To really understand who is behind President Obamas agenda you need to take a close look at the Apollo Alliance. The Apollo Alliance was behind the American Recovery and Reinvestment act (see below). They also are involved in crafting Cap and Trade, Health Care Reform, the entire Green Agenda and much more. In the Reports section they seek to "... help the progressive community unite uncommon allies behind an agenda for energy independence, good jobs, and national security." Haven't the Progressives done enough???
To better understand their goals, you also need to look at their Endorsers, and their Financial Backers. You will notice the large amount of Union Backers as well as ACORN and the SEIU.
Amongst their Goals
1) Provide direct federal funding for clean energy manufacturers to retool their facilities and retrain their workers to develop, produce, and commercialize clean energy technologies.
2) Attach standards to funding: condition federal support to manufacturers on their ability to meet labor and domestic content standards.
3) Increase funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, both to expand its role in strengthening the clean energy supply chain and to establish partnerships with regional/local development and manufacturing support organizations.
4) Increase funding for the Green Jobs Act and direct funds administered under the law toward workforce and skill standards development for the clean energy manufacturing industries.
5) Create a Presidential Task Force on Clean Energy Manufacturing to bring together a range of federal agencies to make the manufacturing of clean energy
Just a few minutes on their website is enough to scare anybody, once you realize how much power this group has. It is time to take back our country.
In 2009, the Apollo Alliance marked these achievements:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
In February 2009 Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed the breakthrough clean energy and green-collar jobs provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $787 billion stimulus legislation that President Obama signed in a Denver museum partially powered by a rooftop solar array contains $86 billion in clean energy and green-collar job programs, plus $27.5 billion in road and highway construction funds, much of which state transportation departments will use to repair infrastructure and not on building new highways. As Apollo noted since the package was introduced on January 15, the provisions that formed a big part of the foundation of the stimulus was funding to build new transit and high speed rail lines, weatherize homes, develop next generation batteries for clean vehicles, scale up wind and solar power, build a modern electric grid, and train a new generation of green-collar workers. In every way, the clean energy provisions of the stimulus bill are a surpassing achievement. The magnitude of the investment and the bill’s comprehensive sweep reflect the unleashing of a pent-up demand for a new way to power and employ America — $17.7 billion for rail development, $34 billion for energy efficiency, $7.9 billion for renewable energy, $10.9 billion for a smart electric grid, $3.3 billion for next generation batteries and alternative fuel vehicles, $4.5 billion for energy research. The clean energy focus of the stimulus was inspired by the Apollo Alliance’s vision, and the specific content of many of the bill’s provisions was influenced by policy proposals that the Apollo Alliance made last year in The New Apollo Program and the Apollo Economic Recovery Act. “The recovery bill represents the focused work of labor, business, environmental and social justice organizations who developed a clear strategy about where the nation needed to go, and worked together to achieve it,” said Phil Angelides, former California treasurer and chairman of the Apollo Alliance. As Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, noted in a statement. “We’ve talked about moving forward on these ideas for decades. The Apollo Alliance has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”
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I would like to hear the answer to this part.
"This election was orchestrated by someone or group larger than the Democrat party ~ We the People still have power at the ballot boxes"
Are you implying that these results are somehow FALSE ?
Look up each precinct!
Only to the extent Obama cleverly allowed us to each 'project' upon him what we thought he would be while deftly disguising his true Statist tendencies until after the election.
Were he to have campaigned on the deficits he has undertaken, the earmarks/misguided spending priorities and business takeovers he has supervised, or the radical nature of those around whom he would surround himself, he would not have been elected.
I see 'the BIGGER picture' in all that is proposed.
Apparently when you see: "$17.7 billion for rail development, $34 billion for energy efficiency, $7.9 billion for renewable energy, $10.9 billion for a smart electric grid, $3.3 billion for next generation batteries and alternative fuel vehicles, $4.5 billion for energy research." you simply see numbers while I see the advancement of our society.
The race in to space yielded many advancements for our society. The Internet was begun as a government project.
This new technology of alternative energy needs a jump start Nation-wide in order for the cost to the average consumer to be within reach and become a standard of which our society strives to achieve.
