Dear Mr. President, Please Don’t Kill My Kids
by Chris BurgardOn Dec. 12, 1974, my grandparents were driving home when a vehicle traveling 50 miles per hour hit them. On March 17, 2002, I was driving home when a vehicle driving traveling 50 miles per hour hit me.
My grandparents were killed instantly. I lived. My grandparents were driving an AMC Gremlin. I was driving a Dodge 3500 diesel dually pickup truck.
AMC is now out of business. Dodge Trucks are still selling well. The free market decided that we didn’t need AMC Gremlins.
I still drive a Dodge dually. We factor in safety versus miles per gallon on every automobile purchase that my wife and I make. Devo could not have said it better: “Freedom of Choice…It’s what you want!” Freedom to choose is a basic American right. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are guaranteed to me and 299,999,999 other Americans by the Constitution.
Mr. President, I did not give you nor the Federal Government permission to use my tax dollars to bailout Chrysler or GM. Neither did any of my friends. We did not have a choice in that matter.
We all knew that GM and Chrysler were headed for bankruptcy. So be it. It would be a hit to the American economy. Yep. Let’s take the hit and move on. I believe President Obama, that you knew that GM and Chrysler were headed to bankruptcy as well, but by giving them our money first, you were able to seize control of the American auto industry. In one fell swoop, you became the head of GM and Chrysler. You turned the United Auto Workers Union into GM and Chrysler owners. You nailed the coffin shut on Ford, the one manufacturer who turned down your money (…our money). How is Ford going to negotiate wages with a union that is now also their competitor?
Mr. President, you have created an army of Czars that are answerable only to you. Our Constitution says that only Congress has the power to create taxes and they are answerable to the people. Not only does our new car Czar not answer to Congress, he won’t even go on Neil Cavuto. Where is the transparency, Mr. President?
But I digress. Your administration has already strong-armed the auto industry into accepting mileage compliances for their new vehicles. Michael Moore is giddy with the fact that the US Government now owns 60% of GM. He wants you to end the auto industry as we know it. According to him, GM should only produce bullet trains, buses and hybrids. If the two of you have your way, Americans will no longer be able to purchase a GMC SUV or a big Dodge truck.
Our family car is a General Motors Hummer H2. I am sure you are familiar with the brand and model; you just sold them to China. China may not want our debt, but they will still take our SUVs.
It is fairly common for us to get cut off and then flipped the finger by eco-saints whenever we drive into the city. Several times we only narrowly avoided a serious freeway accident. Quite often, Mr. President, these cars have bumper stickers with your name on them. These self-righteous “Earth Savers” feel completely justified in their actions as they curse at my children and me because they are only offending and risking the lives of people who are riding in a “planet killer.” The fact that we heat our house with reclaimed wood, run almost 100% of our ranch on solar power, grow our own fruits and vegetables, and for the three weeks out of the year when our dirt road washes out, the only way in or out of our ranch is in a 4×4 Hummer or it’s equivalent, never enters into their sanctimonious consciousness.
I see this same kind of prejudice in your speeches and your actions Mr. President. I see this same arrogance as you steer our nation away from free enterprise and into the arms of the Central Planning Committee.
Last week, my wife was rear-ended by a driver who never even hit his brakes. His truck slammed into my wife at 50 miles per hour.
I thank God that the Germans put good steel in their vehicles and know a little something about engineering. If my wife had been driving an AMC Gremlin, she would probably be dead now.
Soon my children will be driving and buying cars of their own. Mr. President, will you allow them to have freedom of choice or will you doom them to take their chances in a 21st century AMC Gremlin?
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225 Comments
Keep at it Chris you are great. You are absolutely right about Obama. He has a very specific agenda and could care less about what you think.
Anyone who can quote a Devo song in an article is alright with me. Oh yeah, agree 100% with your article.
Excellent article! I especially LOVED this part..
"I believe President Obama, that you knew that GM and Chrysler were headed to bankruptcy as well, but by giving them our money first, you were able to seize control of the American auto industry."
Damn right he knew as did we all and the only reason that he DID bail them out is for the exact reason that you mention, if he didn't then HE and the government wouldn't be in charge of it right now. If he had left it alone the same thing would have happened, only without billions of taxpayers dollars down the toilet.
obama and this administration totally suck.
"Dodge Trucks are still selling well."
Really? Moron.
So you have PTSD and you get severe anxiety when driving in small cars. What does your psychosis have to do with the rational debate on mileage regulations and why does the rest of society have to cater to your fears?
Furthermore, assuming you believe the crap you write, I take it you are perfectly ok driving around in a Hummer and killing other people's children when they can't afford a $60,000 car? Cowardly and indifferent to other members of society, you are a true conservative. Solution: grow a pair.
Next
You may have noticed that the blog has picked up a couple of trolls recently. À la Carnac the Magnificent, I predict the lib trolls will post something to the effect:
"You stupid republicans. Don't you know that we can achieve 35+ mpg just by correctly inflating our car tires?" (I actually got this statement from a liberal).
Obama estimates the new EPA guidelines will cost car buyers $1300. Industry experts say the cost increase will be between $5000 and $13000 per car. Who are you going to believe?
H8r, so what's your point? Or is it just another attack ad hominem?
Chris, keep callin em like you see em. Mr Obama's misdirected policies will fail, the country will suffer for awhile then we'll pick up the pieces and start again. Until then, protect yourself because the gubment isn't in that business lately.
LOL…classic liberal schtick. When you really stop think about what is being said in the post, it's so inane that it becomes funny. It is so stupid that it goes way beyond the stupid we know into a whole different sensorium of stupid. It is trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid.
I now know the country will ultimately survive the liberal infestation; liberals like this troll are the epiphany of stupidity, and 'survival of the fittest' dictates that they eventually must disappear into the dustbin of history.
You won't have to worry about your kids dying in eco-friendly clown cars. Contrary to popular belief, the goal of the lefties isn't to get us into smaller cars – it's to get us onto cattle cars. In Michael Moore's Brave New World, we'll all be herded onto public trains and shipped back and forth between our government-owned homes and our government-owned workplaces. The only people still driving will be those who can afford cars – like Michael Moore and Babs Streisand. And they'll probably be driving Hummers.
Isn't the point of lowering the cost of Obamacare to have lots of dead people smashed inside Smart Cars?
Oh spare me your weepy-eyed SOB story about all the poor people who can't afford to drive safe cars, since it's the oft-stated goal of the left to make driving so expensive that only rich people can afford it. Either you're demanding that we jack the gas tax up so high that people won't be able to buy gas, or you're snivelling because gas prices are so high. You whine about how unsafe SUV's are, then you demand people drive around in silly little clown cars that crumple like tin cans when they hit a speed bump. You people are as neurotic as you are insipid.
It's ironic that you call yourself "antifascist". You and your left wing brethern are completely fascist. You want to control what we drive, eat, say, wear, etc. You want to control every aspect of our lives all under the guise of "doing what's best for all of us", because those of you on the left know better than the rest of us how we should live our lives. If you want to drive a golf cart because you think you are "saving the planet" that has been here for billions of years (and will be here for billions more) you are free to do so. Those of us who actually embrace freedom would never impose a mandate on your choice of vehicle.
