime mortgages that turned into WAY-above-prime mortgages after the initial period.

Yes, the cars are expensive now but that's is because they are building them by hand one by one. Making an assembly line and offer consumers a gov incentive to buy these cars would make it a LOT cheaper. With the proper funding, they can make a whole line of cars that are both pleasing to the eye and 100% electric.

The majority of layoffs in the country have been in the manufacturing sector and cars, the most red, white, and blue commodity of the last century, is at the top of that list...just look at Detroit (just look past mayor Kilpatrick). We need a new industry of US built, US bought goods that everyone needs to make this country strong again...and we need to do it soon.

Thoughts?

[area51]

1. Those are good ideas,

but please don't forget other pressing problems that we can use that money (along with the money being wasted on Iraqnam) for, like beginning the transition to single-payer and working to eradicate poverty/homelessness.

[CT08]

8. I didn't forget

The money wasted on Iraq is gone...in fact we OWE for what we didn't have in cash. Pulling the troopers out of a country where we have no oil interests, cause we've moved on to electric, can only be good.

As far as poverty/homelessness, again, is reliant on available work. If you built a house and gave it to a homeless family, they still couldn't pay for heat/hydro/water. Give the people a means to do it for themselves and they will.

single-payer?

[cliffordu]

9. re: Iraqnam

ROFLMAO

I'd get hysterical if it wasn't so tragically true.......

[pansypoo53219]

2. wait? her solution is to give BANKS money???

i thought she said she would support the PEOPLE?

gee, i guess she is DLC corporatist.

[CT08]

11. Yup

When the bank forcloses on a mortgage, they assume the property. Thing is the have so many houses they can't sell them. They drop the prices hoping that someone will buy and by doing, so drops the valuation of houses in their communities. The $30B would prevent that scenario from gouging equity others have built up over time and give the banks some leeway time to dump the houses from their portfolios.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Welcome to DU, and is your last name Keynes?

:hi:

[CT08]

10. Maybe it should be

If recent indicators have shown us anything is that it is time for a change in the systems that brought us to this point. No system is infallable but a tip of the see-saw in the skinny kid's direction may be due.

[cynatnite]

4. As I understand it...

Hillary does have plans to help the economy by investing in green collar jobs. That includes working toward less dependence on foreign oil. She's also talked about using the country's failing infrastructure as a means to also create jobs as well. We're talking roads, bridges, buildings and so on. It would take a few decades to get every road, bridge and everything else up to acceptable standards.

This was a few of the smart ideas she's had that helped convince me she's the best for the job. While I still think she'd make the best president, I have doubts she'll win.

Assembly-lines won't happen here. Those jobs are gone now. Overseas. The manufacturing sector will never be what it was and there is little purpose in trying to roll back that clock since big business is too powerful.

Everyone needs to face the fact that politicians have to work with big business. There is no getting around it at all.

Any candidate can go out and trash big business to their heart's content in order to pander to the working-class voter, but reality is that the same candidate will have to work with big business behind closed doors.

[CT08]

7. gov is only a corporation limited by physical boundaries...

...And the CEO is only paid $400,000/yr

"Assembly-lines won't happen here. Those jobs are gone now. Overseas. The manufacturing sector will never be what it was and there is little purpose in trying to roll back that clock since big business is too powerful.

Everyone needs to face the fact that politicians have to work with big business. There is no getting around it at all."


I agree with you on everything except the "won't" and "big". Yes manufacturing has gone overseas to make a better bottom line for corporations as their labour is cheaper but I still believe there are a LOT of people who want work or who want to get back to work but can't due to the economic climate inflicted on all of us by the "big" conglomerates. That's why I didn't say GM or Ford; New startup companies won't become these soulless conglomerates for a number of years...maybe as a condition of gov funding, prevent them from going public and having investors to worry about. Create a new, responsible capitolism (yikes!).

[Lorien]

5. I've been floating similar ideas around for a while now:

After congress signed off on pumping another 120 Billion into Iraq not long ago, I thought of hundreds of better ways to spend that money. Here are a few:


Get out of Iraq ASAP. Spend that $120 Billion on a new National high speed MagLev rail system with light rail connectors. Develop the areas around major train depots using the new urbanism designs that place mixed income homes and apartments within walking distance of retail, restaurants, office space, hospitals, schools, and theaters. These measures would create tens of thousands of new jobs and make Americans more mobile, less dependent on foreign oil and our roads would be less congested. To really cut our energy use, I'd build 100 square miles worth of solar panels (a recent article stated that that's how many would be needed to power the entire US), with the eventual goal of making home energy free or nearly free for the poor, disabled,schools,hospitals, government buildings etc. Added benefit; cutting greenhouse gases and allowing those people or institutions to direct the savings elsewhere (like hiring more teachers or staff) .We could do both and STILL spend less than we have on the Iraq war.

Give tax credits and incentives to people who build and buy cars like this: www.aptera.com. Adopt Al Gore’s carbon emission tax idea. Make America a place of new ideas and innovative technology and manufacturing again. Create a National prize (cheaper than a no bid contract to Halliburtan) for energy and health innovations that would be given out every year to the individuals or corporations who develop the most beneficial new technologies. So many amazing developments are never used because profit margin is put before common sense and the welfare of society. Reclaiming our place as world pioneers in these areas could create a massive employment boom.

And that's just for starters...

[Lorien]

6. Check out this site:

www.aptera.com

They plan to have vehicles on the road by the end of this year. Prices go from $27,000-31,000. The hybrid version gets around 300 MPG. Plans are in the works to also produce sedans, vans, and SUVs.