This Election Mattered

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If you don’t think elections matter, wait about five years.

Then go shopping for a new car.

You will have your choice of a small hybrid car – or an electric car. Because by 2025, all new cars will be required by federal fatwa to average almost 50 miles-per-gallon – nearly twice the current fatwa-mandated average.

And the only cars capable of doing so are small hybrids like the Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq and Kio Niro.

And, of course, electric cars – which burn no gas at all. Well, not directly.

There may still be a few other, non-hybrid cars (and possibly even trucks) but these will have become very artificially expensive – so you probably will not be able to afford one.

Because the Democrats won control of the House.

These Democrats believe it is the government’s business to dictate (they aren’t recommending) how much gas your car uses, never mind who pays for the car or the gas.

And never mind that we have plenty of gas.

They will prevent the Orange One from rescinding the near-doubling (over the course of about five years) of the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard that was fatwa’d by Barack Obama’s EPA.

Cars that don’t average almost 50 MPG will be the object of abusive fines designed to make them so expensive to sell that very few will be able to buy them – regardless of how much they want and prefer them to cars that average 50 MPGs.

Since literally every car that’s available right now that isn’t a hybrid or electric averages nowhere close to 50 MPG, you can perhaps read the tea leaves.

Thus, most of us will be nudged into hybrids and electric cars – which are expensive for natural reasons. Batteries cost a great deal more than gas – and anything that has to be plugged in also costs time and lots of it – but never mind.

They use less gas. Someone ought to erect a totem pole so we can worship Saturday nights.

Maybe make this mandatory, too.

Hybrids burn gas part time – and electricity the rest of the time. This requires burning oil and coal and natural gas the rest of the time, but never mind.

Electric cars burn their oil/coal and natural gas remotely – a sleight-of-hand which enables their manufacturers to tout infinite MPGs and even more unctuously, “zero emissions”  . . . at least insofar as what comes out of the tailpipe, which an EV hasn’t got.

The EV does have several hundred pounds of caustic, flammable and short-life batteries, though.

It’s all pretty silly, especially given we are literally swimming in gas and there is no need for any of this – which of course is exactly why the government is forcing it on us. It knows perfectly well that most people aren’t going to buy a hybrid or an EV when gas is $2.40 a gallon because why would they?

It makes as much sense as going on a diet when you’re thin.

CAFE is a law even more dated than MC Hammer and parachute pants – or 8 Track tape decks and bell bottom cords, for that matter. It dates back all the way to the early ’70s and Nixon and was passed at a time and with the usual ill-considered franticness when America was dependent on Middle Eastern oil – which wasn’t scarce but was being withheld by the Saudis and other foreign producers (OPEC) annoyed over U.S. foreign policy.

The scarcity and price spikes were artificial – not the consequence of the oil running out.

But the government decided in its usual way to impose a fix on what wasn’t broken and passed the Energy Conservation Act and from that act came CAFE and progressively upticking “fleet average” MPG bars that had to be met – or else.

It seems not to have occurred to the government that if gas really was becoming scarce and prices going through the roof for natural reasons then the market would respond to this signal on its own. Fuel-efficient cars would be built – and bought – without the bayonet in the back.

But now there’s a problem – if you’re the government and need an excuse to decree the kinds of cars people are permitted to buy, which is only superficially about the cars and much more about the control being exercised.

Gas isn’t scarce – and it’s become obvious.

The supply is vastly larger than it was thought to be 50 years ago. Uh-oh. There is no natural market reason to mass-rush into hybrids and EVs – which for exactly this reason depend on a life support system of subsidies and mandates to get even a few people to buy them.

Gas taxes as a prod in the back to artificially create scarcity are politically untenable – even for Democrats – because too obvious.

But CAFE will do the trick without most people ever being aware they’ve been tricked – and mulcted. Because most people think CAFE is a place where you go to get coffee.

Also, far too many of them buy into the Free Lunch. The idea that the evil car industry is withholding 50-MPG cars just for the sake of wastefulness – and that a benevolent government can simply order them to be made without economic or functional consequences.

They’ll be made, all right.

But there are going to be consequences. And those consequences will be paid for by everyone who goes car shopping a few years from now.

Whatever you may think of the Orange One, he tried to stop all of this.

And now he won’t be able to.  

. . .

Got a question about cars – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!

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121 COMMENTS

  1. You called it Eric. GM just announced lots of plant closures to ‘re-focus the future on EV’
    Of course only with Uncle’s assistance/insistence.
    So the back room deals have been made.
    Ohhh myyyy gooooood.

    should be fun when I drive the last IC engines left in ‘off-road ATV’ versions on the interstate, haha.
    Not funny though is it.

    • Hi Chris,

      I never thought Red Barchetta would become reality… but it is looking that way. And I have my Orange Barchetta… which I’ll preserve for some better managed time…

  2. I hereby give a hearty double middle-finger salute to the Diqhed caucus in Washington who were so effective in getting rid of the moronic CAFE fatwa. You collectively belong at the bottom of the manure pile. Not just for the wonderful smells, but to show us how to get out from a situation that we didn’t want, and now have to suffer for because of your total ineptitude.

  3. TULSI GABBORD TO tRump: “YOU ARE SAUDI ARABIA’S BITCH”!https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/11/22/tulsi-gabbord-to-trump-you-are-saudi-arabias-bitch/
    Tulsi Gabbord an Iraq war veteran call out the orange buffoon in the White House, a lying, draft dodging stooge for Pisrael and Fraudi Arabia who ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, who bombed Syria, pulled America out of the JSOC(another ignorant maneuver) who sold weapons to the house of sand and fraud to be used in Yemen…oh by the way there are U.S. soldiers in yemen aiding and abetting the genocidal holocaust of the people of Yemen just as there are American soldiers in Syria aiding and abetting ISIS/DAESH.
    tRump, whose IQ is lower than that of W has proceeded to turn every other nation against America with his ignorant sanctions and tariffs. The ignorant baboon has in his administration: Mike Pence a xtian-zionist jihadist, Mike pompous Pompeo another xtian zionist, John walrus face Bolton, a degenerate, perferted zionist neo-con whom the rest of Washington considers a blowhard. Nicki haley (now gone) a xtian zionist-neo-con whore for Satanyahu.
    tRump’s missile strike into Syria, based entirely on lies and deceit which failed to accomplish anything but waste million of dollars when those cruise missiles were knocked out of the air by Russian electronic counter measures. He has sent American troops into Syria where they have been killed or captured, just recently ISIS captured 7 U.S. troops.
    Why are America soldiers aiding and abetting the genocide in Yemen? Why are American soldiers aiding and abetting DAESH in Syria?
    tRump is a moron, an idiot and a fraud. A lousy businessman who is using the office for his own gain he along with his juish sone in law Jared Kushner of the Kushner Krime Kabala was the one, along with bloody Gina Haspel who gave the orders to MBS to have Khashoggi murdered. Ordered by tRump.
    tRump has so many fooled into thinking he is going to make America great again. He is not. he is going to finish off what’s left of America.
    Has he done anything about the Patriot Act? The NDAA? The DHS or TSA? Has he said anything about the continual spying on Americans? Not a word. tRump also reinstated the sales of military hardware to the cops.
    His bullying, thuggish manner, threats and intimidation is turning the rest of the world against America and the threats against Russia and China could easily blow up in tRump’s face.
    Stop supporting this ignorant bully. He isn’t going to make America great again. We may not even make it to the next election cycle.
    So all you tRump supporters: You’ve been had!

