Daily Gut: Deadly Dreams in Tiny Cars
by Greg GutfeldSo according to MSNBC, President Obama is enjoying amazing support from “an uncommon alliance of auto executives, union leaders and environmental activists” concerning is new proposal to raise mileage standards and curb vehicle emissions.
But if you look at this support, you can see why it`s as pathetic as spoilers on a Yugo.
Of course, the auto executives are behind it, because the government is paying them to be behind it. For the union leaders and environmentalists, it just means a preservation of power and an increase in influence. The only people missing from this equation? The rest of America. They will pay with their wallets, and their lives.
According to the experts, Obama`s proposals will add about $1300 in costs to every car. How that helps an industry during a bottomless recession is beyond me. Worse, the National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards to roughly 2000 deaths per year. According to Steve Milloy, the author of Green Hell, every 100 pound reduction in the weight of small cars causes traffic fatalities to rise as much as 715 per year. He claims that Obama`s proposed plan will kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War. He might be right: last month, for example, crash tests found that drivers of the 2009 versions of so-called Smart cars- basically sardine cans without the odor or the protection – could suffer serious injuries in front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles.
So wait a second. Who in God`s name would be criminal enough to be driving those larger, midsized vehicles?
Well besides evil parents who want to protect their families – try Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Yep, our fearless leaders Obama and Biden have the luxury of bullet-proof, tank-proof and smart-car proof transportation for themselves and their adorable offspring. Basically, if they hit us: they live, we die.
Unless, of course, we stick to buying the cars we want to buy, and not what the government wants. Which can only mean an inevitable punitive tax against evil people like us. Fact is, there is no huge demand for collapsible sippy-cup cars, because people prefer safety over economy. So the only way to get us into deadlier cars is to make it a financial burden to own the safe ones.
Red asphalt is often paved with good intentions.
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432 Comments
You're missing the underlying motive:
The more of us they kill off before we reach retirement, the longer they can keep Social Security afloat.
Screw that.
I just bought an F-350. Anything with less than 18 wheels on it is prey.
To even imply that the auto industry is happily engaged and supportive of Uncle Ho, is Orwellian in the extreme.
That's it. I'm selling my SAAB and I'm getting a SUV!
…LOL @ spoilers on a Yugo…..they want us driving caskets on wheels to slow the population down….going greener will kill the economy and jobs.
Greg, sacrifices have to be made, get with it man. Barry’s Utopia is at hand.
there is many things afoot here- but most of what is being discussed is a smokescreen. Socialism for beginners, lesson#1- any means to an end. What this ultimately does is transfer an incredible amount of wealth to the third world, something this lot has been trying to do for years. Remeber Kyoto? It had a small print codicil in it which promises 3% of the GNP of the US to be, ahem, 'redistributed' to various third world oligarchys and dictatorships. This nonsense, which will be duly ignored by India and China, will result in NO greenhouse emission savings for Gaia. Just poorer Americans.
The cars they are attempting to produce won't work. Period. You can't get 40mpg out of a 4,000lb vehicle.
So, at 900 lbs., two-person Sedgeways are the ticket. If you have a large family, or haul things, or God forbid, want to go fast- you will PAY. Gas taxes and user fees will skyrocket.
Like Europe, we will be penalized for displacement and horsepower… better get used to walking.
I think its got less to do with population control and more to do with making sure that we don't enjoy the "evil" economic prosperity this country has experienced over the last 50 years. We need to be more like the Euros! And if a few more of us commoners have to die in traffic accidents to advance the cause of weakening America and destroying our way of life – so be it.
What I don't understand is why we (liberals anyway) would destroy the systems that have allowed us to become the wealthiest, most powerful and most open country the world has ever known? Oh well, might as well sit back and enjoy the suffocating mediocrity of socialism.
"I'm president Obama and I'd like to debut the all new for 2009 Government Motors Rickshaw. Earth friendly and AlGore approved. We have models from sporty one seaters to vanshaws that comfortably hold 6. You have your choice of 5 lovely shades of green. And talk about power: these babies come equipped with 1 to 4 UW (Unemployed Worker). All you need for fuel is a few extra sandwiches and loose change and you're ready to go. Each Rickshaw meets Government Safety "Star and Crescent" ratings of withstanding headons into bails of hay and side impacts from donkey carts. So come on down to the 800 former Chrysler and 1100 former GM dealerships and order yours today. Lets put Americans back to work".
