O-mama - Opinionated Moms

Offical White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Obama was in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, speaking at a Chrysler plant boasting that all three U.S. car companies, GM, Chrysler, and Ford, reported profits for the first quarter of 2010, the first time since 2004.  The companies have re-hired 55,000 workers after previously shedding jobs, and the manufacturing success is attributed to  the $59 billion dollar rescue package to the auto industry.

The auto industry has paid the government back $18.3 billion in interest and dividends, promising tens of billions more when the stock goes public later in the year. However, the government currently still controls approximately 60% of GM’s equity. With the Jeep Grand Cherokee Chrysler factory as a backdrop, Obama told employees that his opponents wanted to just walk away, and let the auto industry jobs go.  “But today, this industry is stronger. It’s creating new jobs. We are proving the naysayers wrong.”

MOMism: “There will be bumps in the road.”  Moms are practical.  We know that there will always be bumps, road blocks and twist and turns.  We teach our kids to buckle up and proceed with caution because we never know where the road may lead.  When there are detours, we tell them to keep going and find your way back home.

The American auto industry has had its fair share of bumps.  They didn't build the cars we wanted...or needed, they spent too much money on overhead and shipped jobs overseas.  Instead of leading innovation, they resisted it at every turn.  They lost market share to foreign competitors and jeopardized the manufacturing base of the US economy.  They didn't have a good map and they got lost.

Besides Sunday drives and the apple pie and Chevrolet sentimental journey down memory lane, we are a country at war.  We need to be able to build things...we need a skilled labor force, we need plants, we need materials.  We need to be ready and able to adapt to the twists and turns, today and always.  Hopefully, the auto industry realizes that they need to get in the fast lane when it comes to technology and innovation.  They got a "green light" from the American taxpayer, albeit not very enthusiastically, so they need to put the pedal to the metal and go, go, go!  After all, if they win the race to the finish, we are the ones that win the grand prize - American jobs making their way back home!