It's ironic that you call yourself "antifascist". You and your left wing brethern are completely fascist. You want to control what we drive, eat, say, wear, etc. You want to control every aspect of our lives all under the guise of "doing what's best for all of us", because those of you on the left know better than the rest of us how we should live our lives. If you want to drive a golf cart because you think you are "saving the planet" that has been here for billions of years (and will be here for billions more) you are free to do so. Those of us who actually embrace freedom would never impose a mandate on your choice of vehicle.____
The rest of us choose to drive safer, larger vehicles. Your hyperbolic rant about "killing other people's children" is typical lefty spew that you regurgitate when you can't debate with logic. It's kind of like how you lefites love calling someone a 'racist' when you run out of slogans and platitudes to regurgitate during an argument.
____ I will continue to drive my SUV, eat meat, own and carry firearms, make money as a capitalist, and be thankful that I am an American. I know that pi$$es you lefties off, which makes me all the more satisfied.
"Business Booms at Doomed Chrysler Stores"
http://www.autonews.com/article/20090609/ANA05/90...
On the point about building less safe cars, see this parody entitled "GM Unveils More Aggressive Post-Bailout Commercial": http://optoons.blogspot.com/2009/06/exclusive-gm-...
Just like a liberal, let's just take everything to the lowest common denominator, so every one is equal. Instead having everyone aspire to reach the top.
But Chris, the more humans that die, the better off the Earth is. Hey everyone, this guy hates the Earth!!
Delving into the world of Liberal logic now are ya? That's a subject for a Sci-Fi Fantasy novel? Emphasis on "Fantasy"…………
Love that 35 mpg the Eco-nuts toss around.
Here's some "useless" info……..Currently the only cars produced today that can meet the new rules (Barely) are the Civic Hybrid, Hinda Insight (POS), Prius(also POS) and the Mariner/Tribute Hybrid…………..And insiders say the cost will be, on average, about $5400 a car……….
A $25,000 Chevette! Yea!
Someone call the whaaaambulance. The effeminate conservatives want to "feel safe" by driving their big cars. "Oh no, Obama is going to KILL MY CHILDREN if I have to drive in anything less than a Hummer! Oh me oh my, lord have mercy!" hahaha I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. You are a caricature of the gluttonous conservative.
Excellent article, I agree completely.
Seriously WTF ya running on about your comments read like you are more likely antfiber than antifascist seek help for your constipation buddy.
"…when they can't afford a $60,000 car?"
The problem is that all cars before long will come with that price tag. Go back to the DUmmies where you belong. John and the team should ban you immediately just like I would be if I posted on DU.
Wow! That all ya got? Please please be a wee bit more origional, GOOD GOD I thought the left tended to be the creative types I have yet to see anything but trite bile from the trolls as of late..
I've just lived among them for too long. I think they're infiltrating my brain. Hey, liberal body-snatchers! I think that could work.
Nice article. I do drive a car that impresses me with its feeling of fragility. It would be real nice if I could get a more solid car that would last longer, be safer, and oh yeah, lets Drill! so I can get some gasoline at a reasonable price. In order to get a somewhat effective car but be very lightweight, I suppose I have to spend a lot more money for my car.
I'm getting it from all sorts of different directions. Thanks Liberals!!
Where's the ad hominem? antifascist made several salient points relating directly to the arguments made in the article. Your response? "MEANIE!"
Typical Breitbart idiocy.
"Bwahaahahaa STUPID LIBERTARDS doink doink…"
None of Vainomoinen's reply even remotely traffics in ad hominem, so please don't be quick to chime in with the remonstrations. All you conservative "ad hominem" attack haterz.
"Soon my children will be driving and buying cars of their own. Mr. President, will you allow them to have freedom of choice or will you doom them to take their chances in a 21st century AMC Gremlin?"
What ever happened to personal responsibility? Your sentiment suggest you are looking for a "Nanny state" solution.
I drive a tiny little econo box. That's my choice. If I die, well, I know I took my chances. I am an adult and I call my own shots. My wife's parents don't like it. But at least they blame me and my wife… not the government.
What a command of supply and demand you have. Presumably you are implying that Chinese Hummers will stay at $60K and every other car will match that price. Interesting theory. If you are scheduled for a GED exam, you might want to consider pushing it back a bit.
Please feel free to roll around on half inflated tires. FOR FREEDOM!
No, I respect some of the concepts that conservatives claim. Conservatives have been holding the line in the greater social discourse on the matter of "personal responsibility". That is an excellent concept and now we see some liberals emulating that line.
This article is not consistent with the conservative principal of personal responsibility. It may inadvertently be a caricature, I don't think gluttony has anything to do with it.
Oh no your INTENSE DEBATE METER is red. You better duck.
So insightful. And prescient. Who's going to preside over the big conservative round up? And where will we be placing y'all? Yucca Mountain?
if you drive a Dodge and the family car is a hummer2 what was your wife driving?
"Last week, my wife was rear-ended by a driver who never even hit his brakes. His truck slammed into my wife at 50 miles per hour.
I thank God that the Germans put good steel in their vehicles and know a little something about engineering. If my wife had been driving an AMC Gremlin, she would probably be dead now."
WHY ARE YOU NOT BUYING AMERICAN????!!!???!?!
Thank you for avoiding ad hominem attack and for honoring holocaust victims with your choice of avatar name.
Everybody be very careful Auntie’s being very serious now, when he gets stern like this he well… wets himself. Auntie tell everybody what Santa Claus brought you this year, I bet it was special.
Even if Drill, Baby, Drill were substituted in schools for the Pledge of Allegiance, the benefits from maximum drilling of our own resources wouldn't have any impact for 10 years, and your buddies in Big Oil have seen fit not to increase refinery capacity. Enjoy yer FAIL.
Yes, the planet will still be here. It will just be too hot to support human life. But we'll all be dead by then so who cares, right?
When you think about it, there are very, very few well-known liberals that drive small cars. Ed Begly, Leonardo DiCaprio……..and that's about it. And even Leonardo offsets driving a small car by flying around with a chartered jet, so what's the point? All for show, I guess. Al Gore? Yeah, right. He won't drive in anything short of a limo, while he flies around in private jets consuming untold hundreds of gallons of fuel and spewing off enough carbon and pollution in a month for my lifetime traveling the world commercial. What about Congress? Who drives an econ box? Probably one out of 535 representatives and 100 Senators. I saw an interview with Robert Kennedy Jr who is an environmental lawyer. He lobbies for environmental actions and such. He drives an SUV. Says he needs the room even though he usually is driving by himself. When are the American people going to hold these accountable for their hypocrisies? Maybe its just for the riff raff.
No, I think you're missing his point. He's asking for freedom of choice while your comments suggest its ok for the government to choose for us. Freedom of choice comes with not requiring American automakers to make small cars. Clearly, there will still be some choice but more smaller cars is just a first step. Next step is upping the gasoline tax. Who can't remember during the election campaign Obama's tour of Europe. While there he absolutely praised Europe for their gasoline tax. While its politically difficult now while the economy is in turmoil, its obviously in our future. And with that you have the government once again attempting to influence behavior. That is a scaled back freedom of choice.
