Illinois for Pickens

Add a Comment

Comment by Chris Lewis on October 28, 2008 at 4:35am

Wanted to drop in and say hello to fellow Illinoisans. I like what Mr. Pickens is doing and glad to be a part of it. I am excited to do more on a local level here in Will County and for the state of Illinois. A bit off topic; I believe we can do more here in our state and am interested in retrofitting my home with “greener” alternatives. Much to my dismay I have found many alternatives to costly. “On demand” water heater systems start at around $800.00 to 1k for a reasonable system. Solar water heating starts closer to $2000.00 and solar energy systems for the home remain very un-affordable. Now my family does have new appliances that are energy star compliant, we do use the new light bulbs and are very active in recycling but we would like to do more in the way of alternative energy. I look forward to the day when the systems I mentioned would be more cost effective and reasonable in price. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I do not believe the state of Illinois offers tax incentives for any of the systems I mentioned and I look forward to the day where they might help hedge the costs of implementation.

C. Lewis

Comment by David P. Leonard on October 27, 2008 at 7:31pm

Just sent out a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (IL - D) requesting more of a positive response then just, "I support wind energy." I think that since Sen. Obama has already shown his support for Boone, we can put a little pressure on Sen. Durbin and see if we can get him to support Boone as well.

To think if we can get who might likely will be the next US President and the Senate Majority Whip on board with Boone... that'll be a huge... boon (pun intented) for the Plan.

Dave

Comment by Len Kreger on October 26, 2008 at 5:32pm

dscott 1981 comments are interesting. With the price of gas down the public concern will become less. The good news is that Oil Independence is now a major political policy issue. It has become an issue with both parties and the media.

Mr. Pickens did a nice job on 60 minutes this eveing presenting a positive object view of the need for Oil Indpendence and the Pickens Plan goals.
One interesting statement was the comment relative to mandated requirements. Many States, including have legislation requiring wind generated energy with time lines. The U. S goal is 20% wind by 2030.

I believe that without government actions we will never meet the goals. The goal being Oil Independance using all available technologies and domestic sources of energy.

