The problem with electric cars

"Myth: The Future Belongs to Electric Cars"

Noteworthy:

"I advise caution: Do not be surprised if electric cars do not follow the trajectory of personal computers and mobile phones. Leaving aside the prohibitive prices, the infrastructure needed to support wide-scale use of electric cars is nonexistent. How readily will the requisite millions of batteries be available when manufacturers are quick to unveil new, bold electric car plans but slow to commit to massive battery orders? And how will people in large cities, where 30 to 60 percent of cars are parked curbside, charge their vehicles? Mass construction of charging stations must precede mass ownership of electrics outside of the suburbs, where vehicles could be charged in garages. This is why researchers at IHS Global Insight put the share of pure electrics at just 0.6 percent of world sales in 2020, and why any claim that electric cars will soon take over the market is utterly unrealistic."

High Speed Rail...High Speed Cost...Low Speed Service...Extremely Low Speed Benefit

Not So High-Speed Rail in North Carolina and Raleigh

Noteworthy:

Most newspaper accounts of this new rail system mislead readers by reporting that the train will go 110 mph. This is the maximum speed possible on some limited routes. The average speed in North Carolina due to track conditions and stops is far from 'high-speed' because it averages only 55 to 75 mph, about the same as auto travel on interstate highways.

...North Carolina’s state and federal taxpayers are not only on the hook for building the expensive system, they will be stuck with the nearly $25 million in operating subsidies every year. What is the benefit of these high costs? The average North Carolinian will take one round trip on these trains only once in every 27 years

...With all of these negatives, who does support the system? Who benefits from it? Average taxpayers who will be paying the multibillion-dollar bills certainly are not benefiting. Since the rail lines are designed to connect center cities, the beneficiaries are wealthy business and government elites — lawyers, bankers, and bureaucrats — who live or work downtown. They see an advantage to traveling center city to center city, rather than using faster air travel and then renting a car to drive to meetings downtown. And they are not shy about sticking us with the bill for personal convenience."

Not that any such facts will move the political and social "elites" from their steadfast belief that somehow, someway, High Speed Rail is "good for us."

The reality is that it's only good for them, and their special interests.

Is this the Magic Bullet that makes electric cars practical?

There are two major problem areas that hold back the practicality of electric cars worldwide. One is the building of infrastructure necessary for recharging stations, and the other is quick charge battery technology.

The solution for the battery technology needed may be on tap:

"The Nikkei newspaper (subs. req’d) says that a Japanese company has built a quick charge system that can take a battery from zero charge to 50% full in about 3 minutes.

JFE Engineering Corp, based in Yokohama, says that the system will go on sale later this year and has the capability to charge 5 times faster than other such quick charge products. Even though one station costs about $63,000, that’s roughly 40% less than the competition."

I think the standards issue mentioned in the article can easily be resolved if this technology proves it's potential.

Hat tip: Instapundit

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Hype, Fraud Over Toyota "Unintended Acceleration"

Many folks smelled the rat on the "Prius from Hell" story last week, but the shills in the media pressed fast forward with the overwrought coverage.

Micael Fumento details the nonsense and the chicanery.

Noteworthy:

"In fact, almost none of this was true. Virtually every aspect of Sikes's story as told to reporters makes no sense. His claim that he'd tried to yank up the accelerator could be falsified, with his help, in half a minute. And now we even have an explanation for why he'd pull such a stunt, beyond the all-American desire to have 15 minutes of fame (recall the "Balloon Boy Hoax" from October) and the aching need to be perceived as a victim. The lack of skepticism from the beginning was stunning. I combed through haystacks of articles without producing such needles as the words 'alleges' or 'claims.' When Sikes said he brought his car to a dealer two weeks earlier, recall notice in hand, and they just turned him away, the media bought that, too. In Sikes We Trust. Then the pundits deluged us with a tsunami of an anti-Toyota sanctimony."

Read the Car and Driver story, one which I relied upon on another blog to express skepticism over the hysteria.

