DO House Republicans harbor some sort of deep rage against moderately affluent families with lots of children?
Maybe not, but take a close look at the $56 billion package of tax cuts that House leaders hope to pass before Christmas, and you have to wonder.
If it were to become law, any family with two or more children and an income of $100,000 ought to run for the hills.
Sift out dozens of nickel-and-dime provisions, and the essence of the House bill comes down to one provision that it includes and one that it omits.
Run Your Car on Cow Fuel
A C$14 million factory near Montreal started producing “biodiesel” fuel two weeks ago from the bones, innards and other parts of farm animals such as cattle, pigs or chickens that Canadians do not eat.
“We’re using animal waste to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said marketing director Ron Wardrop of Rothsay, which runs the plant.
SUV Sales Down Sharply
Not a surprise… Sholnn Freeman on the sharp decline in SUV sales:
The sales spiral of the Ford Explorer demonstrates consumers’ shifting tastes. It was once one of the nation’s most popular vehicles, but Ford sold fewer than 12,000 last month, a 52 percent drop from November 2004.
At the height of the SUV boom in 2002, Ford routinely sold 25,000 to 40,000 Explorers a month.
Ford is looking to offset the weakness in trucks with more sales of passenger cars, including the Ford Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr.
Commentary on Changes at the LA Times
Pajamas Media has notes and links.
GM, Janesville and Where do We Go From here?
Tom Still offers commentary on why Janesville survived GM’s recent cutbacks. Unfortunately, as he notes in closing, the auto industry will continue to shed jobs. Peter DeLorenzo summarizes Detroit’s challenges here.
Falk vs. Lautenschalger Really All About Doyle vs. Green
Interesting and likely correct insight into why Kathleen Falk is running against Peg Lautenschlager (I’ve mentioned to Kathleen that I’d rather see her run against Herb Kohl!).
Feingold on Bush
I don’t often link or comment on national politics as there’s no shortage of such words online. Steve Inskeep talks with Senator Feingold on Bush’s recent speech. Defense and the National Interest has two useful articles on this subject:
- Forecasts for the American Expedition to Iraq, by Fabius Maximus
- It Ain’t Fair, by William S. Lind
Network Neutrality
There’s a consensus emerging among my friends Brough Turner, Bill St. Arnaud and Martin Geddes, that Network Neutrality by regulation is not practical. Each has their own reasons, but the conclusions converge inescapably with mine — given current industry structure, the incentives are all wrong. Vint Cerf’s fervent wish (hey, mine too, were it possible!) for a “lightweight, enforceable Network Neutrality rule” is a pipe dream. Any such rule I could think up would put today’s carriers in an untenable, self-competitive situation.
The Power of the Purse
Fara Warner is author of “the Power of the Purse.” She says companies have learned that there’s more to marketing to women than just adding pink.
Portland: Open Source Central?
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore. Consider the following:
- Companies like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel have developed their own open-source labs here.
- Linus Torvalds, author of Linux, the first mainstream open-source operating system, moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to work at the Open Source Development Lab in Portland.
- In mid-October the city hosted the first Government Open Source Conference, a gathering for state and municipal technology managers interested in using open-source software in the public sector.
- Most recently, Oregon Gov. Theodore Kulongoski announced a $350,000 contribution from Google to develop open-source software, hardware, and curricula at Oregon State University, which boasts an Open Source Lab, and Portland State University. Portland’s standing as a hub for open-source development is not lost on the governor, who is eager to bring even more jobs and investment to what he calls a “burgeoning open technology cluster.”