This is such typical American attitude of wanting it all… plentiful and cheap gasoline and free cocktails in coach and winning pro teams.  

They also want clean air,  less global warming, and less dependence on foreign oil. Can’t have it all.  Had the previous administration gone to bat for tighter fuel efficiency standards, we’d all be in better shape today, especially the auto industry. 

(F. Harrop had a good column about this) 

I am looking forward to the day that only us rich people can drive.

I think poor people should ride public transportation, bicycles or plastic chairs bolted to lawn-mower chassis.

 I think raising federal gas taxes a five dollars per gallon should do it.

 Because all those poor people won’t be on the road at the same time as me during my solo commute in my Chevy Suburban, I could build a new house farther away from the city and all those little solar cars and those pesky pedaling poor.

 Oh yeah, Let’s raise cigarette taxes a few dollars a pack too.

 Poor people who smoke while bicycling look very tacky.

To avoid wide fluctuations in taxes with the volatile crude commodity, it might be better to raise the price of fuel to a certain level, and then index it for inflation. But, the issue may be moot in the not too distant future. When electric plug-in and hybrid vehicles flood the market, taxes will have to be calculated another way in order to raise sufficient revenues to fund road and bridge maintenance. Presumably, these lighter, alternative vehicles will exact less damage to the roadways, but you’ll still have the diesel-run semi-trucks.

The only way raising CAFE standards years ago would’ve helped the auto industry would’ve been if the government stepped in to assist the Detroit automakers with the transition. That’s been the prime problem right there, just as it has been with our ravaged manufacturing base: we simply have not been playing on a level field with other countries.

Other nations not only have helped their automotive industries for years, but have been paying slave-labor wages to run both their auto and manufacturing industries. That’s why I applaud Obama’s plan to tax American companies that want to move operations overseas. The companies whine that’s unfair, they’ll be hit with both domestic and foreign taxes. But we can no longer afford to reward U.S. companies for moving jobs overseas.

I heard liberal Eleanor Clift say that the new American Dream is a small apartment near public transportation.  The conservative on the program couldn’t stop laughing.  What was Eleanor thinking?  

 These smaller cars, designed by the government overseers, (like car czar Rattner, who has no automotive background and is building his own "green" 15,000sq ft. mansion) are death traps, and projections already exists of how many thousands more will die because of them - the government doesn’t care. 

 The Obama fuel efficiency plan may also contribute to a significant increase in highway deaths as vehicles are required to quickly meet the new CAFE standard and will likely become lighter in weight as a result. According to a study completed in 2001 by the National Research Council (NRC), the last major increase in CAFE standards, mandated by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, required about a 50% increase in fuel economy (to 27.5 mpg by model year 1985 from an average of 18 mpg in 1978). The NRC study concluded that the subsequent downsizing and down-weighting of vehicles, "while resulting in significant fuel savings, also resulted in a safety penalty." Specifically, the NRC estimated that in 1993 there were between 1,300 and 2,600 motor vehicle crash deaths that would not have occurred if cars were as heavy as they were in 1976.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124294901851445311.html 

 And for those who are critical thinkers - it isn’t too hard to figure out that even though the cars are small they will cost more - and therefore people will buy fewer of them - hanging on to older clunkers - creating EVEN MORE air pollution.  Unintended consequences.

 The Obama plan could slow this progress. An economic phenomenon called "price elasticity of demand" is well established when it comes to automobile purchases. In other words, if you raise the price of new cars, people will buy fewer of them or, at a minimum, put off the purchase for a year or so while they drive the old clunker for a few thousand more miles. And fewer new cars means more pollution, which can cause significant health problems. Yet environmentalists and the press have ignored this issue, so as not to inject a note of complexity or doubt into the chorus of glee that greeted the president’s attack on greenhouse-gas emissions.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124294901851445311.html 

Just like other government boondoggles like low flush toilets, and the new poisionous mercury lightbulbs - the government will make a mess of the car business too.  There are definite reasons that the government always fails in business.  

1) It is a monoploy and is like a referee joining one of the teams and changing rules mid-game.  Ask the car dealers who are having their businesses given to their competitors - it’s shocking, and terrifying.

2) Decision politicians makes are political - not economic or with the best interests of the consumer in mind.  

And more bad news…..Democrats are making massive changes to drilling regulations and will be charging oil companies much more for drilling rights….and the consumer will be hurt AGAIN.

 Under a House Democrat-crafted bill described as a “sweeping” reform of federal drilling rules, oil and natural-gas companies would pay more to drill on federal lands and have less time to access the resources. The measure, crafted by House Natural Resources Democratic staff, raises the royalty fees oil and gas companies pay to drill on federal lands for the first time since the 1980s. It also shortens the duration of federal leases to access those federal resources from 10 years to five. 

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-dems-propose-sweeping-changes-to-drilling-program-2009-05-22.html 

The light at the end of the tunnel is a huge increase in energy prices - the very reason that caused the domino effect of this recession.  The Economist said that the recessions started first in other countries and spread here due an increase specifically to energy prices.