What is good for the goose? Number of government-owned limos has soared under Obama.
Limousines, the very symbol of wealth and excess, are usually the domain of corporate executives and the rich. But the number of limos owned by Uncle Sam increased by 73 percent during the first two years of the Obama administration, according to an analysis of records by iWatch News.
Most of the increase was recorded in Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
Obama administration officials said most of the increase reflects an enhanced effort to protect diplomats and other government officials in a dangerous world.
Many of those new limos will are armored, adding to the costs. Remember this story and the thousands like it the next time you hear an elected official suggest we need to increase taxes.
Moving on to us ganders…
While our government is on a limousine buying binge, Obama and his minions at the EPA have pushed an edict for a new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard on automakers. Of course to meet these new CAFE requirements, automakers (both domestic and foreign) will incur significant costs that must be passed on to consumers.
The government claims that these costs will be offset by fuel savings offered by the new CAFE requirements. However, the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research (CAR) points out in an exhaustive study that this is not the case:
Table 12 summarizes both total consumer savings from the adoption of higher levels of fuel economy technology and incremental savings gained by the consumer from moving to higher scenarios. As can be seen in the final two columns of Table 12, consumers maximize their net savings at 37.6 mpg at $2,107. Moving from 37.6 mpg to 40.8 mpg actually reduces consumer net savings by $976 which is shown in the final column. Moving higher to 44.8 mpg reduces total consumer net savings by an additional $873. Moving to the highest level of fuel economy of 49.6 mpg from 44.8 mpg reduces total savings by an impressive $3,309. It is true that total net savings are positive through 44.8 mpg (supposedly paying for the technology) but no rational consumer would pick a level higher than 37.6 mpg where total net savings are maximized. In fact, it is likely that total net savings are maximized below 37.6 mpg but the NAS/NRC study does not provide finer technology cost levels for mpg levels below this target. It should be repeated that it does not matter whether net savings are sufficient to pay for a level of technology cost. What finally and ultimately matters is what is maximal for the consumer.
As Table 12 illustrates, there is no five-year payback to support the increased vehicle costs required to archive a 62 mpg CAFE target.
And if gas doesn’t reach $6.00 / gal, these technologies will become even more expensive for consumers.
So, what will vehicles that conform to 62 mpg CAFE standard be like?
Look no further than Europe for answers because this is where all the bad eco-ideas start:
At an event held at the RAC, Pall Mall, London Gordon Murray Design has today unveiled their latest ultra compact city vehicle, T.27, the world’s most efficient electric car.
The design and development programme for T.27 is a £9 million project, made possible through a £4.5 million investment from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board. From a clean sheet of paper to a running prototype the programme has taken just 17 months including the design and build of a completely new electric powertrain by Zytek Automotive Ltd, one of the Consortium partners.
T.27 specifically targets the urban city environment via a unique, holistic, manufacturing process (‘iStream®’) developed by Consortium lead partner Gordon Murray Design, it aims to significantly reduce lifecycle impacts and enable low cost, efficient manufacture within the UK. The electric car sets new standards in weight, footprint, small car dynamics, safety, packaging and efficiency whilst addressing full lifecycle CO2 emissions, congestion, parking and low cost motoring.
While government ‘officials’ are literally chauffeured around in armored limousines on our dime, we are being relegated to eco-boxes like this.
Isn’t this great?
* An extra big tip O’ the hat to my friend on StumbleUpon, Leopardess, for sending me the Limousine Liberal article.
That thing would have a head on collision with a squirrel-and lose.
Lose in a head on with a squirrel- and lose… Ha!
This is what the elites want us to drive while they are gliding along in their armored limos.
Is that a car or a golf cart? Common sense is becoming an uncommon commodity in American politics.
It’s a joke. And unfortunately, this is where we are heading under the ‘leadership’ of Obama and his feel low leftists.
Where is the outrage?
I don’t know Bunker. Maybe people are becoming numb to the left’s assault from all sides.
Government keeps exempting itself from the regulations it makes. Govt vehicles do not follow the pollution or mpg standards that the rest of us have to follow. The secretary of transportation and others who create these laws rarely drive and never drive the vehicles they want us to drive. They may be able to afford $60K cars (mostly do to proposed govt regulations) but we can’t. Take a page from Henry Ford I who realized that for himself to stay in business, his factory workers had to be able to afford to buy his product. We ship our factory jobs to China, Invite foreigners to take our jobs here, and create regulations which doubles the price of cars. To me, it’s a no-brainer why our car factories and dealerships are closing, and the housing market, and our economy is in the toilet.