if bush really wanted to help us with this gas problem

[smurfygirl]

then why does he never mention raising the gas mileage requirements on new cars and trucks. A simple thing to do and pushes car makers to conserve.

He never once mentions clean energy, like wind and solar or even water. He only mentions "technology" that is dangerous, such as coal, and nuclear. What the fuck is wrong with him.

[kentuck]

1. he thought he could give the Prince a blow-job....

and that would do the trick...?

[whistle]

2. Government can't do that.....at least that's what Bush believes....

...so he would rather let the markets find the right combination of mileage, price and supply...:freak: He and his oil buddies will keep control of price and supply and the little people will wrestle with the demand and mileage part of that. Understand....":smirk:"

[e75]

3. ;(

we tried in CA and the feds made it illegal to demand that of the auto companies.

[getmeouttahere]

5. That does make some sense....

but here's what I would like to know...why do we here in California pay 40-50 cents more per gallon than they do in Houston? It was recently published that Calif's gas tax is 18 cents, but that still leaves at least 22 cents per gallon difference. Plus, Texas must have some gas tax. Gee, could it be that Californians are being punished for supporting Kerry?

[whistle]

8. taxes and special formulations of additives to meet environmental

...standards, not sure why they are that pricey, but basically without them cities like LA, San Diego and San Francisco would choke on it's own pollution.

[LTR]

9. Does California use reformulated gas?

Here in Wisconsin, we pay through the ass for a special blend of reformulated fuel (aka 'gasohol'). It consists of roughly %10 corn-based alcohol, and it burns faster, decreases MPG, and adds different kinds of toxins to the environment. Not to mention, it's not really good for cars. I guess it all looked good on paper, but I really don't like this stuff.

[PowerToThePeople]

4. I feel as if I have a gas problem

after listening to this numb-skull waddle through the prepackaged press conference.

[madeline_con]

6. What the fuck is wrong with him

Oh, we could write volumes, my friend.

Suffice it to say if it's normal, it's just not part of his makeup.

[LTR]

7. Very tough to do

First, there would be too many loopholes. GM would make an eco-friendly car, but only to offset the low MPG of the Hummers and Suburbans. Thus, it all averages out.

Second, Ford and GM are hemmhoraging money. Being forced to upgrade MPG standards would encourage internal cost slashing. Meaning that they would shut down even more factories and beef up their overseas operations. And they're already flirting with manufacturing in China. Think a Chinese would boost morale in this country? Doubt it. After all, we already sent all the electronics manufacturing overseas. Cars could be next.

I think the marketplace will decide, and with behemoths like the Hummer fading and fuel-efficient cars like the Toyota Prius gathering waiting lists, it looks like the marketplace is starting to make some fairly important decisions. Heck, even the new Chrysler Hemi motor shuts down cylinders when not needed, to improve fuel economy.

[ljm2002]

10. "with ... Prius gathering wating lists"...

...the Prius has had waiting lists since it first came out. That's what, 5 or so years now? And why, I might ask, hasn't Toyota Inc. been able to tool up and provide enough Prius automobiles to supply the obvious demand? It's one of the laws of the universe, isn't it, "the law of supply and demand"???

Theory vs. reality.

[Doc Bottom]

12. OH MY GOD

Enormous corporations might decide it's more profitable to go to China for manufacturing!!

Well. I never noticed that before, big suprise, never saw it coming.

C'mon. They're going to do that anyway.

Gosh. You know, we could stop giving enormous tax breaks to just any old huge ultra-rich company, and start giving them on the basis of how many Americans a business employs at a decent standard.

And then we could give them tax breaks for doing business that actually improves quality of life for Americans, like making clean-running cars.

Considering the amount of money I'm talking about, it'd be incentive enough.

Not very tough. Or it wouldn't be, if our country was run by Americans and not by corporate whores who serve business that is not a bit loyal to America.

[kcass1954]

11. He could take away the tax breaks...

on those big expensive (gas-guzzling) monstrosities driven by folks with LDS.