Excerpt:

"Certainly the most natural reaction to a stuck-throttle emergency is to stomp on the brake pedal, possibly with both feet. And despite dramatic horsepower increases since C/D's 1987 unintended-acceleration test of an Audi 5000, brakes by and large can still overpower and rein in an engine roaring under full throttle. With the Camry’s throttle pinned while going 70 mph, the brakes easily overcame all 268 horsepower straining against them and stopped the car in 190 feet—that’s a foot shorter than the performance of a Ford Taurus without any gas-pedal problems and just 16 feet longer than with the Camry’s throttle closed. From 100 mph, the stopping-distance differential was 88 feet—noticeable to be sure, but the car still slowed enthusiastically enough to impart a feeling of confidence. We also tried one go-for-broke run at 120 mph, and, even then, the car quickly decelerated to about 10 mph before the brakes got excessively hot and the car refused to decelerate any further. So even in the most extreme case, it should be possible to get a car’s speed down to a point where a resulting accident should be a low-speed and relatively minor event.

But Toyota could do better. Since the advent of electronic throttle control, many automakers have added software to program the throttle to close—and therefore cut power—when the brakes are applied. Cars from BMW, Chrysler, Nissan/Infiniti, Porsche, and Volkswagen/Audi have this feature, and that’s precisely why the G37 aced this test. Even with the throttle floored and the vehicle accelerating briskly, stabbing the brakes causes the engine’s power to fade almost immediately, and as a result, the Infiniti stops in a hurry. From speeds of 70 or even 100 mph, the difference in braking results between having a pinned throttle or not was fewer than 10 feet, which isn’t discernible to the average driver. As a result of the unintended-acceleration investigation, Toyota is adding this feature posthaste.

We included the powerful Roush Mustang to test—in the extreme—the theory that 'brakes are stronger than the engine.' From 70 mph, the Roush’s brakes were still resolutely king even though a pinned throttle added 80 feet to its stopping distance. However, from 100 mph, it wasn’t clear from behind the wheel that the Mustang was going to stop. But after 903 feet—almost three times longer than normal—the 540-hp supercharged Roush finally did succumb, chugging to a stop in a puff of brake smoke."

Note that the Prius model in the Fumento story weighed significantly less than the Roush Mustang, and possessed about one fifth the horsepower. These are all factors in determining the effectiveness of an automobile's brakes under circumstances of "unintended acceleration". We won't even begin to talk about driver pedal misapplication, or the other common sense things drivers can do if an event like this actually happened.

2/14/10 UPDATE:

NHTSA agrees with my assessment:

"During two hours of test drives of Sikes' car Thursday, technicians with Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to duplicate the same experience that Sikes described, according to the memo prepared for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

'Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down,' the memo said.

The report says that, according to Toyota's 'residential Hybrid expert,' the Prius is designed to shut down if the brakes are applied while the gas pedal is pressed to the floor. If it doesn't, the engine would 'completely seize.'

The memo continued that in this case 'it does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time.' "

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Not your typical OnStar emergency

(Hat tip: Instapundit)



Note that this car is a Government Motors product, so perhaps we should have expected the call.

It's just a preview of the type of control we can expect if we're not smart enough to bring the Obamanation to a screeching halt starting next year.

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Exposing a traffic scam

In North Carolina, we got rid of the potential for scams like this several years ago.

Excerpt from the Chicago Tribune article, which quotes a revenue hungry local bureaucrat in a rare moment of candor:

"When the very first red-light camera was planted in the suburbs at 25th Avenue and Harrison Street in Bellwood, it instantly became more than just a traffic control device.

It became a cash machine.

That one device generates $60,000 to $70,000 a month in revenue from traffic fines for the western suburb, Bellwood Comptroller Roy McCampbell once declared as he likened the camera to “Lotto or casino type operations.”

'That intersection is a guaranteed amount of money,' McCampbell boasted to an Illinois Municipal League seminar in a 2007 presentation that was recorded and posted on YouTube. '… It just keeps popping.'

The reason is simple: The camera guards an entrance path to the Eisenhower Expressway and snaps away as cars and trucks make rolling right turns on red with astounding frequency.

....In his municipal league talk, McCampbell said he and other Bellwood officials lobbied for the new law. He aid the driving force was the deaths of four people in a July 2005 crash that involved red light running at Mannheim Road and Madison Street.

Bellwood has eight traffic cameras, but none at that intersection.

Let's make sure red light cameras NEVER come back to North Carolina, and let's make sure we stop any kind of talk of implementing this type of outrage before our North Carolina Vast Democrat Culture of Corruption money sucking vampires get their fangs out.

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Are the Chrysler dealership closings tainted by political payback?

