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I would start by investigating what went wrong and why goverment spends so much of our money and then i would buy education for all the people who could not afford it so we could have smarter people in Washington

Second attempt to submit these comments.

A fraction of $8,000,000,000,000. could put the unemployed, as well as those in dysfunctional industries like the military and nuclear power, to work building a total green economy.
For example, a 1 KW solar PV power system now costs about $10,000. installed. $1 trillion could install such a system on 100 million homes, ignoring economies of scale.

$1 trillion could install1 million 1 megawatt wind turbines at current prices.

All that excess electricity could power an electric vehicle fleet. The Tesla, a luxury electric car with a range of about 150 miles, costs about $100,000. $1 trillion could put 10 million of those on the road,, or a much cheaper electric car like the EV-1. (GM built, leased, then crushed 5000 EV-1's in the late 1990's - see the film "Who Killed the Electric Car").
This leaves trillions for even more cost effective measures like training an army of workers to weatherize and retrofit for pasive solar,every building in the country, mass transit systems,& universal single payer healthcare.
Since all of these measures would pay for themselves many times over, we would still have trillions left.

After we provide decent drinking water, a basic diet, literacy and healthcare for the poor of the Earth, we could build gold plated prison cells for the greedy CEO's, politicians, lobbyists and corporate media execs who prevent things like this happening.

E.H.

Retire.
Born in 1950,
Working for the city since 1981
and I would finally be able to retire.
Attend NYU and graduate,
paying cash for tution.

Donate a million dollars to each of the
following organizations.

Democracy Now!
B'Tselem
Madre
Innocence Project
Human Rights Watch
ACLU

[[I wish you'd read the notes of explanation - both comment numbers number 32 and 35. Once again, the comments system was acting very screwy today. Juan, your original comment was not removed by a moderator. I'll say that again- it was not removed by a moderator. Many comments did not go live on the site this morning, due to some unforeseen technical error. I'm afraid that they may have been lost, but luckily you've posted several times since, Juan, and you comment is out there for all to read.

So, to be clear. Your comment is not and was never one of the ones that was moderated; it was, as were several others, simply a victim of a technical glitch. We've solved the glitch, but have not been able to recover the comments. Apologies.

If you would have provided a real email address when posting comments, you would have received an email from me at 10:20 this morning explaining the situation, and perhaps you wouldn't be so worked up. But you didn't provide a real email address, and my note bounced back.

-BL Show-]]

Given this enormous sum we have to not only look at long-term expenditures, but also globally. So, here is my breakdown in trillion dollars:

$4 trillion: Implementing and evaluating the UN MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) for the next 20 years

$2 trillion: planning of investment in infrastructure and human services in the USA during the next 10 years with roughly equal billing to infrastructure projects and to the development of sustainable communities

$1 trillion: educating humanity to transform its attitude from an anthropocentric to biocentric worldview by adopting and applying the integration of social and ecological values as presented in the benchmark version of the Earth Charter

$1 trillion: worldwide program for an Earth Charter value-based planning and implemention to make humanity transition to a full sustainability revolution after having gone through the agricultural and industrial revolutions in a haphazard and spontaneous fashion.

So were are my comments? when has any one directly been addressed by the Brian show on the comment page!

The show is deleting comments from people of color and any view that does fit into their world view!

That is censorship!

That is why I made the comment that was deleted.

This was the terrible comment that needed to be censored below!

What I would do with a Trillion dollars, is create a national network of Television, Radio and mass media that reflects the ideas and experiences and general culture for people of color which is not represented in the present system. And bring media to the twentieth century that reflects modern America!

Reinvest in our true American roots of growing Hemp and exploit its uses for the well being of America and all humanity!

Re (60):

I lease a car. I am not a member of the "mob" to be "pandered" to; I know zero about cars and prefer to deal with a lease/service contract than to own one of the little buggers.

My car leasing manufacturer, Volvo (no latte jokes, please) has a finance company. The finance company sets the 1st of the month as my payment date, with a 13 day "grace period." I pay every g-d'ed month on the 1st, via my Citibank on-line banking account. In recent months, however, Volvo has not gotten its act together to process the payment by the 13th. Guess who owns Volvo? Ford!