    • The entire establishment is still the same as it ever was. Trump is one guy working against a machine where the best option is usually the lesser of two evils. So sorry he hasn’t changed the world completely to your satisfaction Mr Entitled Child. Pray tell us one thing you have done to make the world better for all of us? Nothing you mentioned in your tirade is new in the past 2 years. We’ve armed the Saudis for decades, bombed Yemen for years, got gamed by Israel for years, etc. So give the guy a second to pull together a plan. There’s a lot to undo and a lot involved in doing it. But the fact remains that Trump is the best option you will ever have. Yet you want to trash him for failing to completely rewrite the world order to your satisfaction in under 2 years. I can’t help but think every day of your life is some endless tirade of everybody all the time, all because you’re frustrated that the entire world has chosen not to bend to your every want, need and demand. Nothing Trump has done makes me lose hope for mankind as quickly as I lose it when I see grown adults exhibiting the level of mental dysfunction you just treated us all to. Good luck with your other options now that you’ve written off Trump. I’m sure President Schiff or President Pelosi will bring you the Utopia you seek.

      • Hi Deuce,

        Well-said.

        Trump has been in office two years – with the weight of everything against him. That he has achieved what he has achieved is itself nothing short of miraculous.

        Even if all he did was to get rid of the Individual Mandate, that alone has put more money back in millions of people’s pockets than anything any Republican president has done in a generation. He tried to repeal the whole mess, too – and was stymied – but he tried.

        What would have happened had Hillary won?

        People don’t like Kavanaugh. How about Mr. Justice Obama? It could have happened…

        • Trump was a gift from Heaven. But he may turn out to be nothing more than a short reprieve from what’s coming.

          Next time the Democrats win control of both houses of Congress and the executive 1) cars as you know them will be illegal 2) guns as you know them will be illegal, and 3) the southern border will be non-existent.

          In other words, “America” will be finished.

          You can bet the farm that they won’t be making anal sex illegal, though!!!

      • More delusional thinking. Trump is a stooge for Pisrael and Saudi Arabia.
        Tulsi Gabbord laid it down straight.
        American soldiers were not in Yemen until after Trump took office. Americans were not in Syria until tRump took office. Trumpa pproved a $115 billion arms sale to the Fraudis in exchange for hotel, limousine and escort concessions.
        The problem is that tRump supporters are blinded by ideology of their own kind.
        The blunders made by Trump are costing America.
        As usual those who cannot rebuke anything I stated because everything I stated is factual, they resort to ad hominems and personal attacks.
        And don’t tell me tRump isn’t corrupt. Nepotism anyone? with Kushner using his office to swing deals with the Fraudis, to help his family out of a $1 billion note due by 2019.
        As long as tRump continues to be a stooge for the Fraudis and Pisrael America moves ever closer to wars with Iran, Russia and China. Wars that will destroy America.
        Then you won’t have to worry about CAFE or electric cars. As long as Trump continues to blunder about internationally, with his idiotic sanctions, tariffs and threats to even our allies, that is if we have any left now, you can be rest assured that America will fall and take the west with it.
        As David Stockman said recently, Trump is an economic lunatic.

        • Yep, JohnZ.

          A perfect illustration of the futility of voting.

          Hitlery made no bones that she would bomb Syria….

          Trump gets in, and proceeds to do the same thing.

          Can anyone name one president of our lifetime who has not served Isra-hell?

          What a sham… It’s not even a good one!

          • I guess if you think hard enough there was a choice…. whether we wanted to be ripped off by the trump organisation or the Clinton foundation….

          • Hi Nunz!

            Trump did lob a few perfunctory bombs at Syria – but that’s all. Hillary would have sent in ground troops and “regime changed” the joint. No war with Iran (or North Korea, either). All solid pluses, yes?

            Keep in mind – to the extent any of us can – what he has to deal with. If he didn’t toss some read meat to the neocons, he’d probably already be the star of the newest Zapruder film.

            • All true, Eric….

              I guess that just shows the futility of politics though, and why it is the belief in government that is the problem, more so than the actual players- because the facts that you mention do prove that someone indeed is ultimately in control and pulling the strings from off-stage.

              I have to agree with what you said, above, because it’s true- and yet, look at how Obozo made uber arms sales to Saudi A-rabia….and The Donald is bowing and scraping before them too.

              Hmmmm….maybe Hitlery’s actions in Syria would have been exactly the same as Trump’s. She advocated bombing them. Trump seemed to advocate peace. With Trump in, we didn’t get that peace; and if Hitlery had gotten in [ewwww] we might not have gotten all-out war either- maybe just bombing was the plan of those who are really in charge all along- so no matter who got in….they just move towards the middle, and the plan gets carried out?

              One thing’s fer sure: No matter who has been in over the years…the welfare and warfare continues unabated. This seems to be the pattern: No matter who is in, two extremes are proffered, and the middle road is usually taken- with one side saying “Had your guy been in, he would’ve taken that extreme” and the other saying “But if not for the restraining influence of our side, your guy would’ve taken that extreme”.

              And thus the illusion of accomplishing something through plurality is maintained- but in reality, we effect nothing, and what was really intended in the first place is what gets done.

              Make sense?

        • Common guys don’t fight…. in the end most of us want the same thing eventually…. personally I did prefer trump (even though he loves bashing my kind to score points with his base…. but he’s a politician whose never done a real days work – it’s what he does)…

          Why I prefer trump…. just imagine how horribly painful hearing PC speeches, press conferences, and addresses from that bitch in her shrill witch voice would have been….. on the other side with trump… how awesome is it when he rips apart CNN propagandist and pisses off lefties and tree huggers without giving a damn…. the entertainment value is totally worth it !!

          • Hi Nasir,

            What you said, times several!