Gateway Pundit wants to know. You should, too.

Noteworthy:

Again here is what we know so far--

** Earlier it was reported that the Obama Administration may have targeted GOP donors in deciding which Chrysler dealerships would have to close their doors.

** Later it was discovered that a Big Dem Donor Group was allowed to keep all 6 Chrysler dealerships open.... And, their local competitors were eliminated.

** The Auto Task Force, which includes Obama cabinet members, is reportedly calling the shots on which dealerships will close and stay open.

** Steven Rattner leads The Auto Task Force and is married to the former National Finance Chair of Democratic Party, Maureen White.

** The closings in several instances appear to benefit Dem donating dealers where local GOP-linked dealerships were closed.

** Even Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla) lost his Chrysler dealership in Florida and found out from a colleague on the House floor.

** Lithia Motor Group's owners gave $15,000 to two Democrat candidates and support nationalized healthcare. They will likely lose just two of 29 dealerships and gain 5 more.

** One report claims the odds that these Chrysler closings occurred without partisan bias are less than 1%.

** After closing the 789 dealerships Chrysler announced that they are already looking to open new franchises.

** Chrysler dealership owners donated to Republicans over Democrats by a ratio of 76% to 24%.

Very interesting.

If the accusations are true, would anyone really be surprised, given the Obamanation's record so far?

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The coming discontent of the voting and motoring public about vehicles and driving under the Obamanation

"Car Crazy" describes the coming disaster completely.

Let's sum up what is now readily apparent about this situation:

1.Obama and his cronies are running two American car companies now.

2. By default, he's proposed draconian design parameters with his "pick a number out of the air" fuel mileage mandate.

3. His energy and tax policies are going to raise the cost of transportation by an unbearable amount while NOT solving any "( non-existent) climate change" or "energy shortage" problem.

4. There is every likelihood that, given his proclivity for thugishness and strong-armed tactics, he will force you out of your older, non-Obama conforming vehicle, and.....

5. His economic "stimulus" plan isn't, and in fact will extend and probably deepen the economic distress in more ways than meets the eye, one of which is the eventual complete failure of GM and Chrysler.

And those are just the cluster f**ks I anticipate off the top of my head.

Excerpts from the WSJ article:

"Mr. Obama's fleet-mileage partners yesterday included the two auto companies that have fallen into his arms, Chrysler and GM, still-independent Ford, the major foreign manufacturers, United Auto Workers chief Ron Gettelfinger, and beaming representatives from the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

All that's left to arrive at the President's new destination for the American way of driving are huge, unanswered questions about technology, financing and the marketability of cars that will be small and expensive."

....and:

"These public goals notwithstanding, it still looks as if Ford, Chrysler and GM will be making cars they can't sell, or can't sell profitably. That might not be a problem if you're now Gettelfinger Motors. But still-independent Ford has private shareholders and creditors to answer. While GM and Chrysler attempt to meet the new standards with taxpayer money, Ford will have to do so on its own........One thing seems certain by 2016: Taxpayers will be paying Detroit to make the cars Americans don't want, and then they will pay again either through (trust us) a gas tax or with a purchase subsidy. Even the French must think we're nuts."

Indeed.

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Obama's got a plan for your future wheels...

......and you will LIKE it, whether you like it or not!

"You WILL drive the functional equivalents of four wheel enclosed Vespas, because I SAY so! Automotive safety and comfort forthwith will have no function (except for the privileged Elite, like Al Gore and myself)."

Noteworthy:

"In secret conversations, the Obama administration has lined up support from many state governments and a huge array of domestic and foreign automakers, including GM, Ford, Chrysler, BMW and many more."

.....no doubt using the same scorched earth policy his thugs used on the Chrysler bondholders to force them to give up their bond agreements, while protecting the UAW's vested interests.

We're well aware how things like that work in the Obamanation.

#

'Would you like your new 2010 American-built Obamamobile in Shades of Pink, or would All-Out Red be better?'

"Oh, one more thing: In addition to transportation to the selling point charge, dealer prep, cap 'n trade fees, new technology surcharges, the mandatory universal no fault auto insurance costs, sales and other state and local cash entitlement fees, there will be a slight additional surcharge of 10% for the new UAW Political Action/Slush Fund fee. Plus, you need to pre-pay your expected first year red light and speed camera traffic fines of $5000. And, of course, there will be no refunds or carry overs year to year."

