Obama Detroit on UserVoice

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

2008-12-11T21:01:36+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Spend 12 Billion on putting hydrogen fuel cell stations on every major highway, researching better transportation tech using hydrogen fuel cells, and subsidizing the manufacturers of fuel cell cars so that they are more affordable. If we do, we achieve 1) More jobs 2) energy independance 3) Clean energy. hydrogen fuel cells are the future. We need to grasp them now.

Use auto bailout money to build a model mass transit system

2008-12-10T18:37:00+00:00

rameshp suggested:
Instead of using the bailout money to fund unsustainable automakers, the government could build an energy efficient mass transit system in Michigan that can be exported to other countries. The automaker's workers would get jobs in the mass transit project. The auto execs will be out of work, but that is just fine. read my whole blog on this at http://blog.myfinancesblog.com/2008/12/dont-bailout-automakers-build-mass.html

electrical recharging stations

2008-12-09T14:24:24+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
To boost electrical car distribution, have the government coordinate electrical recharging stations around the country.

Share patents and intellectual property between companies

2008-12-09T14:22:56+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
As a condition of financing, the 'Detroit 3' must share all intellectual property, and pool R&D efforts. Drive new batteries, and electronics for cars. We must go 'together, quickly' as Al Gore has said.

Simply mandate some banks we bailed out extend the loans

2008-12-09T05:57:59+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Given banks owe their existence to the US government and Fed Reserve, we can and should compulse them to take on lending risk themselves, one could argue. I would at least put this up for consideration.

Focus on cushioning the blow to the workers, NOT the comp.s

2008-12-09T05:56:43+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
I believe the focus should be on scrambling to save the workers as these auto makers lay off and potentially fail, rather than sustaining these companies per se (if they survive, great). I feel if we put the focus on the workers/consumers, we can help them into the transition into other job creation as well as while likely auto competitors (either US survivors or foreign winners) employ more auto workers in the US.

Cars are the past, transit is the future. [updated]

2008-12-07T19:49:34+00:00

The government should focus on modernizing our transit infrastructure and should not spend precious time or money worrying about car manufacturers.

eco-geek987 said:

With an uncertain future in energy, oil, and the environment, we need to have as many options on the table for transportation as possible. We must make mass transit more of an option for more people, and make it more reliable and less delay time than before. We will still need cars, but with mass transit, commutes can be taken care of.

Create an increasing gasoline tax

2008-12-05T17:36:36+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
At the end of any month in which the price of a barrel of gasoline declines, add to the federal tax of half that decline. This will add a tax that doesn't hit the pocketbook (as over the course of the month, the price has dropped), helps increase the cost of carbon emissions, and encourages the production of more efficient cars.

Seamless linkages between mass transit and automobiles

2008-12-05T14:19:07+00:00

rynokil suggested:
We have the technology to turn limited access highways into highly efficient mass transit systems. Require all new cars to include coupling mechanisms which would allow for two or more cars to "talk" to each other and draft when travelling longer distances. Drafting dramatically improves fuel efficiencies and the right technology could help to eliminate serious auto accidents.

Give loans to retool auto plants for wind power components

2008-12-05T05:10:06+00:00

GreenAnimal suggested:
Instead of importing wind power components (very large rotors, generators, etc) from Europe lets retool portions of our auto industry to manufacture them here in the US. Local production would benefit our economy and our environment.

Modern plants with new technology-no UAW

2008-12-04T04:04:24+00:00

sammy97531 suggested:
We need to build modern plants like Brazil has and start building smaller cars that don't rely on gasoline . see: http://info.detnews.com/

Just save the economy, then they will be OK, right? [updated]

2008-12-03T20:57:52+00:00

1. Save economy 2. ??? 3. PROFIT!

exoh said:

FIX IT

Put some Gov't funding into gov't incentives and loans

2008-12-03T18:03:49+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Get the vechiles off the lots and into consumer hands

Require throwing out the UAW contract

2008-12-02T14:34:59+00:00

FotoGuy suggested:
The UAW is a phonebook of rules that hold back the automakers. In order to receive bailout funds (low interest loans), the UAW must throw out their current contracts with the Big Three and allow compensation like the other autoworkers at other plants here in the USA.

Require closing plants outside the US before inside the US

2008-12-02T14:26:06+00:00

FotoGuy suggested:
In order to accept low interest loans (aka bailouts), the automakers must close plants on foreign soil before closing plants in the U.S. We should not give money to any company that will in turn, layoff US workers just to do the same work outside of the US.

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-12-01T17:15:45+00:00

vontrapp said:

Of course there would be some transition cost incurred, maybe brief unemployment for some, but like someone said and I can't remember who, "Americans are not going to stop driving cars." The demand is still there, jobs will still be there. Perhaps even more jobs when better companies spring up to fill the void. Bailing out is many many times more costly IMO.

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-12-01T17:14:06+00:00

vontrapp said:

Tell me, what doomsday catastrophe would happen if the auto giants failed? Would their factories evaporate into oblivion? Would the experts under their employ cease to be experts? Would the workers acquired skills devolve into uselessness?? Or maybe, just maybe, the factories would persist, experts would be rehired by new management or entire new companies, and workers would continue working!

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-12-01T17:11:54+00:00

vontrapp said:

cheesemold, how about you take an economics course. Oh wait, that's right, economic courses are government tools to tell you the government is right to interfere and bailout.