Comment by Mike Anthony Fernald Sr. on October 23, 2008 at 11:26am

Comment by Mike Anthony Fernald Sr. on October 23, 2008 at 10:02am

An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
Concerning Reform of the Federal Tax Code
Dear Mr. President, Members of Congress, and Fellow Americans,
We, the undersigned business and university economists, welcome and applaud the ongoing
initiative to reform the federal tax code. We urge the President and the Congress to work
together in good faith to pass and sign into federal law H.R. 25 and S. 25, which together call
for:
• Eliminating all federal income taxes for individuals and corporations,
• Eliminating all federal payroll withholding taxes,
• Abolishing estate and capital gains taxes, and
• Repealing the 16th Amendment
We are not calling for elimination of federal taxation, which would be irresponsible and
undesirable. Nor does our endorsement call for reduced federal spending. The tax reform plan
we endorse is revenue neutral, collecting as much federal tax revenue as the current income tax
code, including payroll withholding taxes.
We are calling for elimination of federal income taxes and federal payroll withholding taxes.
We endorse replacing these costly, oppressively complex, and economically inefficient taxes
with a progressive national retail sales tax, such as the tax plan offered by H.R. 25 and S. 25 –
which is also known as the FairTax Plan. The FairTax Plan has been introduced in the 109th
Congress and had 54 co-sponsors in the 108th Congress.
If passed and signed into law, the FairTax Plan would:
• Enable workers and retirees to receive 100% of their paychecks and pension benefits,
• Replace all federal income and payroll taxes with a simple, progressive, visible,
efficiently collected national retail sales tax, which would be levied on the final sale of
newly produced goods and services,
• Rebate to all households each month the federal sales tax they pay on basic necessities,
up to an independently determined level of spending (a.k.a., the poverty level, as
determined by the Department of Health and Human Services), which removes the
burden of federal taxation on the poor and makes the FairTax Plan as progressive as the
current tax code,
• Collect the national sales tax at the retail cash register, just as 45 states already do,
• Set a federal sales tax rate that is revenue neutral, thereby raising the same amount of tax
revenue as now raised by federal income taxes plus payroll withholding taxes,
• Continue Social Security and Medicare benefits as provided by law; only the means of
tax collection changes,
• Eliminate all filing of individual federal tax returns,
• Eliminate the IRS and all audits of individual taxpayers; only audits of retailers would be
needed, greatly reducing the cost of enforcing the federal tax code,
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-2-
• Allow states the option of collecting the national retail sales tax, in return for a fee, along
with their state and local sales taxes,
• Collect federal sales tax from every retail consumer in the country, whether citizen or
undocumented alien, which will enlarge the federal tax base,
• Collect federal sales tax on all consumption spending on new final goods and services,
whether the dollars used to finance the spending are generated legally, illegally, or in the
huge “underground economy,”
• Dramatically reduce federal tax compliance costs paid by businesses, which are now
embedded and hidden in retail prices, placing U.S. businesses at a disadvantage in world
markets,
• Bring greater accountability and visibility to federal tax collection,
• Attract foreign equity investment to the United States, as well as encourage U.S. firms to
locate new capital projects in the United States that might otherwise go abroad, and
• Not tax spending for education, since H.R. 25 and S. 25 define expenditure on education
to be investment, not consumption, which will make education about half as expensive
for American families as it is now.
The current U.S. income tax code is widely regarded by just about everyone as unfair,
complex, wasteful, confusing, and costly. Businesses and other organizations spend more than
six billion hours each year complying with the federal tax code. Estimated compliance costs
conservatively top $225 billion annually – costs that are ultimately embedded in retail prices paid
by consumers.
The Internal Revenue Code cannot simply be “fixed,” which is amply demonstrated by more
than 35 years of attempted tax code reform, each round resulting in yet more complexity and
unrelenting, page-after-page, mind-numbing verbiage (now exceeding 54,000 pages containing
more than 2.8 million words).
Our nation’s current income tax alters business decisions in ways that limit growth in
productivity. The federal income tax also alters saving and investment decisions of households,
which dramatically reduces the economy’s potential for growth and job creation.
Payroll withholding taxes are regressive, hitting hardest those least able to pay. Simply
stated, the complexity and frequently changing rules of the federal income tax code make our
country less competitive in the global economy and rob the nation of its full potential for growth
and job creation.
In summary, the economic benefits of the FairTax Plan are compelling. The FairTax Plan
eliminates the tax bias against work, saving, and investment, which would lead to higher rates of
economic growth, faster growth in productivity, more jobs, lower interest rates, and a higher
standard of living for the American people.
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-3-
The America proposed by the FairTax Plan would feature:
• no federal income taxes,
• no payroll taxes,
• no self-employment taxes,
• no capital gains taxes,
• no gift or estate taxes,
• no alternative minimum taxes,
• no corporate taxes,
• no payroll withholding,
• no taxes on Social Security benefits or pension benefits,
• no personal tax forms,
• no personal or business income tax record keeping, and
• no personal income tax filing whatsoever.
No Internal Revenue Service; no April 15th; all gone, forever.
We believe that many Americans will favor the FairTax Plan proposed by H.R. 25 and S. 25,
although some may say, “it simply can’t be done.” Many said the same thing to the grassroots
progressives who won women the right to vote, to those who made collective bargaining a reality
for union members, and to the Freedom Riders who made civil rights a reality in America.
We urge Congress not to abandon the FairTax Plan simply because it will be difficult to face
the objections of entrenched special interest groups – groups who now benefit from the