Unfortunately, the Obamanationization of the U.S. auto industry is likely the kiss of death, even with some of the non-level playing field conditions the Obamamobiles are sure to enjoy.

Noteworthy:

"Stacking the deck in favor of GM and Chrysler, and using new taxes to create demand for alternative fuel vehicles which Obama wants built in the US, won't be enough to guarantee success for Chrysler and GM. The Politicized auto industry will still need to compete with the strongest players in this market. GM and Chrysler will need to have excellence in design, and to manufacture cars that are high quality to attract buyers.

As we see in the banking industry, having the government as your investment partner creates huge disincentives to attract and retain top, capable, and motivated management. This is the fatal flaw of Obama's politicization of the American automobile industry, and it will be shown that the money from the US Treasury was a poor investment, and the better outcome would have come from a regular Chapter 11 reorganization without the Obama's heavy handedness."

#

So long, Chief

GM gives Pontiac a death sentence.

Several years ago, I would have bet on Buick being the division sent to the junkyard instead of Pontiac. The realities of the decades long decay of the American automobile industry have proven me wrong, and it's quite possible this particular move has been rumbling through the 14th floor of the GM building for more than a year or so.

Buick's vehicles have long been old in the tooth, tired designs that fit a description of a retiree's car after its evolution from the original doctor's car appellation. For years, Pontiac rode the crest of the GM performance division, a youthful and energetic brand ("We Build Excitement") with nameplates like GTO, LeMans, Bonneville, and Trans Am, and traditionally held the number three slot in vehicle sales behind Chevy and Ford.

That changed in recent times, along with the rapid disappearance of the small non-conglomerate one marque dealer. Today, Pontiacs exist only as a companion brand to Buick and GMC in retail stores, and soon they will exist with Oldsmobile in the GM brand graveyard.


For what it's worth department:

The automotive tradition runs deep in my family. My paternal grandfather was a master machinist, my father was a mechanic, and shortly before I was born, he joined the Buick Division of GM as a district service rep before switching to the sales side, ending up as the top man in the division's eastern region fleet operations.

As a young man, I worked in almost every department of an automobile dealership, mostly of the GM variety, starting as a summer teenage gofer in Parts, progressing through New Car Delivery service, the Oil/Lube rack, into Bookkeeping/Accounting experience while in college, evolving into Sales and Management after I returned from the service. I have worked virtually every job there is to work in an automobile dealership.

The selling, servicing, marketing, and racing of automobiles put clothes on my back and food in my mouth in one form or the other all my life up to my mid 30s. The doctors say my blood type is O+, but they're wrong. It's 5W-30.

The spirits of Willie Durant and Alfred P. Sloan are restless tonight. So is mine.

But I don't feel sorry for GM. They've been bringing things like this on themselves for almost a half century.

Postscript:

I have a keen sense for doomed brands. I bought a new Pontiac in February, to replace the Oldsmobile I bought new back in 2001.

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Obama's policy on highway safety? MADD

This was predictable.

Obama's choice to thread the NHTSA is an unqualified MADD zealot, who is bound to cause disaster in this public policy area.

Details:

"With Hurley in charge, MADD’s goals will become NHTSA’s goals. That's troubling because at heart, MADD is an activist organization. The groups once-admirable goal of raising public awareness about drunk driving has over the last several years morphed into a zealous, evangelical teetotaling campaign. When a coalition of college presidents recently asked for nothing more than a new debate over the federal drinking age last year, for example, MADD called on parents to boycott the presidents' schools.

MADD has supported prison sentences for parents who allow alcohol consumption at chaperoned parties for underage teens, and fought efforts to allow underage veterans to have a beer on base after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Even MADD's founder, Candace Lightner, has renounced the group, calling them 'neo-prohibitionists.' "

....and:

"Hurley would take NHTSA in a much more activist direction. States could expect to see more federal mandates about how they manage their roads, and motorists could expect expensive new mandatory safety add-ons to new vehicles; more reasons for to get pulled over; and lots more red light and speed cameras.

NHTSA needs a director who will balance safety with freedom, who will look at data dispassionately, and who will consider unintended consequences before ushering in sweeping new policies."

