Hating
GM, Obama and America: Why it's time to bailout the Big 3
Monday, March 16, 2009
Time
to leave it all behind
I've loved hating GM over the years. Even the Chevy
Volt is worth hating sometimes. We've been hearing
about it for years and its still almost years away.
Furthermore, most Americans need fuel efficient solutions
that cost less than $20,000, but can still achieve 40 mpg
in the city.
Where's that GM product?
Yet, whom do I really hate when I hate GM? Is not GM but a
microcosm of America? Health care, social security and
pensions are intricately intertwined between GM - and the
larger auto industry - and America. In many ways, GM's
failures are America's failures.
It's not SUVs that are killing the Big 3, it's legacy
costs.
Certainly, that doesn't absolve GM of its wrongs. But,
does it really matter, today?
Ending foreign oil dependence, for instance, would
minimally save the US economy hundreds of billions of
dollars per year. And that doesn't include ANY war costs.
How's that for a return on investment? Isn't that alone
worth investing a few hundred billion into US companies,
along with many fuel efficiency strings?
Imagine the innovations that would be developed as we
achieve this ROI.
It's time to get behind Obama's campaign promise to end
foreign oil dependency. The plan is coming together, I
believe, but it's going to require a bailout of the US
auto industry. Despite the fact that most Americans hate
this idea, it's time to get over it.
It's time for change, yes, but it's the path - the plan -
that is most important. And Detroit can be an asset in
this new direction.
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