State of Our Union and the Auto Industry

Fighting against Despots and for Democracy. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… 

Only fools deny that interconnected worldwide trade is essential to the United States as well as the global auto industry. Outmoded mercantilism, failed trade wars and bullying talk by our political leaders against our allies can’t be tolerated. We The People have the right to choose and vote-out leaders such as Trump*– no matter how much they lie about election outcomes or violent insurrections that are not legitimate political discourse. Democracy means we are a nation guided by laws and protected by our willingness to uphold our Constitution. It requires leadership that upholds our values whilst looking for ways to make things better. We have voted in such leadership. (AutoInformed: Building Forward Better – President Biden, DOT, DOE Announce $5B National EV Charging Network; Biden Administration Cuts Republican Budget Deficit by 66%; Biden Proposes New Clean Energy Policies and Actions on Offshore Winds, Public Lands, Transmission Lines; Biden’s Build Back Better Act Decreases Budget Deficit!, Biden Bets on Detroit, Union Workers at GM’s EV Factory ZERO)

The auto industry’s economic impact reaches all 50 states, sustaining 10 million American jobs and more than $650 billion in paychecks. The Biden Administration – in the face of Republican opposition and treasonous praise for Putin’s war against Ukraine – has proposed a forward-looking plan that will help the auto industry continue to provide economic growth via a cleaner, safer and smarter automotive future. We need to control our destiny here. This is clear. We need to rid ourselves of alleged leaders who mock our alliances, favor rich despots and are long on talk, but weak on foreign policy and even weaker on our defense.

It was therefore heartening last night to hear our President Biden acknowledge our State of the Union, while preparing to make it stronger in the face of war – recently overseas and alas one ongoing for years at home.

 “Tonight, tonight we meet as Democrats, Republicans, and independents, but, most importantly, as Americans with a duty to one another, to America, to the American people, and to the Constitution, and an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny,” said President Biden.

“Six, six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people,” said Biden.

 State of the Union – Biden Speech Excerpts

“We meet tonight in an America that has lived through two of the hardest years this nation has ever faced. The pandemic has been punishing. And so many families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food, gas, housing, and so much more.

“I understand, like many of you did. My dad had to leave his home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to find work. So, like many of you, I grew up in a family when the price of food went up, it was felt throughout the family; it had an impact.

“That’s why one of the first things I did as President was fight to pass the American Rescue Plan, because people were hurting. We needed to act and we did.

“Few pieces of legislation have done more at a critical moment in our history to lift us out of a crisis.  It fueled our efforts to vaccinate the nation and combat COVID-19. It delivered immediate economic relief to tens of millions of Americans.  It helped put food on the table. Remember those long lines of cars waiting for hours just to get a box of food put in their trunk? It cut the cost of healthcare insurance. And as my dad used to say, it gave the people “just a little bit of breathing room.”…

“And unlike the $2 trillion tax cut passed in the previous administration that benefited the top 1 percent of Americans, the American Rescue Plan helped working people and left no one behind. And folks it worked… and created jobs lots of jobs. In fact, our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year, more jobs in one year than ever before in the history of the United States of America.

“The economy grew at a rate of 5.7% last year, the strongest growth rate in 40 years and the first step in bringing fundamental change to our economy that hasn’t worked for working people in this nation for too long. For the past 40 years, we were told that tax breaks for those at the top and benefits would trickle down and everyone would – would benefit. But that trickle-down theory led to a weaker economic growth, lower wages, bigger deficits, and a widening gap between the top and everyone else in the – in nearly a century.

“Look, Vice President Harris and I ran for office – and I realize we have fundamental disagreements on this – but ran for office with a new economic vision for America: invest in America; educate Americans; grow the workforce; build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Because we know – because we know -(applause) – because we know when the middle class grows – when the middle class grows, the poor go way up and the wealthy do very well.”…

“We’ll create good jobs for millions of Americans – modernizing roads, airports, ports, waterways – all across America. And we’ll do it to withstand the devastating effects of climate crisis and promote environmental justice.

“We’ll build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations; begin to replace the poisonous lead pipes, so every child, every American has clean water to drink at home and at school.

“We’re going to provide – provide affordable high-speed Internet for every American – rural, suburban, urban, and Tribal communities. Four thousand projects have already been announced. Many of you have announced them in your districts. And tonight, I’m announcing that, this year, we will start fixing over 65,000 miles of highway and 1,500 bridges in disrepair… (Applause.)…

“So, on this night, on our 245th year as a nation, I’ve come to report on the state of the nation – the state of the union. And my report is this: The State of the Union is strong because you, the American people, are strong. (Applause.) We are stronger today – (applause) – we are stronger today than we were a year ago.  And we’ll be stronger a year from now than we are today. This is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time.  And we will, as one people, one America – the United States of America. (Applause.) God bless you all.  (Applause.)  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you.,” concluded President Biden. (Applause.)  The Biden address ended at 10:18 pm.

*Indeed, just hours before the State of the Union Address by President Biden, the January 6 Select Committee said its evidence has shown that then-President Donald Trump and his campaign attempted to obstruct Congress’ counting of electoral votes and “engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.” The release of its findings, filed in federal court by the Committee proposes Trump with some of his collaborators may have committed three crimes:

1. Obstruction of an Official Proceeding, viz Congress’ Jan 6 session to count electoral votes.
2. Defrauding the United States by interfering in the election certification and Spreading False Information about the results.
3. Violation of the District of Columbia’s common fraud law.