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It feels strange to be agreeing with Mitt Romney, but I have to second his opinion (in yesterday’s New York Times) that Congress should not bail out the Auto Industry. First, you have the ludicrous example of the three top Execs from Ford, GM and Chrysler all flying to Washington in their (separate) private jets. Representative Gary Ackerman (D. NY) is being quoted all over the web today with his witty comments, the clever analogy to a guy in a soup kitchen wearing a tuxedo as well as:

“Couldn’t you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?” Ackerman asked the executives at a hearing held by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D. California) also chided the industry execs, but added:

“I also, though, must recognize that you’re in trouble mostly because of the economic downturn.”

I think it’s more than that. Romney calls for a total restructuring of the way the auto industry does business, something that a managed bankruptcy process would make possible. He calls for a collaboration between labor and management to end “the huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands” as well as “accepting sanity in salaries and perks.” In The Economist last week, they agree that Chapter 11 is the solution:

The United States created Chapter 11 precisely to help companies that need protection from their creditors while they restructure their liabilities and winnow out the good business from the bad….The stigma of Chapter 11 (held up by the industry as poison for their business) would fade, obscured by price cuts, advertising and most of all news that the car companies were tackling their remaining problems…In many ways, Chapter 11 is more stable and predictable than depending upon the government.”

A friend returned from an extended visit to Hong Kong last week and told me folks she met there thought the U.S. Government was a “bully.” The truthiness of that comment (to steal from Colbert) makes me cringe, even as I am reminded of a poll claiming Americans don’t care about global approval. As a mother of teenagers, the peer pressure issue has me conflicted. Obviously I want my kids to make smart choices regardless of what “everybody else does or says” and yet, when I think of the U.S. walking out on the Kyoto Treaty or snubbing the U.N. by invading Iraq, among other things, I wince. The fact is, I never liked bullies, and I don’t find it a particularly effective form of international relations. With this election’s drastic choice for change in U.S. leadership (particularly compared to McCain’s more-Hawkish-than-Bush approach to foreign relations), our government has an opportunity to redo its global relationships. World reactions to Obama as president-elect reflect this hopeful and watchful stance. Despite fears from domestic conservatives that he may be too soft or too willing to talk to our enemies, Obama is smart, tough, and invested in leaving a legacy of success. The only way he will do that is to strengthen alliances, lead wisely, and yes, dialogue with folks we don’t like. It won’t be easy, and a variety of views show high expectations and cynicism abound. But the reality is that a majority of Americans demanded a new type of leadership on Nov. 4, 2008, and that act alone has renewed world hope in the United States and the promise of democracy. Now is the time to end the bully-in-the-playground approach to world politics, and use brains and diplomacy for a change.

In the recent Merrimack Repertory Theatre rendition of the long-running Broadway musical, The Fantasticks, the first act ends on a happy note. Boy gets girl, the wall between two familes comes down, the fathers remain friends, and the whole cast strikes a joyful pose. But, even before the curtain came down, there was wobbling, the grins started to seem a trifle forced, the audience knew that there was trouble ahead, and there was.

In the midst of my joy over the election results at every level, I feel a little wobbly. After all, look at the mess we are in both at home and in the world; it’s not going to be easy to pick up the pieces. We all know that Obama has a difficult task ahead of him. That said, I think he’s the man for the job. Pundits on AM radio are saying he only got elected because of his race and are questioning his experience and credentials (his, but not Palin’s, of course). Certainly, George W. Bush had a less than inspiring resume, and I remember thinking in 2000 that I hoped he had some good advisors- as it turned out he assembled a team of self-serving, behind-the-scenes operators who pulled the strings and kept him in a cocoon of his own delusions. As fantastic as it is for all Americans that the racial barrier has fallen, the election was about more than race. It was about a needed change from the last 8 years of failed policies and disasterous governing.

And for a happy ending that’s believable, you might care to see how The Fantasticks turns out – the show runs until November 9 and tickets are still available.

For a change, the weather is cooperating to help voter turnout. The loyal sign-holders are not shivering and stamping their feet to stay warm or huddled under dripping umbrellas, but basking in the autumnal sunshine.