Can you not understand that a more healthy population would further reduce the cost to society? Even just in a decrease in lost production throughout industry due to illness.
"[W]e are entering an era during which our very survival will demand invention and innovation on a scale never before seen in the history of human civilization. Only the business community has the requisite skills, experience, and capital to meet that need. On that score, neither government nor the nonprofit and voluntary sectors can compete, not even remotely.
So in the end, our success and survival as a species are largely and directly tied to the new eco-entrepreneurs — and the success and survival of their enterprises. Since almost all of the needed eco-technologies are likely to come from the private sector, civic leaders and voters should do all that can be done to help green business leaders succeed. That means, in large part, electing leaders who will pass bills to aid them. We cannot realistically proceed without a strong alliance between the best of the business world —and everyone else."
Of course, Beck never mentioned Jones transformation to being a capitalist. Beck also didn't mention all the BUSINESSES that back the Apollo Alliance. All he focused on were the evil evil Unions and the evil evil Social Justice Organizations. It's more Fox misinformation for the right wing masses. Tell the whole truth or at least keep your misinformation to yourself you wily Fox.
Wish the President would quit trusting the wrong people. Guess Bush had that problem too. Trusting information others gave him. hmmm
Check this out. And this.
What do we pay these guys for... all they do is outsource their own jobs...
Blackwater USA
Halliburton KBR
I've asked myself the same question in recent years ;>}
Because, unfortunately, you are.
So, with that in mind, I take it as a compliment for YOU to call me a moron. Have a nice day!
This is why people should be judged by the company they keep. 2012 can't come fast enough.
Business, because they won't be able to afford all the regulations, wil have to send the rest of our manufacturing overseas to 3rd world countries that don't give a flip about the environment.
How smart is that?
Walmart also provides jobs to people who would have a very difficult time finding a job somewhere else.
What school of economics did you attend? You need to get refunded your tuition money.
You're right about Canada. Here's the top ten list of countries we get oil from:
1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Venezuela
5. Nigeria
6. Angola
7. Iraq
8. Algeria
9. United Kingdom
10. Brazil
Well, some of them are stable countries in stable regions. You like getting oil from the mid-east? I don't. Then there's Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. There's a good reliable source. Mexico, Nigeria, Angola and the very stable Iraq that only requires tens of thousands of American soldiers to keep it from falling to pieces. The answer to these mostly unreliable sources of energy is to produce our own energy. Renewable Clean energy is the answer to many problems. But the Right has their heads stuck in the rear-view mirror and is afraid to look out the windshield.
You forgot the BUSINESSES that are part of the Alliance. Following is the full list of Endorsers so people won't get sucked in by the 'no businesses' lie. Warning the first few categories will make people on the right faint of heart. BUT if you go to the BOLD print you will see a list of BUSINESSES that endorse the Apollo Alliance. THE LIST OF BUSINESSES IS LONGER THAN ANY OTHER CATEGORY OF ENDORSERS.
Endorsers
The Apollo Alliance has been endorsed by the following labor unions:
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council (IUC)
AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Dept
National Heavy and Highway Alliance
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Intl. Union (BCTGM)
Boilermakers Union (IBB)
California Labor Federation
Graphic Communications Industrial Union (GCIU)
Hawaii AFL-CIO
Illinois AFL-CIO
Indiana AFL-CIO
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE-CWA)
King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
Metropolitan Detroit, AFL-CIO
Michigan AFL-CIO
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Oregon AFL-CIO
Paper and Allied Chemical Employees (PACE)
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA)
Transportation Workers Union (TWU)
United Automobile and Aerospace Workers (UAW)
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
UNITE HERE!
