In his regular Saturday radio address, President Obama boasted of his auto bailout and how imposing even higher CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards on cars will eventually address the problem of high energy prices. “Thanks to new fuel efficiency standards we put in place, they’re building cars that will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade. That’s almost double what they get today. That means folks will be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week…”
Where to start? First, energy prices are higher than they should or would be, in part because of his anti-energy policies—regardless of his claims to be the most pro-energy president.
Second, Obama seems to think that everyone wants a green car—predicting last year that 1 million electric cars would be on the road by 2015.
In the real world, Chevrolet is shutting down Volt production for several weeks because of low demand—selling just 1,700 in January and February, when traditional car sales are roaring. And that’s with a $7,500 taxpayer-funded credit, which Obama wants to raise to $10,000.
Third, the president’s empathy with families struggling with high fuel prices is completely unconvincing: He has stated that he wanted consumers paying high prices so they would use less energy.
And fourth, Obama seems to have adopted the same “cure” as in that old joke about a patient who says, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” And the doctor replies, “Then don’t do that.” Consumers are saying, “It hurts when we pay $4 a gallon.” And the president replies that under his micromanaging—and ownership—of the auto industry, consumers will only feel that pain every other week. But not, according to the president, until “the middle of the next decade.”