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Bail-out or Build-out, Part 2

By Terry Tamminen / On October 27th, 2008
As the Presidential race nears the finish line— with the candidates and voters both gasping for air amidst the ubiquitous onslaught of commercials on everything from lawn signs to Saturday Night Live—there are no shortages of "new and improved" proposals for dealing with the current financial mess. Well, if politicians can constantly add to their repertoires, so can we.
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Postcard from Beijing

By Terry Tamminen / On October 22nd, 2008
What do Starbucks and smog have in common? Opportunity. As I walk around Beijing, the signs of the 2008 Olympics fading into memory, I am struck by the fact that every corner has a Starbucks, not to mention other ubiquitous American iconography — Sizzler, Nike, 7-11, Hummers, and CNN to name a few. I'm also struck by the fact that the smog problem remains untamed, despite efforts pre and post Olympics to reduce pollution from traffic and smokestacks. So why do these two forces — American companies and smog — have anything to do with opportunity?
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How Would You Spend It?

By Terry Tamminen / On October 14th, 2008
Congress passed the bailout plan with a price tag of nearly a trillion dollars, but the ink was hardly dry on this new Monopoly money when quite a few experts began to predict it wouldn't be enough. Some estimates hope the "investments" that taxpayers will make in bad debts could ultimately turn a profit, but how likely is that?
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Bail-out or Build-out?

By Terry Tamminen / On October 7th, 2008
As Washington and Wall Street dicker over a financial rescue plan, everyone is missing the real opportunity to fix the problem. Some see the variously proposed plans as bailouts of dumb borrowers and dumber lenders, while others view it as a chance to restore liquidity to the marketplace so we can all have access to credit again, whether it's for student loans or to finance the acquisition of industrial machinery.
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Small steps to save the planet

By Jay Inslee / On August 19th, 2008
Since my trip to Mumbai last March, I have committed myself full bore, with every fiber of my being, to pushing a legislative agenda that could bust through the solid barrier of congressional apathy and create an aggressive American response to global warming. The world would not move if Congress would not move. Congress would not move if I did not move. As Gandhi would say, I have to become the change I seek in the world.

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