Here's the thing people. The Right is OUT and the Left is IN. Please, complain all you want to, we love reading it. We don't care how much you complain. It makes us happy to see you so miserable. Sixty five percent approval rate? We'll take that too. Buy your big trucks while you can. We need to get them off the car lots anyway. Do your part to help out the auto makers. Oh, and thanks again for giving us all this pleasure.
"why does the rest of society have to cater to your fears?"
Answer your own question, squid-brain. At least there's validity to the fear that you will be killed if you're in a collision in a subcompact car. It is within the realms of possiblity and probability. Forcing the rest of us to drive overpriced clown cars to satisfy your chicken-little Global Warm—Oh wait, it's Climate Change now that weather patterns belie the GW models.
Apparently you're OK with forcing those people who can't afford a $60,000 Hummer to give up safety and comfort to drive to drive a cramped, tinny POS which, when Obama Motors is through, will wind up costing $60,000, if not more.
Where did you learn about cojones? Certainly not from looking down your own knickers.
Talk to an ER doctor, fella. Visit an ER, or watch the old Discovery channel "Life in the ER." Every ER doc I know drives the biggest car they can put their family into.
Oh, motorcycles? ER docs love 'em. They call them "donorcycles" because the young, healthy riders are brain dead but have great hearts, livers, kidneys, corneas, lungs, all sorts of goodies to part out to needy patients.
I put my family into the biggest car I can find. There's nothing psychotic about it, unless by "psychotic" you mean that I want to protect my family and keep them alive.
You are a total surd. In all of your incoherent babblings, you never seem to get around to actually expressing what you are really FOR. I suspect that this is because you actually cannot define yourself except as what you claim you aren't. If you didn't rant constantly, you fear you might vanish up your own fundament.
I like it! Not much of a stretch though. Liberals as "Parasites"?
PSA: Some Doctors say that banging your head with a brick relieves some of the discomfort of living among Liberals………
[...] post: Dear Mr. President, Please Don’t Kill My Kids This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
What's with all these accidents happening at exactly 50 mph? Doesn't anyone out west have brake pedals in their cars?
This post would be pretty funny if this holder of a BS in TheeAter ProDuckshun wasn't so dosh garn serious. Thanks for the giggle Wonkers.
I agree with you completely. Also, isn't it funny how they same people who say they are pro choice when it comes to killing babies are anti-SUV? My choice is my SUV. I own an 11 year old SUV & when I can afford it, I'll buy a newer one. That is, unless the liberals makes it illegal to buy used vehicles.
Nah! I like using my Barack Hussein Obama tire pressure gauge to much……………..
Did you really tell him to "Keep at it," followed by "[Obama] could care less about what you think?"
I'm just saying, mixed messages. Dude has a cowboy hat LET HIM DO THE TALKING, NITWIT.
Just kidding Jed, we tight.
Amongst all this talk of packing us all into cattle cars and Obama and his Central Planning Commission, let's spare a thought for GW Bush, who led the bailouts of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG. I would think you'd be happy to see Obama following the policies of the last president [R].
Now, about safety. Chris, you're relatively safe as long as you hit (or are hit by) something much smaller. Hummers and Smart Cars do equally well when hit by cement trucks. So, when Obama has his evil way and we're all driving Volts, you'll be just as safe as you are now from collisions [small cars have to meet safety standards too], but you'll be a lot safer from rollovers and you won't be a threat to everyone else. And, bearing in mind you and your wife have been in serious accidents twice, and have narrowly avoided serious freeway accidents "several times", I hope you live to see the glorious day. Until then maybe you should get your cars painted red or something so they can see you more clearly.
Because he has a choice. And some foreign cars are qualitatively better than domestic cars.
Soylent Green! It's made of people! You'll be able to feed all the liberals and eliminate conservatives – a twofer! Bon Appetite!
I like it!
I wonder if he'd like to be sitting in a Honda Insipid when it get's rammed in the a** by an 18 wheeler. SUV's versus Sub-Compacts are not the problem. It's the Micro-Machine cars versus a UPS truck that is the problem. But Eco Nazi's choose to ignore this problem………….
Can you say one term President? Kinda roles off the tongue doesn't it? Start practicing now…………….
That was some damn fine comedy, pardner. You really made me believe that paranoid redneck SUV-driving moron character you play on TV. "My truck is BIG!!!!!!!" Comedy gold.
We must all drive huge cars. So, we will all die. It will be so wonderful!
You lost me at "H2."
It's nice that you libs are enjoying being IN. Enjoy it while you can. The "Right" will take Congress back in 2010, and vote B. Hussein Obama out in 2012. Then you can reflect on your giddy memories of the Obama fiasco while we put the country back together.
The author of this knows little or nothing about auto safety dynamics.
But then again, what do you expect from a person that says "Our family car is a General Motors Hummer H2."
Your family car? Unless you live at the end of 18 miles of logging road, you're wasting your money, making the roads less safe, and using more resources all to compensate for your lack of knowledge and lack of manhood.
Dear President Bush: Please Apologize For The Children Who ACTUALLY Died.
Yeah, but you realize it's not actually an anal thermometer, right?
ROFL
Please down a fifth of Vodka, drive 120 miles an hour through a school crossing area at 8:30 in the morning, shove your seat belt out the window, and ride around with the front trunk flopping in front of your windshield. Then you will have earned the right to complain about "government interference" in the affairs of right thinking guardians of free dumbs.
So Liberals making things illegal = bad, Right Wing making abortion illegal = good. But you hate intrusive government. In-ter-est-ing.
Larger vehicles are far from inherently safe. If they are too heavy and high they are very difficult to control. As for your capitalist ventures, good luck to you. I didn't know giving hobos quick ones under the overpass was such a boom industry at present.
Like all liberals Mike is to illiterate to know how to read. As long as Obama is there to tell him what to think everything will be fine…. just….. fine.
Think how the CAFE standards Congress has mandated for years has hurt the manufacturers. Think about it – Congress is saying that the American consumer is too stupid to choose a vehicle he wants for the economy he wants at the fuel prices he is confronted with.
If you want a Prius fine. If you want a Hummer, fine. But if you want to sanctimoniously look down on those who don't want a hybrid then you are a hypocrite, because it takes far more energy to produce the batteries with the car than a simple gas engined car. But those Prius owners get to smugly say how they are "helping" the earth
I drove by what's left of our Hummer dealership today and saw H3s on sale for $17K – quite a drop. The market is sorting things out if the !@#$%^&* politicians would just stay out.
Yes but what business is it of yours to judge what anyone else should drive? Maybe the Committee For Concern deems you should have nothing more than a Vespa motor scooter. That's all you need and if you have anything bigger then you are raping the planet.
Are you for real? You need to get a hobby kid! And no, jerking off like a spider monkey on crack doesn't count as a hobby..
Your bouncing around here like a f**king retarded cat and haven't made a point yet. Come back when you have something constructive to say…………
Choosing safety over injury is somehow "shell shock" in your world? Why do we have to cater to you desire for "mileage regulations " instead of just curtailing your own use, and why aree you so upset that the author has a desire to protect his family? Isn't that a nobel cause or whould you rather they be killed in an unsafe vehicle?
