Let the Auto Industry Go Bankrupt

The talk on an the Sunday talk shows and from Barack Obama on 60 min, has been the auto industry needs to be bailed out. It appears as if congress is already drafting a plan which will be put to a vote next week. I have several objections. First many economists say that it won't work. There problems are much deeper than a cash injection can fix. They are building inferior products that people aren't buying. The industry new about the gas crisis for at least 30 years, and there action was to promote massive trucks and SUV's and lobby the government for higher fuel standards. The industry has had an excessive amount of government assistance for decades. The industry changed our entire society by making it so every American had to have a car. They colluded with other companies that was associated with autos and actively killed street cars in every major city in the US. They were behind the Federal Highway Administration which physically changed our landscape and made it so everyone had to have one of their cars. It has since lead to a situation where we use 25% of the worlds oil and is the biggest factor in our trade deficit. Now here they are hat in hand when they have had every advantage till this point. When the industry saw competition they have since failed to produce products that can compete. Instead of learning from the 70's gas crisis and producing fuel efficient cars and electric cars, they opted to promote SUV's. They haven't learned, and giving them this money would be throwing it away. Giving them money so they can try to stabilize their stock issues and pension situation is not fixing the underlining problem. I understand that their will be a lot of jobs lost. Even so, those jobs will be lost anyway because the auto industry is still dying. We should let the free market work it's coarse here. They will have an opportunity to reorganize themselves in Chapter 11 status. If they can't, then well sorry.

While Many Around The World Embrace Obama; Many Prominent Comments Have Been Down Right Racist

The big story we have heard recently is how everyone around the world has embraced Barack Obama. I just saw a story saying many have had the reverse reaction. It was stated that Europe is not as racially tolerant as America and many don't like the idea of a black man leading the western world.

"The statement was titled "Africa conquers the White House." According to AFP news service, Gansel asserted that Obama hopes to destroy America's "white identity" and that multi-culturalists in America are trying to destroy other "pure" national identities.

A recent story in The Washington Post listed examples of international insensitivity: An Austrian journalist said on television that Americans must still be racists to make such a big deal about sending a black couple to the White House. He went on to say that he "wouldn't want the Western world to be directed by a black man." He said, "If you say that is a racist comment, you're right. Without a doubt.""

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96949439&ft=1&f=1001

This story does surprise me. Lately Americans have had to deal with European slanders of our many shortcomings. After seeing these reactions I think America has shown leadership in advancing racial relations. Maybe that's part of the reason so many Europeans followed Obama so passionately. It is nice to feel like we can stand before the world and be admired again.

Barack Should Embrace Grass-Roots Governing

One of the strongest factors behind Barack Obama's election was his impressive ground game. He enlisted thousands of volunteers and full time staffers working on the ground with the public and established Democratic committees. I got involved myself. I signed up for a fellowship and organized volunteers and ran voter registration drives in central PA.

Many people are now saying Barack should engage these people in governing. A vast majority of these workers are young and willing to work long hard hours to help their fellow man. He should keep these people engaged by reaching out and offering employment or other incentives for community service.

The Transportation Authorization Issue

As we have just elected a new president many people are talking about what he should do first. Well one of our most important infrastructure funding bills hits the end of its cycle early next year. The six-year Transportation Authorization bill is the statute which determines the allocation of at least 600 billion dollars federal transportation funds. These funds make up a vast majority of capital for state roads and transit.

A few big issues are up for debate in the new bill. One of the biggest is to focus more development on creating transit systems vs. putting a majority of the funds into new highway construction. Having transit options in populated areas will lessen our dependence on oil, reduce greenhouse gases, and relieve congestion.

Another major issue is that the funding base for transportation is upside down. The fund gets its money from gasoline taxes. The problem is that the recent gas crisis has decreased demand. This means that people started driving less thus spending less in gas taxes. At the same time the demand for transit has never been higher. So transportation planners are stuck with a situation in which they need more money to improve transit options to meet demand while the funds have never been lower.

The point is we are at a moment were a new administration could do something to change the path were on. I call this the sexy issue because it's not exciting at all. Most people don't think about transportation issues. The fact is most of us couldn't conceive of any other modes of transportation other than cars and Highways. It should be recognized that nothing is inevitable and we can choose what kind of country we want. I vote for commuter trains, I am tired of sitting in traffic every single day.

Blacks Vote to Oppress Civil Rights

I find it very interesting and disturbing that 70% of black voters in California voted to ban gay marriage. Blacks in America have a special history of slavery and segregation. Many men have sacrificed their lives so blacks could live freely and be fully included in society. Now that we have elected Americas first black President, it signifies a serious accomplishment toward those goals. But now that blacks have achieved civil equity they turn and vote to deny it to others. Marriage has many legal rights and responsibilities associated with it. Denying homosexual marriage is absolutely taking away civil rights from people.

While blacks have uniformly voted for Democrats for generations; it should be noted that a lot of blacks are actually quite conservative. Maybe the republican party should see some hope in this and try to make stronger inroads into the black community. If the party ever wants to come back they need to not right off every single person of color. I am sure that the people who voted for the ban do not see it as denying others rights but as keeping traditional values. With this vote it seems that many blacks might be ready to move into a conservative category.

Welcome to The Liberal Lean

Hello everyone, my name is Marcellus Wilson. This blog is dedicated to political news, conspiracy theory, and cable news critiques. All of which will have that liberal bias that we all love or love to hate.