Here in NY, Bloomberg and his new traffic patterns are trying to ensure no one will want to drive into midtown…better to give it to overpaid MTA or walk it. The streets are in horrible shape and no one seems to care.. Rudy was a real Mayor, Bloomberg is a clown. I'll vote for anyone but him. Learned my lesson.
it also occurs to me that smaller cars might very well mean less car-pooling and more gasoline for two or three boxes-on-wheels than one decent size car.
What it means is more control over your life with no regard FOR your life.
What a good plan. Make the restraints that cause your product to be less palatable and more expensive for your customers, even more strident and expensive. Government in action. Is this any way to run a car company…you bet it is!
http://shermansmarch.blogspot.com
Wow, the community organizer in chief comes up with one good idea after another, doesn't he?
[...] wisdom from Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Deadly Dreams in Tiny Cars Who in God’s name would be criminal enough to be driving those larger, midsized [...]
These standards are aimed squarely at Ford, who would have the field of trucks/SUVs/cars with room and horsepower to itself, and eat Fiatler's and Gov't Motors' lunches if not kneecapped.
Don't you get it? the only good American is a dead American.
i haven't owned a car in five years. have three motorcycles though. they are the only things that make los angeles bearable. have seen the smart cars. i think i could take one of them out head on. they should have "5 cent deposit" stamped on the side.
Refuse to buy anything American, except Ford.
Dangerous cars?
Finally, there will be dead children that won't make Diane Sawyer cry. Not unless the car careens off the road and lands in a New Jersey chemical swamp.
Who ever would have thought that a form of protest and dissent would be to own a truck or SUV? Even more amusing to me is the knowledge that hill folk and farmers have been leading the way for over 200 years. Hold on tight folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
You know what is just disgusting: Seeing these auto execs standing there knowing Obama and hisn flying monkeys have their gnads in their chopping blocks. That really is grotesque.
In Liberal Fascism, Goldberg says that corporations aren't evil right wing institutions – they are opportunistic ones. Guess who really liked the New Deal? Big corporations. Liberals love their scary corporate boogeymen, but missed the boat on that one.
I find my Dodge RAM 1500 Quad Cab 4×4 with 4" Rancho lift and Ranch Hand Bullnose front bumper to be just the ticket for urban survival driving. The rear trailer tow bar with the hitch on a 6" drop is also nice, as it terrifies potential tailgaters. I just calmly and sedately motor along, and the detritus driving tiny import cars give me a wide berth. I dig it.
Not to mention people.
The libs are utterly convinced the eeeeeevil auto makers have that darn 100mpg carb or the engine that runs on water hidden in the basement, and the only way to flush it out is with the progressively more insane CAFE standards.
Someone needs to fax them a copy of "The Idiot's Guide to Thermodynamics."
Let's set the record straight. There is no way on "God's Green Earth" that the added cost to the consumer will be around $1300. Count on $3000 to $5000 on average! I've worked in the auto industry for 20yrs and the price is alway higher in the end!
The other thing you can "Absolutely" count on is that the cost of repairs to these vehicles will go through the roof! When I need specialty tools to repair a Hybrid, I don't pay for it, you the consumer does through higher repair costs. I know this is not fair, but if you saw the cost of some of these "One Off" specialty tools needed to repair some of the cars we have today you would understand!
Obama's "Draconian" measures will cost everyone dearly! The days of automobile freedom are gone!
utopians are always a pain in the butt, hopefully everybody will throw him out as well…
Wow, nothing gets past you!
What if you like your communities disorganized?
It's called "Barrier to Entry". Remember the movie "Tucker". In it liberals decry the evil corporations who were out to get Tucker for thinking he could start his own automanufacturing company.
What they neglect to tell you is it was government regulation that killed his leases. The more laws and cost to manufacturing the greater the cost to a new competitor stepping in and the less choice we all have.
Funny how the first all liberal government in 30 years has done nothing but promote monopoly and collapse oligopolies. Where are the people who were screaming about Microsoft and Walmart now!!
