David S. Broder - Anatomy of a Wrong Approach - washingtonpost.com

The problem and opportunity with Iraq is sacrifice. Among the many Bush Administration mistakes, one of the biggest was letting the American people off the hook when it came to sacrifice. Since Vietnam, the disconnect between the military and the civilian society has never been wider. It's almost worse in someways, while Antiwar protesters were trying to get the US out of Vietnam, there is an incredible indifference now, especially among the elite.

This brings me to my second point in that Democratic Presidential candidates have an entry into Iraq. By calling for some shared sacrifice, increase in taxes, use of bully pulpit for a call to service, etc a Democratic candidate would strike a powerful contrast with the Bush Administration and the GOP. While very political, it would also be good for the country. If we pay for this "global war on terror" as we go along, it can only help our economy. Are the wealthy elite saying that paying some taxes for the fight is more important than passing on wealth? Some will call this a class-warfare thing, but I'd argue that it is a call for America to unite itself with common sacrifice. Let the US show a unified front and win this thing.

GM Introduces Plug-In Electric Car - washingtonpost.com:

"Wagoner reacted strongly to calls from Washington lawmakers for government-mandated increases to as high as 40 miles per gallon from the current level of 27.5 mpg for passenger cars, with a lower level for trucks.

'That's simply impossible,' he said."

Wagoner's wrong and he knows it. The Big Three got fuel standards up with a federal mandate before Dingell gummed up the works and got it stopped in the 80s. Imagine if things had kept up, the Big Three would be in far better shape by not having to rely so heavily on trucks and SUVs. The consumer keeps losing in these battles

In another note, Ford and GM are quitting the minivan market with DaimlerChrysler the only "North American" car maker still in the game. This is troubling in that the Japanese and Koreans are going to come for the Big Truck market too. With the release of the new Toyota Tundra in Detroit, bad things are coming over the horizon.

Conventional Wisdom has Ford at the bottom of the heap for North American auto makers. I don't doubt that, but I don't think that GM or DaimlerChrysler are that healthy either. GM is still having trouble making money and DC just lost a Billion plus. Ford has mortgaged everything pretty much and is basically going for broke. GM is close behind, but in the end one will fall.

There's too much auto capacity in the world right now. With China coming online in the next decade and India in the decade after that, we're talking about too many cars and not enough drivers/roads/demand for autos. Ford will be around, but will have to carve a tight niche market that centers around a few cars instead of a fleet. GM will "drop/consolidate/sell" another nameplate or two. Toyota too will have to be realistic. Things are going gangbusters right now, but the competition is coming hard and fast in Asia.

Leak Reveals ‘08 Strategy From Giuliani Camp - New York Times

It certainly looks like Rudy is taking a serious look at running for the Presidency. I wonder if anyone in his camp seriously considered him switching parties and joining the Dems. It would be crazy, but he would be just right of Hillary and have the National Security creds to out do anyone else on the Democratic side. This would also get rid of his "too liberal on social issues" baggage. He could lock up some serious cash from both sides and take a serious bite out of Hillary by just showing up. Not too many moderates in either party, but it's something to think about.

The Lonely Newspaper Reader - New York Times

I guess the media is obsessed with itself,but that's not new. Things are still good at papers, it's just the people that changed ;) I'm not sure what's going to happen with the future, but healthy balance sheets and smart people should be enough to make some money. Maybe not as much as the old days, but things always changed, the old days weren't that good.