Now Make Me Do It 
FDR told activists in his own party, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."
Franklin Roosevelt was also famous for not staying bought, after he took huge amounts of money from the special interests of his day. Modern politicians of either party would never do this after accepting thinly veiled bribes. They stay bought, because they know the next election is coming up, and people will find ways to be nice to them after they are out of office and don't need to worry about campaign finance laws.
I voted for Obama, but I don't think he can fix everything unless Americans tell him how. He'll have good advisors, but unless advisors read new things they may recycle the same old ideas. I think the Democrats have better ideas than the Republicans, but I don't think they're quite ready for what's coming to Americans in the next few years.
I think we'll see a lot of this, but right now I'm thinking of the auto industry. There are some great arguments that this is a terrible decision, but lets look at something new instead.
Given the assumption that the taxpayers are going to subsidize the auto industry, can we try to get some long term benefits for the country out of it, rather than just short term cash for auto executives, stock and bond holders, and some union members?
Since the free market didn't make the automakers profitable, and since they were losing market share even before the economy tanked, we taxpayers have to look after our investment.
Well, the picture isn't all bleak. You know all that bragging Ford has been doing about making the highest quality cars? Even if that's not quite proven, they have made vast strides. It just hasn't turned into market share. Of course it takes awhile for word to get around - and expensive advertising too. All the same, there are many measures of quality and innovation, and Ford has started climbing towards the top of a few of them.
Having fewer initial complaints is just a start. We need innovation - and preparation for the new round of challenges by Chinese companies such as Chery Motors in the next few years.
KEYWORDS: Roosevelt, Obama, auto industry, ford, chrysler, gm, general motors
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