many points well taken walt. i'm fairly certain there are many cities in the rust belt that would jump at the chance to re-tool defunct auto plants and start building things like solar panels, wind turbines, transmission grid, etc. i also believe manufacturing lithium batteries to keep up with demand will be essential to any hope of mass-producing plug-in hybrids and electric cars. it's my understanding that these batteries can weigh as much as 1000 pounds. logic tells us that shipping millions of those batteries from indiana, ohio, michigan or nevada would be substantially cheaper than korea or china, savings that could bring down the price of the car exponentially. i also agree that unions, if they are to survive, will have to concede the type of legacy costs that have driven up the manufacturing costs of american autos by nearly 40%. whether or not the unions priced the manufacturing base out of this country is a debate for a different board, but you can bet the foreign workers don't have as 'sweet' a deal as the americans had.
it occurs to me that if we are going to be spending our children's childrens money on a stimulus package, the least we can do is leave them with the infrastructure that will be rebuilt while we create the badly-needed jobs that will help keep homeowners out of foreclosure.
as much as i would like to see the private sector pony up the bill for this sorely-needed program, they seem content to stand there with their hands in their pockets. so if the government is the only one to stand up and kick-start us out of the abyss, then so be it.
by the way, i think taxes suck, too. alibi
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