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Dionne cites comments by Bowles and Simpson saying the Paul Ryan U.S. budget proposal falls short of a serious bipartisan effort for deficit reduction for a number of reasons. The reasons cited by Bowles and Simpson are: The proposal exempts defense spending from reductions, does not apply savings from tax expenditures to deficit reduction, relies on much larger reductions in domestic discretionary spending than the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction plan, and at the same time making reductions in safety-net programs that could in their words "place a disproportionately adverse effect on certain disadvantaged populations." This should give moderates in this debate time for pause and reflection says Dionne.

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A big problem Spain is facing is that the room for spending cuts is shrinking and new taxes are not generating higher tax revenues for the government. Tax receipts declined by 1.5% in the Jan-May 2012 period even with the higher taxes on income, electricity and tobacco. The revenues from VAT, value added tax, declined by 10%. Spending to aid regional governments increased by 12% and interest payments increased by 32%. Under the government of prime minister Zapatero tax income declined by 19% in 2007-2011, even after adding higher taxes on the wealthy, increasing the VAT tax and scrapping of a tax rebate. The government predicts domestic demand will decline by 3.1% in 2012. Ms Cospedal who is cutting spending in the Castilla region near Madrid, a deputy leader of the ruling Partido Popular, says in some regions the margin for additional savings is "becoming small."

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Annalena Baerbock, 44 years, of the Greens is Germany's nominee for president of UN General Assembly in 2025. She was nominated by chancellor Scholz. As a leader of the Greens and in the coalition government of chancellor Scholz she has tried to show that Germany is a modernizing nation and innovative more than is seen in its political class. As one of the youngest politicians she has presented Germany in a new way as a young face for Europe. DW.com shows the evolution of the Greens as a party since the 1980's. Baerbock joined the Greens at age 25, four years later in 2010 she was head of the Brandenburg state section of the party, becoming a board member of the European Green party. She is still only 44 years old. She studied public law and political science in Hamburg, and gained a Masters degree in international law at the London School of Economics, one of Germany's first leading politicians to study in Britain. She started studies for a Doctorate at the Free University of Berlin, which she left in 2013 as she was elected to the Bundestag. By 2021 Annalena Baerbock was with Robert Habeck co-leader of the party heading into the general election. At one point the Greens were polling 5 months before the 2021 election at 27% with Annalena Baerbock running for chancellor against Armin Laschet of CDU and ahead of the CDU by 3 points in Sonntag poll. The Greens came in at 15% of the vote in 2021 dropping slightly to 12% in 2025. This time the Greens will sit in the parliamentary opposition headed by Robert Habeck. ...

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Solar energy production continues to grow in the US South in states like Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Texas. In Georgia and Tennessee pine trees were planted in large numbers to replace crops with lumber when crop prices were low. With low prices for logs University of Georgia research shows 10X income even for a few acres for landowners in the South when they shift from pine trees to solar panels.

Timber Company Rayonier's CEO says for an acre of timberland income is $80 compared to $800 or $1200  for solar farms. When solar companies buy timberland they pay 5 times timberland value. Weyerhaeuser alone has 130,000 acres with 70 options to build solar farms. US needs 250,000 acres a year for solar farms to generate needed solar energy.

When land is near a wildlife preserve and bear territory it should rightly be preserved from solar farms which is happening in this case cited by WSJ in Tennessee. 

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As its economy slows and facing high debt levels, China benefits by an estimated $18 billion a month from lower oil prices in 2015. The estimate is from Starfort Holdings, investment and private equity group. The estimates as China benefits from lower prices of all commodities, including oil, are of about $250 billion annually as China replenishes its stocks of commodities. With $12 million barrels imported daily China is a major emerging market beneficiary, along with India, of the drop in oil prices. Continuing pressure on prices from the expected resilience in shale oil production in the U.S. with learning and the development of new production methods means the benefits are likely to continue. China has also not renegotiated price points in deals made earlier at higher prices with China and Venezuela, as it pursues its foreign interests. Stockpiling of grains and edible oils are being increased by 33% in 2015 by $24.7 billion.

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Mike McNamara, CEO of Flextronics, on the increasing competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and the return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S.

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Gilead Sciences contracts with seven Indian generics drug makers to provide Hepatitis drug Sovaldi at $10 a pill for a 24 week course. These Indian companies will pay royalties to Gilead Sciences and supply the market in poor countries. There are about 350,000 deaths from Hepatitis C each year, most of them in middle income or poor countries. Worldwide about 180 million people are infected with Hepatitis C. There is intense criticism for the $1000 a pill charged for Sovaldi in the U.S., with $10 billion in sales for 2014 already set for the new drug's 12 week regimen that costs about $84,000. Gilead spends about 19% of sales on R&D.

