U.S. Federal Debt, Part I, The Problem

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Saturday November 27, 2010 · 8:45 PM PST

2010/11/27 · 20:45

Today, the Federal Government of the United State owes $13.7 trillion. In the last year alone we have borrowed $1.7 trillion (source: TreasuaryDirect) on an income of $2.1 trillion (source). Worse, we have been borrowing huge amounts of money, almost every year, since the early 1980s. No one, not even the U.S. government, can borrow this kind of cash (1) without eventually being unable to make the payments. Indeed, there is already speculation that our creditors are getting nervous about being repaid.

AlGlobus

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Sunday February 28, 2010 · 11:49 AM PST

2010/02/28 · 11:49

President Obama recently announced a new human space policy based on solving the key problem that bedevils every space project: the high cost of launch (thousands of dollars per pound and a 1-2% failure rate). Furthermore, Obama proposes solving this problem using the NACA (the predecessor to NASA) model used by NASA aeronautics today: support the development of private, commercial transportation. This model has been spectacularly successful for aeronautics. There is reason to believe it will work for launch as well. If it does, get ready for a wild and wonderful ride, the resources of space are vastly greater than those on Earth.

AlGlobus

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Saturday December 12, 2009 · 6:39 PM PST

2009/12/12 · 18:39

During the presidential campaign last year, Candidate Obama said he would focus attention and resources on the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al Qaeda. President Obama has certainly delivered on that. After months of deliberation and study, in a major speech last week he presented his plan:

AlGlobus

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Saturday October 31, 2009 · 11:07 AM PDT

2009/10/31 · 11:07

Before reading "The Healing of America" by T.R. Reid I had come to the reluctant conclusion that single-payer health care was the only way to go. Employer-based health care seemed absurd since if you really get sick, you can't work and lose your job -- and your health care.

Reid's book convinced me that employer-based health care can work, and can work very well. This is the case because it works very well in Germany, Switzerland, France and Japan. Everybody is covered, no one is denied treatment, it costs much less than in the U.S., the outcomes are very good, and people don't go bankrupt over medical bills. Read More

Profit and Medicine

AlGlobus

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Sunday August 30, 2009 · 9:28 PM PDT

2009/08/30 · 21:28

The profit motive has been, to a great degree, responsible for lifting billions of people out of poverty and into middle-class life. Yet America, with the most profit-driven health care system in the world, spends far more than any other country and outcomes, by standard measures such as longevity and infant mortality, are among the worst in the industrialized world. Why?

AlGlobus

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Sunday February 01, 2009 · 10:44 AM PST

2009/02/01 · 10:44

Stimulus

Almost all economists will tell you we need some sort of stimulus to have a chance of getting out of the amazing economic mess we find ourselves in. The biggest controversy on the stimulus is the Republican plan to use tax cuts, and only tax cuts, as opposed to the combination of spending and tax cuts that Obama proposes. Our economy was greatly shaped by the two big tax cuts of the early 2000s and there was a $160 billion tax cut last year to stimulate the economy. We are in this mess anyway. This suggests that pure tax cuts will not be effective. It seems time to change direction.

AlGlobus

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Saturday January 31, 2009 · 6:40 PM PST

2009/01/31 · 18:40

I'm beginning to believe that America, the whole country, has hit her debt limit. Consider:

The federal government owes $10.6 trillion. By contrast, the Russian government's debt is zero. That's right, zero.

The increase in federal debt over the last year was about $1.4 trillion.

Total mortgage debt is about $12 trillion.

Total credit card debt is around $1 trillion.

110 million Americans have bad credit -- that's almost half of the roughly 240 million adults in America.

Total American debt (household, business, financial and government) is $53 trillion.

AlGlobus

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Sunday January 11, 2009 · 3:25 PM PST

2009/01/11 · 15:25

Israel and Hamas are fighting in Gaza, again. Countless articles, editorials, and blog posts are discussing this fight, most focused on the tactical picture: what is happening today, who's to blame, who should be condemned, etc. I'd like to step back and look at the strategic picture.

AlGlobus

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Saturday December 06, 2008 · 1:35 PM PST

2008/12/06 · 13:35

Here's what you can do, right now, to help win the war with al Qaeda. Contribute whatever you can to the Central Asia Institute (www.ikat.org). This is an extraordinarily effective organization that builds schools, mostly for girls, in the remote mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Here's why this is critical to the war on al Qaeda and their allies, the Taliban:

AlGlobus

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Friday November 28, 2008 · 12:16 PM PST

2008/11/28 · 12:16

I'm sending this to all the Indians who've been kind enough to give me their email address over the years. You might find it valuable.

AlGlobus

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Sunday November 02, 2008 · 10:14 AM PST

2008/11/02 · 10:14

I believe Barack Obama should be our next president because:

He is brilliant. He got into the best schools on merit alone. When you listen to him it is obvious that this guy has got a lot of excellent grey stuff between his ears. The Presidency is perhaps the most intellectually demanding job on the planet; we should never accept a mediocre intellect in that office.

He is extremely knowledgeable. In his books, in 20+ debates and countless interviews he has shown a command of the facts. Without knowing the facts it is all but impossible to navigate the dangerous waters ahead.

AlGlobus

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Wednesday October 22, 2008 · 9:13 PM PDT

2008/10/22 · 21:13

Directly comparing McCain and Obama is difficult. They are much different men, with much different experience, and have different strengths and weaknesses. But there is one executive arena where a direct comparison can be made: both are running presidential campaigns.

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U.S. Federal Debt, Part I, The Problem

Obama's Brilliant Space Policy

Afghanistan

Changing My Mind on Health Care

Profit and Medicine

The Stimulus Package and the Crash

It's the Debt, Stupid

Israel and Gaza

Help Win the War on al Qaeda

A Letter to my Indian Friends

Why Barack Obama Should be President

Comparing McCain and Obama