            Even if all he did was drive the likes of that Acosta tool over at CNN off the proverbial cliff, totally worth it!

            • Well I do agree with yous, Eric and Nasir, on that!

              It ain’t saying much….but he is more tolerable than Obozo or the Bitch or even Romney or any of the other recent contenders. Then again, some crackhead off the street would be better than any of them as well.

              In fact, if a crackhead off the street were to run, I might go and vote! 🙂

              The tragedy is: 60 million people voted for that cunt, and yet Ron Paul couldn’t make it throuigh the Republican primary in ’08. That pretty much says it all- that we will never even have the opportunity to truly have siomeone who might dial back the tyranny a few degrees…..

              But yeah, I rooted for Trump in the primaries, and of course, in the general election. I actually feel a little foolish for even having done that….but, better to step in bird poop than dog crap, I guess.

          • Wow Nasir! That was a real insult to female dogs and actual witches everywhere! (Yes, witches do exist. ) The name Hillary Clinton is actually a strong enough epithet IMO. Shillary, or the Hildabeast are also very good.

    • JohnZ so sorry that you’ve been afflicted so deeply by TrumpDerangementSyndrome … hopefully you’ll consider taking the cure some day!

    • Oh, did the mean orange man hurt you widdle feewings, special snowflake?

      Go back to your safe space and go rant there, you fucking loser!

      • Hey! I hear they have coloring books in those safe spaces! I’m gonna draw me a picture of a gun, to send all of the libtards screaming over the horizon, so I can go and enjoy me some colorin’!

        Uh oh…I’m in over my head already. What color do I use for this dude’s dress?

  4. The US is collapsing.

    The USA is an immoral bankrupt warmongering police state.

    The US is heaven now if you love tyranny.

    The US is hell now if you love freedom.

    The US failing in every area. Alcoholism, drug use, homelessness, and STD’s are rising. Test scores are falling.

    Obama is called an asshole for destroying the US with wars, debt, and tyranny, but Americans then around and say Trump is a god for supporting wars, debt, and the police state.

    Americans say that they are victims and blame everyone except themselves for the collapse.

    Americans are so enslaved today that they attack anyone who criticizes their government overlords.

    Americans walk around like zombies pretending everything is just fine even though the decay is obvious.

    Anyone who questions the wars, debt, and tyranny is called a nutjob or racist and is censored, banned, given an IRS audit, arrested, or killed.

    The US only has 5 Libertarians now, but they’ll go to the concentration camps defending freedom because they can at least say that they tried to wake people up.

    How can Americans look in the mirror now without feeling complete disgust and shame?

    How can you let your country fall and say nothing?

    WTF?

    • You’re preaching to the choir, Libertarian. Most of us on this site have noticed these things….that’s why we’re here.

      What country are you in? If your country does not share these afflictions, I would like to be there.

    • Clearly you’ve NOT been paying attention to what most of us have been saying or observing here … by the way you REALLY need to learn the difference between Libertarian and libertarian … it helps to know the difference !

    • Wtf? Some of us haven’t given up or waved the white flag as willingly as you. Try turning off the TV and experiencing the real world. Little has changed. With all apologies to Eric this election didn’t matter at all. No election does. He posts his articles on LewRockwell every day but apparently never reads it. The issue you and Eric have is with consent. Specifically that they have an election and you unquestioningly give it your consent. I don’t. Many of us dont. Consent is irrelevant to living the life you want. I speed, smoke weed, don’t vaccinate my kids, make racially insensitive jokes and call tranny’s by their born-gender pronouns. Even if the put me in jail for it I ALREADY DID IT. Because I wanted to and I chose to. And I definitely did not give my consent to be told I’m not allowed. This is the biggest most obvious point in the world and you’re missing it. You seem to be living in fear of some thing that’s always coming because you already conceded that you would consent to it. Why??? Here in reality America real Libertarians have done no such thing. And we’re living the dream. Election schmelection.

    • Pretty much said it all.
      America, the international Jekyll and Hyde
      The land of a thousand disguises
      Sneaks up on you
      But rarely surprises
      Watergate Blues/ Gil Scott-Heron

  5. I suspect that the Law of Diminishing Returns will kick in, and somebody will say “screw it, pay the fines, produce cars people want to buy”. They’ll be more expensive than they need to be, but (unless the fines are multiplied)r they’ll cost less in the end than the outrageously expensive EV’s.

    • I figure the screw it pay the fines the way BMW does may happen but even BMW tries to minimize CAFE fines. But there are still issues. The first of these issues is with cars where a marketing premium for luxury or whathave you can’t make up for it, who is going to be first? The second is that emissions limits are either you meet them or you don’t sell. These being hydrocarbons, NOx, etc.

    • Alternatively, people may simply hand onto their old cars indefinitely – modern cars now have a virtually indefinite potential lifespan with proper maintenance, though the feds eventually may try to confiscate older cars which can’t meet the current standards, a move which almost certainly would spawn a new and immediate secession movement. Federal bureaucrats, generally the least intelligent, lease imaginative, and most useless people in our nation, love holding the reigns of control – look what we made the peasants do! We’ll make them buy those inefficient, low-performance, expensive cars and make them like it! This attitude by the bureaucrats could spell the break-up of our nation into a series of independent nations, each with its own laws, regulations, and all featuring hefty bounties paid for bureaucratic scalps turned in to proper authorities

      • Sadly, Anonymous, most of the cars of which people should have held onto are already gone- and the current crop of modern cars will not last- as electronics don’t age well in the wild. (They age even worse in junkyards, so when ya need a new piece of electronica for your 2010 car, which can no longer be had new….good luck- even if you can find the exact one that is coded correctly to work with all of the nuances of your particular incarnation of make and model/option level of car).

        Not to mention the transmissions. Most are automatics now- very complex, 8,9 or 10 speed automatics, no less- which can cost $5-$6K to rebuild, if you can even find someone who can do it right…..

        The used-car drought is upon us….

        Unless you can get something old from out west, where it was not consumed with rust (And such are getting very expensive- even for run-of-the-mill stuff), good luck…..

        The noose is tightening down to choke position…there are fewer and fewer options left here for those of us who want to live sanely and free. It is becoming less and less possible to fly under the rsdar. It’s time to leave… Only other option is compliance- and that is not an option in my book.

        • Hmmm,my only choices then are the 1965 jeep or 1959 vw transporter.VW does have the nice soft ride.Though Lexus may outlive me,that might work.

