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Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Obama To Detroit: I Gave Your $6 Billion To Indonesia And Brunei

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Can you imagine what the City of Detroit could do with $6 billion dollars?  Even if it had to go for wasteful "green" projects, the city could create solar farms and wind farms in its vast tracts of vacant land and provide clean, free [if unreliable] energy to light the streets and power municipal facilities.  It could clean up debris-strewn, rubble packed abandoned land and turn it into parks with trees, grass and artificial lakes.  It could even take a pass on that $0.25 billion budget cut.

But too bad for Detroit.  President Obama decided to reward all of his loyal followers in Indonesia and Brunei with $6 billion that could have gone a long way to clean up the City of Detroit.

From the Asia News Network:

US pledges $6b aid for clean energy in Asia-Pacific.
The United States has pledged up to US$6 billion to grow sustainable energy in the Asia-Pacific region as part of an initiative brokered with Brunei and Indonesia.
Dubbed the "US-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership For A Sustainable Energy", the US government announced last week that it will invest billions in Asian countries over the next four years to increase their purchasing power for American technology, services and equipment.

The move will ensure "affordable, secure, and cleaner energy supplies for the region", the White House said in a statement.

US Ambassador to Brunei Daniel Shields said: "The Asia-Pacific region will need an estimated $9 trillion in investments in electricity by 2035. President Barack Obama, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have joined together in recognition of this fact to help supply the region with clean energy."

The US has partnered with Brunei and Indonesia as the countries take up the chairs of Asean and APEC respectively in 2013. [h/t Geeeeez]
So, don't all of you Detroiters who voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama feel so much better that the money which could have gone to help your deeply troubled city will go to oil-exporting Indonesia and Brunei instead?  Say, isn't the Sultan of Brunei one of the world's wealthiest men?  Hey, even wealthy guys could use a few billion more to run their countries.  And perhaps he can return the favor in the form of some lucrative speaking fees in four or five years.  Or maybe Indonesia can make our president again feel at home in four or five years.

Too bad, Detroit.  We now know what our President was doing on that expensive Asian tour he took right after the election.

Obama In Asia: Strategic Or Strange?
Let's hear it for the 51%-ers!  They obviously live in a parallel universe where hope springs eternal in the face of reality.


UPDATE:
Some good give and take on this subject here.

By the way, Michigan contributes about $70 billion in federal tax revenues and receives 92 cents back on the dollar.  That 8% difference approximates $6 billion.  Coincidence, coincidence.

Regardless, I'm betting she read this post.

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There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956)
“The Divine Afflatus,” A Mencken Chrestomathy, chapter 25, p. 443 (1949)
... and one could add "not all human problems really are."
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- O. Henry
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FEDERAL RESERVE & HOUSING

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February 3, 2006
Go back to 1999-2000 and see what the Fed did. They are following the same pattern for 2005-06. If it ain't broke, the Fed will fix it... and good!
August 29, 2006 The Federal Reserve always acts on old information... and is the only cause of U.S. recessions.
December 5, 2006 Last spring I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.
March 28, 2007
The Federal Reserve sees no need to cut interest rates in the light of adverse recent economic data, Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman said ”to date, the incoming data have supported the view that the current stance of policy is likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing in core inflation”.

July 21, 2007 My guess is that if there is an interest rate change, a cut is more likely than an increase. The key variables to be watching at this point are real estate prices and the inventory of unsold homes.
August 11, 2007 I suspect that within 6 months the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates before housing becomes a black hole.
September 11, 2007 It only means that the overall process has flaws guaranteeing it will be slow in responding to changes in the economy... and tend to over-react as a result.
September 18, 2007 I think a 4% rate is really what is needed to turn the economy back on the right course. The rate may not get there, but more cuts will be needed with employment rates down and foreclosure rates up.
October 25, 2007 How long will it be before I will be able to write: "The Federal Reserve lowered its lending rate to 4% in response to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and massive numbers of foreclosures that threaten the banking and mortgage sectors."
November 28, 2007 FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN
"Should the elevated turbulence persist, it would increase the possibility of further tightening in financial conditions for households and businesses," he said.

"Uncertainties about the economic outlook are unusually high right now," he said. "These uncertainties require flexible and pragmatic policymaking -- nimble is the adjective I used a few weeks ago."
http://www.reuters.com/

December 11, 2007 Somehow the Fed misses the obvious.
fed_rate_moves_425_small.gif
[Image from: CNNMoney.com]
December 13, 2007 [from The Christian Science Monitor]
"The odds of a recession are now above 50 percent," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We are right on the edge of a recession in part because of the Fed's reluctance to reduce interest rates more aggressively." [see my comments of September 11]
January 7, 2008 The real problem now is that consumers can't rescue the economy and manufacturing, which is already weakening, will continue to weaken. We've gutted the forces that could avoid a downturn. The question is not whether there will be a recession, but can it be dampened sufficiently so that it is very short.
January 11, 2008 This is death by a thousand cuts.
January 13, 2008 [N.Y. Times]
“The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.
January 17, 2008 A few days ago, Anna Schwartz, nonagenarian economist, implicated the Federal Reserve as the cause of the present lending crisis [from the Telegraph - UK]:
The high priestess of US monetarism - a revered figure at the Fed - says the central bank is itself the chief cause of the credit bubble, and now seems stunned as the consequences of its own actions engulf the financial system. "The new group at the Fed is not equal to the problem that faces it," she says, daring to utter a thought that fellow critics mostly utter sotto voce.
January 22, 2008 The cut has become infected and a limb is in danger. Ben Bernanke is panicking and the Fed has its emergency triage team cutting rates... this time by 3/4%. ...

What should the Federal Reserve do now? Step back... and don't be so anxious to raise rates at the first sign of economic improvement.
Individuals and businesses need stability in their financial cost structures so that they can plan effectively and keep their ships afloat. Wildly fluctuating rates... regardless of what the absolute levels are... create problems. Either too much spending or too much fear. It's just not that difficult to comprehend. Why has it been so difficult for the Fed?

About Me

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Michigan, United States
Air Force (SAC) captain 1968-72. Retired after 35 years of business and logistical planning, including running a small business. Two sons with advanced degrees; one with a business and pre-law degree. Beautiful wife who has put up with me for 4 decades. Education: B.A. (Sociology major; minors in philosopy, English literature, and German) M.S. Operations Management (like a mixture of an MBA with logistical planning)