What to do with 1.45 TRILLION

[bobblehead]

Newt Gingrich added up all the crap our Gov't just spent bailing out banks and stimulus checks ect and started a blog where people post about what to do with 1.45 trillion dollars.

I want to start a thread like that.

My idea would be this...As I have said I'm in thailand. All the cabs here are flex fuel, designed to run on natural gas or gasoline. I would spend 1.45 trillion dollars building as many natural gas fueling stations as possible in the top 20 biggest US cities (measured by fuel consumption) and then selling them at 110% of building cost to small business owners. This would provide the infrastructure needed to get us started towards getting off foreign oil.

Others thoughts?

[digitaldean]

Re: What to do with 1.45 TRILLION

Newt Gingrich added up all the crap our Gov't just spent bailing out banks and stimulus checks ect and started a blog where people post about what to do with 1.45 trillion dollars.

I want to start a thread like that.

My idea would be this...As I have said I'm in thailand. All the cabs here are flex fuel, designed to run on natural gas or gasoline. I would spend 1.45 trillion dollars building as many natural gas fueling stations as possible in the top 20 biggest US cities (measured by fuel consumption) and then selling them at 110% of building cost to small business owners. This would provide the infrastructure needed to get us started towards getting off foreign oil.

Others thoughts?

My God a common sense answer! Oh, wait... that character trait is not found in DC.

If Brazil can switch to ethanol off of sugar cane, why can't at least a fraction of our economy do it?

If we are going to socialize the loss and privatize the gains, then a venture as you laid out should be allowed. In the long run, it's a matter of nat'l security anyway.

[Freak Out]

Re: What to do with 1.45 TRILLION

Newt Gingrich added up all the crap our Gov't just spent bailing out banks and stimulus checks ect and started a blog where people post about what to do with 1.45 trillion dollars.

I want to start a thread like that.

My idea would be this...As I have said I'm in thailand. All the cabs here are flex fuel, designed to run on natural gas or gasoline. I would spend 1.45 trillion dollars building as many natural gas fueling stations as possible in the top 20 biggest US cities (measured by fuel consumption) and then selling them at 110% of building cost to small business owners. This would provide the infrastructure needed to get us started towards getting off foreign oil.

Others thoughts?

Picken's is doing this now in the US. The US has huge NAT GAS reserves as we all know. In AK the big producers are still holding us hostage by not trying to get all our North Slope gas to market.....they really want the price to stay as high as possible until demand is way up. Even with incentive and tax breaks they have to be forced to make any movement.

[Partial]

Is natural gas the answer? Isn't the goal to get towards a renewable resource? Perhaps I am ignorant to how natural gas is produced. I know the Natty civics are cleaner than the hybrids by a substantial margin.

[bobblehead]

Is natural gas the answer? Isn't the goal to get towards a renewable resource? Perhaps I am ignorant to how natural gas is produced. I know the Natty civics are cleaner than the hybrids by a substantial margin.

Its a short term solution (short being 15-20 years) to a BIG problem...the shift of 700 billion from here to the middle east every year.

We need that bridge until solar and electric storage/recharge become viable. It also has 2 HUGE advantages besides getting us off foreign oil.

1) It burns MUCH cleaner than gasoline
2) The equivalent price compared to gasoline would be about $1 a gallon which would be a huge creation of wealth.

[Zool]

Hookers and blow for everyone.

[MJZiggy]

Why not offer some of the money as incentives for breakthrough technology on alternative energy. I bet just a couple million would have ideas flowing out of half the labs and universities in the country...

[texaspackerbacker]

Re: What to do with 1.45 TRILLION

Newt Gingrich added up all the crap our Gov't just spent bailing out banks and stimulus checks ect and started a blog where people post about what to do with 1.45 trillion dollars.

I want to start a thread like that.

My idea would be this...As I have said I'm in thailand. All the cabs here are flex fuel, designed to run on natural gas or gasoline. I would spend 1.45 trillion dollars building as many natural gas fueling stations as possible in the top 20 biggest US cities (measured by fuel consumption) and then selling them at 110% of building cost to small business owners. This would provide the infrastructure needed to get us started towards getting off foreign oil.

Others thoughts?

Did you check with Bob Barr? Infrastructure! That doesn't sound like something he'd approve of.

If it's injected into the economy--and I don't see how it wouldn't be, then everything will be OK. I wouldn't have any problem with spending on infrastructure, natural gas technology, etc.

JUST DON'T RAISE TAXES TO "PAY FOR" THE SPENDING.

[Partial]

Why not offer some of the money as incentives for breakthrough technology on alternative energy. I bet just a couple million would have ideas flowing out of half the labs and universities in the country...

I doubt it. Research is very expensive. Anna worked in a lab in madison. She would go through 50k in supplies a week easily, more often than not getting any useable results. And thats just one of say 10 people.

[Partial]

Is natural gas the answer? Isn't the goal to get towards a renewable resource? Perhaps I am ignorant to how natural gas is produced. I know the Natty civics are cleaner than the hybrids by a substantial margin.

Its a short term solution (short being 15-20 years) to a BIG problem...the shift of 700 billion from here to the middle east every year.

We need that bridge until solar and electric storage/recharge become viable. It also has 2 HUGE advantages besides getting us off foreign oil.

1) It burns MUCH cleaner than gasoline
2) The equivalent price compared to gasoline would be about $1 a gallon which would be a huge creation of wealth.