United Steel Workers of America (USWA)
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Wisconsin AFL-CIO
Back to the Top
We have been endorsed by the following environmental organizations:
American Solar Energy Society
Center for Environmental Health
Ceres
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions
The Detroit Project
EarthVoice
Environment 2004
Environmental Law and Policy Center
Energy Action
Global Green USA
Greenpeace USA
Healthy Schools Network
League of Conservation Voters
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
National Parks Conservation Association
National Wildlife Federation
Rainforest Action Network
Republicans for Environmental Protection
The Sierra Club
The Sierra Student Coalition
South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Back to the Top
Economic, Social Justice, Faith-Based, and State & Local Partners:
ACORN
Action for Grassroots Economic and Neighborhood Development
Alternatives (AGENDA)
Black Farmers USA
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU)
California Council of Churches/California Church IMPACT
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Jim Hightower and The Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (COUP)
Green For All
Plug in Partners
South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
Urban Agenda
Back to the Top
Business Partners Supportive of Apollo:
Trade Associations
25 x 25
American Wind Energy Association
Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities
Environmental Business Association of New York
North Carolina Solar Center
American Solar Energy Society
Renewable Energy Long Island
The American Council On Renewable Energy
Financial & Legal Services
Arete Capital
Bruce Oreck, Esq.
Chaucery Financial Advisors
Ecosa Capital
Expansion Capital Partners
Enright Premier Wealth Advisors, Inc.
Sigma Capital Group, Inc.
First Affirmative Financial Network
Green Money Journal
Paladin Private Equity Partners
Renewal Associates, LLC
Progressive Asset Management
Vantage Point Venture Partners
Sustainable Jobs Fund Ventures
White & Lee, LLP
Synergistic Dynamics, Inc
Renewable Energy Technology/Products/Services
Austin Energy
Clean Edge
Clean Energy Group
Community Energy, Inc.
Conergy, INC
Solectria Renewables
OurEnergy
East Haven Wind Farm
NRG Systems
EcoLogical Solutions
Energy Innovations/Idea Labs
Bonneville Environmental Foundation
Environmental Energy Solutions
McKenzie Bay International
NativeWind
Northern Power Systems
PV Powered
Sunlink, LLC
Cape Wind Associates
Hawaii PV Coalition
Pacific Ethanol
Olympia Green Fuels
Clean Air Now
Sharp Solar
HyGen Industries
US Renewables Group
Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics
Native Energy, LLC
Daystar Technologies
PPM Energy
3 Phases Energy Services
Pro Vision Technologies, Inc.
Blue Sun Biodiesel
California Cars Initiative
Community Fuels
Cooperative Community Energy Corp
Renewable Energy Access
Environ Corporation
Shepherd Advisors
Sterling Planet Inc.
United Bio Lube, Inc.
Global Resource Options, Inc
Wilson Turbo Power, Inc
Energy Efficiency
Conservation Services Group
Engage Networks Inc.
Lightly Treading, Energy & Design
Kinsley Power Systems
McKinstry
Johnson Controls
Virent Energy Systems
Burlington Electric Department
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Washington Electric Cooperative
Consumer Products
Aspen Skiing Company
The Saunders Hotel Group and Environmental Consulting
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Ben & Jerry’s
Working Assets
Seventh Generation
Pacific Bioscience Labs
Strider Corporation
Bay Towel
Green Buildings/Infrastructure/Economic Dev.
High Performance Building Technology Team
Blue Wave Strategies
Ervin + Company
All American Home Center
William Maclay Architects & Planners
William McDonough Partners
Schultz Development Group, LLC
CTO, NatureWorks (formerly Cargill-Dow)
Duce Construction Corporation
Quantec LLC
NYC Transit
Center for Smart Energy
Mazria Architects
Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center
Business Leaders
Mitch Kapor, Founder of Louts
Robert Preston, Merrill Lynch
Paul Adams, CEPTYR, Inc
Col, One worlders yes, NeoCon No. Global Government is not a conservative principal.
Is that true? Please show me your evidence. As I've shown there are more businesses allied with Apollo than any other category of organization. I'm open to learning how you come to your conclusion. By the way, on the whole unions are good (that ought to get you going).
Electing Obama was just another American no choice election. Obama made so many campaign promises and then broke them all and it is what is costing him his creditability and that could have a very detrimental effect on our nation because if we allow the GOP to get back in the white house we are finished.
Another problem, the right has been lying about Obama by calling him a socialist and a liberal. He is neither. He's a left leaning moderate Democrat with a liberal past.
Yes, that improving economy is terrible.