complexity and tax preferences of the status quo. The comparative advantage and benefits
offered by the FairTax Plan to the vast majority of Americans is simply too high a cost to pay.
Therefore, we the undersigned professional and university economists, endorse a progressive
national retail sales tax plan, as provided by the FairTax Plan. We urge Congress to make H.R.
25 and S. 25 federal law, and then to work swiftly to repeal the 16th Amendment.
Respectfully,
Donald L. Alexander
Professor of Economics
Western Michigan University
Wayne Angell
Angell Economics
Jim Araji
Professor of Agricultural
Economics
University of Idaho
Ray Ball
Graduate School of Business
University of Chicago
Roger J. Beck
Professor Emeritus
Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale
John J. Bethune
Kennedy Chair of Free
Enterprise
Barton College
David M. Brasington
Louisiana State University
Jack A. Chambless
Professor of Economics
Valencia College
Christopher K. Coombs
Louisiana State University
William J. Corcoran, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska at
Omaha
Eleanor D. Craig
Economics Department
University of Delaware
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-4-
Susan Dadres, Ph.D.
Department of Economics
Southern Methodist University
Henry Demmert
Santa Clara University
Arthur De Vany
Professor Emeritus
Economics and Mathematical
Behavioral Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Pradeep Dubey
Leading Professor
Center for Game Theory
Dept. of Economics
SUNY at Stony Brook
Demissew Diro Ejara
William Paterson University of
New Jersey
Patricia J. Euzent
Department of Economics
University of Central Florida
John A. Flanders
Professor of Business and
Economics
Central Methodist University
Richard H. Fosberg, Ph.D.
William Paterson University
Gary L. French, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Nathan Associates Inc.
Professor James Frew
Economics Department
Willamette University
K. K. Fung
University of Memphis
Satya J. Gabriel, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and
Finance
Mount Holyoke College
Dave Garthoff
Summit College
The University of Akron
Ronald D. Gilbert
Associate Professor of
Economics
Texas Tech University
Philip E. Graves
Department of Economics
University of Colorado
Bettina Bien Greaves, Retired
Foundation for Economic
Education
John Greenhut, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Finance & Business Economics
School of Global Management
and Leadership
Arizona State University
Darrin V. Gulla
Dept. of Economics
University of Georgia
Jon Halvorson
Assistant Professor of
Economics
Indiana University of
Pennsylvania
Reza G. Hamzaee, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics &
Applied Decision Sciences
Department of Economics
Missouri Western State College
James M. Hvidding
Professor of Economics
Kutztown University
F. Jerry Ingram, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and
Finance
The University of Louisiana-
Monroe
Drew Johnson
Fellow
Davenport Institute for Public
Policy
Pepperdine University
Steven J. Jordan
Visiting Assistant Professor
Virginia Tech
Department of Economics
Richard E. Just
University of Maryland
Dr. Michael S. Kaylen
Associate Professor
University of Missouri
David L. Kendall
Professor of Economics and
Finance
University of Virginia's College
at Wise
Peter M. Kerr
Professor of Economics
Southeast Missouri State
University
Miles Spencer Kimball
Professor of Economics
University of Michigan
James V. Koch
Department of Economics
Old Dominion University
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Professor of Economics
Boston University
Edward J. López
Assistant Professor
University of North Texas
Franklin Lopez
Tulane University
Salvador Lopez
University of West Georgia
Yuri N. Maltsev, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Carthage College
Glenn MacDonald
John M. Olin Distinguished
Professor of Economics and
Strategy
Washington University in St.
Louis
Dr. John Merrifield,
Professor of Economics
University of Texas-San
Antonio
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-5-
Dr. Matt Metzgar
Mount Union College
Carlisle Moody
Department of Economics
College of William and Mary
Andrew P. Morriss
Galen J. Roush Professor of
Business Law & Regulation
Case Western Reserve
University School of Law
Timothy Perri
Department of Economics
Appalachian State University
Mark J. Perry
School of Management and
Department of Economics
University of Michigan-Flint
Timothy Peterson
Assistant Professor
Economics and Management
Department
Gustavus Adolphus College
Ben Pierce
Central Missouri State
University
Michael K. Pippenger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of
Economics
University of Alaska
Robert Piron
Professor of Economics
Oberlin College
Mattias Polborn
Department of Economics
University of Illinois
Joseph S. Pomykala, Ph.D.
Department of Economics
Towson University
Barry Popkin
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill
Steven W. Rick
Lecturer, University of
Wisconsin
Senior Economist, Credit Union
National Association
Paul H. Rubin
Samuel Candler Dobbs
Professor of Economics & Law
Department of Economics
Emory Univeristy
John Ruggiero
University of Dayton
Michael K. Salemi
Bowman and Gordon Gray
Professor of Economics
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Dr. Carole E. Scott
Richards College of Business
State University of West
Georgia
Carlos Seiglie
Dept. of Economics
Rutgers University
John Semmens
Economist
Phoenix College
Arizona
Alan C. Shapiro
Ivadelle and Theodore Johnson
Professor of Banking and
Finance
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern
California
Dr. Stephen Shmanske
Professor of Economics
California State University,
Hayward
James F. Smith
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill
Vernon L. Smith
Economist
W. James Smith
Dean of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and Professor of
Economics
University of Colorado at
Denver
John C. Soper
Boler School of Business
John Carroll University
Roger Spencer
Professor of Economics
Trinity University
Daniel A. Sumner, Director,
University of California
Agricultural Issues Center
and the Frank H. Buck, Jr.,
Chair Professor,
Department of Agricultural and
Resource Economics,
University of California, Davis
Curtis R. Taylor
Professor of Economics and
Business
Duke University
Robert Vigil
Analysis Group, Inc.
John H. Wicks, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Economics
University of Montana
F. Scott Wilson, Ph.D.
Canisius College
Mokhlis Y. Zaki
Professor of Economics
Emeritus
Northern Michigan Universit

