Bust the trusts.
For the past thirty years consolidation, mergers and market share have all focused on putting too much power in too few hands. How important would AIG be if it was one of fifty peers? What economic advantage is there in having ten major banks controlling the US market if these banks when they get in trouble cause so much collateral damage?
The Soviet Union, at its demise, had one factory building color televisions. The trust busters of Teddy Roosevelt's time had it right. Smaller is better, whether it is broadcasting, automobile manufacturing, banking or insurance. The playing field should be leveled and slightly titled towards regional, and non-oligopoly corporate structure.
The most responsible agencies, Freddie and Fannie, the people behind them, like Dodd and Raines, remain respectable, Dodd, a distinguished Senator, Raines, on Obamas leadership for CHANGE braintrust.
ReplyDeleteObama's teleprompter hits the trail
ReplyDeletePosted: 06:50 PM ET
Obama delivered his remarks at the Colorado State Fair of a teleprompter.
(CNN) — It appears Barack Obama's teleprompter is hitting the campaign trail.
The Democratic presidential nominee has never tried to hide the fact he delivers speeches off the device, though normally he doesn't use one at standard campaign rallies and town hall events.
But the Illinois senator used a teleprompter at both his Colorado events Monday — making for a particularly peculiar scene in Pueblo, where the prompter was set up in the middle of what is normally a rodeo ring.
Filed under: Barack Obama
ALSO
Filed under: Dumbfuck Imposter
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteToday:
ReplyDeleteRussia halts trading after 17% share price fall...
Since Russia Chewed up Georgia Russia LOST 40% of it's capitalization....
Too Big to Fail?
Hardly...
I have watch as MANY made BILLIONS shuffling paper as those who BUILD are wiped out...
As those that destroy and do not create are themselves destroyed I lift up a glass of Scotch to their demise...
We are a nation of creators and builders...
Caveat emptor...
To those who seek an easy fast buck...
up yours....
day traders, internet hype, house flippers, junk bonds.........
When you seek abnormal returns on little to no real investment you get shit...
and shit is what you got...
"Make no mistake about it; Obama would be Much better for the economy than McPalin."
ReplyDeleteTeresita said...
"I thought Obamunism was discredited with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Not even Russia and China practice Obamunism anymore.."
(Rufus informed us New Century's demise would cause only a "ripple in the pond")
ReplyDeleteThe Elephant Bar Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ( Repost from Sunday, July 13, 2008)
ReplyDeleteBoth the Clinton and Bush departments of Housing and Urban Development raised the quotas repeatedly. For example, initially, the Clinton Administration required 21% of these quasi-governmental mortgages must go to ”underserved areas” (which are officially defined as “low-income census tracts or in low- or middle-income census tracts with high minority populations"), but the quota for 2008 established by the Bush Administration is 39 percent.
Reuters reported October 13, 1999:
The mortgage industry intends to pursue minorities with greater intensity as federal regulators turn up the heat to increase home ownership in underserved groups. ‘We need to push into these underserved markets as much as we can,’ said David Glenn, president and chief operating officer of Freddie Mac. …
In September, Freddie Mac launched a new lending program, based on research done in collaboration with five black colleges, to bring more African-Americans into the market.
The federal government in the meantime has increased pressure on lenders to seek out minorities, as well as low-income groups and borrowers with poor credit histories.
Fannie Mae recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to commit half its business to low-and moderate-income borrowers. That means half the mortgages bought by Fannie Mae would be from those income brackets.
The People Responsible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
(mandated by law to give 40% of the loans to areas no Indian banker would touch w/o 50% down)
ReplyDeleteObamunism, indeed
ReplyDeleteThis is music to my mystic middle class ears, deuce!
ReplyDeleteSocieties should put as much ownership into as many hands as possible, not only for social reasons, but spiritual ones as well.
