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Jewish World Review April 2, 2012/ 10 Nissan 5772 Must-haves that few want: Dem decision forces taxpayers to become tabpayers By Jack Kelly
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In 2007, Congress voted to ban all incandescent lightbulbs by 2014. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $10 million prize for the manufacturer who could create a "green" substitute at prices "affordable to American families."
The winner was announced in August. Philip's "affordable" 60-watt bulb sells for $50.
"I don't want to say it's exorbitant, but if a customer is only looking at the price, they could come to that conclusion," Brad Paulsen, who buys lightbulbs for Home Depot, told Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post.
Home Depot sells a package of 16 60-watt incandescents for $2.97. It sells "Eco-Smart" bulbs made by other manufacturers for half the price of the Philips bulb.
If Secretary Chu's concept of "affordable" stretches the bounds of credulity when it comes to lightbulbs, it leaps far beyond them on electric cars.
Consumer Reports tried to take Fisker Automotive's Karma, a sedan with a price tag north of $100,000, for a spin.
"We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undrivable before it has finished our check-in process," Consumer Reports said last week (3/7).
"At least it can go from zero to $529 million in stimulus dollars in nothing flat," said Investors Business Daily.
The Department of Energy also subsidized production of another Fisker model, to be more modestly priced at about $50,000. But it won't be available until next year. Or maybe ever. Fisker replaced its CEO and announced layoffs last month, but denied rumors of impending bankruptcy.
At least the Karma's "battery didn't catch fire, which is what happened with the Chevy Volt in crash tests," Investors Business Daily said.
The Volt is "the car of the future," President Barack Obama said. But Edward Niedermeier, who edits the "Truth About Cars" Web site, called it "the electric lemon."
"Quantifying just how much taxpayer money will have been wasted... is no easy feat," he said. "Start with the $50 billion bailout (of General Motors), add $240 million in Energy Department grants doled out to G.M. last summer, $150 million in federal money to the Volt's Korean battery supplier, up to $1.5 billion in tax breaks for purchasers and other consumer incentives, and some significant portion of the $14 billion loan G.M. got in 2008 for "retooling" its plants, and you've got some idea of how much taxpayer cash is built into every Volt."
Mr. Niedermeier wrote that in July, 2010. Volt subsidies now total nearly $250,000 per vehicle, according to a study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
That's because only 7,671 Volts were sold last year; just 1,626 this year before General Motors suspended production until it figures out how to "align production with demand."
That may take a while. Fleet purchases by government agencies -- another disguised subsidy -- bolstered the Volt's dismal sales figures. Very few consumers bought them.
The Volt is, essentially, an electric version of the Chevy Cruze, a compact with an MSRP of $16,800. The Volt costs nearly twice as much -- even after the $7,500 tax credit for purchasers of electric cars is factored in -- and has only about half the trunk space.
"No one is going to pay a $15,000 premium for a car that competes with a (Toyota) Corolla," predicted Johan de Nysschen, president of Audi in North America, in 2009. "There are not enough idiots who will buy it."
He was right. The Ford Edsel, considered, until now, the biggest automobile flop ever, sold 63,000 units without benefit of a government subsidy.
Mr. Obama's "cash for clunkers" program took perfectly functional cars off the road, at a cost to taxpayers of about $24,000 per new car sold to replace them.
"We now have the government producing dysfunctional cars most people can't afford and don't want," Investors Business Daily said.
The average household income of Volt buyers is $170,000. We shouldn't be taxed to subsidize vanity purchases by the foolish rich. But Mr. Obama plans to stick it to taxpayers again, by increasing to $10,000 the tax credit for purchase of electric cars, and adding new subsidies.
That's throwing good money after bad. But it's our money Mr. Obama is wasting, and since most of the subsidies go to his supporters, he thinks it's been put to good use. When Democrats buy votes, price is no object.
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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.
© 2011, Jack Kelly |
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