    • Ron! You just made me think of something: Maybe THAT is the end plan; the whole idea behind the push for the electric car! That is essentially what they did with marijuana: By waging war against what many really wanted and then legalizing it, people are now more than happy to pay inflated prices and outrageous taxes….on a simple plant, that grows in the dirt…only because government first made it a “crime”- but now is relenting, so that it seems like they are doing doobie-heads a big favor by ‘letting them have what they really want”, as long as they are willing to cut Uncle in on a big share of the profits…..

      Brilliant!

      • Hi Nunz,

        On the marijuana thing: I am pretty sure that in most states which have decriminalized, it is now legal to grow small amounts for personal use. In other words, free. I don’t think you’re required to pay tax unless you sell… and who’s gonna know about that?

        • True, Eric, and good point!

          The automotive counterpart might be: Those who already own old cars….don’t have to pay the exorbitant price for the hypothetical pay-the-fine vehicles. But yet, many would likely be willing to pay a premium for those vehicles, since they have been artificially prohibited…just as many are glad to pay the artificial price for now non-free-market pot.

          • Hi Nunz,

            What worries me most about legal pot is that now we’ll have forced drug testing at “safety” checkpoints… in fact, we already have this. But it’s going to become as common as the other roadside abuses we already suffer. And the drug tests are much more invasive – blood draws, for example.

            If I were a younger and less worn out man, I’d flee.

            • I know, Eric. I remember your article on that subject- and you are certainly on to something there!

              Even now already, I hear people that cross into non-legal states from pot-legal states are being stopped for the flimsiest of excuses, with the pigs hoping to find something that somehow becomes a “crime” just for possessing once a poor slob crosses an imaginary line…..

              Even here- since our county has recently gone “wet”, allowing alcohol sales- I would virtually never see a mobile pig in this county. Now, literally, every time I go to town- a town of 1500 people- though I might not be in that town for 3 minutes, I now see at least one pig EVERY single time I go there……

              Even when one thinks they are giving us back a little freedom, it is just a ruse to increase tyranny…..

  6. If you think electric cars and artificially costly IC cars will be expensive, get a load of this: an all-electric school bus one district is buying costs $313,000, or almost the price of four (not a typo) diesel-powered buses. What’s more, that bus is expected to save only $64,000 in maintenance and fuel costs over its 15-year lifespan compared to a single diesel bus, meaning you could still almost buy three diesels for the price of one electric bus and its alleged cost savings. But it’s for the planet!

    Nonetheless, happy Thanksgiving Eric.

    • Uhhh, last I knew, ALL busses for school student transportaion, or for municipal transit use, that are bought with ANY Federal funds of any sort (which means about 99% of all new units purchased by any public entity) can NOT see a service life past ten years in the transporting of the public, adult or child.

      SO your projection over firteen years is false, run the calcs again using a ten year service life, and a sale-at-government-auction cost recuperation of perhaps a dime on the doller. i”ve known of plenty f school busses, barely a million miles on them and still running like new, that cost upwards of $80 K new, sell for about $4K when ten years old and being “surplussed’. FIVE PERCENT of original cost returned to the school disrict.

      I’ve also known of some of those “surplussed” busses one in particular that sold for $2500 with barely a million miles on it, great tyres, everything in top shape, for $2000. Some friends of mine drove it to Nicaragua to donate it to an orphanage outside of Managua. Fifteen years later I connected with that same bus again IN Managua, and had a ride in it. It had just returned from up north with a mission team from Southern Oregon aboard, and I met up with them to bring them to the airport. The bus still ran strong, that 3208 Cat stull purring like a happy kitty, though it did have a bit of blowby by then. Probably largely in result of a bazillion miles on dirt roads, foding rivers, climbing STEEP windy mountain roads fully loaded….. beyond tyres, brake blocks, the odd belt or hose, the thing still ran great. I drove another older Genesis bus for a team here in the States a few years back…. showed just over a hundred thou on the clock. The main air line from the compressor split, and so we had no brake system air. Called for the repair, all we needed was the odd-sized brass compression sleeve ring for the union at the compressor outlet. Could not find one so we called the roadside repair guy, I checked that he hAD the correct sleeve. fixed it in ten minutes. He wanted the odometer readout for his invoice. Also the year of the bus. I was amazed to find the bus was twelve years old,,…. and showed just over a hundred K miles. The clock DID read out six places. It then dawned on me that the bus I’d been driving had a million and two thousand on the clock. We had three altogether, the other two were a year or so old, and they both read just over a undred thousand. so here was this other one, identical i every way, with ten times the miles on it, still going strong. I figured the guy who last had that air feed line removed to service the compressor simpl did not “fair” the steel line to the air compressor. I never would have guessed that the bus I was driving nad TEN TIMES the miles on the other two, and they all three ran right together. Felt just as tight, solid, strong, powerful….. So the law about ending their service life at ten years no matter HOW solid it yet was, is a stupid one (so what’s new? I’m betting the sponsors of that bill had brothers in law building school busses……

      • As if an electric bus would even last 15 years…or even 10, without costly battery replacement (But what the hey? It’s our money, so they can spend it like water). Like any tech device- cell phone, computer or Tesla- can you imagine today’s models 15 years from now? Just look at a 15 year old computer today…..

        Hey, we should all buy those old diesel buses! Much cheaper than a used pick-up, and they’ll last us the rest of our lives, with a lot less trouble- and cheaper and easier to repair if they ever do break on the rare occasion. (Probably wouldn’t get any worse mileage than my Excursion or F250 [gas] )

      • So many governments around the world mandate waste to keep favored crony businesses making more money than they should. Japan basically makes people throw cars out after a few years. That’s why even now many have rust issues in the USA. Well in Japan people threw them out already.

        All those ‘dirty’ VWs were not allowed to be exported. Now they are cleaner than probably just about everything in operation in the 3rd world but nope, can’t export them. Crush ’em.

        There are these people who take damaged and beat up cars from the USA and sell them in Africa for cheap. Our news media treats this as vile companies profiting selling unsafe cars to Africans. As if the Africans don’t know what they are getting. They know what they are getting and gladly buy what they can afford. It’s car, it raises their standard living. From their POV american’s are morons for throwing away something that can still be used.

        Just the waste stream in the west could make conditions better for people elsewhere. All sorts of things that can still be used. But that’s demeaning or something to use discarded items. I certainly don’t think so. I learned how to live off the waste stream as a college student. The desk I type this I pulled from being thrown away. Solid wood desk from the 1940s. I rebuilt and refinished it 20+ years ago and have used it daily since. Whatever replaced it and what replaced the replacement is probably in the landfill now.

        So much waste mandated but then these same people use the environment to have more power over us. And nobody but us weirdos ever notice.

