July 1, 2016

Picking Winners and Losers in the Car Market

VW-Tesla, GM-Toyota — there’s a common theme.

Volkswagen deservedly landed in hot water last year for creating a method of foiling EPA emissions testing. The German automaker recently settled for nearly $15 billion to make things “right” — i.e., fix the cars by making them less powerful and efficient. “But this wouldn’t be the Obama era if the settlement didn’t include some insider dealing for green energy,” writes The Wall Street Journal. Here’s what they mean:

> The EPA and CARB say consumers can also keep their noxious Volkswagens if they like them—for now. However, regulators are bribing consumers to return their cars for a complimentary cash payment of between $5,100 and $10,000. The settlement warns that “individual states” might require fixes “at some point in the future.” So drive at your own risk.

> There’s more. VW will also have to pay $2.7 billion into an environmental mitigation trust — state distributions are based on population — for programs that aim to reduce NOx emissions, namely vehicles, boats and machines that run on alternative fuels as well as hydrogen fuel-cell and electric car charging equipment. Tesla maintains 655 supercharging sites nationwide.

> If consumers don’t agree to junk or fix their cars, VW will have to pay more to the slush fund. If merely 75% of consumers respond to VW’s recall, state governments get to spend an extra $985 million on green welfare.

Looking at the fine print, upscale electric car maker Tesla potentially stands to benefit from this arrangement, just as it does from other government subsidies. And that wouldn’t be the first time Barack Obama’s government has played favorites with automakers. Compare the settlements reached by GM and Toyota for deadly malfunctions. “Government Motors” got off with a light slap on the wrist compared to the smackdown Toyota suffered. So if we’ve learned anything in the Obama economy, it’s that he and his cronies pick the winners and the losers.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.