"Lead us not into temptation" must be the guiding principle of all social organization, and the temptations to be guarded against and, so far as possible, eliminated by means of appropriate economic and political arrangements are temptations against charity, that is to say, against the disinterested love of God, Nature, and man. First, the disseminatin and general acceptance of any form of the Perennial Philosophy will do somethng to preserve men and women from the temptation to idolatrous worship of things in time--church-worship, state-worship, humanistic self-worship, all of them essentially and necessarily opposed to charity. Next come decentralization, widespread private ownership of land and the means of production on a small scale, discouragement of monopoly by state or corporation, division of economic and political power ( the only guarantee, as Lord Acton never tired of insisting, of civil liberty under law). These social rearrangements would do much to prevent ambitioius individuals, organizations, and governments from being lead into the temptation of behaving tyrannously...
Aldous Huxley "The Perennial Philosophy"
A society divided into haves and have nots brings out all the worst, and distracts man from his primary purpose of realizing meaning in life. If we are always sucking, selling and slaving, we can't turn towards 'the higher things'.
Up there north in Santa's workshop all the elves are midgets, meaning you can't be fully human if you are worked to death. Likewise if you are given over to greed, luxury, domination and the seven deadly sins.
Long live the middle class!
(I understand that in our highly complex, industrial society organizations of complexity are required, but we should do what we can to prevent great concentrations of wealth.)
Franklin Raines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ReplyDeleteFannie Mae was always a political beast, but it reached its elbow-swinging heights during the time when former Clinton administration budget director Franklin Raines sat in the CEO chair. Under Raines' leadership, Fannie overstated earnings by a stunning $10.6 billion, all the while paying Raines and his senior management team massive bonuses.
It was under Raines' management that Fannie morphed from being a company in a sleepy business -- issuing debt to buy mortgages from lenders -- into a far more risky and exciting one: buying up mortgages and holding them, thus capturing the spread between its borrowing costs (which were lower than anyone's other than the federal government's) and the interest rate received. It was a great business, except that it had nothing to do with Fannie's charter. According to a May 2006 report from OFHEO, Raines became obsessed with keeping earnings per share as high as possible and motivated management to achieve that goal by setting up a bonus system that rewarded increasing earnings per share (EPS).
The thing is: Any company can hit an EPS number if it doesn't worry about little things like accounting rules, debt levels, and risk factors. All told, Raines pulled in some $90 million between 1998 and 2003, the majority from bonuses. And when OFHEO began to ask uncomfortable questions, Raines actively lobbied Congress to cut its funding. In April, Raines agreed to disburse $24 million for his role in the accounting "errors."
Alan Greenspan
If not the boldest of the group, then at least the most public, Greenspan, the man many are now blaming for the housing bubble (there were a brave few that piped up years ago), has refused to go quietly into his well-padded retirement. The man charged with providing the country with a financial voice of reason fell far short, so much so that it might be comical if it weren't so tragic.
Greenspan's denial of the possibility of a housing bubble has been widely derided in the past year, but a single statement could be excused as human error. However, a quick scan shows that this wasn't a single event. He also promoted the adoption and expansion of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products in early 2004, when short-term rates were at or near historic lows.
That same year he claimed, "securitization by Fannie and Freddie allows mortgage originators to separate themselves from almost all aspects of risk associated with mortgage lending."
And separate themselves they did, ceasing to perform any kind of due diligence as to the ability of borrowers to pay for the homes they were buying.
Now retired from his role as the nation's monetary conscience, Greenspan continues to espouse his, er, theories on the financial crisis through editorials in which he denies any culpability for the events of the past three years.
He is also applying his experience and insight as an advisor for Paulson & Company, a hedge fund which cashed in on billions of dollars by calling the collapse of the subprime mortgage market that Greenspan helped create.
---
Yet Ash wants MORE govt regulation, and Slade can fill books about it in Princetonian Prose, more commonly known as BULLSHIT.
Doug, you been missing so long, rumor was you'd kicked the bucket.
ReplyDeleteYou need a new 'Doo, Dude.
ReplyDeleteMaureen Dowd says so.
Unlike Buddy, my passing would go unremarked by poets and philosophers.