I've been doing some research, and solar is almost to the point that its viable for heating and cooling of an existing home. In homes being built, they should look to use both geothermal ( easier to place into ground before having a structure on it, and solar.

Both of these technologies are feasible now to keep a house around 71 degrees constant year round in wisconsin. Solar is becoming surprisingly inexpensive.

Here are some links on it that a buddy at work shared with me.

http://www.misssolar.com/faq.php

http://www.bmmtechnologies.com/faq.html

http://www.suntech-power.com/guide/solar_faq.php

[MJZiggy]

Why not offer some of the money as incentives for breakthrough technology on alternative energy. I bet just a couple million would have ideas flowing out of half the labs and universities in the country...

I doubt it. Research is very expensive. Anna worked in a lab in madison. She would go through 50k in supplies a week easily, more often than not getting any useable results. And thats just one of say 10 people.

I didn't say a million up front--I said incentives. Invent a new idea or concept and get a million bucks. Not formal, sponsored research, but nerds coming up with great ideas. That's how shit gets done. Nerd gets a great idea, everyone says it'll never work, someone believes in it, and lo and behold, you have a hybrid car, or hydrogen fuel or pantyhose (curses) or whatever.

Every year the local art museum sponsors two events. In the first, people are required to make a boat. The designs are unique and there are all sorts of materials used, but you're not allowed to make a normal boat out of normal boat materials. You wouldn't believe the time and effort people put in just for the bragging rights.

The other is a rally in which they have to build a vehicle that must be human powered and has to travel on land, through water and through a mud pit. Again, the ideas they get are phenomenal.

Let's let regular people fuel the ideas. Inventors working out of their garages. If they don't come up with anything, you don't pay.

[bobblehead]

Why not offer some of the money as incentives for breakthrough technology on alternative energy. I bet just a couple million would have ideas flowing out of half the labs and universities in the country...

I doubt it. Research is very expensive. Anna worked in a lab in madison. She would go through 50k in supplies a week easily, more often than not getting any useable results. And thats just one of say 10 people.

I didn't say a million up front--I said incentives. Invent a new idea or concept and get a million bucks. Not formal, sponsored research, but nerds coming up with great ideas. That's how shit gets done. Nerd gets a great idea, everyone says it'll never work, someone believes in it, and lo and behold, you have a hybrid car, or hydrogen fuel or pantyhose (curses) or whatever.

Every year the local art museum sponsors two events. In the first, people are required to make a boat. The designs are unique and there are all sorts of materials used, but you're not allowed to make a normal boat out of normal boat materials. You wouldn't believe the time and effort people put in just for the bragging rights.

The other is a rally in which they have to build a vehicle that must be human powered and has to travel on land, through water and through a mud pit. Again, the ideas they get are phenomenal.

Let's let regular people fuel the ideas. Inventors working out of their garages. If they don't come up with anything, you don't pay.

we are fully in agreement zig...this is a great way to get things done. We offer 20 million for a battery that meets certain specs, but then make the information non-patented and public. Then raise the bar for 20 million more, ect...until it becomes fully viable.

[bobblehead]

Is natural gas the answer? Isn't the goal to get towards a renewable resource? Perhaps I am ignorant to how natural gas is produced. I know the Natty civics are cleaner than the hybrids by a substantial margin.

Its a short term solution (short being 15-20 years) to a BIG problem...the shift of 700 billion from here to the middle east every year.

We need that bridge until solar and electric storage/recharge become viable. It also has 2 HUGE advantages besides getting us off foreign oil.

1) It burns MUCH cleaner than gasoline
2) The equivalent price compared to gasoline would be about $1 a gallon which would be a huge creation of wealth.

I've been doing some research, and solar is almost to the point that its viable for heating and cooling of an existing home. In homes being built, they should look to use both geothermal ( easier to place into ground before having a structure on it, and solar.

Both of these technologies are feasible now to keep a house around 71 degrees constant year round in wisconsin. Solar is becoming surprisingly inexpensive.

Here are some links on it that a buddy at work shared with me.

http://www.misssolar.com/faq.php

http://www.bmmtechnologies.com/faq.html

http://www.suntech-power.com/guide/solar_faq.php

Still not there. And as far as vehicles go, one big problem is refueling. Especially with shipping companies where time is money they can't sit and wait 4 hours for a battery to recharge so they can drive 300 more miles.

To my knowledge (and i have tried to get it before I sold my house 3 years ago) it costs around 60k to convert a house to fully solar. Thats not viable.

I do agree we are getting their fast. Ray Kurzweil thinks its 5-6 years away for nanotechnology solar panels to be competitive with coal and oil...but still a tad more expensive than nuclear.

[Partial]

Fully solar is expensive if you use a lot of electricity. Climate control from solar panels isn't nearly as bad. You can use the panels, some heat pipes, a big ass heat sink, and a giant tube of water to keep your house with a moderate temperature year round.

[LL2]

Fully solar is expensive if you use a lot of electricity. Climate control from solar panels isn't nearly as bad. You can use the panels, some heat pipes, a big ass heat sink, and a giant tube of water to keep your house with a moderate temperature year round.

I like the idea of solar panels and think every house should have them making each house self sufficient in electrical energy. i just do not think the panels are cost effective yet, but have heard they are starting to come down in price. Solar panels needs to get to the point where they are mass produced and affordable. The company that does this could be the next Microsoft or Google.