Jackie’s out and about today, phone-banking for Obama, working the Election Day Bake Sale at the Daley School, and holding signs to vote “No” on Question 1. She just gave me the news that in Colorado, they are predicting a 90% turnout. From Secretary of State Galvin’s office, the prediction for Massachusetts is 83-88%! In Lowell, we have about 47,000 registered voters, of which around 12,000 turnout to vote for the local elections. I think it is at least twice that for a presidential year, but still nowhere near the 80% level.

My family and I just returned from voting at the Pine Street Firehouse (Ward 8-1). It was our son’s first time casting a ballot. There was no line and no bake sale, alas, but turnout in our precinct was already 455, which is pretty high. At the Sullivan School, one precinct that typically gets 1,200 voters had over 1,000 counted by noon, with long lines at the other precinct that votes at the school. Long lines were also reported at the Chelmsford polls during the morning rush hour.

Jackie said that bake sale profits at the Daley have already topped the typical total amount, so get out there and vote and buy a brownie or two to support your school’s PTO. For added incentive, Starbucks is giving a free coffee to those who have voted.

These last few days, it’s as if I am slowly emerging from a self-inflicted burial, like a female version of The Awakening sculpture…  Blame it on family health concerns, turning 50 (UGH—did I actually admit that?), the imminent onslaught of winter, or the bleak fiscal environment that surrounds us. Whatever it is, I have been struggling to thwart this malaise, and one helpful distraction has been my preoccupation with the views of people I love and respect regarding the presidential campaign. How is it that intelligent people can have such divergent perspectives on the leading candidates? We watch the same debates but seem to hear different things. For instance, I hear Obama say he wants to redistribute the wealth by reducing the tax burden on those of us making less than $250K and make priority investments in areas such as energy, environment, and education. I like that. McCain’s response is that he will cut taxes for all people (Where’s the revenue to do anything?) and slash spending (What about vital services?) and provide a $5K credit for funding health insurance. (Good luck finding insurance for that $.)  Some in my family, many of whom also make less than $250K, aren’t comforted by Obama’s plans to help the middle class. They say he is inexperienced yet have no problem supporting Sarah Palin.

Perhaps it is because we are informed only by points of view that support and strengthen our preconceived ideas, so we don’t really hear anything except what we’ve already decided. In my family, we can’t even have a polite conversation about it. I tried at my birthday celebration last week; it lasted barely three minutes before voices were raised and accusations made about Obama’s alleged terrorist affiliations (oh come on!) and Palin’s cutesy ignorance—not much listening happened. Perhaps our voting choice is more about philosophical differences regarding the role of government, but even that seems an incomplete explanation. The fact is, most of my Republican family members share my values; apparently we don’t agree on which leader will take us there. For my part, I can’t understand how they can be good, smart people (which they are), yet so misguided. I just wish they would listen more closely…

As a Barack Obama supporter, I was thrilled to read in today’s Boston Globe that Colin Powell had endorsed his candidacy. Powell, a former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Secretary of State, and National Security Advisor under Republican and Democratic presidents, brings his own brand of credibility to this election, and his approval is a huge asset to Obama’s campaign. I remember years ago reading Powell’s autobiography, My American Journey, and being struck by his work ethic and his commitment to do his best at whatever task he was given—even if it was simply washing the floor. He was a man who commanded respect on both sides of the aisle. Powell later disappointed me in 2003 when he spoke before the United Nations Security Council and made a half-baked case built on misinformation that led to the U.S. invasion into Iraq. At that time, I remember thinking that he had caved to the Bush administration and compromised himself out of loyalty to his leader—a true soldier after all. Despite that flawed decision, Powell’s integrity and intelligence remain intact, as demonstrated by this quote in response to the scare tactics from the McCain campaign about Obama’s alleged terrorist connections and faith:

“If you’re an American, you’re an American. We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and realize the strength of this country is our diversity and our unity.”