From the Eric Peters link:

"Hurley, CEO of the public nuisance group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), may well be the most zealous enemy of individual liberty and the free-market at NHTSA since Joan Claybrook ruled during the Carter Administration.

His nomination on Tuesday sent shudders down the spines of everyone who considers motoring a special part of the joy of being American.

If his prior record is any indication, we can expect more in the way of arbitrary interference with the way the car companies do business at a moment when they can least afford the burden of bureaucratic meddling.

And drivers can expect a ratcheting up of the low-grade harassment they already endure on a daily basis — in the form of more obnoxious regulations, pullover 'safety' checks and very possibly lowered speed limits, ala Claybrook’s 55-mph national limit on federal interstates.

All of this will be imposed on states in the time-honored Washington way: Those that fail to comply will lose vitally needed highway funds."

These types of policies will only serve to enrichen the coffers of municipalities in their never ending thirst for more money, and will enable more shenanigans by those insurance companies that issue automobile insurance policies.

It won't improve our highways, nor will it improve "highway safety".

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So let's fire the other guy too

"According to the government, GM's Rick Wagoner was forced to resign because of poor performance. That’s embarrassing. You run an organization that loses billions of dollars and then get fired by a guy who heads up an organization that loses trillions of dollars."

~Jay Leno

The question our Usual Suspect pals and the Tank Media fail to ask is "why have we not yet fired the guy who's blown the trillions of dollars?"

They'll never get around to asking that until it's too late.

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'Obama Orders GM, Chrysler to Dump NASCAR!'

Intended as an April Fool's joke, this story might actually come to pass, given the Zero Administration's control and obedience agenda.

I think we could work out a compromise though. A concession might be in order to agree to an Obama proposal to mandate that all NASCAR Cup events be limited to electric-only Priuses.

The race winner would be the last car actually having battery power to keep the vehicle in motion. I nominate David Wharton to be the series' Chief Steward.

The after-race burnout celebrations by the winner might have to be modified a bit however.

#

Obama's GM charade

Bankruptcy for GM?

Doubtful.

Zero's just playing the game.

Noteworthy:

"President Obama rightly says 'sacrifices' must be made if GM is to emerge as a viable company. But there's one sacrifice he won't make: his re-election chances, by leaving the fate of the UAW truly up to a bankruptcy judge.

Keep that in mind amid the defenestration of Rick Wagoner, who was not as popular with UAW Chief Ron Gettelfinger as Mr. Wagoner's replacement, Fritz Henderson. Keep that in mind amid reports the administration favors a 'quick and surgical' bankruptcy. It's a bluff. The same administration that inserted itself into GM's corporate governance to order the resignation of a CEO is hardly likely to defer to the prescribed legal order for a failing company, namely bankruptcy. Even a 'prepackaged' filing runs too much risk of a judge imposing more 'sacrifice' on the UAW than the administration is prepared to tolerate.

GM bondholders understand this: They've been intransigent precisely because they calculate the UAW is too important to Democratic electoral politics for Mr. Obama to risk losing control of the reorganization process to a bankruptcy judge.

The GM bailout has become a political operation run out of the White House. It will stay that way. Talk of UAW layoffs already disguises the fact that UAW workers are actually offered generous buyouts and early retirement -- they aren't just sent away with a last paycheck. What about Chrysler? A few weeks ago, Fiat was saying it would consider a merger if a loan from Washington was guaranteed. Now Washington is saying a loan will be forthcoming as long as Fiat does a deal. That's not an ultimatum -- that's a nod and a wink.

Mr. Wagoner did more than any GM executive to deal with the cursed legacy of 75 years of too much government attention. Not for him, though, and not for Team Obama, the real solution to make GM "viable": Getting rid of its North American business to end its UAW captivity.

That captivity, imposed by the 1935 Wagner Act, is the sole relevant factor distinguishing the Detroit Three from the world's other auto makers. The result is downright weird: "Our" auto companies operate in a world that's less 'American,' in a sense, than the Japanese and German companies that come here and enjoy a free labor market."

Jenkins is right.

Obama will protect the UAW at any cost.

Do not be surprised if Zero bypasses everyone and attempts to nationalize GM and Ford, like he's doing with the banking system. The process will continue to expand far beyond those two industries.

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Are Mulally and Jackson inhaling their products' exhaust fumes?

These two automobile industry executives think gasoline needs to be more expensive.

