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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

New Mileage Standards

SEARCH BLOG: AUTOMOBILES and ECONOMY

Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Harry Reid. Remember those names when it comes time to vote in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

They are the driving forces behind legislation and regulations that have begun the process to create runaway inflation, significantly higher taxes, and a lower standard of living for most Americans.

STEP ONE

From The New York Times:

The rules, which will begin to take effect in 2012, will put in place a federal standard for fuel efficiency that is as tough as the California program, while imposing the first-ever limits on climate-altering gases from cars and trucks.

The effect will be a single new national standard that will create a car and light truck fleet in the United States that is almost 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016 than it is today, with an average of 35.5 miles per gallon.

There is no resistance to these standards from the American automotives manufacturers. Two of the three are dead in the water and puppets of the Obama administration. Ford Motor Company will go along to get along. But the real reason that the automotive manufacturers are not fighting is that they know that the American people will blame those politicians who set the standards the next time it comes to buying their $50,000 pickup truck that is so loaded with expensive batteries that it has 1/3 less payload than today's equivalent... and becomes a maintenance nightmare for business owners. They know that younger couples will be hard pressed to buy a vehicle that safely conveys their family and belongings. They know that insurers will jack up the rates as vehicles become smaller and less able to withstand lower speed collisions and protect the occupants. They know that they can deliver what the politicians demand... and what the American people will despise [h/t Anthony Watts]

This is just the beginning of everyone getting something for nothing... a lot more expense for no good reason. There is no real economic justification for what the Democratic Party is doing because of these less-than-stellar politicians. This is nothing more than a power grab by the federal government that should and will bite the Democratic Party in its collective ass.
STEP TWO
Next comes Cap and Trade... billions for vaporware.
STEP THREE
And then comes betting our entire future on unreliable "alternative energy." Or is that "alternative to energy...?"
This is the Democratic Party creating a federal bureaucracy beholden to the Democratic Party. This is the Democratic Party groveling at the feet of the most extreme "environmentalists" who in reality are anti-human-civilizationists.
They see humans as a plague upon the planet and will be satisfied only when human suffering exceeds the planet's suffering... as they perceive it.
Every economic stifling effort conceivable based on pseudo-science and horribly simplistic computer modeling is being pushed upon the citizens of this nation.

35 mpg light truck mileage standard, while technically feasible, is economically infeasible for most consumers and businesses. It is the first volley in the enviro-terrorists war against the U.S. economy... and it is being sponsored by the Democratic Party in the name of saving all of us from a non-existent problem. Cap and tax and scam is next.

The unwinding of the U.S. free-enterprise/personal choice economy is the ultimate aim of the enviro-terrorists and their compatriots in the Democratic Party. Remember this next time you vote... and have your vote cancelled by a dead or improperly registered voter.

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CO2 Cap and Trade

There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956)
“The Divine Afflatus,” A Mencken Chrestomathy, chapter 25, p. 443 (1949)
... and one could add "not all human problems really are."
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
... The Government is on course for an embarrassing showdown with the European Union, business groups and environmental charities after refusing to guarantee that billions of pounds of revenue it stands to earn from carbon-permit trading will be spent on combating climate change.
The Independent (UK)

Tracking Interest Rates

Tracking Interest Rates

FEDERAL RESERVE & HOUSING

SEARCH BLOG: FEDERAL RESERVE for full versions... or use the Blog Archive pulldown menu.

February 3, 2006 Go back to 1999-2000 and see what the Fed did. They are following the same pattern for 2005-06. If it ain't broke, the Fed will fix it... and good!
August 29, 2006 The Federal Reserve always acts on old information... and is the only cause of U.S. recessions.
December 5, 2006 Last spring I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.
March 28, 2007
The Federal Reserve sees no need to cut interest rates in the light of adverse recent economic data, Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman said ”to date, the incoming data have supported the view that the current stance of policy is likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing in core inflation”.

July 21, 2007 My guess is that if there is an interest rate change, a cut is more likely than an increase. The key variables to be watching at this point are real estate prices and the inventory of unsold homes.
August 11, 2007 I suspect that within 6 months the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates before housing becomes a black hole.
September 11, 2007 It only means that the overall process has flaws guaranteeing it will be slow in responding to changes in the economy... and tend to over-react as a result.
September 18, 2007 I think a 4% rate is really what is needed to turn the economy back on the right course. The rate may not get there, but more cuts will be needed with employment rates down and foreclosure rates up.
October 25, 2007 How long will it be before I will be able to write: "The Federal Reserve lowered its lending rate to 4% in response to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and massive numbers of foreclosures that threaten the banking and mortgage sectors."
November 28, 2007 FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN
"Should the elevated turbulence persist, it would increase the possibility of further tightening in financial conditions for households and businesses," he said.

"Uncertainties about the economic outlook are unusually high right now," he said. "These uncertainties require flexible and pragmatic policymaking -- nimble is the adjective I used a few weeks ago."
http://www.reuters.com/

December 11, 2007 Somehow the Fed misses the obvious.
fed_rate_moves_425_small.gif
[Image from: CNNMoney.com]
December 13, 2007 [from The Christian Science Monitor]
"The odds of a recession are now above 50 percent," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We are right on the edge of a recession in part because of the Fed's reluctance to reduce interest rates more aggressively." [see my comments of September 11]
January 7, 2008 The real problem now is that consumers can't rescue the economy and manufacturing, which is already weakening, will continue to weaken. We've gutted the forces that could avoid a downturn. The question is not whether there will be a recession, but can it be dampened sufficiently so that it is very short.
January 11, 2008 This is death by a thousand cuts.
January 13, 2008 [N.Y. Times]
“The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.”
January 17, 2008 A few days ago, Anna Schwartz, nonagenarian economist, implicated the Federal Reserve as the cause of the present lending crisis [from the Telegraph - UK]:
The high priestess of US monetarism - a revered figure at the Fed - says the central bank is itself the chief cause of the credit bubble, and now seems stunned as the consequences of its own actions engulf the financial system. "The new group at the Fed is not equal to the problem that faces it," she says, daring to utter a thought that fellow critics mostly utter sotto voce.
January 22, 2008 The cut has become infected and a limb is in danger. Ben Bernanke is panicking and the Fed has its emergency triage team cutting rates... this time by 3/4%. ...

What should the Federal Reserve do now? Step back... and don't be so anxious to raise rates at the first sign of economic improvement.
Individuals and businesses need stability in their financial cost structures so that they can plan effectively and keep their ships afloat. Wildly fluctuating rates... regardless of what the absolute levels are... create problems. Either too much spending or too much fear. It's just not that difficult to comprehend. Why has it been so difficult for the Fed?

About Me

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Michigan, United States
Air Force (SAC) captain 1968-72. Retired after 35 years of business and logistical planning, including running a small business. Two sons with advanced degrees; one with a business and pre-law degree. Beautiful wife who has put up with me for 4 decades. Education: B.A. (Sociology major; minors in philosopy, English literature, and German) M.S. Operations Management (like a mixture of an MBA with logistical planning)