What really bothers me is the new emission standards. Carbon Dioxide is listed in the new standards. This is so HydroCarbons will not be able to be used to fuel the new mini death traps.
You know there is a point that I don't here our side making and that is that generally if something produces the same thing more cheaply it must be because it is more efficient. Take gasoline for example. Why do we use it. It costs less than other methods of producing power. If hydrogen gas, or methane or men clapping coconuts together and hopping around on pretend horses were a more efficient method then there would not need to ba a law passed to force people to do it. They would voluntarily buy it because it would be cheaper.
This is something that has been a long-time coming. The auto companies bent over for the unions back in the 70's and gave them whatever they wanted. Now, as Obama's buddy would say, "The chicken's have come home to roost". Now they're putting their heads between their legs and letting Obama and the congress give them another. It is a sad day when these great pillars of America have let themselves be destroyed by bureaucrats. I won't buy another Chrysler product and possibly none of the others. I'll be like the Obama cabinet members and get a nice southern made American/foreign car.
Right now I pay around $100 a month for Gas (give or take). That is $1200 a year. At a 10 mph break I pay $60 a monthand save $480 a year which means it takes a little less than 33 months to recoup the cost in gas savings. Now the actual estimated increase is usually more by at least 50% then what the gubment says it is so it will probably cost 2000 more making the range just under three years to just over four years. However smaller engines do not handle wear and tear as well as larger ones. A v6 will last longer than a v4. So either the useful life of the vehicle is reduced or repair expenses go up. So this change is not even economical in the long run.
Will any ACORN member, Congress critter, & even President Obama own a government created car? I doubt it. These monstrosities will be sitting in dealerships gathering dust while the government keeps adding more cash to the UAW-owned PC cars…
Watch Obama try to make Toyota, Honda, & any other foreign cars somehow illegal to force the American to buy Government Motors cars…
Ma'am, just the fact the execs allowed themselves to be lead to the block shows that they didn't have nads in the first place. Or a spine
As Joe would say, Two Words – STOP BUYING CARS. Lets bring these SOBs to their knees. Do not buy any car that's manufactured to the new standard. Weld steel plated armor to your old rig, go Mad Max until we can vote this lunatic and his henchmen out of office.
See ya on route 5, I'll be the one in the Death Race 2000 Pinto.
The rank and file libs want to destroy it because they've been taught that it's the root of everything that's wrong with the everywhere else in the world. They'll destroy it because they don't have it, or at least, they don't have power over it.
Those who are in power right now want power and control over everything and everyone. I think Limbaugh said it best the other day when he likened what they're doing to his own addiction: you don't care if you destroy it because you have to have it so bad that even if you ruin it taking it over, you still got it and that's all that matters.
"….an uncommon alliance of auto executives, union leaders and environmental activists…"
Uh, let's see…the people that he just dished a trillion dollars out to are all agreeing with him? What a surprise!
It's a good thing I have a cousin who knows a thing or two about auto body and auto repair. At any rate, How do they expect a family of any size to use their proposed crap cans to go anywhere, and since many of these cars will likely be hybrid to some degree, how do they square their so-called gas savings with the likely cost of recharging the damn things once the EPA hits the electric industry for making too much CO2? There won't be any savings at all; they just said that to make things go down easier for the stupid.
Too bad GE had just made a major breakthrough with their hydrogen cell engines. Now they really are potentially supressing the next big thing in the name of controlling all of us and suppressing our freedoms. Who's the evil Machiavellian in the room now? Oh yes, the Left always projects.
Obama made it clear in the debates that "the answer to the energy problem is conservation". He meant the answer was "America should use less energy in the future". He does see American wealth and power as a moral evil. He has already said, " “we can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,”.
Nobody should be surprised about any of this.
F-350, that's what I drive. Never felt safer.
Exactly!
The only good American is a government dependent, democrat voting drone.
yup! My stable of F-150's and 1 98 ZJ Grand Cherokee Limited stand ready to serve. All V-8's
Anyone thinking of buying a Smart car should first google Smart car crashes-Images. I could see driving one someday, as long as I realize I'm putting around in an over-sized enclosed golf cart, in the middle of larger heavier vehicles. I've seen a few fools careening down the highway in these, cutting in and out of lanes, as though the Semis, 4 by 4s, SUVs, etc. presented no threat to them in a potential wreck.
