ragerunner

This is about community leaders deciding to be short or long term sighted. I hope they go with long term.

Obama says Big Three automakers must not fail President-elect voices opposition to court-supervised bankruptcy http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-says-big-three-automakers-must-not-fail By John Spence, MarketWatch "BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that the auto industry is the "backbone" of American manufacturing and that top automakers can't be allowed to go bankrupt. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said management at the Big Three auto companies -- Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC -- made "repeated strategic mistakes." But he added that millions of Americans rely on the Big Three for their jobs, directly or indirectly, so they should not be consigned to court-supervised bankruptcy as some people have suggested. Obama said he wants assistance to be conditioned on restructuring." http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Obama-says-Big-Three-automakers/story.aspx?guid={64498E11-8A43-4723-9294-C9315E4A639C}

Agree, 100% and for the employment numbers to do this during the holiday season is even more concerning. We should be seeing an uptick this time of year with holiday hiring.

That thought occurred to me, too. With 1500-volt catenary just a few feet away, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to devise a scheme to disincentivize antisocial behavor by implementing Darwinian concepts. Give them time.

Payrolls plunge by stunning 533,000 in November Jobless rate rises to 15-year high of 6.7%, Labor Department reports "WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. nonfarm payrolls plunged by an astonishing 533,000 in November, the worst job loss in 34 years, the Labor Department reported Friday. It's only the fourth time in the past 58 years that payrolls have fallen by more than 500,000 in a month. Since the recession began 11 months ago, a total of 1.9 million jobs have been lost." http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Payrolls-plunge-stunning-533000-November/story.aspx?guid={5446C124-6428-4C60-8CB9-30505CCA12AA} Job loses are starting to hit the early 1970 numbers and we still are not at the bottom.

Obama: I'll help cash-strapped states The nation's governors make their case to the president-elect for federal money to stem the economic downturn. Experts say the sooner aid is given, the better. By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer Last Updated: December 2, 2008: 2:04 PM ET "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday told governors from across the country that he wanted them to work with him to "help design" a massive economic recovery package he hopes to sign shortly after he takes office. "If we're listening to our governors, we'll not only be doing what's right for our states, we'll be doing what's right for our country," Obama said in remarks to a meeting of the National Governors' Association (NGA) in Philadelphia. "That's how we'll grow our economy -- from the bottom-up." http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/02/news/economy/obama_talks_aid_with_governors/index.htm?postversion=2008120214

I am not sure this is so much about worrying as its about discussing the future of our country's economics and making decisions based what each individual believes that future will be. A good example was the housing = recession thread. Depending on what you thought was going to happen 2 years ago could have made a big difference in weather you profited (so far) by the downturn or lost a lot financially up to this point.

Now that we're officially in a recession ... Commentary: What this economic downturn is likely to hold for the U.S. "PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) -- The National Bureau of Economic Research has finally confirmed what the real world has known for at least a year: The U.S. economy is now well into its 11th postwar recession. Although the bureau says that it takes anywhere from six to 18 months to determine that a peak in economic activity has been reached, this one has taken longer than its four immediate predecessors. The bureau says that the latest business cycle peak was reached a year ago, in December 2007. By contrast, the March 2001 peak was announced eight months later, while the July 1990 peak was determined within nine months. The July 1981 peak was set six months after the fact, while it took only five months to establish that a peak was reached in January 1980. ... http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/No-surprise-US-officially-recession/story.aspx?guid={FB24B86D-7611-4783-955C-7482CA23FD99} While I hope these projections are right, I think they are to optimistic. This is becoming a worldwide recession and that has it own time line attached to it, that is longer than this.

