Obama has just instructed Rick Wagoner to step down. And Mr. Wagoner complied. Tomorrow, Politico says, the President plans to announce a plan to throw more money at failed production strategies.
The title means “the beginning of the end” in Spanish. Americans can say adios now to the once-profitable car industry. Get ready for tin can cars and a company that will struggle to be profitable for a long time. The federal government fails at running schools, AMTRAK (in the red), the Postal Service ($2.8 billion in the red for 2008), and many other enterprises. What makes the blind followers of the federal government think that all-powerful bureaucrats will start responding to price signals when they take over the car industry?
The fact that Obama now controls who runs GM is an indicator that the feds are now completely dedicated to making cars their way.
On the integral topic of so-called fuel-efficiency standards, which Congress often increases without looking at the effects of the standards, Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Dore of the Cato Institute write:
Increasing CAFE standards will not decrease the amount of pollution coming from the U.S. auto fleet. That’s because we regulate emissions per mile traveled, not per gallon of gasoline burned. Improvements in fuel efficiency reduce the cost of driving and thus increase vehicle miles traveled. Moreover, automakers have an incentive to offset the costs associated with improving fuel efficiency by spending less complying with federal pollution standards with which they currently over-comply.
“The federal government fails at running schools.” Possibly because the federal government does not run schools. State and local administrations run public schools. Perhaps I am misunderstanding you? Surely this isn’t a dig at our precious NCLB policy!
It is indeed a dig at the failed policies of “No Child Left Behind.”
While it’s true that the administration of schools is largely a state and local matter, the federal government (Obama more than Duncan, I suppose) is seeking to federalize testing and standards etc from the primary level all the way to high school. In fact, the feds have long sought to intervene in this manner.
Oh my gosh…. This is beyond insane…