Noteworthy:

"While last year's energy spike briefly encouraged small-car sales, Mr. Jackson complained that those sales have plummeted with gas prices. 'I have fuel-efficient vehicles parked at my dealerships as far as the eye can see. I can't give them away.'

He figures a tax that guarantees a gas-price floor of $4 a gallon is a 'good start.' Mr. Mulally, for his part, talked about how good Ford's sales of small cars were in Europe, and that 'one of the reasons is that gasoline and diesel is somewhere between seven and nine dollars a gallon.'


So: The U.S. government mandates fuel-economy standards that force Detroit to make cars Americans don't want to drive.

When Detroit loses money on those cars, Washington throws taxpayer dollars at its mistake, and the car makers demand a tax increase that would prod Americans to buy the unpopular cars that Washington mandates.

As for what the American consumer or taxpayer wants -- or can afford in today's economy -- who cares?

Welcome to government-run energy policy."

It's a Libthinker's dream opportunity, isn't it?

Why is the Vehicle Miles Tax being considered?

James Baxter, at the National Motorists Association:

"It’s understandable that certain corporate and political entities, like those represented on the federal commission looking into funding mechanisms for our future transportation needs, would favor a system like taxing vehicle miles traveled.

Such a system would be opaque, subject to infinite manipulation, confusing to the general public, largely unaccountable, costly (and profitable) to implement, expansive of government control, and a source of never ending political tinkering. It would also expedite the shifting of government revenue generation to the driving public, a persistent political objective.

The people on the other end of this long 'stick,' the motoring public, might have second thoughts on abandoning the simple, fair, effective, and equitable fuel tax as the means to pay for their streets, roads, and highways."

This is yet one more bad example of bureaucratic Libthink that needs to die a well deserved death.

Guess what happens when local NC governments are strapped for bucks?

The number of traffic violation tickets written in those localities goes up!

Noteworthy:

"The finding adds credence to something many drivers have long suspected: Safety isn't the only motive in traffic enforcement efforts. Since many municipalities retain the money generated by traffic fines, perhaps traffic enforcement also acts as a bit of a fundraiser.

'There is ample anecdotal evidence that local governments use traffic tickets as a means of generating revenue…,' Garrett and Wagner write. 'Our paper provides the first empirical evidence to support this view….'"

Imagine that!

As further proof of that particular point, we have only to look at the magic disappearence of Red Light Cameras in the triad, after the courts decided that almost ALL of the fine amounts collected must be turned over to the school system.

'Bankruptcy is the Perfect Remedy for Detroit'

Chapter 11 makes perfect sense for the diseased carcass of the once great American automotive cabal, but the forces of the status quo, which include the manufacturers, the UAW, and the regressive "progressives" in Congress and elsewhere, don't like it one bit.

To sum it up:

"In short, Detroit and the public have little to fear from a bankruptcy filing, but much to fear from the corrupt bargain that is emerging among incumbent management, the UAW and Capitol Hill to spend our money to avoid their reality check."

All of these blowhards who support the status quo of an automotive "bailout" need to be unceremoniously tossed out on the street.

Don Boudreaux has more:

"Chances are excellent that some (probably scaled-down) versions of GM, Ford and Chrysler -- perhaps merged together or with another auto producer -- would be viable if restructured. The Big Three, after all, still together supply nearly one-half of all new automobiles sold and leased in the United States. It's highly unlikely that none of the productive capacity in these firms would be competitive with the likes of Toyota and Hyundai.

The trouble is that now any productive efficiencies that the Big Three possess are masked by these firms' huge debt obligations.

So, far from solving this problem, any 'bridge loans' from Uncle Sam to the Big Three will only delay the inevitable need to restructure. Bailout money would force taxpayers to foot the bill for Detroit's irresponsible past promises while it protects these firms from having to do the hard work of correcting this real source of their unprofitability. (Of course, bailout money would also protect overpaid and over-pensioned UAW members from having their pay and pensions scaled back to reasonable levels.)

With the symptoms of this serious ailment socialized for however long the bailout funds last -- that is, with nothing done to cure the ailment -- GM, Ford and Chrysler will be no better able to operate profitably after they run through the bailout funds than they're able to do now."

Think our local floor of $1.89 per gallon of gas is cheap?

Check this out.

Or, if you really want to go into a blue funk about gas prices in Greensboro, have a look here.......