Why would you acuse the author of murder? Do you have any evidence that he has commited vehicular manslaughter or is it just an obviously weak attempt to make a falacious argument? I also find it hard to believe that you currently know the income of the drivers on the road with him at the times of those incidents.
Oh nevermind…. you're far to ignorant to ever comprehend any of the questions I asked….
Don't fault antibrain to much, when you have the intelectual capital of a rock on the bottom of a lake you really shouldn't expect much more than bile….
Hey, antifascist are you proposing that all children should die in small vehicles that offer little accident protection? You are obviously a true liberal who mistakes taking care of oneself and ones family with being a cowardly conservitive. As a conservitive, I would have never thought about running over liberals in their tiny cars as a way or solution to eliminate the liberal political scourge that is contaminating the country. Hmmmm, I wonder if that would actually work? Running over liberals in their tiny cars, that is. The only thing government is good for is collecting too many taxes and going to wars. Government never designed, or built a good motor vehicle, and they certainly are not capable of doing that now. Give me my choice…..
30 years ago when Carter, you know the democrat that Obama is doing everything in his power to make look good, stopped drilling here pretty much deflates the "It'll take to long fantasy" but that didn't stop you from trying.
8 Years ago when Bush came into office and tried to increase drilling and AGAIN you stopped him from doing so also deflates the "It'll take to long fantasy" but that didn't stop you from continuing that failed policy.
2 years ago when Pelosi revoked the open dirlling agrement that was made it AGAIN prevented the United States from getting it's own oil.
So it would probably be a good idea if you just put your "dunce" hat back on and go back and sit in the corner where you belong.
Felonious stupidity, is what I like to call it. There ought to be a prison for people that stupid.
More like familiarity with Darth Anti-kin, Emo Sith's antics.
Check his intense debate profile and go through his comments.
(Or perhaps people lurking should, since you don't appear to be the epitome of reason either.)
Illiterate? 'Mike is to (sic) illiterate to know how to read'.
Well, do they point and screech when you say something not in agreement with Teh Narrative?
Not only could he care less about what conservatives "think", he and the other lefties could care less how many humans MUST die in order to save the planet! So what if your little car gets you killed, at least that'll be one less evil human on the planet. I actually saw a lady driving one of those golf cart type electric cars w/the missing doors and she had a BABY CARRIER strapped in the passenger side. Wish I had followed her and bawled her out.
You neglect to mention the intended sheer brilliance of their environmentally-sound engineering. They crumple up so nice to make them easy to recycle, just like aluminum beverage cans.
So now we know why Number 44 is letting assorted countries get away with acquiring nuclear weapons. The sad irony is afterwards there will be no one to say "The Earth Is Saved! Mission Accomplished!" Oh well, I guess they could set up some sort of solar-powered message board, it will come on after the dust settles and the nuclear winter ends.
Have some pie. truck
more pie Truck?
Several years ago, I had a beloved 1982 Ford LTD Crown Victoria, great powder blue paint and a perfect white vinyl top. One night while driving home after 2nd shift it was hit on the passenger side by a late-model Chevy Malibu that sailed through an intersection going the wrong way down a One Way, the underage driver "only had a few beers" (her mother called me promptly the next day). It hit the front tire, whipped around and slammed into the rear quarter panel. The Chevy was toast, glass smashed out, the front and rear corners were smeared, she was taken out on a backboard by the ambulance crew. I had a little bit of seatbelt bite. What concerned me most personally was I had hit up the store before and had frozen food in the back. The LTD had some wrinkled sheet metal, the wheel had been pulled backwards, it was fixable but her insurance company totaled it out.
If I had been driving one of those cute little enviro-friendly cars that Chevy would have been going straight through my passenger door.
I do not know about no $60,000 Hummers, but I shall continue to drive the 1983 Ford F150 I paid $1200 a few years ago for as long as I can get it through inspection. It is just not safe enough for me to do anything less. Besides, the money I save by not having comprehensive on something that old more than makes up for any extra cost for gasoline. I am saving money by staying safe!
I am delighted to know you drive small cars, I encourage you to go for something even smaller than what you currently drive; it's your only way to save your children and the planet.
The Smart Car is your moral size, please start driving one everywhere particularly in high traffic areas so you can show everyone how Smart you are.
You may love it now, but the Statist point is to make us all miserable – yes even the die-hard libs. Actually, with the desperate spreading of our debt and doling out terrorists around the world, he's working hard to make the planet pretty unhappy. Ah, Utopia Are we there yet?
Great article except for one glaring flaw. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" are NOT rights guaranteed by the Constitution. This is a phrase in the Declaration of Indepence. It was not included 11 years later in the Constitution nor two years after that in the Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence was a political document outlining the founders' justifications for declaring their independence from England, but it is not law and does not carry the force of law. Although the phrase clearly guided the Framers when they wrote the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" are not specific rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution.
When making arguements promoting our rights and freedoms, we should avoid relying on that phrase and rely instead on the actual contents of the Constitution.
Tell it like it is Chris. The American dream of American made is gone and the Federal Government will make sure that will not be back anytime soon. (free trade) Restore restore buy and older vehicle fix it up and drive on. The older the more American it is. Like you Mama drives an SUV. I drive a one ton pickup and my son has a 1961 ford f-350 metal fenders, hood, and cab. Bring it on little speeders. That my freinds is MY CHOICE. God Bless All.
Darwin at work. Harsh. But its effective.
Stay smart, Annie. Protect you and yours. Softly and mildly protest as the lib makes their decision, then shrug and let nature take its course.
I drive a Chevy Equinox – that is my vehicle of choice. If I wanted a Hummer, I'd buy and drive one. I'm of the mind that while America is still a reasonably free country, one drives what one wants and can afford. I'm a big boy now, I can look out for the big vehicles like I do the 18 wheelers. it's the kiddie cars like the "smart" car that scares me – they're on top of you before you can see them. And the drivers usually have a cell phone jammed in their ear too.
I have a friend who was a member of the local rescue squad for about 40 years. He said he'd never ride a motorcycle because he's pulled too many dead people off of them – far more than he did from cars. Good advice far as I'm concerned.
Rubber pants and eco-friendly diapers…
What's that smell?
You can put a lawn mower engine in a cardboard box, slap on some wheels and get fantastic gas mileage. As long as safety is not a factor. I guess mileage outweighs safety for eco-nuts.
The guy is spending our money faster than anyone can tote it up. Funny, the media is eating it up. Wait till the bill comes due.
Ah, its called Freedom. Any more questions?
I'm with you Mr Galt – a free born American.
Personally, I am not miserable. I drive the car I want and always will. While Obama may try to restrict my freedom, really he can't.
The indvidual pretty much can do what he wants and bam bam can go to h*ll.
Besides, there are PLENTY of rustout, oil burning '73 Caprice Classics left for the poor. Why I saw an "Obama, si se puede!" bumper stickered one being pushed by the owner and his family just the other day…
I agree. Safety means lots of heavy steel.
No one talks about the 18 wheelers on the highway with the golfcart Obama cars.
I don't see anytime in my lifetime where we are all driving Volts or any other GM product.
Consider the Post Office, Amtrak, the DMV, the SS administration, the FDA.
Shall I go on?
We're all gonna die someday anyhow so what's your point?
