Letter: Wanted: creative new solutions in Washington

By D. James Reilly - 12/29/2008

I watched in disbelief as a congressional panel, whose own approval rating hovers around 11 percent, chastised U.S. auto manufacturers and United Auto Workers, citing poor leadership for their financial shortfalls. And then in concern for tax-payer expense, they demanded concessions before considering a loan request of a paltry $25 billion to stave off bankruptcy while restructuring — this, after approving an uninhibited $700 billion bail-out for Wall Street bankers. Unbelievable.

The assumption that the Band-Aid approach of stimulus packages and bail-outs will help might just exasperate the problem and may actually hinder economic recovery. It's akin to fiddling with the bathroom plumbing when you have dysentery.

Best go to the head of the problem. That would be for Congress to let those with manufacturing expertise build cars. Then return to chambers and pass legislation beneficial to the entire country, not just the palm-greasing lobbyists of big oil and energy interests — interests that are the catalyst of our current economic problem.

To do this, we must first restrain inherent human greed, where too much is never enough. Then re-regulate oil and energy companies to cost, plus a percentage that would encourage investors and pay a good dividend. This should curtail supply spikes brought about by bogus fear of possibilities (hurricane-compromised supply and speculator-driven price hikes) and hope-fully stabilize the energy market.

To encourage conservation, they should implement monthly fuel allotments that would reward those who carpool, use public transportation and drive fuel-efficient cars. Those who prefer the safety and comfort of larger vehicles would pay substantially more after depletion of a monthly allotment, but the revenue generated would go not to big oil, but to an infrastructure trust to create jobs for highway construction, maintenance and green research. Thus, with job security and consumer confidence restored, the economic recession should recover, government loans and bail-outs notwithstanding.

Finally, if Congress, in the interest of free trade, allows foreign transplant auto companies to locate in America, staffed with scab labor, then, again in the interest fair trade, they should be required to pay their work force UAW wages and benefits — benefits, that after 70 years of collective bargaining, should be the standard and hallmark to strive for by all those who work for a living. Parity established, domestic product will compete well against its foreign counterpart, and the request for concessions is unconscionable.

D. James Reilly 3650 Hancock Ave.

Butte