Volvo financing then proceeds to dun me with phone calls and apply late fees. I then send proof of payment and am asked "why I can't pay them on time" -- i.e., why I can't pay BEFORE the due date so that they can take their sweet time to post the payment. I say "I'm a lawyer, and you can drop dead."

This weekend, I got a pitch in the mail from Volvo, offering me a chance to lease a new car at my current rates if I commit for three years now, before the lease expires. We know something Volvo doesn't know we know; Volvo(Ford) and its financing subsidiary are in so much trouble that the company or companies have laid off half the payment-processing department.

This information actually provides us with an opportunity to cut an even better deal.

So watch your mail, folks. It may contain clues.

Create a National Endowment for Volunteerism and give grants to individuals who have contributed to American society through private, voluntary associations or as individuals and have not been recognized or assisted in any way. Grants would go to individuals who do good in society, such as soup kitchen workers, pro bono lawyers who assist the poor and disenfranchised, volunteers in developing countries, Wikipedia editors (yes they are all volunteers), museum guides, hospital volunteers, etc.. Grants would be given for past work (much like artists are given fellowships) and for proposed projects. Grants would be reviewed by peer panels of volunteers and previous recipients. Some of the grants could be need based, individuals who can show that they sacrificed good portion of their income potential could be given forgivable loans if they continue their volunteer work. Seven trillion dollars would stimulate the economy and our society in incredible ways, create new interest in volunteerism and make social innovation and reform much more appealing to private citizens.

I would first end Carbon Dioxide emissions by using renewable energy, Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Hydropower, and Tidal Power.(not Nuclear) I would then declare free health care for everyone in the world. Then I would end hunger in the world. I would put a lot of money into AIDS research and Cancer research. I would make all colleges free. I would provide affordable housing for everyone who needs it and provide green jobs for the homeless and unemployed. There is so much that can be done with that much money that it would take me hours to describe everything that I would want to do with it for the good of the world.

How much money would it take to set all student loans and credit cards to zero?

Imagine the effect on the economy, if the government is going to blow through this money anyway, to push the reset button on student and consumer debt. Housing prices need to fall anyway — so if there's leftover money, some mortgage relief would be good, too. But even homeowners might have a better chance if their other debts were wiped out of existence.

Target the money on food relief, birth control, and environmental projects in the non-industrialized world. That would be prioritizing and acting like good corporate citizens. Instead we will use money to bail out corrupt, toxic banks, companies and consumers that will only hasten the efficiency of polluting our planet. We are a nation of navel gazers...witness the Obama commercial that wanted us to feel the pain of a suburban mother who...oh my God! Had to ration her 5 kids snacks. When you think about the hundreds of thousands of kids going to bed hungry at night, dying from diahria, and not having clean drinking water, somehow our priorities don't seem right.

Brian -
re the part of the show on credit card consolidation

you are just pandering to the mob used to live on loan. No one forces anyone to take loans and debt that they can't afford. So here is the forum for consumers who like their counterparts in big banks are willing to walk around with a hat in the hand, instead teaching us to act responsibly of trying to stop the unbridled capitalistic greed on which you and your "poor" listeners thrive. Should I go in debt and money payable from my credit card to support this type of mob show. You bet I won't. But all these callers I hope will. After all here they can hear from an "objective" source that it is OK to spend through the roof instead of just trying to fix it from leaking. I'm disgusted with the tone of your today's show with the regard to stupid consumer spending!

With 8 trillion dollars you could buy every single company in the S&P 500 and have money left over. then distribute the stock to tax payers and you'd have a real ownership society.

1. Universal health care
2. Free college tuition State Schools
3. No income tax on everyone earning less than 75,000 a year.
4. Public school teachers earn 60,000 base.
5. High-speed rail in all US cities with 1 million or more residents in metro area.

Invest in energy and lobby to set new environmental mandates for future construction projects as well as every municipal, state and federal government agency in the country. These mandates would include replacing all vehicles with hybrid/electric/natural gas vehicles and require new building/home constructions to be (at least) 50% more energy efficient.

Imagine how much we would save...

I would spend it on non-industrialized world birth control, food relief, and environmental projects (i.e.clean drinking water). That would be acting like responsible global citizens. Instead it will be spent on bailing out toxic laden banks and companies and we will just efficiently hasten our planet's death. Americans are more attuned to their own "pain" (i.e. The Mom featured in the Obama informerrcial who had to oh my God...ration snacks! The horror.)....We are a nation of navel gazers!

