Good luck to Tim Kaine today on his trip to Dearborn, Michigan. Kaine is attempting to convince Ford not to shut down its Norfolk assembly plant in 2008, as it announced on April 13. According to the Daily Press, "The governor will be poised to discuss a package of state and city incentives in an attempt to convince the company to change its mind." This could be difficult, however:
Kaine has vowed to lobby to keep the plant open, but he has also acknowledged the need to develop a Plan B. Government incentives might not be the answer because Ford is dealing with larger economic problems.
Larger economic problems like huge health care costs for its employees, enormous "legacy" costs for retirees, and global competition. In addition, Ford makes a lot of vehicles that are gas guzzlers in a time of $3 per gallon gasoline prices. To alleviate at least some of these problems, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) may have the answer:
Relief from soaring health care costs in exchange for more fuel-efficient cars. That's what Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, is advocating as one of many new ideas being floated in Congress to improve the gas mileage of America's cars and trucks.Noting the importance of keeping the American auto industry strong while also reducing oil use in the United States, Obama called for using government money to relieve Detroit automakers of some of their staggering health care obligations if they commit to improving fuel economy by 3 percent a year for 15 years.
"By picking up part of the tab for the health care costs of their retirees, we'd be lifting a huge burden off the auto industry so that they'll invest in the technology that will finally reduce America's dependence on foreign oil," Obama said in a speech earlier this month.
Sounds like a good deal to me. Perhaps Tim Kaine, in addition to visiting Dearborn, should pay a call on "the skinny kid with a funny name," as Sen. Obama calls himself? Just a thought.