Obama Takes the Wheel

Presidents don’t usually drive themselves anywhere, but today – in a highly unusual move – President Obama got to drive.
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President Bush drove himself around his ranch all the time.

He wasn’t driving an Army tank with a helmet on.. hopefully..

Here sure took the wheel all right. Read this from Minnesota and the Federal Reserves 9th District.”the Ninth Fed district puts the blame for the credit freeze flatly where it belongs: the president himself, and more specifically his destructive economic advisors. “The most-cited reasons—though only by a small margin—were organizational uncertainty about future financial system reforms and regulatory restrictions on bank lending. A Minnesota institution stated flatly, “The regulatory environment has impacted our willingness to make loans.”

“Read this from Minnesota and the Federal Reserves 9th District.”
Except one should read the whole article (which reports on a survey)directly versus the the taint of the right wing lens which takes things out of context.
The article is called “Come and get it–please” by Ronald Wirtz
“The most-cited reasons—though only by a small margin—were organizational uncertainty about future financial system reforms and regulatory restrictions on bank lending”
Gee that sounds bad until you read it in context
“Those reporting a decline in credit to small business were also asked about the underlying source. The reasons cited for tight credit were all over the map, including a decline in demand and sagging creditworthiness among small businesses.
The most-cited reasons—though only by a small margin—were organizational uncertainty about future financial system reforms and regulatory restrictions on bank lending. A Minnesota institution stated flatly, “The regulatory environment has impacted our willingness to make loans.”
Not all respondents felt that way about the role of regulators, however. The percentage of respondents saying regulator influence was the most important factor for the decline in small business lending (27 percent) was slightly lower than those saying it had no role or influence (29 percent).”

Sometimes referred to as a ‘Windshield Cowboy’ 43 checked out the north 40 acres.. 40-11 times.

I didn’t run for president to shill for an auto company but this baby is smooth, like me.

The Car-Salesman-in-Chief is taking us all for a ride.

Jake really is scraping the bottom of the barrel with this crud.

“And this car can be yours for only $488.09 a month for 7 years with no money down and no credit check.” – BigGuy
Wow! Does include replacing the battery twice which is what you’ll need to do in seven years. A battery pack will cost you $8,000.00. Also does Obama Motors come to your home so that you can get a quicky battery charger installed? You know the one which will charge the car in 4 hours instead of 10.

“Who will buy it?”
Almost all of my friends want to buy an all-electric car. We’re sick to death of pumping gas all the time and watching either our money go out of the country or oil pouring into our waters, we’re sick of the check[book]-engine light, and we’re literally sick of breathing smog.

$41,000 for a car that can go 40 miles before needing a recharge ,that ought to cut down on travel. CFL energy light bulbs when broken release mercury into the environment. Obama has really bought in to the UNs’ Agenda 21 and puppet master George Soros.

A friend of mine has a Morris Mini – all electric — no “backup motor” gets 120 miles per charge — has awesome acceleration…
But his house is powered by solar panels, and his car is charged by solar panels… so cheap energy, esp. since he doesn’t pay the usual road tax we pay at the pump…
Since he works locally, his car is sufficient for his needs…

Wonder if Jon Carry’s new $7 Mil yatch has the Chevy Volt drive train and battery system to spin the prop when the wind doesn’t blow?T

Posted by: sara | Jul 30, 2010 9:34:17 PM
I love it when liberals rant and then tell us not to be angry.

I had no idea the moron could even pass a driver’s license exam…

I had no idea the moron could even pass a driver’s license exam…
Posted by: Namako | Jul 30, 2010 11:59:21 PM
Do you have to show your birth certificate to get a driver’s license? Just askin”.

So glad to see O having a good time while illegal immigrants die in the desert afterr crossing his open border. I guess he’s playing the odds. Even if half make it and get registered, he’s still ahead of the game.
It would be nice to see all the protestors showing concern over human rights to show even a little bit of concern for those dying out there in the heat. Why aren’t these activists down at the border warning those who cross that they might die in the heat seeking a better way of life. Some human rights activists they are.

