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When it comes to public infrastructure spending, China knows exactly what to do: build rail. Lots of rail. Friday’s NY Times has a great piece on China’s next round of public works:

A $17.6 billion passenger rail line across the deserts of northwest China, a $22 billion web of freight rail lines in Shanxi province in north-central China and a $24 billion high-speed passenger rail line from Beijing to Guangzhou here in southeastern China are among the biggest projects. But extra spending is being planned in practically every town, city and county across the country.

Hey Barack Obama, did you read that? China’s spending more than six times your pittance of 10 billion on their own rail. And a billion in China goes a lot farther than it does in the US. Even better, China is building all four types of Rail. Heavy Rail for goods. Commuter Rail for workers. Light Rail for mobility. And then High Speed Rail.

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2009/1/25/saupload_96970_004_4914b9f5_thumb1.jpg

China, like the US, is an importer of oil. Accordingly, China has concentrated on electrification. Hydro, yes. And lots of horribly polluting coal. But China is also going heavily for wind, and solar. China gets it. China knows. Howcome we don’t get it? Howcome we don’t know?

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  •  
    exactly, could not agree more.

    this package his economic team is trying to peddle
    through congress is so pathetic, i cannot believe
    obama is trying to sell this with a straight face.

    so much for "change" .....

    obama was my preferred candidate but this first
    economic plan is a horrific example of more of the
    same....
    Jan 25 05:31 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Then you should have voted for Ron Paul. He could have cleaned up the American mess...

    Face it, America is not competitive, your bridges even crash. You do not have any engineers, because all went to Wall Street. You cannot export stuff, because you can t even build decent fridges anymore. Look at your car industry. Even you aircraft industry is loosing big time to Airbus. This goes so far, that even the US Army wants to buy Airbus for its Service.

    And the superiority of Airbus is even more incredible, if you consider the political nature of it.

    every part is built in another European nation and then they are flown by AIR! to Toulouse (France) were their are assembled. This is so inefficient. But it is still godd enough to kill the best the US has to offer.

    Face it, the devaluation of the USD will continue. America is finished. The only question is: Will they go down with/ or without a war!
    Jan 25 07:35 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Excellent! Wake the towns and tell the people Gregor. Extend this article and publish it in the middle of the week when more people are at their computers.
    Jan 25 09:42 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Let's take these arguments a step further. Building infrastructure is not just for pleasure or leisure (the Beijing-Lhasa line notwithstanding).

    Infrastructure (of all kinds) gives you commercial advantage in the long run. The failure of the US to rebuild its infrastructure, and utilize advanced technologies in doing so, is a serious mistake which is yet another nail in the coffin of an economically strong America.

    That's OK though -- there's a two-for-one sale on DEPENDS pads at the local WalMart. Life is good.
    Jan 25 11:03 AM | Link | Reply
  •  


    The attached figure (US Energy Consumpton; Livermore Nat. Labs) is my basis for good energy planning for the US with the overall goals of:

    I) eliminating wasted energy (56 of 97 Quads, or 58% of total US consumption is lost), and

    II) leaving natural energy resources stored in the ground until we REALLY need them, while maximizing readily available and free forever solar and wind, and other alternatives (while eliminating trillions of foreign payments).

    1. Reduce wasted energy in ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION (26 Quads or 68% of power generation energy is lost).

    1.1. Promote Solar PV and Wind.

    1.2. Promote pumped/stored hydro (and end-use storage technologies to handle the variability of 1.1. generation).

    1.3. Permit steam-to-electricity generation only in combined cycle plants where low pressure steam is utilized (even if thermal solar; AND nuclear[?]. Nuclear is dense enough and safe enough to promote block heating in cities as in Europe, or process industrialized areas?)

    1.4. Stop burning coal (and the networked supporting industries from mining, transportation, pollution, reclamation, maintenance, etc., without causing a depression - like, put them to work building solar and wind farms, and the new interstate power grid and ferries of 1.7 below; same for the oil, gas and auto guys, etc.). Do 1.1. and 1.7.