No, the BAM does not want consumer choice. We are all stupid and don;'t know what is good for us. he does.
Any questions?
Yet the POTUS has a new, heavier limo to drive around it.
And the Congress????
Rules for you, rules for them.
Huzzah!
What's even funnier is the moron with his helmet on the bike, not on his head.
"Donorcycles." So true.
Where is the usual lib canard about, "Its for the children…"?
Guess I'll have to buy that Chinese Hummer…
How do you know, nuttz? Personal experience?
Ewwwwww……
If you need a brain check, ask your boyfriend…
I'll buy a Prius the same day the President starts using one.
Hey, how come you're not screaming about Obama and his carbon footprint when he wants a burger?
Will your Messiah be removing all commercial trucks from the roads too? Even on my own block, I have 2 large commercial vans. One even had an Obama sign out during the election.
Oh, and it's always amusing to see a Prius pull into the driveway of their McMansion.
And still, no pie…
Primer – actually, I think there might be a pretty good market out there for Obama anal thermometers. It might even look something like an Obama pez despenser. (I'll bet this person doesn't even know what that is.) I'll bet we could get some "shovel ready" stimulous money to help with the start up costs.
Says who? You?
How accurate were the thermometers back in the later part of the 19th century when the initial readings for this Global Warming issue were made? How wide was the margin of error then? Under what conditions were the measurements taken, then and now? What time? Where? Were the results consistent and within the margin of probability of error, in all cases of measurement, then and now? Was all data recorded or were some results excluded, and under what conditions?
Go sniff some Dali-Bama scrote, dingbat.
"things" versus innocent lives. Yup, that's the moral equivalence of liberals. In-ter-est-ing.
How do you know? Ever drove one?
Get a multi-unit Class A and prove that.
Otherwise, stick with what you know, giving hobos quick ones under the overpass.
(the correct term is 'homeless persons', hockey puck)
If it takes so long, we better get started now!
Refinery capacity? With libs tying them up in court? Environmental statements costing a Billion on the average? Who causes that?
Hillary called, you're off the Village rez, and everyone misses you, idiot…
Please, you first.
Besides, BMW's are made in South Carolina.
"So you have PTSD' "your psychosis" "believe the crap you write","killing other people's children" " Cowardly and indifferent"
No ad hominem attacks there, eh?
If that's the best you have, we should have no problem in 2010.
PS I have two words for you:
Palin 2012!
Good point, Duude! When people use the term "Orwellian", the first image conjured is the book (yes it was a book before the movie) 1984, when truly, this administration's Orwellian actions are rather more like Animal Farm. While the other animals chant "4 legs are better than 2", the Pigs strut out walking on 2 legs.
"Do as I say, not as I Do" The Progressive Mantra
When the only cars made are the same clown cars they drive in europe and other places, gub'mint will make sure that they are the only ones you can buy.
Apparently "choice" only applies to Abortion and nothing else, eh?
I will continue to buy cars that I CHOOSE to buy, not some Smarty-Farty econo car that a Czar appointed by Emperor O-Bah-Ma has decreed that we should all drive.
Yes, Mr. C.D. by all means, exercise YOUR choice, before the only choice is the Gub'mints choice!
Screw the Unions! Buy AMERICAN Transplants!
BMW, Nissan, Toyota, etc.
Don't you mean "Liberals ARE Parasites"?"
Never let facts get in the way of an argument. According to Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/26/cars-dangerous-t... and others (e.g. NHTSA) some of the most dangerous vehicles out there are SUVs and pickups. Why? They handle poorly in emergencies and often flip, among other reasons. Add to that that when a pickup or other heavy, high profile vehicle hits a car more injuries result and you have a vehicle which is just plain dangerous. But don't let facts bother you, after all Forbes is probably just a liberal front organization.
Brian
Please, Lovin It. Keep saying "we won"………encourage your leaders to accelerate their Agenda so that America can see what it truly brings us. That way it will be quite clear–even to the subsidized class and mainstream media followers–what policies bring us prosperity and growth and what policies bring us uncertainty and misery.
Oh–and watch your heroes in Europe lose power as country after country move away from left-leaning governments.
Not only do I know who John Galt is, sometimes I think I am.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Your choice vs the Gub'mint's choice?
You decide!
Yo, Boy, tehnology exists that will extract shale oit from the rockies in months, not years.
Raytheon developed it and sold it to Schlumbereger.
We have 250 years of the stuff in our own back yards, but you prefer to worship squirrels and rosebushes.
Oh, BTW, you and your fellow squirrel worshippers have lodged lawsuits against 90% of all refinery expansions and new refineries. We have built a new refinery due to your efforts for the last 30 years.
PS they just discovered 30 BILLION barrels in the Dakotas and are building a giganto refinery there.
Guess that's where you will be headed to stop them, eh?
The point is: the government should not be deciding for us what cars we can and cannot purchase. If I can afford an Excursion and the attached insurance and gas price tags that should be up to me. The Excursion is no longer produced cuz the market decided, not the government. If we want big, safe cars, WE decide to buy them, not Car Czar Clarence Williams III or whoever.
I believe it is called CHOICE.
Heck.. Buy a FIAT 500 it comes with a set of training wheels and pedals for all the times it breaks down… BE happy!!!!
It was but only a short time ago that the Progressive Loons Left the polluted pond for a new home in the Obama Cesspool when they were all Quacking about " party of corruption".. Lack of transparency.."the most secretive WH in History ( assuming that they knew what history is) .. and here we are.. we've been LIED to..Made less SEcure… are being bankrupted all in the sake of promoting a Fascist agenda .. Bought two Failed car companies in the dark of night.. and now are about to be saddilng future generations with Trllions of Dollars just to make a few malcontent happy who swooned to the BIG Brother philosophy of Welfare for Votes while transferring honest tax payers to the Unissured rolls which up to now have been covered via hard work and paying taxes… Thank you Prpgressive loons… Pelosi.. Kennedy.. Dud.. and above all the Clueless about fiscal responsibility the one and only Narcisstic Messiah who never worked ONE day in his life at managing ANYTHING but Acorn sick corrupted agenda!!!!
Mr. Obama is going to give us more interesting choices than what to drive. I for one find the choice between submission and resistance much more stimulating than a mere choice between automobiles.
My grandmother drove a Gremlin in the 70s too, she's still alive, never had an accident while driving the Gremlin. What else you got?
And the final commandment pretty much sums it up….
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
I knew a young guy who had just bought a motorcycle ask me why his motorcycle insurance was way cheaper than his car insurance. I told him that funerals are cheaper than hospitalization.
Wow, you are stupid as hell. He's not blaming the government. He is saying he wants freedom to live life as he chooses.
My 2002 Saturn SL sedan gets just over 30 mpg in local/city driving. I got it used (with just over 40,000 miles on it) for just over 9 grand. Once GM (Government Mandate) and Chrysler start producing those overpriced soda cans on wheels, people will be hanging on to their old Civics, Corollas, Saturn coupes and sedans, and VW Golfs and Jettas. For those people who believe that a government-run company can produce a decent car, I have three words: East Germany's Trabant.
I guess you failed physics. You don't seem to understand mass and force. Must be a retarded lib.