    • Ross, don’t you worry – as soon as the school district is broke the government employees will be out with placards and on strike…. and politicians will be there blaming it on someone or the other…. in the end, they will come across the ideal solution… a new tax, and on all of us….

      • Yeah, like in Suffolk county, NY. where property taxes are considered “low” if they’re under $10K a year; where school districts have budgets bigger than some countries…..

    • These expensive electric buses are being bought due to federal and/or state subsidies, whether directly for the purchase itself OR by ‘qualifying’ for matching funds for a ‘green’ fleet or some other nonsensical scheme. These bureaucrats aren’t idiots. If they were being forced to spend 4X more for a bus, one inherently hampered by its characteristics, out of precious tax revenues generated locally, SOMEONE would be bending the ears of the local congressman or state assemblyman.

      Of course, WHO ultimate pays? Answer: ALL of us, by monies being poured down this boondoggle rathole.

  7. The obummer electric mandates was just another obummercare.Its designed to pull money out of your pocket,and crash the US economy.Or emasculating our military.Man was a traitor,he IS a MUSLIM that hates us.Barrack Hussein Obama,thats a MUSLIM folks! And they hate us!!Force in electrics and rates will skyrocket unabated (free market,BS BS BS) and economy is going down the toilet.They will make Enron look like amateurs on theft.Enron bankrupted Calif,lets give that industry another chance to do it again….NATIONALLY.

  8. “But there are going to be consequences. And those consequences will be paid for by everyone who goes car shopping a few years from now.”

    And all additional cost to you & me increases the car companies’ bottom lines. They are no doubt lobbying to keep the raised CAFE standards in place.

    That’s not to shift blame to car companies and away from gov’t, but rather to point out that the two are merging into one in our new corporatism.

  9. Has anybody asked what the environmental effect is when all those EV batteries are ravaged by wildfires? As I looked at the recent pictures from CA of all those burned out cars, I couldn’t help but to think “what if all those cars had giant batteries?” Would the toxic gases be dangerous? Would those damaged batteries prevent fires from being extinguished?

    • I recall that last year there was a fire at the battery plant near Reno, NV, which shut down Interstate 80 for several days. But it’s “sustainable”….

  10. Any president is required to take an oath of office (i.e., job description) that reads:
    “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

    All individuals have their faults, such as lust for power/money, and the Constitution was designed to override their faults. An employee can’t do whatever they like at their job and neither should the president have the option.

    Currently, the oath has become perfunctory only, which leads to the current regrettable situation. Every four years the country elects, in effect, a dictator who ignores the oath of office and manages the country’s affairs with Signing Statements and Executive Orders (or on Twitter?) – by whim.

    The 10th Amendment (also ignored) defines the limits of federal/presidential power: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

    Until the President’s oath of office is taken seriously, by both the candidates and the voters, the dissension and bitterness will carry on and the country will continue its precipitous decline as a lawless, welfare/warfare state.

  11. I hate to disagree with you Eric, but this election (just like all others) didn’t matter.

    Laurence Vance points out what Repugnantcans could have done- both just recently, and in the past, when they had the majority power….but of course, failed to:
    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/11/laurence-m-vance/what-the-republicans-could-have-done/

    The whole right/left, red/blue, Hitler/Stalin charade is just the opiate which keeps the public participating; and that participation so distracts them, that they fail to notice that both sides are working towards the same end- just the language is different- so that a plurality is maintained to keep the illusion of choice alive, and to motivate people to participate and be content.

    Hey, ever notice too, that the party that is in power can more easily get away with doing things which their own supporters would find repulsive if the opposing party were doing them?

    E.g.: Slick Willy and The Bitch actually REDUCED welfare spending, more so than any modern admin (virutally all others have increased it)- while belonging to the party which most vocally supports welfare- yet the lefties didn’t complain, because it was done by one of their own;

    And ditto the onerous gun-control acts perpetrated under the Reagan and Bush II admins….which would have been wildly protested if done by dumbocrats…but were tolerated with barely a whimper when done by Repugnantcans….

    It’s all just an act; a show. Don’t fall for it, any more so than you’d fall for the legitimacy of a ‘pro wrestling’ match…..because like wrassling, it’s all about the show and exciting the audience.

    • Hiya Nunz,

      Well, the Orange One has saved me at least $800 this year – the cost to me of not complying with the fuhrerbefehl to buy Obamacare. No small thing.

      He’s trying.

      Also, no major new wars. I think we’d have had at least one under her.

      And he “denies” the “climate change” religion… this is yuge. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris accord. Not a small thing, either.

      Domestic oil production is way up – and that’s his doing, mostly.

      Think about the forces arrayed against him… and think about how he annoys the LBGTQSUV intersectional transgendered feminist hordes!

      • Hi, Eric,

        Yes, those things sound good- but in reality, he did bomb Syria multiple times (essentially a new war- just undeclared), and he is getting us closer to WW3 than could ever have been imagined.

        I do love that he rejected the Paris Climate Treaty BS….but norice that he was very careful not to defund the “sciences’ and “academia’, who continue to push the global warming BS.

        Yes, disabling the Obozocare mandate was definitely good…but again, he caved easily, and left everything else intact, so that it can be easily reinstated- although it wasn’t entirely his fault…but he could have done more to fulfill his campaign promise of repealing it altogether.

        Ultimately, they throw us a few crumbs. That’s all they are…and they really aren’t worth it, when you consider the damage done by appointing someone like the big-government loving, constitution/liberty-hating Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court- or that other judge whom he appointed to a federal judgeship a while back, who was so inept that he couldn’t answer 5 minutes of simple questioning, 80% of which any law school student could have aced…

        Hey, we could even cite a few crumbs that Slick Willy threw us- like cutting welfare spending…. But so what? In the end, every 4 years, after the dust settles, we just see that tyranny has inevitably marched on, because none of them oppose it, much less do anything to stop it’s advance- but instead, always add to it.

      • I agree with you Eric.Also he has cleared a lot of the swamp,it just isnt reported,what a surprise.2020 orange man gets my vote,which wont matter in calif.After that my last votes will be local only,the rest of the pre picked circus performers can kiss off.
        Bomb Syria…..stupid.But we arent bogged down there either.Thank Russia for that actually.trump does some dumb,his goods have pretty much been delivered,vrs the standard of SCREW YOU VOTER we usually get.
        I’ll be doing a Nunzio soon,you can vote for the latest puppet,Im done.I will not legitimize them with my vote.

        • It’s all a dog and pony show for the dumb masses…..

          I don’t see how he drained the swamp even a little, when he surrounds himself with the same Goldman-Sachs crooks whom Hitlery had waiting in the wings…

          And when he appoints one of the authors of the so-called Patriot Act, and enablers of civilian surveillance, and key player in the passing of Obozocare, to the Supreme Court…

          And now he’s about to cede security clearance management to the Pentagon….