    1.5. Stop burning natural gas. Do 1.1. and 1.2.

    1.6. Don't even think about processing any tar sands, oil shale, or coal gasification and liquefaction methods which are ultimately burned for POWER GENERATION or TRANSPORTATION after adding cost (not to mention all the networked industry complexities as mentioned above for coal). Consider these only "when there is no other way" situations: like we run out of crude oil and need plastics.

    1.7. Construct the new upgraded electric power grid in, above, below, or alongside the existing interstate highway right-of-ways which lead to major cities (where energy is used while passing thru the hinterlands within 50-100 miles of future solar and wind power farms).

    1.7.1. Integrate within these same interstate right-of-ways ELECTRIFIED FERRIES for cargo, vehicles and people, both two-way high speed interstate express and two-way local intrastate travel.

    2. Reduce wasted energy in TRANSPORTATION (21 Quads or 80% of transportation energy is WASTED):

    2.1. Do 1.7. and 1.7.1. for intra- and interstate travel.

    2.2. Promote local transit systems within congested urban beltways, linked to the interstate highway system of 1.7.

    2.3. Promote hybrid and electric vehicles for personal commuting, local fleet service and commercial delivery.

    2.4 Promote biofuels for hybrids, ground, air and water transportation.

    Much of the above is currently valid for developing countries which are repeating the mistakes the US made which hopefully can be redirected - be it because of air pollution [China, India], government edict, new alternatives, etc.).

    Much of the above already exists in Europe. So it can be done. It may take a permanent energy tax to fund the above; and as wasted energy is reduced, the tax goes away. A wonder we've not seen.


    ----------------------...



    Jan 25 11:29 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    PS: the not attached figure.

    eed.llnl.gov/flow/02fl...
    Jan 25 11:41 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Nakedjaybird, your the...person. Great plan. Let's lobby, scream, holler, cajole, do whatever to make it happen on our watch.
    Jan 25 12:08 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    markm33, Fred, and Gregor -

    The plan needs "time is of the essense" priority........like the Manhattan Project and the Moon Landing Program.

    Do it now or do it later -- sooner or later we will not be able to afford to continue with oil and gas because of either price or availability -- so do it now. Yes, meant to sound like "pay me now or pay me later",

    Instead of "yes we can", it should be "do it now!"
    Jan 25 12:33 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    "Establishing an expectation is difficult, though, since the American plan is a grab-bag of different initiatives. More than two-thirds of the dollars in the House bill would go toward tax cuts and helping states with health and education needs"

    That's truly depressing....

    "China said Wednesday that, separate from its stimulus program, it would spend $123 billion to provide universal health care within two years instead of 11."

    Now, that's interesting...
    Jan 25 01:17 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Everything Obama's done so far has been political; he figures to continue in that vein from here out.

    If you folks had looked at his record in ILL and read his books (especially the 1995) version, you would not have believed him and the media and you would have known that he's all about politics, as all leftists are.

    I think it's a sad day in America that we have a leader whose sole intent is to transfer wealth and is cynical enough to claim he's trying to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and stimulate the economy.

    When the nation's mayors and city councils, most of whom are hard-line leftists, get hold of the money he's going to sling out around the nation, they're going to make sure their friends, fellow party members, and constituients get the majority of it.

    Democrats in large cities are busy right now creating companies to make bids on dreamed up projects. This will in turn allow them to buy more votes and gain more power.

    In a few years, it will all come out. Some smart journalist will uncover the lot of it, but it'll be too late then.

    The funds will be gone, as billions are in New Orleans. Isn't it ten percent of the forty billion Bush sent NO to rebuild missing?

    Yet, no one says a thing. No investigation. Zero!
    Jan 25 01:42 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    We have one bridge fail and it is on television. How many disasters happen in China and Russia we do not hear about. How about the hundreds that die in coal mines and how many fell into the new damn that may fail at some time killing thousands while it displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Do not count out the good ole U.S.A. In five years we will regain our mojo after people realize we have been fat and lazy too long and get back to work.


