It's Earth Day... I'd throw a party but that would waste a lot of electricity
By RightMichigan.com Posted in Big 3 | Breaking News | Earth Day | environmentalists | George W. Bush | Michigan | POTUS — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.
"I think you need to give the Bush administration credit," (Environmentalist Dan) Becker said. "They got one right."
And with that you know the administration got one wrong. So very, very wrong.
Happy Earth Day everybody. Make sure you re-use your napkins, get trash in the proper receptacle, recycle everything you can and don't throw away those pop cans today. You'd better walk through the house and make sure you don't have any lights on in unoccupied rooms and make sure your kids don't use too much water brushing their teeth this morning, too. Otherwise you're just not cool. It's as simple as that.
I'm sure Dan Becker would tell you the same thing. He's pretty proud of the Bush administration today because federal regulators are expected to announce plans today to artificially raise fuel economy standards to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2011. Says the Ivory Tower:
Under the proposal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will raise fuel economy rules to 35.7 m.p.g. for passenger cars and 28.6 m.p.g. for light trucks.
The standards for vehicles built between 2011 and 2015 are more aggressive than some observers expected, and raise the possibility that the government could require U.S. automakers to meet the 35 m.p.g. target they agreed to last year ahead of the 2020 deadline.
That requires a substantial shift in applied technology and a bigger sticker price on the car-lot. Not exactly what Michigan's biggest and chronically struggling industry needs right now. The sad part, and FREEP acknowledges the point at the conclusion of their article, is that the industry has been moving towards more fuel efficient vehicles already because of market forces. There's a growing segment of people who would rather drive a tin-can with a one-star crash test rating that gets them 800 miles per gallon than anything heavier or safer the Big 3 can offer.
So why the need for governmental interference? Why artificially manipulate the marketplace and essentially slap an extra couple thousand dollars on every new vehicle sold by 2011? Essentially because A) they can and B) Earth Day is cool. More B than A. It's just the trendy, hip, "forward-thinking" thing to do.
Doesn't have to make any economic sense. It's not like there are any other market forces out there pushing these Michigan companies towards greater fuel efficiency naturally. I mean, we didn't shatter any gas price records yesterday or anything... oops...
The Detroit News says differently in an article with the title "Prices at pump hit record high."
Industry experts say gas prices could climb even higher next month, but may plateau or drop off in June. There is also a very real possibility that motorists could see prices back in the $3-a-gallon range once the nation's economy stabilizes, motorists curtail their driving and investors back away from the commodities market, they said.
In Michigan, the average price of unleaded gas hit $3.52 a gallon Monday, breaking the record of $3.50 set last May. The price jumped 9 cents from last week and is 74 cents more than last year at this time, according to AAA Michigan. In Metro Detroit, the price hit $3.53, breaking the record of $3.48. The national record also was broken again Monday, reaching $3.50.
In other words, as soon as you investors want to take a deep breath and find somewhere else to spend that money the better. Yes, I'm talking to all three of you left here in Michigan. You know who you are.
But I digress.
We've got natural market forces driving consumers towards more fuel efficient vehicles but Congress and their taskmasters in the regressisphere don't seem to get it. They still don't get the whole more-taxes-less-jobs / less-taxes-more-jobs dichotomy either as evidenced once again by economic development moves here in Michigan.
The Associated Press reports this morning that the Governor is expected to proudly announce the imminent creation of 3,300 jobs in the Kalamazoo area. Probably.
"The MEDC is going to be voting on a grant for certain incentives involving potential expansion and depending on how that vote goes, there will be more to talk about tomorrow," Paul Morgan, MPI's general counsel, said Monday. He declined to elaborate.
About two hours before Granholm's announcement, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority Board, which is overseen by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., a quasi-public state agency, is scheduled to vote on an MPI request for tax credits.
Of course the results of that vote are already well known or else the Governor wouldn't have started leaking the "good news" yesterday afternoon. So let's just work on the assumption that's a done deal.
Tax breaks = more jobs in Kalamazoo. And Jennifer Granholm and her happy soldiers on the left are pretty proud of them. And they should be. If they'd found a way to add 700 more then we'd be a full 1/10th of the way to making up for the jobs lost on their watch here in Michigan last year alone. Or a little less than a tenth away from making up for the jobs lost during this prolonged and continuing Big Labor strike of Michigan based American Axle.
It's not 40,000 jobs but it's 3,300 and that's a really nice start. Because of tax breaks.
Now, stop whatever else it is you're doing right now and focus because I don't want to lose anyone here... try to follow my logic...
If tax breaks create 3,300 jobs that would not exist WITHOUT tax breaks (see Mr. Morgan's statement above)... AND... if the Democrats in Lansing understand that reality and are proudly championing the results of it's application... THEN... wouldn't it stand to reason that we'd do all we could to CUT taxes more broadly and avoid RAISING taxes like the plague?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes in the real world but no in Lansing.
And by the way, when will the Governor hold the first press conference of her term at a plant that's making an announcement about thousands of pink slips, sadly, a much more common occurrence under her watch these last five-plus years? Just curious.
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