          I think the best things we can say about him, is that he isn’t Hillary; and that he says things that are a little easier to swallow…..

          But welcome aboard the Don’t Play That Game train, Fred. Believe me, those of us who are already on it sleep much better, because no one can say to us “This is what YOU voted for”. (Hey, if Ron Paul had ever had a chance, I might have hopped on the voting train, then!- but ultimately, even that would be futile, because the majority of our fellow countrymen neither crave freedom nor deserve it….and people do get the government they deserve.)

          • I don’t see how he drained the swamp even a little…look around,he cut a lot of bureaucrats out,the deep staters.Like i said,they wont tell you,you have to go look.Nunz,Ive always been offboard,when Ron Paul came along,I voted.Locally my vote can matter,rarely because I live among the FSA (Free shiite army),and our neighborhood went like 90% against an out of control county super and his Jack Booted Code Enforcement and in a huge area we took him out by like 400 votes,our tiny enclave was the difference.They went apeshit on us and we went apeshit in return.It was GLORIOUS!

            • **look around,he cut a lot of bureaucrats out,the deep staters**

              Think of it like organized crime (Which it is)- He just replaced the entrenched members of one crime family with ones from a competing group- but has done nothing to loosen the grip of the Mafia overall.

              Again, the Kavanaugh example is a prime example: The guy is a top-level deep-stater who ENGINEERED virtually all of the post 9-11 assaults on our liberties- How is installing a bastard like that in the highest court in the land an act against the deep state and not rather for it???

              His cabinet is stacked full of the usual Zionists, Neocons and war-hawks. Hitlery could walk in tomorrow and replace The Donald, and her and his staff would all get along just fine, and bidness would just carry on as usual. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Her guys from Goldman-Sachs are even already there….

              This whole bit about Trump ‘draining the swamp’ and fighting the deep state is nothing more than a charade. There are charades for liberals and their are charades for conservatives (so-called- though most ‘conservatives’ these days really aren’t conservative at all- they’re just a little less liberal)- The current act is the charade for the Conservatives.

              That is what keeps people participating- the illusion that there is a difference, and that they can use the political process to effect outcomes. As long as people believe that BS, they will be docile compliant sheep.

              When you think about it, it sounds absurd: People pretending that Trump is fighting the establishment/deep state…while installing one of their chief architects into one of the highest unelected positions in the Western world. (Kavanaugh).

              Either Trump is extremely ignorant…or he is one of them. That whole Kavanaugh sex scandal thing was a bipartisan ploy for the masses, to keep the real issues at bay (as are most things one hears in the news…sadly, even in the alt. news, these days).

            • Tl;dr version: Are we lessening the power of the Mafia if we replace a Gambino with a Bananno or Lucchese?

              Saying that our champion is doing us good when he replaces a Gambino with a Bananno, because “after all, the Gambinos hate him for doing it, and they hate the Banannos, so what he’s doing must be good, because it’s making them mad!”, is spurious logic.

          • Hey Nunz….. on days like this, watching how the whole brexit thing is playing out….. couldnt agree with you more….

            In the event that the plebs actually do go against their masters and select the wrong answer…. the dear leaders have ways to still do what they wanted anyways….

            • Perfect example, Nasir!

              “Hmmm…they didn’t vote for the right thing. Lets have another vote, and maybe they’ll get it right this time, or we’ll remember to not count enough of the yay votes. Oh, what the hell, we’ll just tell ’em NO! What are they gonna do? They have no guns- What’s the worst they can do, eat bangers and fart in our faces?”

              • Well they don’t even have to go that far! The media and dear leaders keep telling us that we didn’t know what we wanted, and those who did changed their minds according to polls (the ones which said we wouldn’t vote for Brexit anyways)…. hence they are doing what we all really want them to…. and incase they don’t…. the sky will fall and the world will end….

                • Nasir, after the Scots turned down their chance for independence, I guess ‘they’ thought for sure that the Limeys would vote “the right way”….

                  • Nunzio,that trump the orange got anything passed is miraculous with the NWO globalists firmly agianst him.Give credit where its due,you know it would be far worse with hildebeast and obummer still calling he shots.Jobs would be down the tubes,muslims would be everywhere undermining and killing us.US troops would be bogged down everywhere with the wars that satanist couldnt start fast enough.Did orange man do it all,NO! Did he get at least some?Sure as hell did.

      • Like Nunzio said, you can point out several morsels of good from each administration. That still doesn’t justify aiding and abetting these thieves.

        • Hi Handler,

          As loathsome as he was, I have learned some things from Lenin. The bastard was practical when he needed to be. This is sound policy. If voting for Trump prevents the thieves from stealing another $800 from me (the “shared responsibility” fine) then it’s a vote worth giving for me. I will aways vote to be left alone, in more or less degree.

          • Mornin’, Eric!

            Correct me if I’m wrong, but even when it comes to this $800, has Trump really done anything?

            I mean, even under the feces-flinging Chimp, Obozo himself, the IRS could bill one for the Obozocare-avoidance tax, but the only way they had of actually enforcing collection was to deduct it from any ‘refund’ they might owe you.

            What has changed?

            You still get the bill. They still can’t collect it, unless they owe you a refund of your own money…… Sorry, but I don’t see the difference?

            Meanwhile, the one who campaigned with the promise to repeal Obozocare, but who in-fact folded faster than Superman on laundry day when he actually had the opportunity to do it, gets props now, for doing NOTHING positive to reduce the tyranny.

            I do agree though, that voting to be left alone is a good thing- but I’d proffer that we usually don’t have that option. Trump’s appointment of deep-state liberty-hating Kavanaugh will come back to bite everyone in the ass long after Trump is gone (He’s already siding with the libruls; but of course, will side with the Neo-cons when it comes to the police power of the state… A win for the tyrants at every turn- and a loss across the board for us)- and Trump has not only continued, but expanded the militarization of the fuzz and other goobermint agencies…..

            I don’t feel “left alone”…… I just feel that the figure-head who is ‘in’ now speaks words which are a little more tolerable than the other choices who might’ve been there…but in the end, the results are the same.

            You’re still getting that bill from the IRS. Unless I’m missing something, the only thing that has changed, is your perception of the matter.

            • Nunzio,

              Compare it to the Ned Beatty/Deliverance treatment on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as opposed to each weekday that ends in “y.”

              You might not feel left alone, but your sphincter does and you’re a not as hoarse. (That squealing like a pig can really take a toll on your vocal chords.)