ReplyDeleteLocal Republican headquarters here told me today there'd been such a demand for McCain/Palin bumperstickers nationwide it would be awhile before they had some in, check back later.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great business, except that it had nothing to do with Fannie's charter.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a May 2006 report from OFHEO, Raines became obsessed with keeping earnings per share as high as possible and motivated management to achieve that goal by setting up a bonus system that rewarded increasing earnings per share (EPS).
The thing is:
Any company can hit an EPS number if it doesn't worry about little things like accounting rules, debt levels, and risk factors.
All told, Raines pulled in some $90 million between 1998 and 2003, the majority from bonuses. And when OFHEO began to ask uncomfortable questions, Raines actively lobbied Congress to cut its funding. In April, Raines agreed to disburse $24 million for his role in the accounting "errors."
--------
- Media Ignore Democratic Ties to Fannie Mae Scandal -
Papers largely bypass Franklin Raines service in Clinton White House but focused on Enron ties to Bush
- alt.politics.usa.congress Google Groups
- Tulare dairyman's death stuns agriculture students -
ReplyDelete---
That's no Bull.
...so to speak.
Neighbor had a big Jersey Bull named Sancho, who lived happily among his girls, Sarah, Ester, and...
ReplyDelete(I'll ask wifey for more names when she gets back)
(I turned my head away when another neighbor and me were called to put old Sancho down)
ReplyDelete...but I was there.
Wash. Post Puff piece on former Fannie Mae Exec. - Ron Paul Forums
ReplyDeleteStory #1: Fannie & Freddie Bailout Didn't Inspire Confidence?
ReplyDeleteRUSH: The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac --
it was supposed to instill confidence, right? It was supposed to stop the bleeding, right?
Well, how in the hell can that be happening with Lehman Brothers today and Merrill Lynch?
I thought the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was supposed to fix everything?
How come it didn't instill any confidence in anything, hmm? Hmm?
And you think Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been fixed? What's the stock, 43 cents?
And the government owns it?
You think it's a good buy?
This is going to have to be done again once we get a new series of leaders in there in a couple years. This did not fix anything, folks. If it did, why, Lehman Brothers would be on fat city today. It's all so damned obvious.
Obamaism '08!
Raines for Sec of the Treasury!
('Rat says it will be all good)
Even Robert Reich admits Democrats are to blame.
ReplyDeleteIBD:
The Real Culprits In This Meltdown
"Obama and Democrats on the Hill think even more regulation and more interference in the market will solve the problem their policies helped cause. For now, unarmed by the historic record, conventional wisdom is buying into their blame-business-first rhetoric and bigger-government solutions.
ReplyDeleteWhile government arguably has a role in helping low-income folks buy a home, Clinton went overboard by strong-arming lenders with tougher and tougher regulations, which only led to lenders taking on hundreds of billions in subprime bilge.
Market failure? Hardly. Once again, this crisis has government's fingerprints all over it.
"
(IBD Leaves out New Tone W's acquiescence in all things liberal)
Story #1: Nobel Laureat Level Insight
ReplyDeleteThe failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, setting in motion the biggest government bailout/takeover in U.S. history, brings a grim sense of fulfillment to competent economists.
After all, what did people expect, that water would flow uphill forever?
This financial mega-mess is the same sort of event as the collapse of the USSR’s centrally planned economy, another economically unworkable Rube Goldberg apparatus that was kept going, more or less badly, for decades before it fell apart completely.
Along the way, of course, famous (yet actually unsound) economists assured the world that everything was working out splendidly.
As late as 1989, when the pillars were crumbling on all sides of the temple, Nobel Prize winner Paul A. Samuelson informed readers of his widely used textbook,
“The Soviet economy is proof that . . . a socialist command economy can function and even thrive.”
Mccain should send Palin out to Detail why the Govt is at fault.
ReplyDelete...but he won't,
the MSM will blame Pubs,
and we'll lose.
wo is us.
We're not gonna lose. All this stuff will be forgotten in a week.
