Change

Floating about the political banter for just a little longer, as long as I can stand it, I want to focus on the moto of the current president. Change. Change seems to be on every lip and every speech. Yes we can.
It is important to keep in mind that change does not happen over night, and that we should not be quick to blame he who promises change if doesn't happen in our time table. But most importantly we all must remember that change, true change, requires our help. You can not just sit around doing what you've always been doing and expect change. Well, you can... but it won't happen and it will be your fault. So, I would like to bring some things directly to your attention that I can get behind for change... in the "troubled" auto industry. And troubling it is.

According to the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows us average fuel consumption of vehicles since 1980. By going here you can check the numbers too, but will find that in 30 years we have seen the greatest increase of fuel efficiency of 47.5% in the "other 2-axle 4-wheel vehicle" class... which isn't saying much when we see that it went from 12.2 mpg to 18 mpg average. It's even more depressing when we see the highest average mpg is 32.1 mpg, belonging to imported light-duty vehicles, up from 29.6 mpg.
30 years to increase 2.5? 30 years.
In 30 years of computing, we observe Moore's law, that every two years computing power doubles. That means that in the past 30 years, computing has become 32768 times better/more powerful in that time... but all we can do in mechanics in a 40% increase? And still using oil/gas to run it? I find it very hard to believe that mankind can be so advanced in one direction and yet so primitive in another.
So, as we enter this time of "change", and we see our auto industry begging, in their $5000+ suits, that they need more money because they are struggling, we will stand up and press for change. There is no excuse for an industry that does such piss poor work to get any sort of help if they are not going to get their act together.