A Truly New Deal
Charleston
President-Elect Barack Obama’s proposal of an extensive public works program to help spur the recessive economy carries with it enormous potential. However, it must not be without some sense of tentativeness that Mr. Obama proceed to implement such a massive project. Obama should heed close attention to the time period enveloping FDR’s first 100 days in office. It was during this epic period that FDR proceeded to entirely turn U.S. infrastructure upside down. By now, I’m sure, most of us are familar with the FDR comparisons Obama is conjuring. The pressing urgency of an already dire situation and the general dissatisfaction among the American people with the country’s direction are enough to draw such comparisons. Yet let it be known that it would be inherently faulty to suggest that a mere reclaiming of Roosevelt’s former blueprint can be just as readily applied to a 21st century economy as an early 20th century one. The first reason being that, at the onset of FDR’s attempt to implement his ‘New Deal’, the United States was entering some of the darkest days yet to be seen of the Depression. People were starving, millions, not thousands, were homeless, and by that time, the economy had done almost all the sputtering out it was capable of. The American people were desperate for anything and everything. President-elect Obama faces an inherently different challenge though. I am content to say that we have only seen the initial stages of this recession and may not see any significant progress until late 2009.
Just as banks were strapped for cash in 1933, today, the American financial sector has too taken a significant hit in its attempts to maintain liquidity. Obama’s number one priority should be to restore confidence to this sector. It is of utmost importance that banks, through the guiding eye of federal oversight, continue lending cash to potential borrowers. It isn’t just Susie Doe unable to recieve a loan on her new Honda Civic, it is even more so small businesses, the backbone of this nation’s econonmy, that depend on banks for financing their current and future investments.
Though, perhaps even before confidence can be restored to the market, President Obama must focus on restructuring the American auto industry. It is not without assigning strict accountability that Congress should proceed to dole out money to the American automakers. This accountability should start foremost with adherence to a draft of environmental standards layed out by Obama’s newly appointed Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Washington insider Carol Browner. In return for the use of taxpayers’ money, the automakers should be required to manufacture and distribute energy-efficient vehicles. 13, 14, 15 mpg are not acceptable benchmarks anymore. The technology is there, the braintrust is there. It is a matter of the Obama administration putting forward a strong message to the Detroit automakers: …”Either green cars or no greenbacks”.
As an eminent global influence, the United States of America under President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a fundamental obligation to establish itself as a leader in green energy and green technologies. It is only by our lead, that other countries may follow with similar implementations.
Obama’s administration must not let the auto industry fail. Truly a significant component of both the American economy and American spirit, one could argue Detroit’s “big three” are almost entitled to such financial reassurance. Remember, it is people like Henry Ford who helped revolutionize an industry. It is ordinary people like those who man the lines of GM or Chrysler’s factories today that once helped keep a nation afloat during state of war, providing armored cars and tanks, converting conveyor belts once designated for tires and combustible engines into cascading rows of munitions and other military provisions. Taxpayers need this industry for their welfare, America needs this industry to maintain its storied past.
Obama’s first 100 days in office will not be mired by the sweeping introduction of social reform once implemented by President Roosevelt. Rather, Obama’s Presidency will ultimately be predicated on how efficiently he can reorganize and revitalize the programs already in place. Sure, healthcare is a mess. But Obama can not possibly allocate time for that initially. The economy is the number one issue, as voiced by the voters. The banks have been spared, the volatile lenders responsbile for such a crisis have been spared for the most part, and now it is only appropriate that the auto industry be spared financial ruin as well. Obama can only pray that the industry hangs on before he takes office in 36 days.