              What we are witnessing at this point in time, is sort of like Ceaușescu‘s short period of popularity as his government transitioned to severe totalitarianism.

              Trump is the take the guns first go to court later guy. I read this weekend that at least one state is working to expand the red flag takings to include possibly dangerous children.

              So in no time, if you own a gun, and are related to or merely know someone who might be dangerous…

              Eric is just demonstrating the perseption vs conception thingy.

              He can see the extra cash. What he cannot conceive is the cremma being built just across the river.

              • Hi T,

                I do see it. I am not blind. But, I’ll take what I can get – because the alternative is worse. What other option is there? I am trying to salvage what can be salvaged. Both now – and in the future.

                • Eric,

                  I’m saying you can’t conceive of the horrors to come.

                  Even the folks at Topf and Sons could not conceive of the horrors and they designed and built the cremmas.

                  • Hi T,

                    I have an inkling… all my life, I’ve read about such horrors. I think I know what is coming. And so be it, if it does. I have enjoyed a mostly good life, been able to do things most haven’t. Had a good wife, once. I don’t mind checking out, if it comes to that.

            • Hiya Nunz,

              Yes – he has. Beginning next year, the mandate itself goes away. Not merely held in abeyance.

              Inconceivable under Hillary.

              I grant it is far from perfect – and probably temporary. But that $800 matters to me, a lot. I’ll take it – and I am grateful to him for it.

              • Eric, don’t you mean “We HOPE the mandate goes away next year”? Whether it actually does or not, remains to be seen. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

                Hope it does. It’s precious little to hope for- that of the thousands they already steal from you, at least they won’t be able to get an additional $800.

    • Amen, Anonymous.

      I understand the general revulsion, but that doesn’t prevent me from letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. For all his flaws, Trump has done a lot of good – or at least, not done the bad which Hillary would have.

      • So you are FORCED to vote for one of 2 losers or dont then YOU are the problem?I think not! Not voting is as legitimate as jury nullification,THEY exist only because YOU voted them in.No vote,then they are illegitimate to rule,the people have spoken.Get down to about 30% voting levels,governments topple.

        • Hi Fred,

          I get it, believe me. But if I am in prison and told I can choose between a cellmate who wants to sodomize me or one who wants to tell me about Jesus all day long, I think I’ll choose the proselytizer.

          Hillary would have fucked me – out of $800 annually (and rising) for not buying insurance. Trump at least didn’t do that to me.

          I still have my guns. Hillary would have made it her mission to take them.

          He is at least ridiculing things like “climate change” and even done a few things contra to the New Religion.

          Can you imagine what Hillary – or Jeb – would have done?

          Another way to look at this is the sinking ship analogy. Yes, the ship is going to sink. But if it can be delayed, so that more people can be saved… then the effort is worth it.

          • Ship sinking…

            Have you started making plans to leave the ship?

            I know you don’t want to but if the ship is going down, does tying yourself to the mast really make sense?

            Sure, stay and try to right the ship but have a real, workable plan to get off before it goes under if you can’t save it.

            • I’m with ya, Cold Frog!

              We’re on the Titanic. We know how it turns out. No sense staying on the sinking ship until you’re trapped. I’m even older and fartlier than Eric- but it’s easier )Physically and mentally) to take a trip and then have years of peace and enjoyment, than it is to constantly battle the forces- physical and ideological- which batter us here as civilization deteriorates, and we are increasingly left defenseless- for if we stay, our resistance will become futile- which is the plan of those who have created this mess.

              I may be older than Eric- but I’m too young to pack it in quite yet- and definitely to young to let “them” win. An observant person knows when retreat is the best option.

          • But the bill still came and will come for another year yet. By then they’ll make up something else. Obamacare was only tweaked at the edges because republicans want it for how it funnels our wealth to the medical cartel and creates government jobs. How it grows their power.

            Medical care has become financial chains to the corporate system. But I seem to be the only one who talks about what it really is, a form of slavery. A form of company town operations.

            • I think too, this whole thing about putting the individual mandate on hold is that- a temporary thing; a symbolic jesture. Just the fact that the mechanism is still in place for them to still hound people about it, and threaten them over it, says a lot.

              My guess would be that come 2020 when the next socialist gets in, the mandate will be reinstated- probably with penalties and interest for those who deal with the iRS, but who refrained from paying the healthcare tax.

              In reality, we will see that Trump in fact didn’t do a damned thing, except fool some people into thinking that he saved them a few hunnert bucks a year……which, in reality, will likely cost them way more down the road, one way or another.

              Brent, it is obviously slavery. Not just Obozocare- but Medicare, and requiring hospitals to treat people regardless of their ability to pay- which is pretty much a very definition of slavery- to provide goods and services at one’s own expense or at the expense of others who aren’t the receivers of those goods and services.

              • There needs to be some basic system to take care of people medically. However that system should be the free market to drive prices down to the point where the cost is insignificant to where few can’t afford it and those who can’t are easy to take care of. But of course that’s not good for those in power so that system was cut off at the knee caps over a century ago.

        • I realize the political class and the ruling class needs to keep the illusion of consent but what would happen if nobody voted? Would they just give up power? Of course not. They would pass a law were we had to vote or else. It would start slow with government dependents and those employed by government but if necessary grow to everyone. Yes it’s what some dictators and commie systems do but unlike them we would still have the false choice and if tweedle dum was elected over tweedle dee that would be honored. As such most people would see this modified version of the system as legitimate.

          • Brent, I think the significance of nobody voting, would be that it would signal that people would realize futility of voting/politics- and thus be the beginning of people getting back to doing things on an individual/familial/community level, direcrly; voluntarily- living their own lives directly, as opposed to putting faith in the political process and trying to cajole god-men into giving them permission, and or using that process to rule their neighbors.

            The actual voting means nothing to the tyrants. They rule by brute force. They don’t need anyone to approve. But the thing is, the more who don’t vote because they realize it’s illegitinacy, the more who thus become not so easily controlled- and if only enough people were so minded, it wouldn’t take that big of a chunk of the population to suddenly make the job of the tyrants very difficult or impossible.

            But as long as people participate in the illusion, they are just showing that they are compliant- while thinking that they are actually exercising power….

            • But most people who don’t vote do so out of disinterest and laziness. they still see the system as legit.

              The illusion of legitimacy is something elections provide but its worked around time and time again and our dear leaders will simply compel voting to preserve the illusion.

              • No, Brent- the overlords don’t need the illusion the legitimacy- they rule by force and deception.

                The legitimacy is by and for ‘the people’. It’s for them to believe in, and obey, and to keep them content.