The U.S. and global economy “appear to be leveling out,” Bernanke told an audience of some of the world’s leading economists and central bankers, and “prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good.”
The idea that the economy is starting to improve was bolstered Friday by a report that sales of existing homes soared 7.2 percent in July to the highest level in two years. Bernanke’s comments and the housing news sent Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index up 1.9 percent to a new high this year.
Despite his upbeat tone, Bernanke cautioned that the recovery is likely to be “relatively slow at first.”
Unemployment, now at 9.4 percent, is widely expected to hit double digits later this year and to remain high for many months.
The financial markets have stabilized, and some businesses and consumers have found it easier to get loans. Still, the banking system has yet to return to normal, Bernanke said.
Financial institutions face further losses on soured investments. And many businesses and households still can’t get the credit they need to fuel the economy, he said.
“Although we have avoided the worst, difficult challenges still lie ahead,” Bernanke told the gathering of fellow bankers, academics and economists. “We must work together to build on the gains already made to secure a sustained economic recovery.”
"With the unrelenting day in, day out barrage of negative economic forecasts, it’s easy for signs of possible recovery to go unnoticed. However, several such signs may actually be lurking right under our noses. While there aren’t many signs of sharp, dramatic improvement, things appear to be improving at the margins of the American and world economies. And as the old saying goes, “you have to crawl before you can walk.” We thought it would be helpful (and hopefully inspiring) to assemble these possible recovery indicators in one place, and here are (some) of the most compelling.
Rising commodity prices
In March 2009, Bloomberg noted that commodity prices (such as oil and agricultural products) were bottoming out and that a recovery was therefore due. Their article on the subject focused specifically on the implications for China, but applies more broadly to the world commodity market as well:
“We have seen most of the aggressive contraction in these markets,” said Hyde. “We are starting to form a bottom and are in the late stages of a recession.”
Bloomberg goes on to predict a rise in commodity prices later in 2009, which has, in many ways, come to fruition. The UK’s Guardian writes on August 13 that, “…if you believe the price action in the commodity markets, the global recession is history. Oil is north of $70 a barrel, copper has doubled in value since April and nickel is at levels last seen when the world’s banks were facing meltdown last autumn.” CNN Money also found that white sugar was trading at record levels on August 3, with gold likewise trading at, “close to record levels.”
Rising consumer incomes
While the millions of recession-induced layoffs are impossible to ignore, many are unaware that individual incomes (for those still employed) are rising and have been rising for quiet some time. As CNBC reports in its article “Recovery Indicators are Being Ignored”:
“Consumer incomes, after tax and adjusted for inflation, have increased for five straight months, which is largely from the tax-cut effect of plunging energy prices.”
This fact is often obscured by economic doom sayers who point to declining household income statistics, ignoring that households are not people, but statistical categories. The fact is that real, flesh-and-blood individual incomes are rising (despite the undeniable wave of layoffs.) Since consumer spending will be key to any sustained recovery, rising incomes could help set the table for such an event.
Increased home affordability
Frightening as double-digit unemployment rates are, this is not the only indicator of economic health or vitality. We also need to determine the ease with which various transactions can be made by the individuals who make up the economy. One good measure of this is home affordability - that is, how many first-time home buyers can, in fact, buy their first home. In many areas of the country, home affordability is actually rising, due in large part to the housing bust. In his book The Housing Boom & Bust, economist Thomas Sowell writes that California was hit by the bust harder than perhaps any other state. However, SignOnSanDiego.com noted on August 14 that, “…San Diego County’s declining home prices have boosted first-time buyer affordability to 59 percent, more than twice what it was two years ago.” The Wall Street Journal also declares that, “…home sales are up in southern California”, citing a 19% increase from a year prior.
Rising (though modest) manufacturing growth
Another encouraging sign of a possible recovery was the manufacturing growth that Bloomberg reported on August 17. Focusing on growth specifically in the New York region, Bloomberg quoted economist Tom Porcelli as claiming:
“Inventories were drawn down to such amazingly low levels that companies need to start bringing them back. We are coming out of the recession. It’s probably over at this point.”
