Manufacturing discontent.

I've been more than a bit irked with America's permanent ruling class just lately. You know the one - that core of political actors who operate in and out of government, keeping things from getting out of hand. I've talked about the foreign policy establishment in the Obama administration not being all that different from the late Bush II administration (or that of Bush's father, for that matter). On the domestic policy front, we see more of the same. All of the major economic decisions are being shaped by Wall Street types, focusing on the health of companies rather than the well-being of workers. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the auto company bailouts. Obama's automotive task force is made up largely of financial types, and their solutions reflect that experience. What the hell - we could have gotten THAT from McCain.

Okay, here's what doesn't make any sense to me about this deal. We are literally pouring money into GM - not to the extent we've poured money into Citibank and AIG, mind you, but a substantial sum... enough to make us a major shareholder by anyone's reckoning. We should be getting some manufacturing jobs out of this. We should be getting upgraded plants and new, more environmentally sustainable vehicles. Instead, we're funding GM and Chrysler's efforts to move production off-shore, further eroding our manufacturing base. This is fucking idiotic. Instead of taking a hands-off approach, Obama and his administration should be pushing these companies in the right direction, providing them with contracts for, as many have suggested, components used in wind turbines, mass transit systems, and other critical technologies for the coming decades. That would be consistent with the president's campaign rhetoric; that's what he should be doing.

And if the car companies need additional financing as they retool to produce stuff that people actually need? Where would they get the money? Well, hell... aren't we part owners in some major financial institutions? The fact is, some of them wouldn't even exist anymore if it wasn't for our massive infusions of cash. Maybe we should, I don't know, direct them to provide some capital to expand industrial production in the United States, focused on useful stuff (rather than superfluous weapons systems). Yes, I know... that sounds an awful lot like central planning and socialism, but what the fuck - if we leave this up to the corporate boards and the financial mavens, what's left of our industrial capacity will have vanished in a few short years, along with our infrastructure for research and development. Nothing will be made here, nothing will be invented here... and the majority of us will be living in Hoovervilles. (Too many of us are right now, frankly.)

So... there's two ways this can go: the Hoover way, or the right way. It's the president's and the congress's choice, but we have to help them make it. Time to speak up and speak out, folks.

luv u,

jp