ReplyDeleteGet her out there talking about gas prices, and drilling, and nuclear energy, which most people are for now.
I wish she could debate Michelle, along with Biden.
Obama was over there in Iraq, talking treason and violating the what's it called Act, about negotiating as a private individual. Finally there's got to be a straw somewhere that breaks most people's backs.
RUSH: The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
ReplyDelete==
The game is called musical chairs.
bobal said...
ReplyDelete"All this stuff will be forgotten in a week."
---
rufus said...
I don't think many people in "the real world" care that one bunch of wall street crooks busted another bunch of wall street crooks.
(they Will care in a few months when the unemployment rate goes even higher due to companies being unable to get credit for expansions, new products/plants, etc.,
but that will be after the elections.)
Look, the average Joe knows the FDIC has his back. He's going to be much more pissed off about the price of gas
(if he can get it.)
Fed Readies A.I.G. Loan of $85 Billion for an 80% Stake
ReplyDeleteWithout help from the Federal Reserve, the insurance giant was expected to be forced to file for bankruptcy protection.
Barclays Agrees to Buy Some Lehman Assets
ReplyDeleteConsumer Prices Fall on Lower Energy Costs
As Oil Declines, Surge in Gasoline Prices Slows
Morgan Stanley Tops Forecast in Quarter
Rosenbergs’ Sons Accept That Father Was a Spy
ReplyDeleteRussian stock market crashes, then closes...
ReplyDeleteOKAY Bobal, second pass, sign at Parr Ford, 2008 F-150, $11,497, on account of a $7,500 rebate. It's the real deal.
ReplyDeleteThanks, T., I'll call 'em tomorrow, no e-mail.
ReplyDeleteWiO: Since Russia Chewed up Georgia Russia LOST 40% of it's capitalization....
ReplyDeleteWorse than that:
The Russian Government has pumped billions of dollars into the financial market to quell fears of its liquidity.
Freakin' commies, they never learn, so much for the free market in Russia. Why can't they just watch how we do it in America?
Hey, Mat, (bobal, anyone) what are the roof structures for, bird netting, or what?
ReplyDeleteThe Risks of Desert Farming New York Times Video
bobal's gonna be ridin high!
ReplyDelete(the video after the Israel one shows the need for POPULATION CONTROL in Egypt)
ReplyDeleteNuclear Solution?
(for Trish)
ReplyDelete...and WIO
So.... Who remembers Jamie Gorelick?
ReplyDeleteThis is getting surreal....
Raines is 'Rat and Rufus's proof that The Messiah is the one to save our economy as well as our souls.
ReplyDeletewho can forget Jamie?
ReplyDeleteI can't tell for sure Doug, but my quess is it's got something to do with moisture; either keep the humidity in, or, maybe make some shade so evaporation is less.
ReplyDeleteMy engineer guy that just moved out, his company was into all kinds of irrigation. He went over to Israel, on some drip irrigation project or other. You have small water lines underground, with holes every once in a while, gets the water right to the plant, in the exact amount needed, no evaporation.
I posted some months ago about a project to bring some of the Sahara back. They planted some kind of desert hardy low moisture shrub, in Egypt I think, maybe somewhere else, wasn't Israel, but it didn't make it better, made things worse, as the plant sucked what little moisture there was out of the ground, up into the plant's above ground structure, where the moisture blew away in the wind. A net loss of moisture to the desert in that instance. Instead of stabilizing the moisture, blew it all away.
With all this global warming on us, maybe the Sahara will get more rain. :) Used to be a game park, not to many thousands of years ago.
Gorelick will be Barry's National Security Advisor.
ReplyDeleteI like old-fashioned farming, with plenty of organic mulch and lots of Fresh WATER!
ReplyDelete...not sewage delivered by drip.
Check out the new fashionable space burka on Drudge. I'd post it but don't know how.
ReplyDeleteHot stuff. Latest in Venus fashions.