The libtards seem to be upset that an American wants the freedom to make his own choices. Well they are for choice when it comes to killing babies. Except for the father to any choice in that matter. And libtards are for choice in sex. I've had libs defend incest as just another choice. But choosing the car you drive, libs hate that.
You know you're on a hopelessly, mindlessly ideological site when a poop joke (aimed at the enemy, of course) gets +2 .
UGH humanity is retarded.
I'll condense the point down:
big car hits little car– everyone in big car is safe, hooray! Oh, looks like everyone in the small car died. oh well. just as long as it wasn't me! (ergo, the typically-conservative attitude of 'I don't care what happens to anyone/anything unless it directly affects me.')
I see no flaws in his physical assessment.
I spy, with my little eye, a hit-and-run troll– an attack with no explanation.
Fascinating that you don't see the original article as sanctimonious in any way. Typical Breitbart Blinder syndrome.
Good luck with that.
That's funny, because I've had conservobots tell me there's nothing wrong with racial slurs, jokes, and hate crimes. I guess my yin screwed up your yang there.
Here here! Freedom to drive whatever we want. It's our right! You know the funny thing is that after the free elections in Iraq the most commonly sold vehicle there became the SUV, not some euro-version of the gremlin. Interesting no? The free market will speak and it will be heard. The government can try to rally to the cause of the common good, but in the end the dollar will win, it always does.
"Soon my children will be driving and buying cars of their own. Mr. President, will you allow them to have freedom of choice or will you doom them to take their chances in a 21st century AMC Gremlin?"
I hate to be so blunt but well since they could not make you abort your children they are willing to put them in death-traps instead with the hopes that they might be removed. This is what we're hearing from the 'earth friendly'.
I am actually an animal rights activist (ok amateur herpetologist, discovery watcher, and avid zoo goer) but you know most crazy Marxists would immediately suggest that I am an evil fascist who likes to beat puppies because I drive a Chevy Avalanche and not the 'smart car'.
Auto accident victims are also innocent, by my reckoning. As for moral equivalence, which side was it that carried out the anti-war rallies, and showed the world that going into iraq was going to be a fool's errand? Done any cheerleading for war profiteers lately? Spare me your tiny violin playing it's little dirge for "moral equivalency."
Great! I'll be coming over to your house to eat your food and have sex with your kids. Because the individual pretty much can do what he wants.
Classic kindergarten argument prowess. Here at Breitbart, it's a feature, not a bug.
Thank you for not descending to ad hominem attacks to make your point. Must be those family values that keep you so classy.
Okay, but the big question: does your Hummer have TruckNutz?
Google SUV and "rollover" Between trips to the nearest highway rest area that is.
Thank you.
Oooh mommy the mean man gave me a minus…
Don't hurt yourself flexing your madd argument skillz.
Only in conservoland would efforts to increase auto safety (efforts that have succeeded by the way) be regarded as signs of a plot to limit your god-given free dumbs. Go ahead and rip the seat belts out of your vehicle if it makes you feel more manly. Auto accident deaths typically come in around 40,000 or so every year. Some of those deaths are other people's children, if not the author's. 40,000 fatalities every year is just the price of having free unfettered markets, eh? Keep on truckin' conservobots, you're roaring back to popularity. That pony should be arriving any day now.
Great. Let us know how it works out for you when you shoot that cop for noticing that your seat belt is unfastened.
Wow, Burgard can't even get the Devo lyric right:
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom from choice
Is what you want
FAIL
You mean because the world doesn't see things as you they all have blinders? Hmmmmmmmm?
Sir, with all due respect buy a Ford F350.
Obama should never have taken over GM and Chrysler. They should have claimed bankruptcy and reorganized. This government takeover will lead to socialism.
Got an old SL2 in the stable (errand car) with 100,000 on the ticker. On a good day it'll get 30 on the highway. There great little cars. Cheap too!
The problem I have with Eco-Troll's like TR is that they are quick to condemn SUV and Truck owners (I have one of each) as evil. I need trucks for my business, but I have the saturn for the local stuff. Some of us really need big gas guzzlers.
You are right about what's coming down the pike though. These micro-cars sound good, but at the end of the day you won't want one in the garage……………..
Ever tried to drive a Prius in a snowstorm? It's a scary ride………..
Guess we gotta keep the Truck's and SUV's. We have some way of hauling the cash out of the treasury…………..
I was FOUR AND A HALF BLOCKS AWAY when you bought that Hummer.
The sad fact is that the auto insustry will never improve efficiencies unless there is a mandate. Mandating efficiencies is good for America. Our auto-makers should be able to produce a fuel efficient H2, they just need to be prodded. I´m all for capitalism, but lowering oil consumption as a country will actually free our country because right now Saudi Arabia no one should be so naive as to think that our economy and foreign policy isn't dominated by the oil question. btw, can we please kill the "left" and "right" talk and try to find some common ground here and there.
I don't think so, but who knows?
Liberals are just intellectually dishonest hypocrites; there's no point trying to argue logically or factually with them. You can't use facts or logic with someone who ignores both because it is convenient to do so.
Example?
Liberals say it's okay to kill babies, because they're pro-choice, but it's NOT okay to kill convicted child killers or terrorists. Then they claim that conservatives are hypocrites because we are pro-life but think capital punishment is okay. Obviously a liberal mind can't see the irony in proclaiming someone else's position unfounded when their position is that unborn babies do not deserve protection, but murderers and terrorists do.
Liberals are all about freedom. They should be able to smoke pot. But YOU should not be allowed to smoke cigarettes.
Liberals are all about free speech. They can say anything they want, including call you a redneck and a Nazi, but YOU can't say anything back, because YOUR speech is "hate" and "racist."
The same goes for organizations. It's okay to have the Counci of La Raza (literally, THE RACE), and it's okay to have Congressional (insert minority here) Caucuses where whites are specifically banned (a liberal white Congressman tried to join the Congressional Black Caucus and was told he couldn't..notice not "African-American Caucus"), but if you tried to have a White Caucus liberal would call for your lynching…….in direct contradiction to both their anti-lynching AND anti-capital punishment stances.
Guns? Dianne Feinstein says nobody should have one…..but she does. That's right up there with all the liberal actors going on about gun control while they live behind walls guarded by guys carrying…wait for it…..guns.
I could go on, but conservatives reading this already get it, and liberals never will. If they do, we know they'll never admit to getting it, because they're just too dishonest.
It is typical liberal double speak.
"Hummers and Smart Cars do equally well when hit by cement trucks,:" but then also this "you won't be a threat to everyone else."
If, as you say, "small cars have to meet safety standards too," and "Hummers and Smart Cars do equally well when hit by cement trucks," should it not follow that Smart Cars should be just as safe if hit by Hummers?
How, exactly then, are people driving Hummers or other SUVs supposed to "be a threat to everyone else?"
If BIG cars and little cars do equally well against even BIGGER trucks, shouldn't they do equally well against each other?
Oh, I'm sorry, you're a lib. Facts never get in the way of a lib.
Why do you assume violence? In the former Soviet Union people resisted collectivization by turning to the black market. No matter what governments do, citizens will do what they perceive is in their best interest. It will be the same with all Mr. Obama's initiatives. The market will react by answering demand with a supply of what people actually want. Detroit can produce smart cars under a government mandate, but it can't force people to buy them. The plan is a bust from the start. A nation of 300 million free citizens is simply too large for anyone to control.