    On Jan 25 07:35 AM FatPat wrote:

    > Then you should have voted for Ron Paul. He could have cleaned up
    > the American mess...
    >
    > Face it, America is not competitive, your bridges even crash. You
    > do not have any engineers, because all went to Wall Street. You cannot
    > export stuff, because you can t even build decent fridges anymore.
    > Look at your car industry. Even you aircraft industry is loosing
    > big time to Airbus. This goes so far, that even the US Army wants
    > to buy Airbus for its Service.
    >
    > And the superiority of Airbus is even more incredible, if you consider
    > the political nature of it.
    >
    > every part is built in another European nation and then they are
    > flown by AIR! to Toulouse (France) were their are assembled. This
    > is so inefficient. But it is still godd enough to kill the best the
    > US has to offer.
    >
    > Face it, the devaluation of the USD will continue. America is finished.
    > The only question is: Will they go down with/ or without a war!
    Jan 25 02:19 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    The saga has been invented -especially by parties interested- that
    we can only survive by outsourcing to those areas where production
    cost is lowest.
    Small wonder we end up in countries like china, india and even cheaper.
    When you buy a set of golfclub it comes from these remote areas.
    Even blood measurement sets for diabetes,cholesterol .,pharmaceuticals You tell me what is not being outsourced.
    Our countries have to pay back with money...... acquired how?
    Especially in a time like this-when the western markets try to cope with
    unemployment , lack of cash a.o., also these low cost countries fail
    to find customers.
    They have benefitted however already; we passed them our technology,
    and wrecked our current accounts when buying back so they could
    build up their surplusses.
    Let's keep the printing-presses turning and give our money
    to the banks and the government for free..........

    Jan 25 03:20 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    How come we can't do it like China? Because we have a little thing called property rights in the US.
    Jan 25 09:52 PM | Link | Reply
  •  
    Dodger:
    You hit the nail on the head. This Presidency will be run exactly as the city of Chicago is run with bribes, payoffs, and all the usual shenanigans that Democrat machines practice so well. Tellingly Sen. Bunning (R-KY) was on TV this morning lamenting the fact that the "Majority" party is giving the Republicans only 24 hours to debate and critique the latest "giveaway" (oops Imeant stimulus) program. This only points out the fact that by being "civilized" while running Congress, the Republicans are now facing annihilation by a party intent ononly one thing: STAYING IN POWER for as long as possible. As we all know Obama has little if any real world experience to manage this financial crisis, any foreign policy issues of importance, or anything else for that matter. Incompetence and corruption will rule for the next 4 years.


    On Jan 25 01:42 PM ArtfulDodger wrote:

    > Everything Obama's done so far has been political; he figures to
    > continue in that vein from here out.
    >
    > If you folks had looked at his record in ILL and read his books (especially
    > the 1995) version, you would not have believed him and the media
    > and you would have known that he's all about politics, as all leftists
    > are.
    >
    > I think it's a sad day in America that we have a leader whose sole
    > intent is to transfer wealth and is cynical enough to claim he's
    > trying to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and stimulate the economy.
    >
    >
    > When the nation's mayors and city councils, most of whom are hard-line
    > leftists, get hold of the money he's going to sling out around the
    > nation, they're going to make sure their friends, fellow party members,
    > and constituients get the majority of it.
    >
    > Democrats in large cities are busy right now creating companies to
    > make bids on dreamed up projects. This will in turn allow them to
    > buy more votes and gain more power.
    >
    > In a few years, it will all come out. Some smart journalist will
    > uncover the lot of it, but it'll be too late then.
    >
    > The funds will be gone, as billions are in New Orleans. Isn't it
    > ten percent of the forty billion Bush sent NO to rebuild missing?
    >
    >
    > Yet, no one says a thing. No investigation. Zero!
    Jan 26 09:50 AM | Link | Reply
  •  
    China has money (US dollars) in the bank to spend.
    China is a Communist country that has spent ZERO on infrastructure for 40 years. They need a lot of development.

    The US has NO MONEY in the bank except what we can print out of thin air.
    Democrats will spend money on projects that will benefit them and a few friends, not the country. (They have not changed and Obama is a Marxist.)
    Get it through your heads that Libreals want to do what they please and put police to keep order.
    Conservatives want to conserve.
    Americans are stupid and they will suffer greatly for the next 4 years and will continue to blame Bush.
    Jan 30 09:49 AM | Link | Reply
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