Hello and thank you for visiting on this wonderful July, 9 2009. First big news of the day: GM is set to exit bankruptcy court. Apparently (and frankly, as expected) the company is now largely owned by the U.S. government. As this is a developing topic, I will have much better details next week so please check back. This is bound to get/remain ugly.
In other news, the Wall Street Journal recently released a report speculating the passage of a new Department of Transportation bill in congress. This was as of July 2nd. This transportation bill, which was being introduced by House Democrats, is reportedly just in its beginning stages so there is bound to be plenty of development in this story. This bill would cost 450 billion dollar over the next 6 years (yes, yes, I know) if passed. What would this bill do you ask?
Included in the bill would be several initiatives to reduce oil consumption in the U.S. This is reportedly in an effort to stimulate economic growth (and not for the purpose of conservation, that is way down the list of important things in this country at the moment it would appear). Additionally, this bill would consolidate the number of Transportation Department programs used to disperse federal tax money to state programs (to under 6). This would be a positive thing as it would allow local agencies to give more specific attention to where the money is going exactly (which could wind up saving us tax money in the end). For some this is just another example of our big spending habits, which they believe will get us further and further into this mess we’ve created. To an extent, I agree.
That’s all for this week. Next week is sure to bring some excitement.