I'd do all of the great things we never do because we're always told that it is "too expensive": our kids would go to state of
the art schools, would be in small classes with highly paid and superbly trained teachers. (Does anyone doubt that all these would fail to make a difference?)Early childhood education would be fully funded for all, as would gifted and special needs programs. Art and music education would be in depth and required. College and university tuitions would be free for all those who are good enough to be accepted into the college of their choice.

We would fully fund scientific and engineering research, weighting it toward innovation. We would have clean energy and cars in five years. Our infrastructure would be in excellent shape, mass transit would be so good that it is preferable to take rather than cars for most people.

We'd fully fund development for education in countries where it is needed most...wow so much to do!

First, I would buy an isolated island and populate it solely with rabid skunks. Then, form a Nuremberg-style Financial Crimes Trial. Perhaps call it The Greed and Stupidity Reconciliation Court. Then, try and convict all those people who, through either their action or inaction, are guilty of getting us into this situation in the first place and imprison them on the aforementioned island. Call it "Survivor" for the credit default swap generation.

Hi Brian,

here is what I would do: The population of the US is about 300 million. Dividing that into $8 trillion is around $26,000 per person. If you gave every American $26,000 the recession would be over in two week. If you excluded everyone making over $100,000, the rest would get more and the recession would be over even faster.

Shoes. Fabulously fabulous shoes.
Lots of em.

Move my parents' house, and all of my friends and family to Canada.

I would use the money to invest in Hemp for America. We could supply America with all her energy needs by growing 6% of our farmlands with the most beneficial plant known to man. We could end deforreststation, our energy crisis, world hunger, dangers from plastics, cleaners, paints and much more. Geroge Washington said agriculture was the nobelest thing a man could do. He also said make the most of the Hemp seed and sow it everywhere! Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford and many more prescribed this plant for our country. Our largest groups of physicians in America also prescribe this plant, but for many different medical uses. After all this dust settles we would find a huge surplus and amount of prosperity in America, all by going back to our true American principles.

*Hemp was used in America as currency and to pay our taxes until the 1800's where some places it was a law to grow Cannabis because of its enormous value to our country.

I would lower interest on mortgages for all US home owners who are willing and able to pay mortgages by 1 or 2 percent. Convert all adjustable mortgages to fixed ones. This will leave people a lot of money to spend and as a result revitalize economy.

It is simple - Take 8 or 10 trillion dollars divide by number of tax payers, and pay tax payers directly - proportionatley. What I mean is how much they paid percentage of tax based on their income and pay same percentage. So no one gets over paid than what they paid into the system.

Taking up just a small piece of $8 trillion:

Lawyers have 3 years of professional education (i.e. law school).

Doctors have 6+ years of professional education (i.e. med school plus residency).

Teachers have 1.25 years of professional education (i.e. 15 month masters program), and Teaching Fellows & Teach For America have far less than that.

So, I would create programs where prospective teachers have a full two year program, followed by a structured & salaried internship/residency year with excellent supervision and support. Only after those three years would new teachers have responsibility for their own classes.

Teacher salaries cannot support the loans to pay for this kind of program. Therefore, it's got to be full-ride scholarships for everyone.

A democracy is only as strong as its people. I would create Great Books schools in major cities across America, utilizing local cultural institutions (art museums, concert halls, zoos) to develop a national curriculum based on the organic development of human knowledge incorporating outstanding international cultural contributions -- the African St. Augustine, Al Frarabi, Indian epic poets, Latin American painters (Jose Clemente Orozco, Marcelo Bonevardi), Japanese Noh theater -- in confluence with state of the art technology.

By the way, I know that the contribution limit is $2,300 -- I'd set up a 527.

Leave the Planet

for everyone who makes less than $250,000 a year, pay off their home mortgage, with the condition that they spend 30% of their former payment every month for 5 years.

Brian:

Stop talking; drink tea with fresh lemon joice and lots of (local) honey; run a vaporizer with eucalyptus drops; and -- go to bed!!

If all else fails -- my grandmother's remedy for a stubborn respiratory infection, and it never fails -- boil a big pot of water; drop a spoonful of Vicks Vaporub into the hot water; turn off the gas (a crucial step), put a towel over your head, and inhale. Do this for 30 second intervals over a period of about 10 minutes. My son was appalled when I described this procedure to him -- but it worked! Even cured my sister-in-law's bronchitis when she was travelling in India. (Don't know where she got the Vicks, but she had it.)