Comment by Bruce Eric Montgomery on October 16, 2008 at 12:25pm

Report: 4.2 million new 'green' jobs possible

WASHINGTON — A major shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to produce 4.2 million new environmentally friendly "green" jobs over the next three decades, according to a study commissioned by the nation's mayors.

The study to be released Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says that about 750,000 people work today in what can be considered green jobs from scientists and engineers researching alternative fuels to makers of wind turbines and more energy-efficient products.

But that's less than one half of 1 percent of total employment. By 2038, another 4.2 million green jobs are expected to be added, accounting for 10 percent of new job growth over the next 30 years, according to the report by Global Insight, Inc.

"It could be the fastest growing segment of the United States economy over the next several decades and dramatically increase its share of total employment," said the report, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

However, the study cautioned such job growth won't be realized without an aggressive shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.

For example, it assumes by 2038 alternative energy will account for 40 percent of electricity production with half of that coming from wind and solar; widespread retrofitting of buildings to achieve a 35 percent reduction in electricity use; and 30 percent of motor fuels coming from ethanol or biodiesel.

Alternative energy such as wind, geothermal, biomass and solar, currently accounts for less than 3 percent of electricity generation and nonfossil sources such as ethanol and biodiesel about 5 percent of all motor fuels, the report notes.

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the conference's president, said the report makes "a very compelling economic argument for investing in the green economy and that we're going to get a huge return for it."

"These are things we have to do," said Diaz in a telephone interview, adding that "Washington needs to get on the train."

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has cited the jobs potential if the country embraces alternative energy and efficiency.

Democratic nominee Barack Obama predicts investments in a "clean energy economy" over the next 10 years "will help the private sector create 5 million new green jobs" — a more ambitious projection than outlined by the study provided the mayors.

The report, being presented at a mayor's conference in Miami, predicts the biggest job gain will be from the increased use of alternative transportation fuels, with 1.5 million additional jobs, followed by the renewable power generating sector with 1.2 million new jobs. Another 81,000 additional jobs will be generated by industries related to making homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient, the study said.

And it predicted an additional 1.4 million green jobs related to engineering, research, consulting and legal work.

"We're trying to show the size of the green jobs economy" assuming policy shifts toward less dependence on fossil fuels, said Jim Diffley of Global Insight.

Comment by Laurie Jenner on October 14, 2008 at 4:30pm

Wow - what a great program at Navy Pier this morning. I was proud to be there. I'm more excited than ever about the Picken Plan, and plan to spread the word. Especially, considering T.Boone does not want the money coming from taxpayers. He believes it will all be funded by private industry. I'm all for letting the free markets go for it! They just need a push.

Comment by Brad Joesten on October 13, 2008 at 10:23am

I wish my wife Tina and I could join you guys at Navy Pier, but Tina is ill and cannot make the trip. Our support is not wavering, just sniffling and coughing.

Go Team ILLINOIS!!

Big Props to Kim, Mike and Joe!

Comment by Sugar Daddy on October 10, 2008 at 9:09am

I'm going to be there. If anyone in our group would like to meet up just before the town hall kicks off, comment me back.

Comment by Bruce Eric Montgomery on October 8, 2008 at 1:24pm

Please share this news with your colleagues – hope to see you there!

T. Boone Pickens is bringing the Pickens Plan for Energy Independence to Chicago in a town hall meeting set for next Tuesday, October 14, from 10:30 a.m. – noon at Navy Pier (Grand Ballroom).

US Rep. Rahm Emanuel will address the town meeting to highlight Chicago 's strengths in leading the nation to energy independence. We also expect Mayor Richard M. Daley to attend and make brief remarks.

The Town Hall meeting will feature Mr. Pickens' presentation of his "Pickens Plan," which has attracted wide attention since he announced it earlier this year. He will then host a Q&A session with the audience.

In their remarks, Rep. Emanuel and Mayor Daley will showcase Chicago as ready, willing and able to lead the nation in creating new business and new job opportunities in alternative and renewable energy. To that end, the Chicago Manufacturing Center is organizing an industrial showcase featuring five companies that are developing new products in renewable/alternative energy, are suppliers to the renewable energy industry, and/or are implementing new technologies and processes that dramatically reduce energy consumption, cost, and emissions at their facilities.

In announcing his participation in the Town Hall, Rep. Emanuel stated, "Our energy crisis directly affects our national security, our economic security, and our environmental security. I think we need to look at our current energy situation the same way previous generations looked at the great challenges of their day. For centuries, Americans have been at the forefront in developing the technologies that move people. We connected our railroads from east to west, we put a man on the moon, and we built a state-of-the-art interstate highway system connecting New York to California and Chicago to St. Louis . Our commitment to progress and overcoming obstacles made us global leaders in technology. Now we are faced with an obstacle that has been looming since the oil shocks of the 1970's: our nation's addiction to foreign oil. We have an obligation - to our citizens and to our world - to rise to the challenges of the next frontier in energy."

The Chicago Manufacturing Center views the "New Energy Economy" as a tremendous growth opportunity for small and mid-sized manufacturers in our region. Sustainable manufacturing and renewable energy production are key elements of the Chicago Climate Action Plan announced recently by Mayor Daley.

We invite you to participate in the October 14 Town Meeting to learn more about these opportunities and to take part in the discussion. This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. You can confirm you attendance by e-mail to townhall@respublicagroup.com

Bruce Montgomery
Montgomery & Company
Technology | Innovation | Commerce
onepresence@yahoo.com

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last