Speaking of retarded…
From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety we have this:
Would hazards be reduced if all passenger vehicles were as small as the smallest ones? This would help in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, but occupants of smaller cars are at increased risk in all kinds of crashes, not just ones with heavier vehicles. Almost half of all crash deaths in minicars occur in single-vehicle crashes, and these deaths wouldn't be reduced if all cars became smaller and lighter. In fact, the result would be to afford less occupant protection fleetwide in single-vehicle crashes.
Physics wins, you lose.
The more I hear from the smartest man ever to sit in the oval office, the more inclined I am to say "wow!" Just a few things the president doesn't understand: human nature, the American character, the car as an American icon, how markets work, limited government, and the rule of law. Wow! The man will go down in history next to Louis XIV for the size of his ego.
Why should Bush apologize for the children who were Kurdish or Shiites or whomever Saddam Hussein wanted to slaughter on any particular day, or those slaughtered by Al-Quada terrorists, or those slaughtered by the Taliban, just to name relatively few? He actually did an admirable job preventing such deaths, let alone his work fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. Truly the "logic" of liberal troll posters such as yourself is mind-numbing in its sheer ineptitude.
I question why you want to mess with his yang at all.
The front trunk? Does this clown know anything about standard American cars? Even on a classic VW Bug you would be hard pressed to find a rear trunk.
Perhaps "clown" is rather close to the truth, he could have escaped from a circus and is used to "driving" around on elephants. Will someone else please explain to him why what about half of the elephants have is not a "rear trunk?"
1. Well, here's the thing. The rest of society does not have to cater to his fears. There is no mandate to purchase and drive SUVs. Your "rational debate" on mileage you mention is a reponse to a similar collection of fears. To date, no scientist has quantified how much oil remains in the earth, nor have they proven the theory of global warming, so why should the mileage debate be any more significant than one of safety? I can show you several examples of accidents where econoboxes have inarguably led to someone's death with or without an SUV involved. Can you show me a single incident where either fuel efficiency or global warming has beyond debate, conclusively killed anyone? No. And unlike the "mileage" folks who want to force everyone into glorified motorcycles, we ask for choice, not mandate. You don't seem to understand the concept of "catering" very well. Sorry if my reply "oppresses" you.
2. You can buy a vehicle in running condition that will successfully withstand a headon collision with a Hummer for about $1000 in most markets. They've been around since the 1930s….they're called Suburbans. The cars YOU want people to drive however…….hybrids…..cannot be acquired for much less than $60k in any condition. And unlike a Suburban, they won't last 25 years to be able to ever enter the $1000 market. Assuming their basic drivetrain components even made it that long by some miracle, you'll likely be on your 3rd or 4th set of batteries, which run in excess of $1000 alone to replace.
3. "Cowardly and indifferent to other members of society" says the man who's blood pressure is raised by the prospect of another man having the ability to choose to drive a large car. Someone call Webster and tell him we have an example for the "Irony" entry in next year's addition.
4. User named "antifascist" negatively critiques an article that slams a sitting President for seizing control of a privately-owned corporation. Dammit….call Webster back, this one is even better.
I often ask the same question. And when we achieve this Progressive Utopia of your dreams, this perfect egalitarian society of peace, love, and happiness, will you folks help us dig the mass graves? Or will you be the guys cracking the whips?
That sounds remarkably like something Hitler would say.
Sheer amazement you would cite a single example of a vehicle that has never crashed and consider it a remarkable rebuttal to an article comparing the survivability of vehicles that have actually crashed.
I love reading your schtick. It proves how little you really understand.
So you have PTSD and you get severe anxiety when driving in small cars. What does your psychosis have to do with the rational debate on mileage regulations and why does the rest of society have to cater to your fears?
You know, those big SUVs are very popular on the car lots because people actually buy them. And a lot of people buy them, both new and used.
Here is a thought for you.
Just Announced – IKEA to take over GM
(Some Assembly Required)
Think about it, even if it hurts.
"As for moral equivalence, which side was it that carried out the anti-war rallies, and showed the world that going into iraq was going to be a fool's errand?"
I know! It was Al Qaeda, wasn't it?
Oh, and you guys did it, too.
Funny how the left's rhetoric consistently echoes the enemy's in any American war.
the voter does not give permission for every thing and every move the govt makes: I did not give permission to invade Iraq based on lies and deceit…and yet Bush did it. You have choice. Want a big car, buy one? want a small one? plenty out tghere…buy opne. Stop blaming the govt (esp the Dems) for your inability to think and act on your own.
How dare you insult my beloved Pez dispenser! Using Barry's name in the same sentence with something as noble as the Pez dispenser is appalling. LOL
I bet if we present it to congress correctly (Meaning "Tell them it's a Crisis") we could get a least $20 Billion for the project, as long as we promise to use union labor……….
Seems to me there's a theme developing with "Everyones A**" and the Obama administration…..No?
I was under the impression that you guys didn't like Bush, yet your stock reply to anything Obama does is "Bush did it, too!"
As for safety, did you know that in bicycle/car collisions, the bicyclist always receives more injuries than the driver? In many accidents, the bicyclist is killed while the driver of the car walks away unscathed. Whether the bicyclist is hit by a Hummer or a Prius doesn't seem to make much difference, either. Perhaps it is time for YOU to get out of your death machine and onto a Schwinn, you selfish, murdering monster!
Dali-Bama scrote? Thanks, but I'm going to leave the teabagging to others.
I'm not aware of Global Warming having been an issue in the 19th century. But if it was, I think we can all agree science has advanced quite a bit since then, including the science of climatology. If your argument is that data gathered in the late 19th century is unreliable and therefore the whole issue is moot, you will lose the argument.
Shoot, the World's Fair in the 1960s promised we'd have personal jet packs by now and yet I'm still zooming around in an old Honda.
Your response is so nonsensical that I don't have a response and it's not worth the effort to craft one. It's not even an argument. It's a rant followed by name-calling. When my conservative friends tell me that it's only the libs who engage in smearing and name-calling I'm going to direct them to this page.
Facts. Go read them, be enlightened, swear off the tiny cars and buy an SUV or pickup.
Out here in the real world I worry more about collisions with deer rather than other vehicles. I have already had two bounce off the front of F150's while I kept driving uninjured, neither incident was a mere glancing blow. I much prefer a deer torso to not be level with my windshield. With some of those microcars I would worry about groundhogs.
Please go forth and absorb some facts which obliterate your "points." Of course you are saying that a tiny car that will wedge under a cement truck as the top gets sheared off will do just as well as a higher-mounted rollcage on wheels, so I may be overestimating your ability to process scientific information.
I quit on American cars back in the early 1980's because they sucked. The last thing I will do is by a car from Obama's government motors
Keep up the good fight, Chris! This is why my teenager is driving the Ford Expey, not the little 2-door I used to have to get to the store and back. And folks, watch the mud-slinging… it IS possible to discuss this topic without getting nasty. Read this: http://www.freshconservative.com/Fresh_Conservati...
No mud-slinging!
Translation: "Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off!"
