E. Ralph Hostetter

The Big Three automakers — GM, Ford, and Chrysler — may have made some concessions when they upped the ante from requesting a $25 billion bailout loan to $34 billion from Congress, but they need to fix a systemic problem to avoid the road to bankruptcy.

After the auto executives’ hearing on the first proposal, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on Fox News: "What we need is to, A, show they're going to be accountable. This is a large sum of money they want and need. Secondly, to show how they're going to be viable in the long term."

While the nation's attention has been focused on President-elect Barack Obamania and the international financial crisis, a major problem has developed on the seas off the Somalian coastline of Africa.

Not in recent years has there been such stark contrasts between candidates for the presidency of the United States.