I think the first thing we could do as a responsible nation if we fall upon trillions of extra dollars is to begin paying reparations and rebuilding the infrastructure of the nations we have invaded and occupied (Afghanistan, Iraq). Investing in our own infrastructure and society is of course necessary, but no country should be allowed to devastate the lives of millions and then pick up their bags and leave. We must pay our dues for the ill advised actions of our government which we as a people supported. Such responsibility for our actions could deter future militant blowback against the United States for it's illegal actions overseas.

At least 3/4 of that 8 trillion should go immediately into saving this earth for future generations of humanity. Investment in conservation, new energy sources, and mass education for the people of all nations to make lifestyle changes for reduced environmental impact.

give it to WNYC so i don't have to heard pledge drives ever again.

I'd pay off all the student loan debt and offer free tuition for university study - why should people with mortgages get all the benefits?

1. Homes for the homeless and people earning less than 40 grand.
2. Have Israel supervise the world in design, construction and operation of water filtration, desalinization, purification and irrigation systems on all ocean coasts. The water would be distributed inland to all areas that have water shortages and droughts. Benefits: equal distribution of water, cessation of farming difficulties over water issues, cessation of those crazy fires in real dry places, work for people to build and operate the places where the systems are located, peace in the Middle East around Israel because Israel would have to be less bellacose as she focuses on getting this job done. Now how do I get this idea known to people who could make it happen?

I would keep a billion. (Seriously, would anyone give it all away?)

I would donate several trillion to the Gates Foundation, because I agree with Warren Buffet that the Foundation knows how to distribute money where it can do the most good to promote growth and change in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.

I would donate a couple of hundred million to stem cell research.

I would set up a scholarship fund, not for top students, but for average students from low and middle-income families who pay tuition at local community colleges and state school. These kids are usually overlooked, and sometimes work two and three part-time jobs to afford what everyone else believes is low tuition.

I would give $250 million, no strings attached, to President Barack Obama's reelection campaign.

Can I hold it overnight while I think about it?

I have posted as number 12th on this blog, and it disappeared that has nothing to do with comments that are trying to be posted, My comment was removed, that was censorship.

[[Juan, you need to read the comment I posted above and listen to what Brian said about the website acting up today. Again, your comment was not one of the ones removed on purpose - the web team is working on helping to get all the appropriate comment live, and yours is one of them. I hope this is clear.
-BL Moderator]]

i would cure BL's illness

it's all about information and i would give every single citizen in this country access to it! laptops, pda's, etc... all at broadband speeds!

access to information at broadband speeds... for all.

[[BL Moderator Writes:
As Brian just mentioned on air, the comments system is acting up today, so many many comments have not been showing up online. Juan, I tried to send you an email directly but it bounced back. We see your comment, it has not been edited. No need to keep reposting and reposting - once the web team figures out what's going on, it should go live. Thanks,
-BL Show-]]

The problem here is money, and our commitment to it and all of its non existent glory. So money will not be the solution, it further displays our bewilderment with what decreases our quality of life. We need a change in mindset, a shift away from the worship of a printed paper. A company that might fail because money is not plentiful enough should be allowed to fail, otherwise our existence has become nothing but than to sustain the almighty paper.

Build a time machine

Invest and payoff future and current loans. And Giving some to charity and of course spend.

My comments are legitimate, I don't understand why you Brian keep censoring, may be to you they are not!

What I would do with a Trillion dollars, is create a national network of Television, Radio and mass media that reflects the ideas and experiences and general culture for people of color which is not represented in the present system. And bring media to the twentieth century that reflects modern America!

What would I do with $8 trillion?

First: I’d spend one third of it to buy Australia and convert it back to a debtors’ prison and ship all the corporate greedsters and government incompetents there for life.

Second: I’d spend the second third to buy the Metropolitan Museum of Art as my personal residence. The art inside would be part of the purchase deal.

Third: I’d denote the remaining third to WNYC under the conditions that I wouldn’t have to listen to pledge drives after I’ve denoted already.