I will Never buy a Federal Guvmint Auto OR truck, no matter What they put on the label, union or otherwise. Once Japanese makers put out full size 1 ton pick ups, it's going to shrink GM even more. It will probably 'legitimize' Japanese trucks in the minds of many Buy-American holdouts who are regularly in the market for pick em ups. Ford remains the best American option till then. But Any full size truck is capable of running over a Smart car.
I hate to tell you guys/gals but whether you intend to own one or not you are going to be paying for those vehicles. They aren't going to let the unions fail period. It doesn't matter how much debt they have to forgive or how much they have to take from the rest of us. I was so disgusted with how the unions and Democrats were in bed together I decided never to own another big 3 auto. Well they showed me. What do you suppose is going to happen when they do switch to these green cars and nobody buys them? Bailout 3.0.
Besides, if their concern is really about emissions, they would start taking bids on government green cars so there would be an incentive to make them and an existing infrastructure to support them..
Can someone tell me what technology exist that can get you this kind of milage. I ride a motorcycle a lot. The same bike as many cops and it only gets about 40 mpg in normal street and highway riding. Do people think there is mass sources of lithium for batteries or are we going to use environment friendly lead batteries made over seas.
This just does not add up when you do the math. Plan what plan I don't need no stinking plan!
Don't you all get it? It's about 0bama and his "friends" taking over of our lives at our own expense. It's a soft tyranny. The press doesn't ( won't )report how in 3 + months control of our lives has been legislated out of existence. Wait until they screw up health insurance. When is someone going to scream out that the emperor has no clothes. "A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have" Thomas Jefferson
Bingo!Classic democrat bassackwardness
Personally, I won't buy any of these new tiny POS cars. I love the used car market. I drive a lexus and will soon buy a used Corvette.
Obama can kiss my A**!
Oh, yes and I live my Harley. God Bless American Iron.
just hold onto your existing car and invest in a good auto mechanic. my car was born in 1973, don't have to smog and registration is cheap.
When I lived in Holland I drove a pathetic little Euro 4-banger, and now that I'm back home I have two cars with a total of 16 cylinders (Mustang GT and Lincoln Continental).
Long live the American V-8…!!!
an R1100RT probably makes about 90hp. to meet the new standards, a car would have to have a less powerful engine, and/or weigh the same as the motorcycle.
I stopped being a "Star Trek" fan when "The Next Generaton" came along. I could never take Patrick Stewart seriously as a ship's captain and the thing that really got on my nerves was the way he issued commands. Someone on the bridge would suggest a course of action and Picard would then intone (in best stentorian RADA fashion) "Make it so!" It was like a fustian 19th Century British colonial administrator telling the wogs where to dig the vice-regal hot tub. The Obama administration's directives on mileage and auto design seem to have the same smack of proconsular grandiosity. He simply waves a hand at Detroit's head honchos and says "Make it so." Questions of consumer choice, technical difficulties and driver safety are simply too petty to be noticed. Everyone involved has been bought and paid for.
And if a MILLION a year die from Obama cars, that's just fine with the left. As long as they are all republicans, they don't care, the ends justify the means.
NO, YOUR GOD DEMANDS YOU GIVE UP YOUR FREEDOM TO HIM!
All hail the great GOD OBAMA!
Until Ford falls. Then used cars only.
The law doesn't matter to OUR GOD OBAMA! He'll wave his magic hand and reality will bend to his mighty will.
Funny thing is that he's doing this with 'signing statements'. Didn't the libs rip President Bush a new one for using "signing statements"?
Don't worry, if the union continues their soaking of Dodge and GM, there won't be either. Uncle Barack can't cover their costs forever.
The ba*tards will have to pry my big car from my cold dead hands!! Is it 2012 yet? GAWD!!!!
This CAFE stuff is a real killer!! I am old enough to remember station wagons…..remember them? They could haul stuff, tow stuff and were big and safe………but oops, they don't get good gas mileage so as the do gooders do, they were effectively outlawed. Fortunately, Americans, being the independent, smart bunch that they are, just switched to SUVs which were covered under the light truck standards. Sooo, ironies of ironies the do gooders created the SUV craze that they hate so much…delicious! I hate that all aspects of our autoamerican(loved that album) lives are being interfered with, but I have faith that we will figure out another way to be what we want to be and buy what we want to buy.
