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Regardless whether one loves or hates Toyota, a herd of huge elephants in the living room of this controversy have thus far been completely ignored in news reports and analysis. These include, first, a pair of related conflicts of interest underlying the government's role, and, second, the disreputable records of several key "expert" witnesses in the mounting crusade against the besieged automaker. The conflicts of interest begin with the fact the federal government is itself the controlling owner of General Motors, having invested billions of U.S. tax dollars in one of Toyota's two main American competitors. There is no creditable...

Commerce: Toyota's leaders are in for nasty star-chamber hearings in Congress, with politicians grandstanding and regulators pointing fingers. It's no way to treat a big employer that contributes so much to our economy. When Toyota first came to the U.S. in the 1950s and took out TV ads in the 1960s, the Japan-based company was ridiculed. How could its dinky little cars compete with the mighty Big Three automakers for the American market? But by the 1970s, word got out that Toyota was making a superior energy-efficient product and it won the public over. That success seems to be why...

LOS ANGELES, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's majority stake in General Motors Co GM.UL has no bearing on the response of regulators to safety problems at Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)(TM.N), Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Friday. "That argument is baloney," LaHood said when asked about the issue during an appearance in Los Angeles. Questions about whether the government stands to benefit as a GM shareholder from its regulatory crackdown on Toyota gained some steam this week with a number of critics suggesting at least the appearance of a conflict of interest.

That vague screeching noise you hear in D.C., the slight odor of burning rubber? That's the government trying to brake its anti-Toyota campaign. It may be a little late. The Toyota spectacle has become slightly surreal, as a few uncertain questions about "sudden acceleration" morphed into a media and political firestorm over the safety of its entire fleet. It is also proving an interesting case study in the treacherous politics that accompany government ownership of U.S. industry. Washington's initial enthusiasm in bashing Toyota is beginning to backfire. There's no question that in the first, heady days of recall, at least...

Toyota, which employs over 35,000 workers in the United States with factories in eight states, is the target of a government-led and union-supported attack due to recent recalls. In the U.S., it is estimated that 15,000 Lexus HS250h and 133,000 Prius models will be recalled due to gas pedal issues, with another 500,000 Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids needing anti-brake software modification. As unfortunate and inconvenient as recalls can be, this not the first, or last time an automobile will need to be brought back to the shop for a quick fix. One might think this is the first auto...

Ayn Rand couldn't have imagined it any better: a government with a majority ownership stake in a car maker lobbing sound bites that damage the "competition." While it's not Ray LaHood's fault that the U.S. government got into the car business, his comments suggesting that Toyota drivers should stop driving their cars did a nice job of underscoring the folly of this type of government intervention.

High-speed rail has emerged as the Obama administration’s signature transportation initiative. While advocates hail the project as a long-overdue commitment to the nation’s passenger-rail infrastructure, in reality it reflects a remarkable marginalization of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) at a time when bold federal leadership is crucial. The administration has chosen to elevate an expensive program targeted at an extraordinarily narrow segment of the traveling public over programs that could provide meaningful relief to tens of millions of travelers on a daily basis. The last twelve months have shown convincingly that transportation issues can’t compete with signature Obama initiatives...

Just how many people did Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood kill last week with his bizarre statement that people should quit driving their Toyotas until they can have them "fixed"? Of course he later issued the clarification — something about how he really didn't mean what he said, he just wanted people to be careful. But when a Cabinet Secretary leads the evening news, people react. If people aren't driving Toyotas, what are they driving? More importantly, if the Department of Transportation is spending massive amounts of time thinking about this trivial safety issue, what are they not doing? Begin...

Toyota owners stormed dealerships all over the country last week demanding "fixes" for "defects" described in wildly inflammatory press reports. Toyota apologized for "defects" that to date are still being investigated. Before whatever problems might exist had been determined and before any "fix" has been found, the government ordered Toyota to begin the largest recall of vehicles in automotive history. Toyota then shut down its U.S. plants and stopped selling eight of its popular models, including Camry and Corolla. Toyota claims these actions were "voluntary," but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as saying the Obama administration had ordered the...

Is Toyota Motor Company paying the price today for their executives' failure to support Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign? One might draw that conclusion after examining campaign contribution records on the Federal Election Commission web site.