Reinvent the Auto Industry As We Save It [updated]

2008-12-01T17:08:44+00:00

The current bailout does not achieve the goals of 1) Jobs 2) Energy Independence or 3) Clean Energy We should spin out the Chevy Volt into an open source electric car platform in exchange for the GM bailout. Any automaker will be able to build on the Volt Platform but all improvements are open source. The gov't will subsidize the cost of the initial units so that they are affordable. It's a given that any bailout should include increased fuel efficiency standards etc, but this will jump start the platform. Robert Lutz should lead this. http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveblank

vontrapp said:

How about we DON'T bail anyone out AND start an open source car?? If you're so big on an open source car why don't you design one, instead of yanking it out of the hands of someone else who has created one without intending it to be open source??

Reinvent our transportation system. [updated]

2008-12-01T07:59:18+00:00

100 years ago when the first cars were invented and the fuel source for the model T was chosen, alternative energy sources such as solar, steam, and wind were considered to power them. At the time it was cheaper to use oil, so they stuck to that. Now one hundred years later, we are facing a huge global warming problem and co2 emmisions are a huge part of the problem. Here is how we solve the problem: -change our national average mpg for cars to 50+ mpg and require them to be powered by alternative sources or be a gas hybrid. -Switch all public transportation to be 100% free from oil, and to use solar wind, and electricity. -Power trucks with 100% american natural gas (since it is the only source that can produce the best mpg) And use trains more to move goods across the country. -Provide tax breaks for fuel efficient american cars, and tax car owners that own in-efficient SUVs and cars that further guzzle gasoline. Also provide a tax break for americans that buy and pay for these vehicles for 10 years, or until they do not own the car. - Create a $1 tax on gasoline that pays for transportation projects, subsudies for small car companies that create efficient cars, and to pay for infrastructure projects. -Work with China, and India and other immerging countries to buy efficient American cars, and to switch to using non gasoline cars.

gloverette said:

New mission and goals for the system. As the interstate system in completed the focus of the programs need to shift for those of an earlier time. As a seasoned transportation professional at the local and county level the current funding levels makes it next to impossible for local communities to redesign their systems to address the chaning travel patterns of it residents and businesses.

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-12-01T05:39:26+00:00

cheesemold said:

Take an economics course. The failure of huge corporations affects the little people that depend on those wages more than the owners. The owners can cut and run whenever they see fit, wage-workers and the economy that depends on them won't benefit from a mountain crumbling down on top of everything.

Create a University Franchise System

2008-12-01T00:08:00+00:00

stevenfletcher suggested:
Create a university franchise system that, in conjunction with nearby universities and colleges, creates micro campuses in Detroit that offer easy access to continuing and higher education by creating learning institutions in areas where home foreclosures are high and in other blighted or under-served areas. Tuition should be highly subsidized and entrance barriers minimized. Education should be focused on a broad liberal education but with specific skills that will lead to employment. Institutionalized red tape such as state licensing should be minimized to reduce start-up times. Programs could be set up for five or ten years after which they can be evaluated and then turned over to public or private institutions.

Laborers should not suffer pension losses. [updated]

2008-11-30T21:55:48+00:00

Retooling is necessary but the loss of pensions and employee contracts is unacceptable. Detroit should retool to build buses, transit, and energy efficient , non-polluting autos. The USA should adopt a single payer health care system to relieve employers of this responsibility.

Dilpil said:

Who will pay for it? Not I. I did not buy a GM vehicle, I did not receive the proceeds from the sales of GM vehicles. The issue of pensions is between the car companies, their employees, and their bond holders. I have nothing to do with this.

Attach a $1.50 per gallon federal tax on Gasoline

2008-11-30T14:50:39+00:00

MikeCoon suggested:
Rather than legislate any particular fix, create an environment that pushes the market in the desired direction. Expensive gasoline changes consumer behavior in the short term, and spurs innovation in transportation technology. The automakers will produce what people want - if gas is cheap people want big SUVs, when gas is expensive people want efficiency. That might be plug-in electrics or tiny smart cars - who knows. Specifying what Detroit should build would be a huge mistake.

Just save the economy, then they will be OK, right?

2008-11-29T04:08:48+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
1. Save economy 2. ??? 3. PROFIT!

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-11-27T17:32:19+00:00

spoonyfork said:

Failure is not an option. You won't know what you've lost until your Arsenal of Democracy is gone. Something else will take its place but it will be somewhere else, controlled by someone else, making money for someone else, being an arsenal for someone else. If you are ok with that, then by all means, let it fail.

Let them fail! We already bailed them out once!

2008-11-24T15:10:32+00:00

an anonymous user suggested:
They don't listen to consumers anyway! If they did, they would not be in trouble. Let them declare bankruptcy and get resold to someone else to run the factories.

Reinvent our transportation system.

2008-11-24T12:00:31+00:00

riles5 suggested:
100 years ago when the first cars were invented and the fuel source for the model T was chosen, alternative energy sources such as solar, steam, and wind were considered to power them. At the time it was cheaper to use oil, so they stuck to that. Now one hundred years later, we are facing a huge global warming problem and co2 emmisions are a huge part of the problem. Here is how we solve the problem: -change our national average mpg for cars to 50+ mpg and require them to be powered by alternative sources or be a gas hybrid. -Switch all public transportation to be 100% free from oil, and to use solar wind, and electricity. -Power trucks with 100% american natural gas (since it is the only source that can produce the best mpg) And use trains more to move goods across the country. -Provide tax breaks for fuel efficient american cars, and tax car owners that own in-efficient SUVs and cars that further guzzle gasoline. Also provide a tax break for americans that buy and pay for these vehicles for 10 years, or until they do not own the car. - Create a $1 tax on gasoline that pays for transportation projects, subsudies for small car companies that create efficient cars, and to pay for infrastructure projects. -Work with China, and India and other immerging countries to buy efficient American cars, and to switch to using non gasoline cars.

Let the Big 3 succeed or fail in the free market [updated]

2008-11-24T02:58:41+00:00

Dilpil said:

Is the free market always right? No. In this case however, it is.