A radical idea - think long term and invest the money in our public education system. Create thousands of new jobs on all levels. Build new, state of the art schools and fill them with qualified, well paid educators. Create safe public transport systems to bring students to and from new schools. Provide financial aid for people to pursue higher degrees in order to become teachers. Provide new technology in every classroom for every student. Provide delicious heathy breakfast and lunches from school gardens/ greenhouses. Everyone wins.

I would probably spend the rest of my life trying unsuccessfully to understand how much money that was.

Build a tightly sealed dome enclosing Washington, DC and use the remaining funds to convince Eric Schmidt to rent space at Google's headquarters and base a pro-tempore government under his auspices and philosophy.

Go shopping at Whole Foods!

I would pay December's rent.

I'm one of those who invested in Google and Microsoft at the right time, and as a result I ended up with a fortune of just over $8 trillion. Unfortunately, I put the cash into a hedge fund and it is now worth $3.41.

I would build a Lunar Base, a larger Space Station with a pair of rotating wheels for artiicial gravity, explore Mars and establish a Martian base, and establish bases on the four largest asteriods: Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas, and 10 Hygiea......and I would still have five trillion left over.

I would give it back to China.

The problem with asking about $8 trillion dollars is that the number is so unfathomable. To put it in perspective, 1 million seconds is 11.8 days. One trillion seconds is about 32,000 years (8 trillion is therefore over 250,000 years). It can barely be understood.

[[BL Moderator Writes: A few comments have been edited or removed for violating the WNYC posting policy. Please remember to be civil, and a gentle reminder that posting as someone else is definitely not within the posting policy, and is a fairly petty trick. Thanks,
-BL Show-]]

I would invest in effective and efficient public transportation, in the same way that Eisenhower created the interstate highway system in the 50's. This would include high speed rail between major population centers, and local transportation alternatives such as light rail and subway systems in metropolitan areas.

I would encourage the creation more efficient and effective education alternatives for secondary and college levels, using technology to supplement expensive classroom experiences. I realize that personal interaction is important in education, but also that much learning can be achieved and recognized by methods that are external to the classroom. An example would be to use game technology to teach useful subjects.

Finally, I would invest heavily in nuclear power, possibly using the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor technology now used in Canada

These initiatives would create employment and also help the American economy become more efficient and less dependent on foreign energy sources.

Are we going to see Obama bonds a la Carter bonds???

Let's say there are 30 million troubled mortgages with book values under 1,000,000. I would give the financial institutions holding these mortgages the option of selling the mortgage to the U.S. at 30 cents to the dollar or keeping the mortgage with no right of foreclosure for 5 years. Homeowners would pay the US back at special, low interest rates a la student loans. This would effectively end the foreclosure crisis, stabilize the housing market, create a bottom-line value for mortgage backed securities, CDOs etc. thereby easing the financial turmoil. The 8 trillion here is actually going to the financial institutions so that will ease the squeeze but at the same time a huge number of families all of a sudden will have a safety net and they can start spending (hopefully prudently) and that will jumpstart the economy. With whatever is left over, I'd increase the amount of unemployment benefits. And finally, I would produce a line of Henry Paulson Commemorative Dartboards, that can be ordered for $500 from any post office.

7 Trillion is that all? How 'bout 1 more buck?

The first thing I would do is create a nation wide high-speed railroad system. I would also create minor systems (light-rails, trolleys etc) in smaller towns that would connect to the larger ones. How about nyc to montauk in an hour? One benefit from this would be we could all live in the most rural of areas because we could get to our jobs in a short amount of time.

like the Emperor Nero in Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part 1:

TREASURE BATH!!!

If the total credit card debt is 'just' 900 billion, why not just buy up all of Americans' credit card debt since we are so spend-crazy. That will certainly "jolt" the economy.

I would start by giving $250,000.00 to each working American, (I think the math works)
Most of this money would go to pay off mortgages and student loans.
Lets stop rewarding those who got us into this mess in the first place

Buy our daughter a puppy.

Get a massage w the instruction: "keep it up until I say stop."

I would at least buy Brian a throat lozenge.

I'd use some of it to guarantee the actual mortgages underlying the mortgage-backed securities. While the government wouldn't stand to profit down the road (as it does now), it would provide a better short-term fix and people wouldn't lose their homes.

I'd give up on this failed world and start a new civilization on Mars.

I'd find the modern counterparts of Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams and Washington and form a new and successful country.

Pay off my student loans and see what's left over.

clean energy, clean energy, clean energy.