This news arrives just six months after New York’s manufacturing index dropped to a record low, triggered by the reduced production levels that Porcelli alluded to above. Perhaps the manufacturing pulse in New York indicates a broader (though still modest) trend for the rest of the nation.
Renewed foreign interest in US bonds
One of the most feared consequences of the recession (at least from the United States’ perspective) is that foreign countries would cease buying our bonds, or even engage in a massive selling off of their held bonds. However, at least for now, this fear looks to be unnecessary. The Wall Street Journal notes:
“Overall, foreign investors bought $90.7 billion more in long-term U.S. securities than they sold in June. In May, foreign investors sold $19.4 billion more securities than they bought. China reduced its Treasury holdings from $801.5 billion in May to $776.4 billion in June. But other countries, including Japan and the U.K., slightly boosted their holdings.”
Since much of the United States’ financial muscle derives from its debt instruments, foreign nations continuing to buy these instruments constitute a legitimate reason to feel positive about the economy. China’s reduced holdings are, of course, still a concern.
Confidence index highest since June 2008
Consumer confidence is a valuable indicator of economic health, and at least one index is reporting favorable progress, according to Bloomberg:
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index climbed to 18, matching the median forecast by economists and reaching the highest level since June 2008, the Washington-based group said.”
This index measures, “…present sales, six month sales expectations and traffic of prospective buyers” in an attempt to determine economic health via home building statistics. The AP concurs that single-family home building has been rising for five straight months. When taken in combination with the increased home affordability discussed earlier, these two indicators paint a happier picture of the future than we had once expected.
Inflation bottoming out
A common economic fear (especially following the burst of a bubble) is runaway inflation that will eat away at the savings and wages of working Americans. While we may not be entirely out of the woods yet, TIME Magazine reports that July’s inflation report clocked it at negative 2.8%, which, “…will stand as the low point for inflation in this economic cycle.” TIME also opines that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has, “…does appear to have succeeded” in preventing the type of wildly fluctuating inflation/deflation cycles that ravaged the Great Depression from materializing today.
A recent consumer spending high
Skeptics of the idea that the economy is recovering correctly point out that true economic recovery includes rising consumer spending. While an enduring trend remains to be seen, a recent Gallup poll reports that the week ending on August 16 saw the highest consumer spending of the year, perhaps spurred by back-to-school sales. Gallup states that, “…self-reported average daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online increased $13 per day, representing a 20% week-over-week increase and the highest level since the Christmas holidays”, during that week, noting also that consumer confidence was at a yearly high on the basis of 40% of respondents saying the economy is “getting better.”
Forbes concurred in their article “The Consumer Recovery”, stating that consumers, “…ratcheted up their spending by 0.4%” in June following a “micro-bump of 0.1%” in May. Forbes attributes this largely to more consumers feeling as though they have survived the worst of the recession and therefore coming out of their shells somewhat with regard to spending.
Growth in the European economy
The recession is a global one, and in many ways, America has not even been hit the hardest of all. It is for this reason that Europe’s recent second quarter economic surge constitutes hope for us all. According to the New York Times:
“The sharp improvement from the first quarter underscored just how far Europe and indeed the global economy had come since a harrowing free fall in late 2008.”
Leading the way were the economies of France and Germany, estimated to have grown 0.3% in the second quarter, while the Times also noted that, “…some leading forecasters expect growth of up to 9 percent in China this year and more than 10 percent next year.” This comes on the heels of the EU’s first quarter contraction of 2.5% as compared to the final three months of 2008. As a major trading partner of the U.S. and the world, Europe’s prosperity is welcomed by virtually all developed economies.
http://www.billshrink.com/blog/economic-recovery/
Perhaps taking a cue from conservatives in Congress and their elaborate health-care flip charts, Beck did a segment on the Apollo Alliance this Tuesday, during which he mapped out on a dry-erase board Apollo’s organizational structure, which he referred to as “the vast left-wing conspiracy.”
Frankly, we genuinely appreciated the attention Beck gave us on national television. He even credited us for helping design the economic stimulus package! (Many of the proposals from the Apollo Economic Recovery Act we released in December 2008 were incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted in February, including a two-year “down-payment” of more than $100 million for green-collar job creation.)
