Author Archives: Bill Allen

Mr. President: Please lead on the deficit

The message below emailed to President Obama White House on February 26, 2011.   Dear Mr. President: I just watched a recording of your weekly address on CSPAN and another by Senator Rob Portman. Senator Portman made many statements that can be challenged, … Continue reading

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Tax Simplification and the Plain Tax

This proposal was originally posted on the website Dead River Journal. The president’s deficit commission chaired by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson issued its report in December.  It concluded that meeting the debt challenge will require both reductions in spending … Continue reading

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$80 solar power system in rural Kenya

In yesterday’s New York Times, Elisabeth Rosenthal, reports on getting electricity to a farming village far from Kenya’s electric grid. For Sara Ruto, the desperate yearning for electricity began last year with the purchase of her first cellphone, a lifeline … Continue reading

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Great "New Yorker" story on the failed energy bill

In the October 11, 2010 The New Yorker, Ryan Lizza, reports: “As the World Burns: How the Senate and the White House missed their best chance to deal with climate change.” I’ll quote from it extensively, but if you don’t … Continue reading

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Focus now on economic recovery. Set stage for long term fiscal health.

Article below is a slightly revised version of a letter I submitted on October 11 to the Bernardsville News for publication.  I have added a Chart. An excellent and related column by Paul Krugman appears in the NY Times today.  Go to … Continue reading

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Extend ALL tax rates for one more year

The message below was emailed to Senator Frank Lautenberg today, and similar messages were sent to Senator Robert Menendez and Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen.  Dear Senator Lautenberg: The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform issued its first report yesterday. This was … Continue reading

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Senator Robert Menendez Supports EPA Authority to Control CO2

I received a notice from EDF that Senator Jay Rockefeller had introduced legislation to curtail authority that EPA now has to regulate emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. I sent email messages to Senators Lautenberg and Menendez with the … Continue reading

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Support Democrats for Congress on Election Day

The letter below was published in the Bernardsville News on September 30.  For a look at a display of the relevant facts go to Federal Debt Ratio Chart. EDITOR: Most thoughtful people are worried about federal debt.  Unfortunately, some of these are … Continue reading

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Climate 101: Our Critical Atmosphere

This article is the first “session” in a series that will describe the science that underlies the concerns for climate change. Most of the data below are from the book “Is the Temperature Rising” by S. George Philander. [Philander 1998] … Continue reading

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Climate Change: See It Now

“Although not every year had been as dramatic as this, the increasing frequency of draughts, severe flooding episodes, air pollution crises, heat-stress days, brownouts, and forest fires was already stretching the national treasury.” Stephen Schneider wrote these words for the lead chapter … Continue reading

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