“If the auto makers and union workers/leaders that Obama bows to had concentrated on real change instead of lining their pockets we might be driving in them right now”
Trying to blame the suppression of the electric car on Obama is the same old weak transposition. If any political forces worked against the marketing of an all-electric car it was the Bush administration who had major ties to Big Oil. There is no such thing as a perfect market. This product has been withheld from consumers by powerful business forces who didn’t want us to be able to buy them because they wanted us to buy products that would generate them higher profits, namely big junkie gas guzzling SUVs. It had nothing to do with technology being inadequate either….the average American only drives something like 25 miles a day. Anybody genuinely interested may watch “Who Killed the Electric Car”…it does offer both sides of the tale. But there is going to be a sequel: “Revenge of the Electric Car”.

The President drove 10 feet… Then he needed to charge it up again!
Ba-da-bing!
Not bad for 41 grand.

the average American only drives something like 25 miles a day.
A source would be nice, skip, and a date. And does the electric car use power while sitting in traffic? Generalizing statistics is not helpful. Btw, my commute is 90 miles round trip. What’s yours? I can’t remember the last time I had a commute under 50 miles RT.

“Generalizing statistics is not helpful”
What…are you demanding an exact estimate?

But there is going to be a sequel: “Revenge of the Electric Car”.
Posted by: Skip | Jul 31, 2010 8:53:44 AM
Big question: Have you ordered your Chevy Volt yet, Skip?
The truth now.

I soldiered on through the idiotic SUV craze with an old Honda Civic that gets about 40mpg and still has a couple years left in it I hope. When it’s done I want to buy an electric car.

I soldiered on through the idiotic SUV craze
Posted by: Skip | Jul 31, 2010 4:02:04 PM
BTW, skip, SUVs can be a viable way to transport large families. But I agree it got out of hand. Not my favorite image to see a single driver in a big SUV. We are not always reasonable and responsible. But it doesn’t mean the idea is necessarily idiotic.
And while yes the automakers used it to their advantage, it was partially to keep up with union demands. Making small cars at a loss had to be made up for somewhere.

Will [insert politician here] drive a Volt?

“Will [insert politician here] drive a Volt?”
I think this question is less relevant than “Will [insert name here] drive an all electric car by [date]?”
You’re implying the future of the electric car rides on the Volt while I think the future of the electric car is inevitable….they hold almost all the advantages in the long run.

Betamax was better than VHS, but most of us know what happened to THAT debate.

There was a time when buying a trash compactor was the ‘green’ thing to do.. even before recycling was common place. Then, we wanted to have a compost pile.. which people never seemed to keep bad stuff out of. I had a 1200cc Toyota in 1973.. it was very fuel efficient..but I couldn’t fit in it now. We also had a time when people were encouraged to have one or two kids.. don’t hear that anymore. And then there was the return to cloth diapers.

Republicans would prefer regular people be happy with whatever wage scraps the wealthy and the corporate throw their way.
The incomes of the wealthy have increased hundreds fold in recent decades. The rest of us very little increase.
This is what the Republican party fights for . .
Posted by: Danton | Aug 1, 2010 6:09:14 PM
Ah yes, the communist viewpoint. The Republican Party fights for more than what you say. But I know it fits nicely into your viewpoint. And greed is not a political party. Let’s look at the hundreds of trial lawyers who have passed through the halls of Congress with a (D) at the end of their name. Let’s look at John Kerry, for example.
Corporations for centuries have provided pathways for people to rise above their economic circumstances and improve their lives through hard work and promotions. This is impossible with the union/socialist/communist system.
My sister was a nurse for about 40 years and she finally gave up trying to improve her situation because it didn’t matter how hard or not hard you tried. The nurses union leveled the playing field and career motivation was eliminated.
With few exceptions, I have improved my situation over the past 40 years and now earn (in just salary) twice as much as I did just 8 years ago – and I have a regular office job with some technical expertise thrown in. My father is amazed at my hourly rate from when he worked. I’m sure I have far outpaced the cost of living.
If you are taking the scraps, that’s your problem. Try applying yourself. Education, trade, promotion, whatever it takes. Just don’t sit around a whine. You don’t have to be a millionaire to be happy. And you can’t life down to a couple of talking points. Use your brain, apply reasoning, and think for yourself. It’s the gift you’ve been given.

