[Hoot Gibson]

I guess I didn't make myself clear: I didn't want the Manhattan Project type involvement for the natural gas distribution system I proposed. You are right; the technology is here. I wanted federal involvement in the construction of a distribution system along the inter states. I wanted the Manhattan Project type federal involvement for R&D of solar energy and for battery improvements.

And while you are right about the number of the scientists that came from Europe, I think you are vastly undervaluing the impact the US govt had in the funding and managing of the development of nuclear weapons.

I do not mean to diminish the role that the US government played in developing the first nuclear weapons. Without government funding, there would have been no nuclear bomb developed in time to use in Japan and tens if not hundreds of thousands of additional Americans would have died before Japan was subdued. My point is that without the Jewish scientists and the knowledge that they gained in European universities before Hitler began purging their ranks, the bomb might well have come to late to have been used in WW II. Our side was the beneficiary of both some excellent decisions by the US government combined with Hitler's extremely bad judgment.

Finally, while China has greatly loosened the reins on capitalism in China, the central govt still plays a very big hand in the economy and its planning. The push of China to purchase and tie up a considerable amount of precious metals is being lead by the cental govt. The construction of the infrastructure needed to boost manufacturing for both export and domestic consumption is being pushed by a forward thinking central govt. The huge increase in alternative energy R & D is being funded by the central govt. There is still considerable regulation of foreign investment in China and the regulation is done to protect certain domestic industries that the central govt is needed to protect its national interests and to incentivize certain foreign industries to come to China (where China will steal the technology). If you don't take the China Daily, I encourage you to do so. While it seems to be a mouthpiece of the central govt (in my opinion) it is pretty informative.

I read the China Daily and South China Morning Post occasionally but I do not profess to be an expert on the Chinese economy. I agree that in certain areas - most importantly securing sources of energy, China's government maintains an iron grip. However, my understanding is that in many areas, China's economy is much freer than our own.

A few months ago, a South African owner of a large engraving and awards company spent a couple of weeks in China touring factories and warehouses in the area of China where laser engravers are manufactured. He provided a daily first hand account, complete with photos of what it is like to conduct business in China. It was a real eye opener for me. I have never believed that US companies have moved operations or farmed out their manufacturing to countries like China simply because of cheap labor but I had no idea what strides the Chinese had made in quality management and customer satisfaction. The laser engravers made in the US and western Europe are still far superior in quality to the Chinese models but they typically cost three to four times as much and the gap in quality and support is quickly narrowing. Surrendering central control over large chunks of the economy is what has fueled China's entry into the 21st century. Its government needed cash and its top heavy, centrally planned economy was not producing.

I do not agree that the federal government needs to be directly involved with building the infrastructure for a network of natural gas filling stations along the interstate. I can see where the governments' rights of eminent domain may need to be exercised in some areas but, given the right government policies, converting big rigs to run on natural gas and building the refueling network could be done with little or no taxpayer funding.

IMO, the case for having politicians decide that companies like Solyndra deserve public financing is much weaker than your proposal to fund the overhaul of freight transportation. Inevitably, federal contracts and other prizes are given to people well connected politically.

In terms of current dollars, the Manhattan Project cost roughly $24.4 billion. Compare the payoff of that expenditure to the $780 billion that our current federal government blew on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Government funding of non-military technologies should be pursued only as a last resort. Our tax and regulatory policies have made our economy increasingly less competitive - not the failure of our bloated, near bankrupt federal government to "invest" in the future.

While countries like China and India are employing the principles that gave this country its competitive advantage for decades, our own country is shackling the free market and leading us down the road to the socialist heavily bureaucratic systems that impoverished India and China for decades.