Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Liberal hubris explained in a single article!

Apparently not cluing in that there might be a reason that the $40,000 Chevy Cobalt Volt isn't selling like hotcakes, President Obama is "doubling down" on the government's malinvestment on alternative fuel vehicles.   Not satisfied with that, he's announcing plans for the government to fund ten to fifteen model communities for the deployment of these luxury vehicles glorified golf carts.

Now, quite frankly, I can name some government model communities.  Cabrini Green and the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago.  Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis.  Queensbridge in NYC.  Jordan Downs in Watts.  To put it gently, it's not for no reason that you instinctively lock the car doors and grasp the steering wheel a little tighter when you drive by the projects, and a President who worked for 20  years on the South Side of Chicago (near the Robert Taylor Homes) ought to know very well that government building projects tend to end up "not as good as expected."

That said, it's a brilliant example of liberal thinking.  Ignore the fact that the government has precious few successes in the area, and assume that the problems were because you weren't running things.  Even if the only experience you can point to running things is....as is Obama's case....running things into the ground.

By the way, to break even (not turn a profit) on the Volt's $20k extra cost versus the Cobalt would require (a) daily electric-only driving of 25 miles (real world battery charge) and (b) $12/gallon gasoline.   Even with the $7500 tax credit, you're talking about $6-7 gasoline to have a chance of breaking even.

2 comments:

Gino said...

they never sem to mention the cost of the kilowatts.

or the impossibility of getting a new power plant built (to accomodate all these new cars we are supposed to be driving) after the greenies file environmental lawsuits.

Bike Bubba said...

More important than the implausibility of this car, however, is the fact that government almost necessarily funds the implausible--if there were a business case for the Volt, they would have been made without a massive government subsidy.

It's a lot like small business loans, student loans, and more; the very fact that government is making the "investment" means it's a bad investment.