"The Essence of Democracy http://baileygroup.org Tennessee GOP On the Attack Against Michelle Obama. Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama Response to President Bush's and GOP Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain. Some of President Bush speech to Israel Parliament. Text of President Bush's speech to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, as provided by the White House to the AP. This is part of the speech which Senator Obama has addressed. "The fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time. It is more than a clash of arms. It is a clash of visions, a great ideological struggle. On the one side are those who defend the ideals of justice and dignity with the power of reason and truth. On the other side are those who pursue a narrow vision of cruelty and control by committing murder, inciting fear, and spreading lies. This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is an ancient battle between good and evil. The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis. And that is why the founding charter of Hamas calls for the "elimination" of Israel. And that is why the followers of Hezbollah chant "Death to Israel, Death to America!" That is why Osama bin Laden teaches that "the killing of Jews and Americans is one of the biggest duties." And that is why the president of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map. There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It's natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century. Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is ? the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. Some people suggest if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away. This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace, and America utterly rejects it. Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you. America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying the extremists sanctuary. America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." The Auto Industry's Comeback Continues http://baileygroup.org/doris__blog/view/4316 Tue, 01 May 2012 21:46:00 CDT http://baileygroup.org/doris__blog?blogm=view&blogid=4316

Black Press International Business/Economic Feature                                   Week of April 29, 2012

BUSINESS EXCHANGE

 

The Obama 2012 campaign slogan should be "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."

President Barack Obama's role in the death of bin Laden troubles some, but his decision early in his presidency to extend billions in loans to General Motors and Chrysler has paid off. More than two years ago, the American auto industry teetered on the brink of collapse. Now, it has rebounded and has started to make vehicles for America's future. Plants are hiring more workers, manufacturers are returning to profitability, exports of U.S. vehicles are increasing and some of the most technologically advanced vehicles are now being designed and produced in this country.  The $80 billion bailout was President Obama's "bet on the American worker" and there have been ample signs of success in the automotive industry since Obama's bailout. 

The news coming out of the U.S. automotive industry has been good for Black Americans.  The automotive industry's financial crisis was more devastating for African Americans than any other community and eroded a half-century's economic gains by the Black middle class. From Blacks who left behind subsistent jobs in the South for high-paying factory jobs in the North during the Great Migration, to entrepreneurs and contractors in automotive businesses, the automotive industry has been a major factor in the formation of the Black middle class. In 1945, Blacks comprised 15 percent of the automobile industry workforce, by the late 1970s, "one of every 50 African Americans was working in the auto sector."  From 1979 to 2007, Black employment in the auto industry fell to one in 100.

Black Americans greeted President Obama's 2012 Washington Auto Show announcement that "the U.S. auto industry is back" with great anticipation.  After hitting a 30-year low in 2009, U.S. auto sales are poised for a second straight year of growth - the result of easier credit, low interest rates and pent-up demand for cars and trucks created by the recession.

Black groups and activist should move to forge increased employment, contracting and community partnerships with U.S.-based auto manufacturers as they crank up their factories and add thousands of jobs.  In addition to the expanded plant operations and employment opportunities occurring among Detroit's Big Three, foreign-owned auto companies such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and BMW have invested $44 billion into their U.S. operations to account for 80,000 direct vehicle-manufacturing jobs and 500,000 dealer and supplier jobs.

Automotive manufacturing can help Blacks.  The industry is adding jobs at a faster pace than airplane manufacturers, shipbuilders, health care providers and the federal government.  Americans spent $40 billion more on new cars and trucks in 2011 than in 2009.  The momentum in auto sales is likely to continue because people need to replace aging cars, of which the average age is 11 years old.  A substantive number of Americans are feeling more comfortable about their employment outlook and where they're going.  Domestic vehicle sales are expected to reach 17 million around 2018 as 70 million "Millennials" - born between 1981 and 2000 - buy cars and set up modern households.  These customer purchases will generate manufacturing activities that have the potential of reviving long distressed populations and industrial sectors.  Increasing manufacturing can turn long-suffering Rust Belt cities like Anderson, Ind., Youngstown, Ohio, Lansing, Mich., and Kokomo and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., into revived and fast-growing cities.  The industry's growth enhances Black Americans' jobs and contracting opportunities.

It's time Blacks take Obama's bold "bailout move" to the next level.  Innovation through education and research is vital to building a manufacturing economy.  Creating a qualified workforce of technicians and engineers is essential to ensuring future success of America's automotive industries.  Black leaders and teachers must make sure workers have the skills they need for jobs today and in the future. We need to train our people with skills that will lead to jobs for them. Above politics, we each need to engage in development programs and policies that help people get and hold jobs. 

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

 

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