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To: KyrosL who wrote (71959)	1/3/2010 11:02:12 AM
From: Maurice Winn	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Kyros, while the local authorities will not disappear, they are suffering large financial gaps in their budgets. According to tv last night, various cities in California are shutting down library services. I have enjoyed free library services in Escondido, namely the internet. That was nice and I did pay some state taxes via by purchasing in the state, so by making the place attractive, they do get some revenue from foreigners, but it seems overly generous to pay for my internet requirements. In general libraries have passed their use-by date. The internet delivers tsunamis of information. I was an avid user of the Onehunga Carnegie Library as a child and it enabled me to imagine things and understand them which I am now bringing to fruition. So I'm well aware of the importance of information to people. But there were no sources of information other than that [school being very limited and I don't recall any other means of finding out about things - we didn't have even rudimentary television at the time, which in any event remains useless for getting information though it has been useful for news]. Andrew Carnegie provided a great public service by giving such libraries around the world. My CDMA, Globalstar and other ideas got impetus there. Libraries could be sold to private collectors who might or might not make the information available to people at a price. Mqurice

To: KyrosL who wrote (71959)	1/3/2010 8:50:19 PM
From: Webster Groves	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Certainly munis have historically been good investments for those tax adverse. The strength of the muni, however, relies not on inherent value, but rather the taxing power of local governments. With the Feds mandating that states and localities fund their entitlement grants, the stress on local government has never been higher. On this basis the muni is not the rock it once was. You appear to be relying on the Feds to guarantee the munis. I do not share your optimism. Munis pay interest at non-zero rates and that is not part of the Fed's current plan. wg PS - Of course if Goldman Sachs faces a potential loss on munis, then my view is irrelevant, and so I'll spot you a 30% chance the Feds step in circumspectly.