I am a hybrid
Not sure who found this first,
Mindy or
Kelly, but I copied off of them. Kelly was a Hybrid too, so just another reason to believe we are compatible?
38 miles per gallonCreated by The Car Connection
More Bailouts? Message to the Big 3 and a Modest Proposal
Hey Big 3...Maybe you should have managed yourselves better over the past 25 years or so! The writing has been on the wall for years, again that's years, that gas prices were going to go up and people would be looking for more fuel efficient options, you have known for some time that if you couldn't control your costs and take on the UAW that foreign car makers were going to out produce you. Nope you were all too happy to continue to keep pumping out big
SUV's and Trucks and taking in all that cash. So, what happened to all that cash? Why didn't you use some of it to retool your plants to build more efficient operations and fuel efficient cars? Nope, instead you just lived in the now and were content getting fat and happy off of the SUV and truck sales and now that you have gotten yourself in trouble you want big daddy government to bail you out too.
I tell you what, since the bail out is the tax money of the American people, why don't we let them decided on whether you should be bailed out? Here is my "crazy" idea. Simply put, if the American people think you need to be bailed out then we will just go out and buy your product. Let's face, no one is buying your out-of-date products, and now you are hurting because if someone is going to buy a car in this environment then they are going to go with the most cost effective option, which usually isn't one from the Big 3. This kind of thing just bugs the crap out of me because companies like GM are basically putting the government on the hook for their short-sightedness. So now the government finds themselves in a situation where they either let companies like these burn and take the
consequences of their poor management or they hand them money so the ripple effect doesn't impact companies that are suppliers to this industry who didn't do anything wrong but now will be impacted by this
debacle. Some will say, let the free market sort it out, but unfortunately its not that simple anymore, too many companies that rely on these bigger dinosaurs for business will be impacted. Part of me wonders how bad it would be if we just let companies like this go under? Yes, it would definitely cause some pain on the economy and a lot of good people would lose their jobs, but American companies have been staring at this problem for years. We have a lot of inflexible,
bureaucratically bloated companies out there that just aren't flexible enough to retool for change. Is that the model that we want for companies that are helping drive our economy? Maybe we need some of these big dinosaurs to go extinct so more nimble and better managed companies can step up and take a leadership role and rebuild our economy to be more
efficient and lean and mean again? Honestly, I think this would be a better strategic option than just sticking a band aide on a gunshot wound which is what we are doing with these bailouts now. It may help in the short run, but at the end of the day we will still have the same problems in play and I seriously doubt we will learn our lesson unless we see the consequences of letting companies like these survive. If we let our economy regrow with newer more flexible companies then new jobs would be produced and our economy would be resistant to the problems we see today.
Labels: economy, politics
History Made
I have been holding off on posting since it was announced that Sen. Barack Obama was elected the 44
th President last night. Mainly because I was afraid I couldn't do the whole event justice. So for now, I plan on just writing a few words and then posting later when I can collect my thoughts better. What really struck me personally last night as I was listening to his acceptance speech was the historic
significance this election had on not just the United States but the entire world. For what ever reason this never really occurred to me during the race. I was more focused on researching the candidates and trying to determine who I thought could do a better job. But last night listening to his inspiring oratory and watching the faces in a very diverse crowd I was moved and invigorated. It was almost as if a massive breath of fresh air entered the room and a weight was lifted off the country, for a short time. His call for Americans to come together and help make this country great and be a respected leader in the world again was such a refreshing change from the "you are either with us or against" refrain we had grown accustomed to over the past 8 years that I couldn't help but be inspired.
It remains to be seen how good a President Barack can be, but I do believe he was the right candidate to bring a
severely divided nation together. I hope those who may not have supported his bid for the White House will at least give him a chance to prove whether he is up to the job or not, because this country has seen enough negativity over the last several years and its time we get past it and focus on each of us doing our part to make this a country an even better place.
Finally, I would like to say that Sen. John McCain did an admirable job. His concession speech was nothing short of classy and inspiring in its own right. His call to work with President Elect Obama to make America stronger was
sincere and well delivered. I have a lot of respect for him. He could have easily followed a "sore loser" mentality and further
divided the country but he did what was best for the country he loves and that my friends is what makes him a great leader as well.
Labels: elections, politics
The World is Watching!
I was reading over some election articles online today and began skimming over the comments that readers are allowed to leave at the end of an article. I was absolutely struck by the amount of international outpouring going on right now. People all over the world are locked into our election to see what happens. Comments are pouring in on how much people have hope in America and American citizens. Now I know a lot of Americans absolutely don't care what people in
foreign lands think and feel like we should just close off our borders and give the rest of the world the bird, but I was touched by how much America means to people outside of our country. We really are a beacon of hope to people in other counties. We are seen as the undisputed leader of this great world of ours and I don't mean from a military sense. People want to see us as the "good guys" the "knight in shining armor" that always stands up for the little guy and the right cause, even if it is on distant shores.
Reading comments from people in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, saying God Bless America and God Bless Americans really got me thinking. If we were a power like Russia or China going through an election, would this outpouring occur? I really don't think so, to so many people around the world our country really is seen as that great shining city on a hill as President Reagan put it. Knowing that these people have so much faith in our system and our citizens to put things right and lead not just our country but the whole world to better times really makes me proud. Like I said before, many people will disagree with this and will make comments on how they don't care what "foreigners" think about our country, but in all reality, we no longer live in a world where we can just "do our own" thing and not worry about the ramifications of our actions. Just look at the economic fallout from our housing collapse. It didn't just effect the U.S. it impacted the whole world's economy. Or look at our agriculture. Our farmers don't just feed our citizens they feed a good portion of the world and if we only produced for
ourselves not only would our own supply and demand cripple our hard working farmers but people all over the world would starve. No, the U.S. can no longer afford to just worry about ourselves, we really need to be able to strike a balance of meeting our own citizens needs and leading by example around the world. Who knows if either candidate will do this, but I definitely think that we need to get back to being the good guys to our own people and the rest of the world.
Labels: elections, politics
Did You Vote?
Kelly and I got up early this morning and walked over to the Baptist Church a block from our apartment to vote. We got there around 6:30 AM and there was a small line out the door. It took us about 25 minutes or so to make it through the line and fill out our ballots. The line didn't seem bad to me considering what the news was predicting for turn out, but while in line I overheard one of the volunteers say that this is the busiest he has ever seen it the early in the morning. Personally, I think our line was a little shorter because so many people voted early this year and there are a large number of voting stations around
Evanston which helps spread people out.
It is definitely nice to have it out of the way. Now I can just sit back at home tonight and watch things unfold. If you are a registered voter and haven't voted yet I encourage you to get out and
exercise your civic duty. Its a great freedom we have in this country and I am really happy to see so many people interested in the process, whether they agree with my views or not, having this many people
energized can only mean good things for our country in the long run! We should all continually take a vested interest in our how our country is run every day not just on election days!
God Bless America!
Labels: elections, politics