                Vote or don’t vote- it doesn’t matter to the overlords, because they already know that that ‘legitimacy’ is just an illusion and an opiate for the masses.

                It’s only when people refrain from voting for the RIGHT reasons- because they don’t want to participate in the illusion of legitimacy and or realize that voting indeed does not make tyranny legitimate; or even matter nor effect what the masters do, that THEN their not voting matters- not because of the act of voting or lack thereof- but rather because they have gained the knowledge to seek liberty (and not through some phony political scheme- through which liberty is lost rather than gained)- and they stop obeying/participating/being so compliant…

                Imagine if everyone…or just a good percentage were like that. But the actual act of voting doesn’t matter one way or another, to anyone- except to those who believe in it, and who are willing to believe that it legitimizes whatever, and thus they obey whatever edicts procede from that system.

                • Force is only so effective and voting is part of the deception.

                  People aren’t not voting for the right reasons. They largely just don’t care unless they can vote for resources from others.

                  • Right, Brent- The voting per se doesn’t matter…..

                    If people don’t vote because they just don’t care, they will cbe just as compliant, whether they vote or not; they just go along; don’t know any better; don’t care.

                    It’s only those of us who don’t vote for ‘the right reasons’ who pose a problem to the overlords (If there were enough of us), only because WE realize that the political process/democracy sham has no legitimacy; and live our lives accordingly.

                    Not voting is just a symptom of that realization- but not all who refrain from voting have come to that realization.

                    For instance: I don’t think my 93 year-old mother has ever voted in her life….but yet to her, the political process is totally ‘legit’, in that she doesn’t see anything wrong with killing who they say to kill, or with obeying whatever decrees they make.

                    I on the other hand, have also never voted….but in my case, it is because I realize the illegitimacy of the whole thing, and know that giving my assent to ‘A’ or ‘B’ does nothing affirm their legitimacy- and that my time is better spent avoiding whatever encroachments and constraints A or B might thrust upon us….rather than giving formal approval to one of them.

    • Ah yes, Anonymous…because we all know that the Republicans have done SO much when they had unopposed power for the last 2 years…like repealing Obozocare; and exiting NATO; and abstaining from foreign wars..and…and…..

      …and how Trump talks big about illegal immigration….while preparing tent cities for the C. American caravan to dwell in while they await their turn to petition our courts….

      Oh! And let’s not forget the GIANT welfare cuts- like the bragging about drastically cutting HUD rent subsidies…except for women and people with children..and the elderly…and handicapped- which pretty much means no cuts…. Oh well, I guess he’s just not “perfect”. I mean, it’s not as if he was BSing everyone just to get support among those who he knew would appreciate such talk….

      Really! That any adult would waste their time participating in such a charade, and giving their assent to evil and tyranny, just because the red brand of such may sound .000001″ less evil and tyrannical than the blue.

      Vote for Hitler, because he killed far fewer than Stalin!

      • Nunzio,

        You tell us “Vote for Hitler, because he killed far fewer than Stalin!”

        WTF?!?

        Pol Pot and Ceaușescu don’t even get a spot on your ballot?

        • Darn, Tuanorea! That’s the trouble with giving us simple folk too many choices! Who can keep track of ’em all?!

          We need a big multi-volume set of books to keep track of all this stuff- Like an Encyclopedia Tyrannica!

        • I think Mao is the winner in the mass murderer contest, possibly because there were so many more Chinese to start with. …and I still see idiotic college students around here wearing Mao t-shirts.

          • I wish that anyone who would wear a Mao shirt gets the government that theyc desire! That’s the one good thing about socialists/communists…….just give ’em a little rope, and they’ll hang themselves- economically and in every other regard.

            Just a shame that all the rest of us have to suffer for it…..

        • How will we notice the difference?

          They are ALL authoritarian collectivists. The only things that distinguish one from the other are tiny little details.

          It really doesn’t matter who is in- it’s the very political apparatus/power structure that is the problem.

          Sometimes we’re actually better off with the worst scum, because that seems to be the only way to rouse decent people out of complacency. If Marxist POS Obozo hadn’t been in, we likely never would have had the Donald- the pleebs likely would have nominated Mittens Romney or one of those other braying asses; in which case, the Bitch likely would have won the general election…..

          Maybe it’ll be good in 2020 if “we” get some communist prick who pushes the people too far….. but if it’s one of their own, then the decent folk will tolerate anything he does, and just stay asleep.

          Anyhoo- my time is better spent avoiding the system and all of it’s machinations, rather than participating in it. We’re not going to gain freedom by voting. We may preserve a little by living free.

          • Well put, Nunzio. In my assessment, voting merely tends to cast legitimacy on an illegitimate system, and pretending that it makes a damn bit of difference whether one set of authoritarian thugs vs. another takes power is a delusion.

            Change will come when, and only when, people get so fed up with having their lives run by half-wits that they start shooting the armed costumed enforcers who try to push them around.

            • Amen, JDL! Amen!

              And we can never have freedom- even if all of the politicians disappeared tomorrow- as long as the majority are content to live under tyranny. The political process just makes them even more content to live under tyranny, for they then view it as the legitimate expression of “the people” (as if any other person has the right to decree how we should conduct our lives and dispose of our property- but such is the mass delusion of ‘democracy’).

              • So long as government has the schools people won’t want to be free. It’s a conditioning process that starts at four years old. Perfected over six thousand years or more.

  12. I thought Obama fatwa’d the higher CAFE numbers without asking Congress. Why can’t Trump fatwa them back down without asking Congress?

    • Hi Jim,

      He could… but has he got the political capital to do it? Can you imagine how the Democrat controlled House would react to Trump “coddling polluters”?

      Meanwhile, GM and Honda have already embraced the fatwa

      • Looked it up. Back in August 2018, Trump already did revise the CAFE standards through 2025, freezing them at the current levels, using the EPA and without asking for Congressional approval.

        Did I miss something that happened subsequently?

      • It would require enabling CAFE legislation to force Trump to bump it up. He can do something that presidents since Gerald Ford have NOT done. Use the VETO pen. If he wanted to be reelected, he would use it liberally.

  13. I wasn’t aware Trump did anything on this issue and the Republicans had the House and Senate. Heck they couldnt even overturn Obamacare thanks to traitor Mccain.

  14. This is another arrow in the quiver of the Anti-Auto lobby, Vision Zero, etc. They want you out of your car, they don’t want you to have the freedom to drive what you want, where you want, when you want. The elite (the people waging the war on the auto) will still be free to do that, but not you, dear plebeian. Better get to fighting back before it’s too late. They are well funded, with even taxpayer (your) money, to end your freedom.

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