Ray LaHood is an idiot. How much he had to donate to Obama to get into the Cabinet, I have no idea. But he doesn't belong there. Obama's got a right to surround himself with liberals, if he wants to. But we can't afford to let him have morons, too. And that's what Ray LaHood is. A Republican, yes, but not a smart one. And his token backside should be fired. Yesterday was a good example. Sitting in front of a committee of Congress, talking about the Toyota accelerator recalls, he said that owners of a recalled vehicle should "stop...

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood put Toyota's stock price into free-fall Wednesday, telling a House committee that Americans with cars made by the Japanese auto company should stop driv ing them. LaHood was addressing an issue of some significance: Toyota's recall of some 2.3 million vehicles due to a faulty gas-pedal design. "My advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it," he said. But the company says the cars are safe to drive until repairs can be scheduled -- and LaHood swiftly backtracked. On its surface, LaHood's gaffe is just the latest instance of foot-in-mouth thoughtlessness for...

There's something inherently sleazy and suspicious about an WH administration mouthpiece that unequivocally states that Toyota owners should simply "stop driving" their cars until they've taken them to a dealership. In the wake of such an unprecedented fear mongering campaign, the mud slinging began, and within days, Transportation Sec'y Ray LaHood, was softening his harsh blow.But "just words" matter, and one of the nation's most popular vehicle manufacturers saw their shares fall as much as 8% on the heels of LaHood's explosive remarks. Obama's pet, Goldman Sachs, downgraded Toyota from a "buy" to "neutral". If you use AutoBlog's figures, it's...

That's what the Washington Examiner's editors are wondering, after President Obama's Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said all Toyota owners should "stop driving [their cars] and take it to a dealer." The attacks from the administration about various design flaws from the suddenly undependable automaker look awful suspicious.... LaHood, headline-chasing congressmen like Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and a chorus of Naderite auto safety nannies led by former National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration Administrator Joan Claybrook are demanding that Toyota submit to a punishing new round of subpoenas, hearings, and media inquisition.... Given the Obama administration's catering to one of its...

Big Government: Is it just us, or is there something off about regulators' big public show against Toyota over a safety issue? Might that be a conflict of interest between Government Motors' owners and a foreign rival? That some car companies are more equal than others in the eyes of federal regulators became obvious Wednesday, when Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged everyone who owns a Toyota to "stop driving it, take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it." LaHood, whose government also owns Toyota rivals General Motors and Chrysler, was referring to a...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke when telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving then.</p>

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday said he wants to talk directly with Toyota Motor Corp Chief Executive Akio Toyoda about the safety concerns involving Toyota cars and the company's handling of those issues. "This is very serious," Mr. LaHood said at a breakfast with reporters in Washington. "After I talk with him, they'll get it. We're going to keep the pressure on." Mr. LaHood also defended the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's handling of invesitgations into reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The NHTSA "stepped up here," he said. Some safety advocates have questioned why NHTSA didn't...

Transportation Secy: Don't Drive Recalled Toyotas WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood advises owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving them and seek repair. Federal safety officials meanwhile widened their investigation of Toyota's sticky gas pedals Wednesday to see if the same problem could exist for other automakers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals behind Toyota's recall of millions of vehicles. The safety agency wants to know more about pedals that CTS made for other auto companies. CTS says it makes pedals for companies like Honda,...

The proponents of a maglev train line between Las Vegas and Southern California say a Chinese government-controlled bank has agreed to loan up to $7 billion to help build the high-speed transportation system. But the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission still has several hurdles to clear before it could move ahead with plans to develop the project between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif. The commission late Monday announced that the Export-Import Bank of China, which has 14 domestic offices and three overseas offices, said it would provide a direct loan that would require the backing of the U.S. government as...

Obama Administration Says It Is 'Not Finished With Toyota' By JOSH MITCHELL And NORIHIKO SHIROUZU The Obama administration toughened its stance toward Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday, saying it is still reviewing possible safety defects in the company's vehicles and weighing other actions. "We're not finished with Toyota and are continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. Another DOT official said the agency is considering a civil penalty against the Japanese auto maker. Mr. LaHood, in his statement, said "while Toyota is taking responsible action now, it...