Well, amigos, this tidbit would lead one to think the problem is larger than US and affirmative action housing
ReplyDeleteUK home repossessions rise by 48%
8 August 2008
The number of properties repossessed by mortgage lenders in the UK has risen by 48% in the past year.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said there were 18,900 repossessions in the six months to June, up from 12,800 in the same period last year.
The sharp rise was due to the economic slowdown making it harder for some homeowners to repay mortgages.
I'm currently using my Dell again after getting the Vista hp working perfectly again.
ReplyDelete...fraid to let MS touch it over the 'Net.
...anybody know the best disk-cloning setup so I can be saved from Microsoft's next update disaster?
California's real estate is said to be down by
ReplyDeleteTHIRTY EIGHT PERCENT THIS YEAR!
I just can't get over this Jamie Gorelick thing... (Excuse my implied language, but) WTF is this? Do I have to think like a Conspiracy Theorist from now on?
ReplyDelete-"Gorelick was appointed the Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae and served in the role from 1997 to 2003. During that six-year period, she earned over $26 million.
This was during her "tenure" as a 9/11 committee member and poster-girl for "This is Conflict-of-Interest" Belmont Club discussions....
10 Reasons Why California is Years Away from a Housing Bottom: Rebuttal to Those Calling for a Bottom for California Housing.
ReplyDeleteStage Two of the Mortgage Collapse: $500 Billion in Pay Option ARMs Meet the Piper in 2008 with 60 Percent Being in California
10 Overpriced California Homes
The Foreclosure Story: $130,000 income to Foreclosure
Doug: ...anybody know the best disk-cloning setup so I can be saved from Microsoft's next update disaster?
ReplyDeleteSure Doug. You plug an external hard drive into a USB socket. Then in a Linux terminal session you type:
dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/dev/sda1
...and it makes a copy of your whole hard drive!
(Well you did ask for the BEST solution)
Gorelick and Sandy (pants) Bergler, perfect agents for CHANGE!
ReplyDeleteObama '08!
So if I can get my BSD/Linux expert kid over here he could do it?
ReplyDeleteBobal: Check out the new fashionable space burka on Drudge. I'd post it but don't know how.
ReplyDeleteThis is what bobal is talking about
Doug, he would probably throw a Knoppix live CD in your tray, boot it, mount your hard drive, mount the external hard drive, and issue the same command. Reverse the process next time Microsuckware fucks up. Linux to the rescue every time.
ReplyDeleteVia justbarkingmad.com
ReplyDelete“Our approach to our lenders is `CRA Your Way’,” Gorelick said. “Fannie Mae will buy CRA loans from lenders’ portfolios; we’ll package them into securities; we’ll purchase CRA mortgages at the point of origination; and we’ll create customized CRA-targeted securities. This expanded approach has improved liquidity in the secondary market for CRA product, and has helped our lenders leverage even more CRA lending. Lenders now have the flexibility to use their own, customized loan products,” Gorelick said.
So, the packaging and re-packaging of sub-prime loans which all of the financial "pundits" are blaming for the opaque financials of Fannie/Lehman, et al was shilled during her tenure at FannieMae... And, SHE did the shilling.
We ought to pool our resources and get this gem, doug, in Santa Monica. Nothing but upside, at this price!
ReplyDeletePrice: $749,000
Square Feet: 635
Details: 2 bedroom / 1 bath
Median Rent for Similar Unit: $2,500
For those of you not from Southern California, Santa Monica is prime. Great location and one of the best cities in Los Angeles County. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have any Real Homes of Genius in the area. With this magnificent 635 square foot mansion, you will be the envy of all the people flocking to the thirty-mile zone. For this extraordinary privilege you will pay $1,179 per square foot!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEverybody Thought They Were Rich In California
ReplyDeleteThe Bay Area California Newsgroup reports from California.
“Over the year that ended in July, the decline in home prices in the East Bay was about five times worse than what happened nationwide. The East Bay is losing jobs at a much faster pace than the rest of the state or the country. The problems seem particularly pronounced in the East Bay, San Joaquin County and Solano County. ‘It’s a lot worse in the East Bay, which is the weakest part of the Bay Area economy,’ said Scott Anderson, a senior economist with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank.”