"…every 100 pound reduction in the weight of small cars causes traffic fatalities to rise as much as 715 per year. (Malloy) claims that Obama`s proposed plan will kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War."
Don't forget that other wing of the wacko environmentalist movement. Those would be the overpopulation crowd. They're thrilled more people will die. We have to depopulate to save the planet, after all. Whatever it takes!! Squeeze people into these bumper cars and watch them die! Ugh! I'm sick of libs.
You've got to understand the plan. First you spend a few decades piling on stupid regulations that force the car companies to build bad cars that nobody wants and aren't profitable even if someone wants to buy one. When the entire industry is sufficiently debilitated, you create a credit crisis, so no one will be able to mount a takeover bid when you swoop in to steal the companies from their stockholders, so you can hand them over to the UAW in return for services rendered. Then you create more regs to force them to make even more unsaleable cars, so you can use the excuse of preserving all those valuable American jobs to raise the gas tax up to EU levels to force people to buy them anyway. Everybody wins! The UAW makes out, the pols get lots of extra loot to payoff their other contributers, ACORN gets a few extra billion for signing up illegal immigrants for their free college tuition, everybody gets government healthcare, just not much of it, unless of course one is a member of the proper constituency. The topper will be when our disasterous climate is transformed to one where it's always 70 degrees and sunny everywhere and it only rains at night as a grant from Mother Gaia for giving her her own personal Sally Fields moment of knowing that we all really, really do love her.
any deaths reported yet in those new smart cars? Here in NY, a bike messenger could probably tip one of those things over. A mortician's best friend….speaking of which, has BO put any restrictions on dying?
Video of a Smart Car crash test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZs1QuHerTU
You don't want to miss this one.
Another great piece. This man is smart!
Why do you hate the planet?
Why do you want widows, orphans, nuns and puppies to breathe dirty air?
ThINK of TEH ChILDren!!!!!
There goes the family vacation. I'd like to know how you're supposed to load it up with five people, the dog and all the camping gear needed for vacation? Then drive 240 miles without stopping to charge it up….impossible!
I think i'm going to stick to my 1970 Monte Carlo – I'll be invincible in a sea of tin can cars.
According to Steve Milloy-
Steve Milloy the "adjunct scholar" at the Competitive Enterprise Institute: funded by Exxon, Pfizer, General Motors, and Philip Morris, just to name a few. It might as well have The Good Housekeeping seal for industry BS.
Oh, to afford an SUV (my dream car is actually an Army-issued Humvee, complete with .50 cal, and an Army Ranger to man it).
But from this point forward, I will not own anything new.
I will keep my Camry until Obama tears it out of my cold dead hands.
Shouldn't we start our sacrifices with the virgins at the Daily Kos and work from there, that way it doesn't affect how much the gov't gets in tax dollars
What should I think of them.
Wow- I'm truly sorry you guys just can manage to get laid more. Congrats tho…there's a special place in he|| waiting for you both.
I love meeting conservatives who drive Hondas, Toyotas, Mercedes, BMWs, Lexus, Infiniti. And then proceed to b*tch about the course our domestic auto industry has taken.
Obama refuses to address the real problem of overpopulation. We need strong tax incentives and perks for people who choose not to have children. By substantially reducing the population just about every problem we face would be calmed.
Let's see if this conspiracy holds up. Government funded freeways with 65 mph speed limits and sardine cans on wheels…. Yep, the plan is to kill the greenies. I'll buy one of those little cars just as soon as they take all the semi's off the road and all government employees drive smart cars.
What a joke!!!….Americans love their cars and trucks! always have!….This just goes to show Obama is not one of US !……Anti American ! I'm going to buy the bigest baddest muscle car I can find !!! Screw you Obama!
I work for a Chrysler dealer that will loose its Franchise due to the Obama induced restructuring.. The owner of the dealership was not upset over the loss…he said he was relieved that he will not have to jump through the hoops of the "new" Obama led Chrysler..We will continue as a used car dealer that will sell vehicles that people actually want to buy!
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