Free Republic

As evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine mounts, the U.S. is once again grappling with our dependence on foreign oil. Although we produce more than we consume, we imported about 670,000 barrels per day from Russia last year — more than we imported from Saudi Arabia. At recent prices of $100 per barrel, that’s nearly $25 billion that fed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine. The U.S. ban on Russian oil helps, but is small compared to total Russian exports. So, how can we cut oil consumption and energy costs? President Biden wants electric vehicles (EVs) to comprise half of...

We might have a new champion for the best place to live if you want to maximize the amount of government incentives you can get when you buy an electric vehicle. While everyone in the U.S. could be eligible for the federal tax credit worth up to $7500 for a new EV, states and cities have been offering various benefits in addition to the federal credit, and the revived incentive package from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) in California could reduce the price some residents pay for a new or used EV by a serious $9500.

When was it, exactly, that petite Toyotas and stubby Hondas came to rule the American road? One milestone in the compact-car takeover dates back to the summer of 2009. Times were, as you’ll recall, pretty dark. The US economy was bleeding jobs. Trillions of dollars in wealth in stocks and home equity had been vaporized. People were clinging to what cash they had—and definitely not spending on cars. With sales nosediving, several flagship US auto companies were on the brink of ruin. And then came the great Keynesian experiment known best as “cash for clunkers.” Under the bipartisan program, the...

Many believe that the current administration – or perhaps more broadly, the current Democratic regime, by the triumvirate Obama, Pelosi, and Reid since the 2006 elections – will be remembered and condemned for its “unforced errors”… that is, for the unnecessary mistakes it has made, through mishandling programs and clumsily creating needless trouble by misreading economic cause-and-effect or societal trends. But were they truly errors at all? Were they mistakes? Much of the damage done by this administration has in fact been intentional – either out of some arrogant belief that “we elites know better than you do” or out...

recent reports indicate the entire program may have actually hurt the environment far more than it helped. According to E Magazine, the “Clunkers” program, which is officially known as the Car Allowance Rebates System (CARS), produced tons of unnecessary waste while doing little to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The program's first mistake seems to have been its focus on car shredding, instead of car recycling. With 690,000 vehicles traded in, that's a pretty big mistake. According to the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), automobiles are almost completely recyclable, down to their engine oil and brake fluid. But many of the “Cash...

However, there is one index that tends to see through all the unreality much more clearly than our analysis above, that is the Used Vehicle Price index. Each time this index has dropped and broken below its two-year average, the auto industry has tended to fade rapidly.

The economy remains wobbly, unemployment is still high and yet people are buying new cars at a pace that would suggest a sweeping wave of prosperity. Even auto industry analysts concede that it's counterintuitive … until you take a closer look at what's being traded in for new wheels. [snip] David Rodgers, senior vice president and general manager of the Sullivan Automotive Group, which oversees John L. Sullivan Chevrolet and Roseville Toyota in the Roseville Automall, said that, more than car age, he's been struck by the high mileage he's seeing on trade-ins. "The average (age) is running about three...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The average vehicle on America's roads is almost 11 years old, according to the auto market analysts at Polk. The 10.8-year average is the highest figure recorded since Polk began tracking vehicle age in 1995. Back then, the average was just 8.4 years. Vehicle age has increased rapidly over the last five years as new vehicle sales have slowed. Polk's analysis is based on vehicle registration data. Older cars represent an opportunity for some businesses. "Dealer service departments and independent repair facilities, as well as aftermarket parts suppliers, will see increased business opportunity with customers in...

The U.S government has sold its shares in Chrysler LLC at a likely loss of $1.3 billion in taxpayer money, the Treasury Department said Thursday, announcing the end of a controversial investment that resurrected the troubled auto company. Italian automaker Fiat SpA, which has run the company since it emerged from bankruptcy protection in June 2009, purchased the U.S. government's remaining 98,000 shares in the auto company for $560 million.

If you've tried to buy a used car recently -- a lot of people are finding it hard to get what they want. There is something of a used car shortage going on. News 10NBC found out there are a number of factors why there are fewer used cars out there. One is -- more people are holding onto their new cars longer but also, there are fewer rental cars coming on the market and fewer people are leasing vehicles so therefore -- fewer of those cars are out there. Joan Kamisch is trading her 2000 Chevy Lumina for a...