Yeah, Powell gets it. It shouldn’t be about the color of your skin or the name of your house of worship. Scare tactics should be recognized for what they are: feeble attempts to divide us by folks with no real solutions. The only way we are truly going to deal effectively with the economic, international, and environmental crisis we find ourselves in is with a leader who has the ability to look forward, build consensus, and unify our nation. In this race, that man is Barack Obama.

If you’re like me, you hate getting calls from telemarketers, yet find it hard to be rude to them, which can make it difficult to get off the line. (They’re just folks trying to make a living, right?) Since getting caller identification, this problem has greatly reduced our dinnertime interruptions although the phone still rings; we simply don’t pick up (unless I forget or get curious about a number). Last week, my niece emailed me that cell phone numbers are now going to be included in a public database too, making them subject to telemarketers. Turns out, this isn’t true according to information cited on the national Do Not Call Registry: “FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers don’t call consumers on their cell phones without their consent.”

Even so, I decided to block my home and cell phone numbers by calling the registry, which is managed by the Federal Trade Commission, at 888-382-1222. You can also block your phone number online. The whole process took less than 30 seconds—well worth it if prevents those annoying calls.

Don’t be left out of the most important election of the century. Not only in terms of national issues, but statewide initiatives on the Nov. 4 ballot will have immediate and far-reaching impacts on people from all levels of our community. To have a say in this election, you must be a registered voter (a Massachusetts resident, a citizen, and at least 18 years old) and TODAY is the last day to register! Register by completing this form and mailing it (postmark Oct. 15) to your city’s election department. You may also register in person. In Lowell, you have until 8 p.m. tonight to register at City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street. New citizens may register to vote after the deadline by bringing their dated naturalization papers to city hall by 4 p.m. the day before the election.

The two presidential candidates and their running mates could not be more different in their priorities and plans for dealing with the pressing issues facing our nation (watch tonight’s debate). In terms of the Commonwealth, ballot question 1 alone, if it passes, could devastate the delivery of basic services to our communities by reducing state revenues by more than 40 percent. For details about the impacts of Question 1, a reckless proposal to eliminate the state income tax, check here. For more information on state and local candidates, see this website I recently learned about that allows you to identify your candidates based on your address. It also offers discussion of the ballot iniatives including pros and cons of each one. Whatever you do, be informed, and VOTE because it matters.

Maybe it’s no surprise to you, but the National Organization for Women (NOW) has come out strongly against Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. For a more balanced look at the presidential candidates’ views on issues that NOW sees as being of particular concern to women, check here. In the meantime, below is a sample of statements that I received via email regarding their views of Palin: 

“Friends, we are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate that has a real possibility of becoming fact.

“Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech, gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second- (and possibly first) -most-powerful person on the planet. 

“We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and altogether devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin’s political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and from which we’ve so demonstrably benefited.

“First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women…”  

Yesterday’s Boston Globe featured an op-ed by UMass Lowell Amy Perlmutter and Joel Tickner (fellow and associate professor at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production) that promotes exploiting the connection between environmentally friendly technology and future economic strength. The authors say, in addition to efforts around renewable energy, Massachusetts has “a leading edge in four other key areas”: green chemistry, green buildings, materials reuse, and emerging materials. They urge state power brokers to “take advantage of…the Commonwealth’s competitive advantages to become a world leader of the green economy of the future.” Contrast that message to James Carroll’s column on the same page where he discusses the “nice coincidence” of the government’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout costing about the same as the Pentagon’s yearly budget. Carroll’s point: “One need not be an economist to know that spending money on war planes, missiles, and exotic weapons systems, not to mention combat operations, creates far less social capitol than spending on education, bridges, mass transit, new forms of energy—even the arts. The genius of this nation’s most brilliant minds has been yoked for more than half a century to the invention of ways to kill and destroy.”

How’s that been working for us so far? The United States is a major exporter of weapons worldwide, which has aided the growth of terrorism and destruction of our environment; we desperately need leadership with a new vision for employment for our people and our role in the world. We must rethink our focus and put our best creative minds and resources to developing green technologies that will reinvigorate our economy and sustain our future.