Building America

China State Construction Nets $100m US Subway Deal

The company has signed more than $2 billion worth of contracts in the US this year – China Daily

Remember earlier this year when Obama promised us he would be the president who would put America back to work with jobs building bridges and roads and replacing crumbling infrastructure? We were told that there were ‘shovel ready’ projects just waiting for funding created by the stimulus bill. It’s been 9 months and the first major contract is going to a Chinese company.

According t0 China Daily:
China State Construction Engineering Corp, the largest contractor in China, has bagged a subway ventilation project worth about $100 million in New York’s Manhattan area, marking the construction giant’s third order in the United States’ infrastructure space this year.

Barack Obama's Brother

From Nairobi to Shenzhen
Mark Obama Ndesandjo is one of the President’s younger brothers. A very interesting man who looks, very much, like Barack. They both have white mothers who were married to Barack Obama Sr. and both have written semi-autobiographical novels which have their father as a pivotal character in their lives.

But that’s were the similarities end. Unlike Barack, Mark was born in Kenya and lived with both of his parents – until his mother divorced his father because he was emotionally and physically abusive.

Don't Expect China to Save Us

Is China Headed Toward Collapse?
By: Eamon Javers – Politico
November 10, 2009 05:19 AM EST

The conventional wisdom in Washington and in most of the rest of the world is that the roaring Chinese economy is going to pull the global economy out of recession and back into growth. It’s China’s turn, the theory goes, as American consumers — who propelled the last global boom with their borrowing and spending ways — have begun to tighten their belts and increase savings rates.

The Chinese, with their unbridled capitalistic expansion propelled by a system they still refer to as “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” are still thriving, though, with annual gross domestic product growth of 8.9 percent in the third quarter and a domestic consumer market just starting to flex its enormous muscles.

It’s the Economy Stupid

The Price of Pretense in Pittsburgh
Peter Schiff – September 25, 2009

As another G20 meeting rolls around, this time on home soil, the time comes once again for the economically curious but politically unconnected to wonder what is really happening behind closed doors. But while admiring the pageantry, chuckling at the awkward group photos, and parsing the joint communiqués like newly found Dead Sea scrolls, the overwhelming majority of observers will miss the meeting’s dominant theme: hypocrisy.

Everyone agrees that the principal agenda item in Pittsburgh will be the need to rein in the ‘global imbalances’ that created the latest economic crisis. Everyone also agrees that these imbalances involve too much spending and borrowing by Americans and too little of both by the Chinese and other developing nations. In his remarks this week at the United Nations, President Obama used his peerless rhetorical skill to frame the issues clearly and plainly. Noting that a return to pre-crisis economics is impossible, the president assured the world that his administration will pursue policies to increase savings and decrease spending at home and challenged his Chinese counterparts to enact measures with the opposite effect in their own country.

While this is roughly what needs to happen, President Obama is actually doing everything in his power to prevent it. In point of fact, every policy move undertaken by his administration has exacerbated the very imbalances he supposedly wants to curtail. To so seamlessly profess one goal while simultaneously undermining it is an impressive piece of political theater. Unfortunately, this particular drama is likely to have an unhappy ending – and the ticket price will be staggering.

Chinese Cars for US

China’s BYD E6 is a 5 seater. Top speed 100 mph. Lithium-ion, iron phosphate battery pack located under the rear passenger seat. Range per charge expected to be 186 miles. Projected battery life is 373,000 miles.

BYD Finalizing Plan to Sell Electric Car in U.S. Next Year
By Norihiko Shirouzu – Wall Street Journal
August 21, 2009

XIAN, China — BYD Co., the Chinese auto maker part-owned by Warren Buffett’s company, is finalizing plans for a new all-electric battery car model to sell in the U.S. next year, ahead of its original schedule, Chairman Wang Chuanfu said.

In an interview at a BYD factory in this western Chinese city, Mr. Wang said his company aims to use money from a planned new share sale in China to help fund the U.S. push. He said BYD, which also makes rechargeable batteries, wants to build up its brand name in the U.S. by entering the market with one of its most advanced models, the five-seat e6, before eventually expanding its product offerings.

He said the company plans to pick a specific region within the U.S. and market “a few hundred” e6s initially through a small number of dealers. The car would be priced at slightly more than $40,000

Bill’s Hollywood Blockbuster

MOVIE MOGUL, P.R. FIRM STAGED RETURN ‘SPECIAL’

WASHINGTON — Bill Clinton’s triumphant return from North Korea with two rescued US journalists had Hollywood written all over it — from the Burbank airport to the big-time producer who bankrolled the expedition to the celebrity public-relations firm that orchestrated the homecoming.

A key player in Clinton’s high-flying diplomatic mission to rescue Laura Ling and Euna Lee was entertainment mogul Steve Bing, a longtime “Friend of Bill” who lent the ex-president his private Boeing 737.

The multimillionaire mogul paid about $200,000 in fuel and other costs that came with the trans-Pacific flight.

Bing’s Shangri-La entertainment firm also funded a major logistical effort to carefully showcase Clinton’s arrival in Tinseltown — which featured Ling lauding the former president while almost in tears.