Wes Clark: What’s Good for G.M. Is Good for the Army

"AMERICA'S automobile industry is in desperate trouble. Financial instability, the credit squeeze and closed capital markets are hurting domestic automakers, while decades of competition from foreign producers have eroded market share and consumer loyalty. Some economists question the wisdom of Washington’s intervening to help the Big Three, arguing that the automakers should pay the price for their own mistakes or that the market will correct itself. But we must act: aiding the American automobile industry is not only an economic imperative, but also a national security imperative."

Read rest at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/opinion/16clark.html


I thought this was an interesting article. I think Wes Clark is right...I would love to see him in the Obama administration.

of new plug-in electric cars to ensure cash flow.

This would help GM over rough spot
Help get gas guzzlers out of use
Advance electric car technology
Push more electric cars into public sphere

I suppose the Govt could bailout GM but demand a very good deal on a fleet of electric cars

Fire the clowns at the top. Nationalize it, whatever. The greed and short-sightedness have ruined it. I can't wait for thanksgiving so I can argue with my nephew in law. He always excuses the actions at the top of the industry.

the American auto industry. One thing that no one in the news has noted is that these companies were building vehicles that the American public wanted such as big trucks and SUV's. It was not until the oil companies started screwing us with high gas prices that people stopped buying these gas guzzlers. I am willing to bet money that if the price of gas stays below $2.00 sales will go up again.

Letting the automakers file bankruptcy will not solve anything. All bankruptcies do is enrichen bankers, lawyers and executives, while screwing employees and consumers. We never get structural economic change from a bankruptcy. This is another myth of "free market" capitalism. CEO's get a BONUS for taking a company into bankruptcy and staying on to break union contracts and layoff workers while outsourcing jobs. For those who demand examples, simply examine the industry I work in, the airline industry.

The government, as in we the people, need to step in and fire management, retool the plants, and start making products that make environmental sense. Then we market the sensible products to the public. Let's make electric cars, mass transportation rail, etc.

So we throw money at the Big 3, then what? What happens when THAT money is spent a year or two down the road? Will they innovate or will they sit on their asses and pick the low lying SUV fruit for another decade?

Money is nice, but there needs to be a long term plan for viability. What is the plan to make these companies competitive again?

And I sure don't know WHO can do it, or HOW it can be done, and it needs to be done quickly.

If the industry isn't building what American consumers want, then it's because American consumers really don't know WHAT they want -- no real consensus. My (young) coworker wants a Hummer. I want a Volt (if they're ever made). But he can't afford a Hummer and I'll never be able to spend $40K on any car. I probably won't even be financially able to lease one.

It must be expensive for auto makers to manufacture so many models with so many options, with the hope that one or more of them will create a demand and save their asses. It's a backwards approach -- but what, today, is the alternative?

He is a very intelligent man. Seldom do you see Generals or ex-military with the liberal viewpoints of a Wes Clark.

He really is the most amazing Renaissance man, for one thing, and can see both the big picture and the details within that big picture.

This article is just one example of how he can connect two seemingly disparate topics. Maybe this approach to asking for a bailout of the Big Three will sway a few more Republicans to support it. It could turn out to be such a great blessing in disguise if, having learned from the bailout of Wall Street that attaching strings is necessary, we got electric and/or energy-efficient cars out of this--plus, what a disaster it would be for the economy if American automaking disappeared. So I do hope that some of the Republican holdouts take advantage of Wes Clark's argument--that a bailout would be good for the military--to defend a "yes" vote to their constituents.

Damn, Wes is smart, he really is. I would want him there advising Obama on anything.

I'm for a rational defense but not being the arsenal of democracy for the world,
or saving the big three just because the Army needs some toys
I'm interested in saving and transforming it because of the jobs it produces
and the changes need to go green with our transportation needs.