Imagine turning your car’s steering wheel, or giving it a gentle tug, and having it break away from the steering column. Now you’re speeding along holding the suddenly useless wheel.

We can't afford to listen to the same old lame excuses. How many times do we have to go through an oil crisis with skyrocketing gas prices and damage to the economy before we will get the monster out from under the bed?There is no monster, of course. But as long as we think there is one, it’s no different than actually having one. So, it is time — has been for a long, long while — to change our thinking: exorcise the oil monster.The problem with this particular monster is that it’s alive and well in the minds of...

The person who calculated this bit of information went to high school in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is now & has been a professor at The University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last forty some years. I never looked at the clunker program in such depth. But he did. Clunker Math Think of it this way: A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year. A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction...

The government is investigating at least 20 car dealerships it claims violated the rules of last year's cash-for-clunkers program. Government auditors say up to $94 million in rebates may be ineligible because they lack the proper documentation. NHTSA spokeswoman Karen Aldana said there's no evidence of widespread fraud and noted that the violations are a small fraction of the 18,915 dealers who participated. "We project that almost 22,000 transactions lacked supporting documentation, such as proof of insurance, in the CARS database at the time of our audit," Assistant Inspector General Joseph W. Comé wrote in an April report. But "some...

It’s been one year since the United States government threw some jumper cables onto slumping auto sales with the trade-in program known as Cash for Clunkers. However, as time passed, some car agreements made by consumers under the government incentive program has bred some buyers remorse of late. According to LeaseTrader.com, droves of Cash for Clunkers-inspired vehicle lessees (who is said to account for 1 in 5 total vehicle sales during the incentive’s period) are actively seeking rescue from their contracts. In lease agreements required to be a minimum of five years, a degree of these commitments have fallen under...

Thousands of people who leased cars last year as part of the Cash for Clunkers program are having second thoughts and are trying to get out of their leases, reports LeaseTrader.com. The program provided up to a $4,500 rebate if a person signed at least a five-year lease for their car. A year later, that money has long been spent and people realize they are stuck with the car for four more years, says John Sternal, LeaseTrader.com spokesman. "I think it's Cash for Clunkers remorse," Sternal says, whose company helps hook up people who want to trade out of their...

Florida's wildly popular Cash for Clunker Appliances program soon will be reborn with a new twist: Rebates for clunker air conditioning systems. State officials have approved a program that will give Floridians a flat fee rebate – yet to be determined -- for new Energy Star-rated central air conditioning and air source heat pumps systems purchased before the end of the year, said Brenda Buchan, the chief analyst with the Governor's Energy Office who managed the Energy Star appliance rebate program. Window or room air conditioning units will not be included. Buchan said Florida also is considering covering Energy Star...

The popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and getting a different result. After the Cash for Clunkers program failed to do anything more than steal sales from the future and two successive homebuyer tax credits had the same effect while burning up billions of taxpayer dollars, what would the truly insane suggest as a response? Oh, let’s not always see the same hands (via King Banaian): Cristian de Ritis, a director at Moody’s Economy.com, told SNL that the consensus estimate was for a pace of 420,000, with Moody’s Economy.com projecting a rate of...

Just wanted to put the SNL Obama/Jintao press conference link up one more time, especially if you need a laugh today. http://harrisonprice.com/2009/11/23/snl-parodies-obamas-visit-to-china/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harrisonprice%2FfLuv+%28Just+Politics..%3F%29

70% Of The Q3 GDP Growth Was Cash For Clunkers Vincent FernandoDec. 22, 2009, 10:05 AM Today's downward revision is far worse than it first appears. While third quarter GDP was revised down by a 0.6% (2.2% vs. 2.8% previously), the contribution from motor vehicle output (which was massively stimulated by Cash for Clunkers in a one-off fashion) remains enormous. BEA GDP Release: Motor vehicle output added 1.45 percentage points to the third-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.19 percentage point to the second-quarter change. What this means is that Cash for Clunkers was an even larger factor than...