DOT "State of Good Repair" money - good investments

With transit investments, a surge of dividends across America - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation: "In Baltimore, I had the pleasure of announcing a $40 million State Of Good Repair grant to the Maryland Department of Transportation. MDOT will replace Baltimore's 65-year-old Kirk bus facility with new, environmentally sustainable facilities that will make it easier and more cost-effective to manage all the buses that serve Greater Baltimore. This project will create good local construction jobs in Northeast Baltimore, and it will help more than 350 local Maryland Transit Authority employees do an even better job maintaining a growing fleet of energy-efficient buses."

'via Blog this'

Libor Rate-Rigging Scandal Sets Off Legal Fights for Restitution - NYTimes.com

Libor Rate-Rigging Scandal Sets Off Legal Fights for Restitution - NYTimes.com: "As unemployment climbed and tax revenue fell, the city of Baltimore laid off employees and cut services in the midst of the financial crisis. Its leaders now say the city’s troubles were aggravated by bankers’ manipulation of a key interest rate linked to hundreds of millions of dollars the city had borrowed.

Baltimore has been leading a battle in Manhattan federal court against the banks that determine the interest rate, the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which serves as a benchmark for global borrowing and stands at the center of the latest banking scandal. Now cities, states and municipal agencies nationwide, including Massachusetts, Nassau County on Long Island, and California’s public pension system, are looking at whether they suffered similar losses and are weighing legal action."

'via Blog this'

More oil war to come. Include these costs when pricing oil.

U.S. Adds Forces in Persian Gulf, a Signal to Iran - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates."

'via Blog this'