It's been tough finding things worth commenting on. A lot of the news lately hasn't interested me. I did find an article in the New York Times about Kerry's plan to increase fuel efficiency. It might be worth a couple of laughs.
In the face of rising gasoline prices and stagnating fuel efficiency, Senator John Kerry is sticking with a plan he backed in the Senate to increase the nation's fuel economy standards 50 percent by 2015. That would be the largest increase, by far, since automotive fuel economy standards were first imposed after the oil shocks of the 1970's.
Few think even Mr. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, could actually make good on such a plan if he were elected president, because there is too much opposition from Congressional Republicans and Midwestern Democrats. When Senator Kerry and Senator John McCain pushed such a proposal two years ago, it failed in the Senate on a 62-to-38 vote.
The Times concentrates on whether they have the votes, but not the logistics. This is a basic question of economics.
Manufacturers already make cars that get 30 miles per gallon. If people are tired of paying high prices they can buy one of those cars. In fact, one of the effects and reasons behind the steep gas tax is to price middle class families out of V-8 engines. This Kerry proposal is just more social engineering.
If gas prices remain high for a prolonged period of time, many drivers will choose to dump their gas-guzzlers, but that's not good enough for politicians looking to gain votes by "helping." But does the consumer benefit by having his decisions made in Washington?
These kinds of laws will only ensure that people have fewer choices when buying a car. What happens to people who want a motor home? Will the Kerry Administration put those manufacturers out of business or will they give them an exemption? It wouldn't be fair either way. We'd end up with a bunch of special favors to certain segments of the population and the regular citizen is once again treated like cattle.
Why not just let people choose how much gas they want to buy at the market price? Because, allowing people those kinds of free choices wouldn?t give John Kerry much left to run on. His half of the electorate exists to run the lives of the other half.
This particular law would give Kerry all the power of social engineering but with a due date past his own tenure in politics. He would get all the benefits of tinkering and none of the ill effects of his decisions.
I?ll be interested in how many new proposals John Kerry introduces in this campaign that rely on citizens making their own choices.
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