Arizona real estate bubble -
ReplyDeleteInvest @ home, 'Rat!
...read an amazing one last nite, but that's on the hp Google Desktop.
635 sq ft / about 15 of us regulars = 42.33333333333 sq ft apiece.
ReplyDelete2 bedroom, 1 bath.
My apartments are bigger than that.
Think we can get along?
'til you lose your looks.
ReplyDeleteBull Moose Party
ReplyDeleteBullwinkle
ReplyDeleteMy son will never forgive me for taping over some classic Bullwinkle w/Desert Storm/and/or Clarence Thomas Inquisition.
ReplyDeleteMy wife threw out all my Miami Vice tapes!
ReplyDelete"Andrei Sharonov, managing director of Troika Dialog, a Moscow investment bank, and a former deputy economic minister, said: “This is a vicious circle,” said , .
ReplyDelete“It is a situation of total mistrust. The liquidity crisis is being caused by a crisis of confidence in which people are frightened to borrow and frightened to lend.”
Shares in Russia’s biggest state-controlled banks led the slide with Sberbank, the state-controlled savings bank, closing 21.72 per cent down and VTB losing 29.26 per cent.
The bank was suffered on investor fears about its securities portfolio, which makes up about 10 per cent of its assets.
"
Oh! The Humanity!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't happen to a nicer bunch of Oligarchs.
ReplyDeleteJust reporting--
ReplyDeleteAnswers to complaint due dates
Thursday, 11 September 2008 01:42 administrator Berg v. Obama, et al. Civil Case No. 08-cv-04083
Answers are due from the various parties to the lawsuit as follows:
Barrack Obama September 24, 2008;
DNC: September 24, 2008 and
FEC: October 21, 2008 (Federal and Government Employees and Entities have sixty (60) days)
"Likeable" Charlie Rangel refuses to step down, has hired a "forensic accounting team" to help with his taxes:)
ReplyDeleteohahaha
"forensic accounting"
A new up and coming profession all along Wall Street.
Rangel plans to hire a "nationally renowned forensic accounting firm," to independently review his finances for the past 20years
ReplyDeleteAll of Idaho's candidates (except one kook) is for nuclear power--
ReplyDeleteIdaho candidates for Congress overwhelmingly support exploring nuclear power
Candidates seeking Senate and House seats believe nuclear power is a safe, effective way to meet national energy needs; lone candidate against it believes “God doesn’t like it”
Sept. 17, 2008
Contact:
Martin Johncox, 208-658-9100
Don Gillispie, 208-939-9311
Eight of the nine candidates for federal office in Idaho support exploring nuclear energy as a way to address our country’s energy needs, according to a survey conducted by Alternate Energy Holdings Inc.
Aside from the peculiar response of the lone candidate opposing nuclear, the findings of the survey do not surprise Don Gillispie, president and CEO of AEHI. The company has begun the local application process to build a 1,600-megawatt, advanced third-generation nuclear power plant in Elmore County
“There are few issues that will produce unanimity from such a wide variety of parties and political beliefs, but nuclear is that kind of issue,” Gillispie said. “The results add to the evidence that old-school anti-nuke groups are becoming increasingly out-of-the-mainstream and isolated in the early 21st century. It’s time for them to wake up and join the search for carbon-free, reliable energy sources.”
The survey results are congruent with the positions of the Presidential candidates, reputable and influential environmental groups and the American public. A June 2008 Zogby poll, for example, found 67 percent of Americans support construction of new nuclear plants in the United States. According to the poll, Americans are more likely to back government support for nuclear, wind and solar power.
“I urge Democrats and the small number of anti-nuke Republicans in the Idaho Legislature to take a cue on this issue from their colleagues running for national office, who are attuned to our national as well as our state interests,” Gillispie said. “The demands of global warming, economic development and national security are making nuclear a necessity now more than ever.”
