On September 25th in Forbes.com, Matt Woolsey shows us “7 better uses for the $ 700 billion” that Paulson and Bernanke have decided to confiscate from U.S. taxpayers. Here they are, one by one:

1. “Let’s start with the nation’s infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that our nation’s bridges need $ 180 billion in repairs, with our rail infrastructure in need of $ 185 billion in maintenance …
2. “Arizona Public Service, the state’s public power utility, is currently building the nation’s largest solar power array in the desert near Gila Bend, Ariz. It will be able to power 70,000 homes using only the sun’s rays – and create thousands of high-tech green energy jobs to boot. Construction costs will be about $ 1 billion, but the utility says it will pay for itself in about seven years. The project covers just three square miles …
3. “Health care and climate change are other major concerns. Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University, points out that for $ 150 billion you could provide every American with private health insurance …
4. “McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm, estimates it will cost the U.S. economy $ 150 billion per year to stabilize greenhouse gases by 2030 …
5. “Since global trade isn’t going away anytime soon and America’s ports are getting increasingly crowded, using the money for port expansion might be a smart idea …
6. “National security is also a concern. After five years in Iraq, most estimates for the war’s cost tally into the $ 500 billion range. Unlike investments in distressed assets, paying for the Iraq War won’t produce a return, but $ 700 billion would stem the government’s future debt obligations to its creditors.
7. “Then there’s education. The U.S. currently spends some $ 500 billion annually on public education, yet still finds itself behind many other industrialized nations when it comes to giving the next generation skills it needs to compete globally.

“The difference, of course, is that government spending for any of this would require a massive tax increase, with no chance of getting any of the money back. The upside: At least it would be a sure bet.”

The writer’s most pertinent point is that there is “… no chance of getting any of the money back”.

Well, we’ve been proposing an even better use for that $ 700 billion. We’ve been pushing for a revitalization of our shipbuilding industry. In an earlier national emergency we produced thousands of sophisticated warships in hundreds of shipyards, employed millions for the endeavor, and we accomplished our World War II goals in less than the “five years” we’ve wasted in Iraq. Without considering the benefits Title XI would provide, $ 700 billion could fund the cost of more than 10,000 of our Jones Act patented container ships. Many millions of our citizens would be gainfully employed in the effort, they’d have renewed buying power, and they’d be paying taxes again.

And we’d be getting our money back … in spades. Our earlier commentaries have spelled it all out.