Republicans are great for bleeding the economy and then telling everyone we have to be lean and mean and cut everywhere.  Well, you cannot grow an economy if the the 90% can't spend, buy American products and services and ultimately provide tax revenues to keep our economy and obligations going.  Republicans want GM, Ford and Chrysler to file for chapter 11.  That will kill those companies because who is going to buy a car from a company that could not be there in a year?  Plus, who pays for the pension obligations of their retirees and who pays for the Medicaid all these millions of people will be seeking.  We need to find a way to grow not recede.

Wes Clark has an Op-Ed in the New York Times called "What's Good for G.M. Is Good for the Army."

The following is an excerpt from the Op-Ed:  

In a little more than a year, the Army has procured and fielded in Iraq more than a thousand so-called mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. The lives of hundreds of soldiers and marines have been saved, and their tasks made more achievable, by the efforts of the American automotive industry. And unlike in World War II, America didn't have to divert much civilian capacity to meet these military needs. Without a vigorous automotive sector, those needs could not have been quickly met.

More challenges lie ahead for our military, and to meet them we need a strong industrial base. For years the military has sought better sources of electric power in its vehicles -- necessary to allow troops to monitor their radios with diesel engines off, to support increasingly high-powered communications technology, and eventually to support electric propulsion and innovative armaments like directed-energy weapons. In sum, this greater use of electricity will increase combat power while reducing our footprint. Much research and development spending has gone into these programs over the years, but nothing on the manufacturing scale we really need.

Now, though, as Detroit moves to plug-in hybrids and electric-drive technology, the scale problem can be remedied. Automakers are developing innovative electric motors, many with permanent magnet technology, that will have immediate military use. And only the auto industry, with its vast purchasing power, is able to establish a domestic advanced battery industry. Likewise, domestic fuel cell production -- which will undoubtedly have many critical military applications -- depends on a vibrant car industry.

[...]

But in an example of how the tough-sounding rules can provide Obama plenty of wiggle room, the campaign explained how the lobbyist's work didn't violate the restrictions.

Bill Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, unsuccessfully pushed Congress to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco. But because the legislation granting that authority failed, there is no dovetail between Corr's lobbying and HHS policies, said a transition spokeswoman, who did not wish to be identified.

The good news, is probably all of the good lobbyists were lobbying failures in the past 8 years.  So they are all welcome aboard.  

Also

The team reviewing the Housing and Urban Development Department is former Clinton-era HUD official Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate.

Her nomination was opposed by the late Sen. Jesse Helms (R-S.C.), who voted against her, he said, "because she's a damn lesbian."

Please take a look at this proposed solution and give some feedback.

How Barack Obama Can Solve the Gay Marriage Issue

Look at I.B.M. Some years back, I.B.M. was going the way of today's U.S. auto companies, fat, complacent, and as all virtual monopolies, lazy. They brought in a guy who knew nothing about computers, but he knew about business. Yes, lopping off 100,000 workers was painful, but it saved the other 400,000 jobs. That, and the other innovations Gerstner installed, propelled I.B.M. back to the top of the heap where I.B.M is once again the premium computer company in the world. They also are the dominant leader in super computers, owning over 50% of that market.

All other countries send their future engineers, scientists, and business managers to America to get their educations. If we got rid of today's intransient management, I have no doubt our universities would graduate students eager to take up the challenge.