Here is one way we maybe able to pay our way out of this debt over the next X amount of decades. All of these bailouts and modifications of laws will have a price to be paid in the future. A European-style tax? Like it or not, there's only one way we're going to be able to pay for our ballooning deficit: a value-added tax. "NEW YORK (Fortune) -- It's highly possible, if not inevitable, that Americans will soon live under a radically different tax system - one that the pundits and politicians aren't talking about. It's called a value-added tax, or VAT, and it's been used for decades to pay the bills and sustain the immense growth of governments around the world, from France to Mexico to Australia. Created in 1954 by a French economist, the VAT is the most potent, efficient machine for revenue generation yet invented. And if there's one thing the U.S. government needs as the federal budget balloons, it's a ton of new revenue. "The bottom line is that the income tax cannot support the level of spending that's projected, something other countries faced years ago," said Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan research institute. Today the VAT raises almost half of the total government revenue in France, and a similar share in most of the developed world. ... http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/01/news/economy/tully_vat.fortune/index.htm

There needs to be a regional transportation bill like T-trax in Denver. Only then will we get these projects started in a few years instead of 2 decades away. That and a huge change in Federal support.

I am not sure how comforting it is to hear this since Bernanke and the FEDs just kept telling us we were not even in a recession for the last year (had to make it past those pesky elections). I guess they have been firing cannons for quiet sometime know, so they might as well try the arrows out. Bernanke says Fed still has arrows in quiver Fixing credit markets necessary before economy can recover "WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates just about as far as they can go, but the U.S. central bank still has plenty of available firepower it could deploy to restore financial markets to normal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday. The Fed could buy Treasury notes and bonds or agency bonds in a bid to drive yields lower and "spur aggregate demand," Bernanke said. Many analysts refer to such a policy as "quantitative easing," because the Fed would target a specific amount of money to flood into the economy. The U.S. economy is under "considerable stress," Bernanke said, and is likely to remain weak for some time. The economy "downshifted further" after the financial crisis of September, he said. Read his full remarks. ... http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Bernanke-says-Fed-still-has/story.aspx?guid={A03BB585-54D0-4E8E-8804-612BE2194A3E}

I thought I would start a new thread (if the mods don't mind), since the housing = recession thread has now been confirmed. Recession began a year ago, economists say "WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy entered a recession in December 2007, a committee of economists at the private National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday." http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Recession-began-a-year-ago/story.aspx?guid={FDD60E1C-DD65-49AB-8421-507B79C14220} I thought it would now be good to discuss how long and how deep this recession will be. We already know we have been in a recession for a year now and its clear we are not at the bottom. So, what will be the bottom, when, some have even expressed concerns this might become more than a recession. I am still in the camp that this will be a long and very deep recession. I guess time will tell.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. Provides Update on Status of Extension of Maturity Date on Mason Mortgage Loan "MADISON, Wis., Nov 28, 2008 North America's leading family of indoor waterpark resorts, today announced the company remains in discussions with its lenders regarding an extension of the November 30, 2008 maturity date on the company's $76.8 million non-recourse mortgage loan on its Mason, Ohio resort property. Until those discussions conclude in a definitive decision of whether the loan's maturity date will be extended, the company expects to continue to operate the property normally. The company also advised that it will provide a further update on the status of the discussions regarding an extension of the maturity date as circumstances warrant." http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/entertainment/great-wolf-resorts-provides-update-status-extension-maturity-date-mason/

Stimulus: The stuff Obama would build The president-elect is proposing a massive project to overhaul the nation's infrastructure, but can it keep a deep recession at bay? By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer Last Updated: November 26, 2008: 2:24 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- America may soon get a whole lot of new stuff. As part of a new, massive spending plan designed to jumpstart the economy, there's talk of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on new roads, bridges, trains, schools, power plants, transmission lines and energy-efficient homes. Details on the plan are few. Numbers tossed around range anywhere from $300 billion to $700 billion, and include other measures aimed at stimulating the economy such as tax cuts and money for businesses. On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama said the measures would be "creating and saving 2.5 million jobs - jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing our schools, and creating the clean energy infrastructure of the twenty-first century." http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/26/news/economy/obama_infrastructure/index.htm?postversion=2008112608

That is a unique building. It the Murat which is one of the main theaters in the city.