The survey consisted of one question: “How do you feel about nuclear energy?” Candidate Web sites were reviewed and candidates were also allowed to make a statement explaining their position.
Here are the results:
U.S. Representative District 1:
Republican first-term Rep. Bill Sali said “If we want our children and our grandchildren to enjoy the same prosperous country we have enjoyed, we must get our hands on every bit of energy we can from every possible source. That includes nuclear energy and it includes American crude oil, alternative and renewable energies and conservation.”
Democrat Walt Minnick’s spokesman John Foster said “Walt favors an ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy and believes we can’t take any possible solution off the table. A comprehensive solution to the country’s energy problems is going to include taking a look at every possible option, which includes nuclear.”
U.S. Representative District 2
Democrat Debbie Holmes said “I am in favor of nuclear as long as we’re reprocessing the spent fuel. We shouldn’t bury the waste when we can reprocess it and get more energy out of it.”
Republican Rep. Mike Simpson said “I have been a long and vocal proponent of expanding our nation's use of nuclear power to meet our growing energy needs and reduce pollutants and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
U.S. Senate:
Republican Lt. Gov. Jim Risch’s campaign director, Matt Ellsworth, said “Risch is supportive of expanding nuclear energy.”
Democrat Larry LaRocco states on his Web site “Nuclear power plays a key role in energy independence because it has an excellent operating record and generates electricity in a reliable, environmentally safe and affordable manner without emitting greenhouse gases.”
Libertarian Kent Marmon said “Nuclear energy has proven to be a safe, clean alternative … It is a system that has been used widely throughout the world, and through lessons learned and technological advances that have been made, is an excellent alternative for power generation.”
Independent Rex Rammell states on his Web site “I support all forms of energy production as long as they are clean and safe. In particular, I believe we have overlooked the safety and efficacy of nuclear power and I support the building of more nuclear power plants.”
Independent Pro-Life (aka formerly known as Marvin Richardson), the lone candidate opposing nuclear energy, said “I’m against nuclear powered anything, including nuclear submarines. We haven’t found ways to deal with the byproducts safely. I’m a clean coal technology enthusiast but I wouldn’t vote for government promoting any kind of energy … I think God doesn’t like it [nuclear energy].”
The Idaho Energy Complex (www.idahoenergycomplex.com) will be a 1,600-megawatt; $4.5-billion advanced nuclear reactor with low cooling water requirements located about 65 miles southeast of Boise, in Elmore County. The plant will also include a biofuels component, using excess reactor heat to produce fuels from local ag waste and crops. Company officials have submitted a rezoning request to Elmore County and they plan to submit a Combined Operating License Application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2009. The approval process is expected to take three years and cost $80 million. Construction could begin as soon as 2012 and finish with power generation beginning in late 2016.
...Libertarian Kent Marmon said
ReplyDeleteSome nucular trivia for you, Bob.
The DOE runs a fleet of big rigs. They travel around in convoys complete with a commo van and have no markings except their government plates and the logo on the tractors. All the tractors I've seen are "Marmons", big husky 10 wheelers that remind me of our heavy equipment trucks back in the day.
That biofuels component at your energy complex is a good idea, too. Did you know a similar biofuels conversion setup put next to a big coal burner can strip the nasty CO2 from the exhaust and convert it more-or-less directly to alg-oil? They don't even need crop grown feed stocks. Probably would be a non-starter west of Iowa, though. Rufus's cousins would want to grow 'em corn.
You can expect me to come in third or fourth place on some of these energy discussions. It was Rufus who clued me in at first that there was a nuclear proposal in south Idaho!
ReplyDeleteIt seems a little hard to follow, especially the money, which I don't know where it's coming from. A French company is sometimes seen in the mix too. I should do some research.
I do know it's got Snake River Alliance all fired up. They disrupted one meeting. Court proceedings are on the horizon.
But the people and all the politicians that count are for it. I hope it happens. If not here, where?