Coffin Nails

Barack Obama, like an earnest college sophomore during a midnight bull session, knows how to “solve” the world’s thorniest problems. However, unlike college sophomores, he has the power to make his ideas become national policy. For example, he has taken on the US automobile industry, first throwing money at it, and then firing executives while demanding a merger with his preferred foreign automaker. Now he’s invaded the engineering departments to dictate stringent emission and mileage standards to solve the “global warming (or climate change) problem,” which has never been proven to be a problem at all.

His decrees will probably put the final nails in the US auto industry coffin since he is outlawing their best selling cars during a recession, encouraging buyers to hold on to their beloved SUV’s as long as they can. These companies can’t redesign and retool without trashing designs and tools already paid for. So that’s an additional hit to their bottom line. New manufacturing costs, now estimated to be $1,600 per car, will also depress sales. With an industry that’s already reeling from legacy costs and union wages that foreign carmakers do not face, the new standards appear to be the death blow.

These standards will give new meaning to the term, “Culture of Death” since they will also put more citizens in coffins. Tiny light cars are just not as safe on the road despite seat belts and airbags as the heavier SUV’s and sedans