But our influence on the economic stimulus package was one of the only things that Beck and his guest, Phil Kerpen of Americans For Prosperity, got right. And that’s too bad for Fox News Channel viewers, because we think if Beck had given his viewers an accurate portrait of Apollo and what we stand for, many of them would agree with our message. To set the record straight, here are some of Beck’s false claims, followed by the truth:
* Beck’s guest Phil Kerpen described the Apollo Alliance as an organization “designed to bring together elements of organized labor with the community organizers with the green groups, the environmental groups.” First of all, we’re proud to claim social justice leaders, environmental groups and labor unions as part of the Apollo coalition. But what happened to the fourth Apollo constituent group—business? If Beck had acknowledged that businesses across America support the Apollo Alliance and our “radical” agenda of putting millions of Americans back to work in good jobs, it might have undermined his claim that we’re agents of some vast left-wing conspiracy. PG&E, Google and other businesses are represented on our board of directors, along with dozens more that are on the steering committees of our state and local Apollo chapters. Oops, maybe the business groups were accidentally wiped off of the dry-erase board.
* Beck and Kerpen didn’t say much about what the Apollo Alliance actually stands for, except that we admire the Apollo space mission (true!) and that we want a “centrally planned, organized massive mobilization to reorder society and take control of energy and [our] various other objectives.” Um, not really. But then again, why would Beck accurately depict Apollo’s mission and programs? If he did, he’d likely discover that many of his viewers agree with us. Many conservatives believe we need to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil (if only for national security reasons) and understand that we can do so by switching from a carbon-based economy to one that runs on clean energy. And do conservatives really want to take the position that we shouldn’t support U.S. businesses, including manufacturers, in their efforts to break into the clean energy economy and create well-paying domestic jobs that can lift the country out of recession? The Apollo Alliance stands for clean energy and good jobs, simple as that. Don’t you think Glenn Beck should set the record straight on an upcoming show about what the Apollo Alliance really stands for?
http://apolloalliance.org/apollo-productions/weekly-updates/what-does-the-fox-news-channel-have-against-green-jobs/
For someone who claims to have all the facts, I'm disappointed that you didn't know this.
True definition of these people, Communists! Don't let this guy sway you. They change their names to fit what they believe people will buy.
Please Nora, show me one of my comments in which I say I know all the facts. Of course you can't. You're a liar. How predictable yet disappointing.
Yeah, he's an independent like I'm the pope. Beck is a showman, just like Limbaugh. They don't give a damn what they say as long as they get their money. God! The right is dumb.
The United States has begun to prioritize clean-energy investments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and emerging climate legislation, but in general lags far behind. We import 70 percent of all our clean-energy components from other countries and remain reliant on imported and dirty fossil fuels to power our economy. Our lack of comprehensive clean-energy policies places us at an economic and competitive disadvantage in the global market; perhaps more important, it makes us dependent on other countries to supply our basic energy needs.
http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/energy_hub/briefs/dependence_brief.html
So, why can't the U S of A citizens learn from others mistakes. Sheeessh
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Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Germany’s cash-for-clunkers program helped boost consumer spending in Europe’s largest economy in the first six months.
Consumer spending rose 0.1 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, propelled by a 23 percent increase in purchases on cars, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said on its Web site today. Private consumption would have decreased by 1 percent without the additional spending on vehicles, according to the report.
Government expenditure lifted Germany out of its worst recession since World War II, a breakdown of second-quarter gross domestic product published on Aug. 25 showed. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces national elections next month, has approved subsidies of about 85 billion euros ($121 billion) to rekindle growth, including a 2,500-euro payment to people who scrap their old car and buy a new one and cash for companies to hold on to workers when orders are slack."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aWEEJA0KESAI#
Our clean-energy investments are insufficient to maintain any level of competitiveness in the international economy. As venture capitalist John Doerr recently pointed out in his testimony before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, “If you list today’s top 30 companies in solar, wind and advanced batteries, American companies hold only six spots. That fact should worry us all.”