“If you are taking the scraps, that’s your problem”
Lots of people are taking the scraps right now. But why should we surprised by such arrogance from somebody offering the same old Wealth=Success argument along with heroic tales of nosing one’s way up the corporate ladder one seat-cushion at a time.
Posted by: Skip | Aug 2, 2010 8:46:32 AM
Let me guess, skip. We should all grow our own gardens and call our kids Moonbeam. I lived through the hippie phase. It got old.
It’s not arrogance skip. I contract my skills and have since 2001. I’m a small business owner. So that pretty much blows your assumptions about me out of the water. I was out of work for five months so i’ve just been there done that. Most of my contracts run three to twelve months so I have to keep on my toes, improving my skill set, and marketing myself. It takes a positive attitude and extra work as I am in my 50′s. But I do it and most of the time, I suceed.
We all choose our path in lfe, skip. To sit around worrying about what the fat cats are up to is self indulgent crap. Fat cats have been around in one fashion or another throughout history. Many times, they are part of the government you apparently think will make everything feel ok for you. What a waste of a perfectly good time spent here on mother earth. If you feel so strongly about beating back the forces of evil, run for office. Do something about it.

“To sit around worrying about what the fat cats are up to is self indulgent crap”
Baloney!….we have to worry about what the fat-cats are up to 24/7 because 24/7 they’re up to trying to make themselves fatter at the expense of everybody else. Greed seems to have no bounds. And one of the major ways fat-cats make themselves fatter is getting their Republican stooges elected to turn over control of the government to the fat-cats so they can undermine the government by dismantling regulations and cutting their own taxes hamstringing the government financially. There are no such things as perfect markets which is why fat-cats can manipulate them to rip everybody else off. Why are monopolies illegal? -because they’re UNFAIR. Who decides what’s fair? -we do via government, because an economy can’t exist if its transactions are perceived as unfair.

“Baloney!….we have to worry about what the fat-cats are up to 24/7 because 24/7 they’re up to trying to make themselves fatter at the expense of everybody else. Greed seems to have no bounds.” – Skip
Gee Skip I didn’t know you were worrying about Pro Atheletes, Movie Stars, Rock Stars and Rappers, Talk Show Hosts, and News Anchors 24/7.

You misspoke Skip.
Allow me to fix your sentence for you.
It’s funny how much Liberals and Progressives just hate it when entertainers make as much money as big businessmen do.

Posted by: Skip | Aug 2, 2010 9:53:39 AM
So tell me Skip, what have you done lately to keep the fat cats in check? Other than vote, that is. Post comments on a blog? Get real.
I’ll be waiting for your response…
And Ryan, you have become an irrelevant one liner. Yawn.

Incomes for the top 5% have gone up hugely. For the rest of us, we’re barely holding our own.
Posted by: sylviatravis | Aug 2, 2010 4:02:07 PM
I’m sure you’d be surprised at how far you could actually fall. Are you homeless? Are you scrounging around a garbage dump? Obviously not since you’re using a computer on the Internet. Count your blessings, thenmove forward and improve your life. Quit whining.

Amazing…..Obama sitting in the Volt electric car with a BIG GRIN on his face spouting “green” as a way to lift us out of the economic slump with green sector jobs..A car that costs $41,000.00 dollars, who not enough people can afford to buy on a massive scale with our present state of the economy, …has a maximum range of 40 miles, average commuting time of 26 minutes one way, with an 8 hour recharge time….And…wait for it…THEY WONDER WHY…..