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As Toyota Kirloskar moves to increase capacity at its plant in Bidadi, Bangalore, to 5000 units of the new compact car, localisation for components becomes abig part of the strategy. The goal is to achieve 90% localization by 2011 from 65% today, as parts imported from Japan cost more with the over 30% appreciation in the yen-rupee exchange rate. The Innova has 65% localization of components, and the Corolla has 45% which will be moved up to 75% and 50% respectively by 2010. The dealer network will be expanded from 82 to 150 by 2010-end and Toyota-Kirloskar wants to be in the semi-rural and rural towns. The pricing will be between aSantro top end varian and a Honda city entry variant, priced at Rs 5-7 lakhs.

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As seen in the campaigns of Gretchen Whitmer for Governor western Michigan and Kalamazoo are critical in 2024. Michelle Obama joins Kamala Harris at an event in Kalamazoo in the closing days of the campaign. 

Speaking about women's health and pregnancies Michelle Obama was passionate in her words in Kalamazoo speaking to men and women-

"Consider the harm that is done when a government keeps revoking the basic care from its women."

“I am asking y’all, from the core of my being, to take our lives seriously. If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage.”

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On the 100th anniversary of 1947 and 1949 the Republics of China and India in about 25 years will have become fully developed modern states with science and technology by 2050, leaving behind memories of the colonial period. As the mother of Asian Buddhist civilization this region of northern India would be seen by a new generation of Chinese as part of ancient Chinese Buddhist culture from the days of Lord Buddha and Bodhidharma, and a gradual shift will lead to China leaving Tibet and the border regions of India in Kashmir, Arunachal and Ladakh of its own decision. China's entry into border regions- Kashmir region, Ladakh and Arunachal are a result of China under Mao and the Communist party decision to occupy Tibet and Indian border areas. A result of the memory of occupation of China starting from the border regions in the north Manchuria by the Japanese, and the Kwantung peninsula by western powers Russia, Britain, Germany. And the need to protect its frontiers in the border regions used as buffers by the British Empire, after the Communist Party under Mao created the People's Republic in Beijing. New technology in the 20th century made the high plateau's of Tibet accessible after 2500 years by construction of roads rail transport in high mountain terrain.  What this occupation of Tibet as a border region has done is to put China within a short distance, just days from the plains of India- a situation that has no precedent in the entire history of the world dating from Lord Buddha. Compared to the desolate regions of Manchuria in the north this has an Indian population in the plains of India of as much as a billion people. Just as China sought protection from its own memory of occupation by the Japanese and colonial powers, India seeks protection from colonial powers and the Chinese now in Tibet similar to the Japanese in Manchuria just days away from the plains of the Chang Jiang (Yangste) and  Huang He (Yellow River) of China, China just days away in 2025 from the Ganges/ Brahmaputra , and the Indus river regions. The British Empire no longer exists. British names such as McMahon for McMahon Line frowned upon by anti-colonialist China, no longer exist. India also an anti-colonial power frowns upon such names and the arbitrary way the British (also the Portuguese, the Spanish, Dutch and the French) decided what belonged to whom, including whole nations. As early as 1505 Portuguese occupied Sri Lanka (Ceylon), occupied by the Dutch as part of cinnamon supply zone by 1700, and transferred by treaty to British in 1802, the memories of colonialism date back on the shores of India to 1505.    ...

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GM's efforts to build its Buick and Cadillac brands in 2012-2014. The introduction of the new Buick SUV, the Encore, and the new Cadillac ATS models.

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Santorum on the eve of the Michigan Republican primary of 2012, says religion has a role in the public space.

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German banks have commited 60% of their capital in loans to the shipping indusry, according to Moody's Investors Service. The 10 largest German banks have loaned 98 billion euros to the shipping industry and provided a surge of credit to the industry that has led to structural overcapacity. This includes Commerzbank and banks in Hanover and Hamburg. Under German law investors make tax free profits in this popular tax shelter. Experts in Hamburg say the container industry ordered too many ships and banks provided easy credit, resulting in an oversupply, declining cargo shipping prices, and losses at shipping companies. HSH Nordbank in Hamburg, owned by local governmnts and savings banks, says it need 1.3 billion euros in guaranees from Hamburg and the state of Schleswig -Holstein. Moody's affirmed the negative outlook for German banks partly because of the bad loans in shipping.