* China is a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells, second only to Japan, and it is set to be the world’s leading manufacturer of wind turbines by the end of 2009.
* The United States had less absolute renewable power capacity than either China or the 25 member nations of the European Union as of 2006.
* The United States was investing far less in renewable energy annually in 2007 than Germany, which has only one-third the population of the United States and an economy that is less than one-fourth our size.
* The European Union committed to having 20 percent of its final energy coming from renewable sources by 2020 and China is working to have 16 percent of its primary energy come from renewable sources by 2020. Sixty-six other countries worldwide have indeed committed to nationwide standards, but our federal government has yet to set any.
* Cars in China that get about 36 miles per gallon will be required to get 42.2 miles a gallon in 2015—an 18 percent increase over the next six years. European emissions agreements pushed mileage in Europe to about 40 mpg by 2006 and are on track to meet their target of 47 mpg by 2012. America, meanwhile, is aiming for only 35.5 mpg by 2016.
Fossil fuel dependence threatens our economic security
* The volatility of the oil market during the last 30 years has cost the U.S. economy approximately $8 trillion.
* The United States currently imports approximately 70 percent of its oil. In doing so, we export tremendous domestic wealth—the United States spent $475 billion on foreign oil in 2008 alone.
* The U.S. trade deficit widened for a second straight month in April 2009 to $29 billion from $27.6 billion in March 2009. This increase was primarily driven by rising energy costs and a rebound in the value of petroleum.
Fossil fuel dependence also threatens our national security
* Because nearly 40 percent of our oil imports come from potentially hostile or unstable regimes, and 92 percent of conventional oil reserves are in these nations, U.S. dependence on oil weakens our international leverage and undermines our foreign policy objectives.
* Inefficient use and overreliance on oil burdens the military, undermines combat effectiveness, and exacts a huge price tag—in dollars and lives.
* Our energy grid’s inefficiencies and inadequacies pose a threat to our domestic military installations and their critical infrastructure, which are unnecessarily vulnerable to deliberate or accidental incident.
http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/energy_hub/briefs/dependence_brief.html
"we want a “centrally planned, organized massive mobilization to reorder society and take control of energy and [our] various other objectives.”
That is OLIGARCHY
I disagree that "centrally planned, organized massive mobilization to reorder society and take control of energy and [our] various other objectives” would lead to Oligarchy. It could, if done the wrong way be a step toward socialism or communism. But it doesn't have to be that way. The Apollo Alliance has also dedicated itself to reach its goals through encouraging private industry. This doesn't sound like Socialism, Communism or Oligarchy to me.
I see both dots, obama and the apollo alliance, but I don't see the line connecting the brain trust at apollo, directly to obama's brain.
I see the accusation, I simply don't see the proof.
wild eyed reactionaries do nothing good for anyone....
But he definitely helped in the fight against tyranny.
Barbara, I'm well aware of the commie pinkos in obamas "czar" group--- and would seek legislation that would end the practice of having "czars" at all. However, just because some commies are in the admin, doesn't mean apollo is in charge, and not obama.
we still have a checks and balances in this country and no matter what their personal views, before they could foist them onto us, they would have to get passed...... and that's not likely.....
I also believe we should do everything we can do, in the fight against commie pink0 crapola spreading anywhere, including the internet.
I'm sure that had you lived in 1776, you would have seen this country's founders as a bunch of radicals out to destroy the colonies' close and amicable relationship with the Crown.
It seems to me the right is always trying to 'cleanse' this country of people they disagree with. How utterly undemocratic.
Mark Lloyd is another concern.
One should wonder why Obama is selecting these radical activists for his team of Czars.
In case it was missed above, try this and this.
I'm not so confident that he is no longer a communist. You got a problem with that?
What makes you think he's still a communist? You know Raygun was a democrat before he was a republican and he became the Right's god. Just think of it. Raygun in the same party as that evil socialist Obama. How do you know Raygun wasn't a socialist. After all, he raised taxes more than any other president. Yet the right adores him. Do you adore him? A socialist that raised taxes and created more debt than any president before him?
BOO!
Sorry, just like to see you jump.
I will do everything in the world to sqaush that group!