Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Coming Soon: Individual Mandate To Buy Chevy Volts

President Obama spent more than $85 billion bailing out General Motors and Chrysler three years ago. Now he claims credit for saving the industry, noting GM's recent return to the top sales spot among automakers worldwide, Ford's record profits (albeit achieved without federal funds), and the recent revival of Chrysler, (though Italy's Fiat owns it). Regardless whether you supported or opposed the government bailouts, the reality is the Big Three's assembly lines are humming again. Too bad Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is preparing yet another killer hike in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, only this time instead of merely inflicting massive costs on the industry and consumers, the coming regulation could very well demolish the Big Three for good.

Here's why: The CAFE rule is the fleet-wide average fuel economy rating manufacturers are required by Washington to achieve. The new rule -- issued in response to a 2010 Obama directive, not to specific legislation passed by Congress -- would require automakers to achieve a 40.9 mpg CAFE average by 2021 and 54.5 mpg by 2025. In case you're wondering whatever happened to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it has been supplanted in the CAFE process by the EPA. The proposed regulation was designed, according to the EPA, "to preserve consumer choice -- that is, the proposed standards should not affect consumers' opportunity to purchase the size of vehicle with the performance, utility and safety features that meets their needs." But the reality is that consumer choice will be the first victim.

More

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only a rich libtard would buy a Chevy
Volt

Anonymous said...

I am getting so tired of all this government control. They want to tell you what car to buy. They tell you what toilets and light bulbs to buy. If I want to buy a regular light bulb or a toilet that you don't have to fluch twice because it is energy saving then I want that option to buy what I want. If I want to buy a muscle car that goes 200 mph and only get 15 mpg then I want the option to make my own dicisions to buy whatever I want with my money. That is what I loved so much about the sixties. Americans were free to do or buy whatever they wanted without all this government control B.S. This is what liberal ,socialism has done for us. Thanks Obama Dictator Obama.