I think they are looking for someone(s) to figure out how to fill phase 1 funding gap. Which appears to be $60.5 million. I hope they can do that but, this seems to be a huge gap. "A city financing plan calls for $30 million in private donations in the project’s $128 million first phase. So far, the city has lined up $67.5 million, including $6.5 million from one private donor: Duke Energy." It also looks like the efforts to get private donations from the local business community is not going as well has they had hoped. It appears the economic bust my be causing some issues. I guess we will know more in the next few weeks. The City Manager is suppose to report to the council details of the funding campaign. “We have been warmly received,” Dohoney said. “What does that translate to financially? We’ll have to wait and see. When we started this, the economic crisis was not in full swing.” I know I have said this many times, but transit in the US really needs the FEDs to step up and really show the money. Heck, just cancel some local road projects in the City of Cincinnati and you have more than enough money for the streetcars.

It actually very simple if you don't build the infrastructure the development community doesn't build in that location and will go were the infrastructure is located. It really is that simple. Weather the political and economic forces in a region are willing to take such action is another discussion. No water no development. No roads no development. I understand the concept...I'm just not sold on the idea that the consolidation of public services/utilities is the thing that is exacerbating sprawl. I think our priorities should be elsewhere when dealing with this. I am not sure this is as much about consolidation as its is about the expansion of water to suburban green fields. Its just simply adding capacity for more suburban growth on the very edge of suburbia.

It actually very simple if you don't build the infrastructure the development community doesn't build in that location and will go were the infrastructure is located. It really is that simple. Weather the political and economic forces in a region are willing to take such action is another discussion. No water no development. No roads no development.

One place is Martin County Florida were I use to work as a redevelopment specialist. To the south is Palm Beach County. If you look at the Palm Beach County Line you can see were the development just stops along 1-95 all the way through Martin County. This is were their urban service boundary stops. Then take a look at the county to the north, St. Lucie and see what type of development pattern they have with no urban service boundary. This region is know as the Treasure Coast with a population of about 1.3 million. I am not saying this is wide spread, but its is legal and can be done. Unfortunately in the US we have a political and economic system that strongly supports the decay of the inner cities and the development of sprawl. What would be nice is just to see the urban city leaders discuss the impacts of utilities on the region and their financial stability. I'm not talking about small towns, lol. I'm talking about 2 decent sized cities as close as Dayton and Cincy that haven't showed signs of merging. But the principles are still the same and the growth demands are much higher in that part of the country and then here.

One place is Martin County Florida were I use to work as a redevelopment specialist. To the south is Palm Beach County. If you look at the Palm Beach County Line you can see were the development just stops along 1-95 all the way through Martin County. This is were their urban service boundary stops. Then take a look at the county to the north, St. Lucie and see what type of development pattern they have with no urban service boundary. This region is know as the Treasure Coast with a population of about 1.3 million. I am not saying this is wide spread, but its is legal and can be done. Unfortunately in the US we have a political and economic system that strongly supports the decay of the inner cities and the development of sprawl. What would be nice is just to see the urban city leaders discuss the impacts of utilities on the region and their financial stability.

This same concept by Cincinnati Water Works made West Chester what it is today. Without water from Cincinnati, West Chester and a lot of the northern suburban areas would have struggled significantly to develop as much as they have since they had limited water resources of their own (no river access and limited underground aquifers). Those water agreements have cost Hamilton County and the urban core 1,000s of residents and 1,000s of jobs. (I can almost guarantee that the financial tax loses are a lot more than the money that the water works gets from the agreements.) As far as the potential for this money going to the streetcars, there are laws and regulations on how utility money can and can't be spent in a community. I am not saying it can't go to streetcars, but, there is also a good chance it can't. Utility and road construction decision(s) have cause more damage to America's urban core cities than another other action. Even more than, crime and schools by a long shot. I have a hard time swallowing this considering Dayton and Cincinnati are and will continue to merge. It was inevitable from the very beginning of the two cities' start. They're too close together! I can point to communities in the US that have urban service boundaries that have kept the 'fill in sprawl' from happening. Its all about politics, and the power of the development community. Many European cities that are close to each other have also managed not to 'fill in the sprawl' between them. They simply don't provide services to the area between the towns. Dayton, Cincinnati and Hamilton have paid a high prices for their willingness to provide the needed utilities for that sprawl between the cities. Many other cities in the US have also done the same thing and end up with the same loses as this region core cities. Its not an inevitable event, with the right decisions, rules and state laws it didn't have to happen. But it did, I just think it not good policy to continue to follow the same miss guided decision of the past, now that we can clearly see what the outcomes of those past decision on utilities have created. I also don't support the continuation of new road development in the outer suburban areas, the cost, (financial and socially) is to great and it continues to take from our urban areas the finite resources that we have for infrastructure in the US.