Ooooooh Noooo! They won't eat us, because they'll worry Conservatism is contagious (through our contaminated flesh.)
And I'll be sure my teen-age son is driving the Ford Expedition down Pennsylvania Ave. that day!
We'll all be dead… they'll have to dig the graves themselves.
You go, John! I actually had an uber lefty on Facebook insist that Stalin was a conservative, not a communist at the far left of the "liberal" agenda. It's amazing how much people don't know! Geeze, even Wikipedia explains the differences… didn't anyone take World History? What the heck did they teach you guys? Communism, Fascism, Marxism, Socialism… they are all liberal concepts on the left side of the spectrum, where the government assumes power over the people under the guise of "taking care of them." Conservative teachings come straight from the Constitution, people, where personal freedom and liberty trumps government protectionism everytime, or at least, it was supposed to.
Me too sweetie! Lovin' my 1998 Ford Expedition, paid off and hardly costs anything to register! It's a tank on wheels, and I feel mighty safe in that tank!
Drill Here, Drill Now, and in 10 years, Saudi Arabi will be sooo screwed!
Too funny! YOU drew the equivalence between "things", e.g., larger vehicles, and abortion. FOOL!
"Mandate" is a fancy way of saying they will backdoor-tax the automakers into even less profitability to meet an unfunded governmental directive. The efficiency of the internal combustion engine has already been maxed out for the specifications desired, the only way to get an H2 more fuel efficient is to lessen its capabilities. With less acceleration, less load capacity, less pulling capacity, less metal providing all that occupant safety, you could use a smaller engine and drivetrain and save gas, and have less of why you wanted an H2 to begin with.
An all-electric drive system would significantly improve mileage. Our large engines are mostly for "surge" capacity, when I looked into it last year I found out that only 20 HP or less is needed to keep a vehicle at an even speed on a level highway. The answers are already in use in industry, they only need assembling into an affordable commercial product. Electric motors at the wheels driven by electronics (no "drivetrain" needed), regenerative braking (using the motors as generators to remove kinetic energy), storage batteries just large enough for the surges and to store current from braking (ordinary lead-acid would do), with a smallish gasoline-powered generator under the hood keeping the batteries topped off at surge level. That is a lot of metal saved by ditching a traditional drivetrain with significant mileage savings without reducing the structural metal protecting the occupants. Plus, it is routine in industry to drive an electric motor on startup far past its ratings, 150% of rated HP, even 175% and above for short bursts, is not unusual. Thus the total HP of all the wheel motors can be a good deal less than what an equivalent internal combustion motor would have to be, you would still have sufficient power for acceleration with smaller motors than plain math would lead you to expect.
However change is very expensive for automakers, investment costs are enormous for developing and making a new model let alone a new type of vehicle, and profits when found are slim. What would have been the best solution closest to pure capitalism? Let the automakers go bankrupt and throw out the union contracts, then advance them low-interest loans to finance the development and deployment, with maybe some grant money in the mix. Once the economies of scale take over we would have vehicles much like we currently do for the same money, perhaps even less, with better mileage, better reliability, and better profits for the automakers.
Instead we have the unions as bailed out as they could reasonably hope for, Government Motors, and you thinking even more governmental control would be a good thing. So much for capitalism.
Bloody shame about your grandparents. I would like to hear what Ralph Nader has to say about the Obama cars. Anyway. The fools on Capitol Hill get away with an awful lot. But this is the USA. They commit political suicide when they start seriously messing with the American car, or any car Americans care to drive. Good riddance to the lot. The sooner the better.
That's what the Dems have been saying for decades. Look how that worked out. Our buddies in Big Oil got their asses kicked by Sarah Palin. Living without power is fine when you're a young bush hippie, but it gets old when you have to haul water to wash dirty diapers and chop wood to make your coffee. And working that hard really kills your buzz. Drill, Baby, Drill.
I have two more words for you:
Palin / Sanford
OK, I give up. For some reason I can't post
Ha, now it works….
Anyway…
@ T.R. and the Troll Posse -Considering most libs can't even drive their clown cars it makes sense that you would think a big ole truck would be unsafe to drive
oh I'm sorry, it appears that he is asking the President to not k ill his kids.
yeah but the way capitalism works is this: you get to choose from the available supply. Obama didn't cause the sales figures on Hummers (and all other SUVs, domestic, import, whatever) to fall. That's the economy.
Toyota was building a giant truck plant in Texas. That got axed. But Toyota didn't have all its eggs in one basket like GM did.
There are really two options that Bush & Obama had: Let GM fail, or don't let it fail. Either way- Hummer wasn't an ongoing viable business option. I wish this article acknowledged this fundamental aspect.
→SIXTY FIVE PERCENT APPROVAL RATING← Rave on friend. We hear you and have empathy.
I drive a small car.
Of course it is better to have properly inflated tires. But I don´t know who is more pathetic: People so clueless they think it is some new and brilliant concept that Obama came up with. Or people who buy the lie that it saves enough so you don´t need to drill for oil.
"Obama anal thermometers"
You mean there aren´t any right now? I´m sure Chris Matthews rigged something up, perhaps leaving out the thermometer part.
No, the supply follows demand. That is how capitalism works. And if it does not, it has consequences and that is good. In a free market systems, mistakes become visible and are eventually rectified. Letting GM go into chapter 11 is how capitalism works. Only in socialism can mistakes go on forever until everyone is impoverished. And then you have failure anyway. GM can still fail if this goes on.
If we had capitalism, GM would be able to import its range of small cars from overseas factories. If we had capitalism, Obama would not have been able to use GM and Chrysler to reward the unions which paid for his election. If we had capitalism, Obama could not have screwed the creditors. If we had capitalism, GM would now come out of insolvency strengthened, instead of having the entire Congress and administration on its back.
Politicians make political decisions, not economic decisions. Do you like the fact that the Obama administration is interfering in daily business decisions, like making sure the headquarters won´t move out of Detroit? Yes or no?
Brian, the article is from 2007 before stability control and mandatory side impact air bags. SUV's with stability control have significantly cut down on roll-over injuries/fatalities. Actually reading the article and not just looking at the pictures might help you understand.
Besides, most of the top 20 were small cars.
"If your argument is that data gathered in the late 19th century is unreliable and therefore the whole issue is moot, you will lose the argument."
Not because of anything you wrote. If you had studied the matter just a little you would have learned that correct measurement of global temperatures is a tricky business even today, never mind 50 or 150 years ago. There have been numerous cases where temperature data had to be corrected after it had been used to create panic.
When we are dealing with scenarios predicting rather small temperature changes that are used as an excuse to control and kneecap the global economy, we should be very cautious, no? Because the costs are certain, the benefits are not.
I am very sad that I will not get to buy a new Chevy Silverado. I love my (used) truck and looked forward to being able to get a new one when I finished my Masters. sigh. I hope that my truck has a very long life in its present state! Yeah, I know – 16mph. My choice to pay the gas prices, but I have a bed that I can pack full when I need it! and my backside isn't getting roadrash from sitting so low.
this GM nonsense makes me sad…
If only "His Highness" cared about the "little people". He couldn't give a rat's ass about us and our safety…it's all about HIM, HIM, HIM!!!
Love the Devo reference…can't get that tune out of my head now. Well done!
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