This same concept by Cincinnati Water Works made West Chester what it is today. Without water from Cincinnati, West Chester and a lot of the northern suburban areas would have struggled significantly to develop as much as they have since they had limited water resources of their own (no river access and limited underground aquifers). Those water agreements have cost Hamilton County and the urban core 1,000s of residents and 1,000s of jobs. (I can almost guarantee that the financial tax loses are a lot more than the money that the water works gets from the agreements.) I think you're oversimplifying the issue a bit, and if I were to attribute suburban sprawl to one thing it wouldn't be the water works company, but rather the Eisenhower Interstate System and the "American Dream" propaganda post WWII. These communities are going to get their water one way or another. If it's not provided by Cincinnati Water Works then they'll do it themselves (as much of Butler, Warren and Clermont Counties are). It has also been deemed an illegal way to halt development the way you are suggesting. Until the laws change, then the it is a moot point and I don't think the laws for that are going to change anytime soon. Agreed, From the original post: "Utility and road construction decision(s) have cause more damage to America's urban core cities than another other action. Even more than, crime and schools by a long shot." While the laws have said you can't keep someone from having land development rights, it has said that providing utilities is not a legal right. There are several cities and counties in the US that use urban service boundaries (not urban growth boundaries) to control growth. This approach has held up in court over and over. While Butler County may have developed some water resources they don't have enough of their own water to grow to the level they are currently at without help. Cincinnati and Hamilton (to a smaller degree) utilities made West Chester what it is today. Without their utility assistance they simple could not support what they have with their own resources.

This same concept by Cincinnati Water Works made West Chester what it is today. Without water from Cincinnati, West Chester and a lot of the northern suburban areas would have struggled significantly to develop as much as they have since they had limited water resources of their own (no river access and limited underground aquifers). Those water agreements have cost Hamilton County and the urban core 1,000s of residents and 1,000s of jobs. (I can almost guarantee that the financial tax loses are a lot more than the money that the water works gets from the agreements.) As far as the potential for this money going to the streetcars, there are laws and regulations on how utility money can and can't be spent in a community. I am not saying it can't go to streetcars, but, there is also a good chance it can't. Utility and road construction decision(s) have cause more damage to America's urban core cities than another other action. Even more than, crime and schools by a long shot.

I think this is not as much about people as about jobs. By providing expanded utilities to the suburban areas you create an environment that allows companies and jobs that are currently inside the beltway to move to 'greener fields' (or jobs that are new to have more selection in the suburbs). We have seen this happen over and over here and in other parts of US. This is were the urban area really takes a hit with this kind of process. Not providing these services may not stop all the movement of jobs but its does have the ability over time to slow the exodus down. This will then slowdown the population growth in those same suburban areas due to the lack of jobs near by.

While there are no easy answers to these issues it does allow Lebanon to continue it sprawl and even compete for businesses that might relocate from Cincinnati (as we have seen happen many times). I wonder if the potential job relocations, and people relocations would equal $2.5 million in value? This is why I am a big supporter of urban growth boundaries in state laws. If you are outside of that growth boundary area you can't receive sewer and water facilities. All you can build is what a well and septic on the property can handle.