Free Republic

President Donald Trump's interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a "disaster,"  "detrimental to the country" and the strongest evidence yet that "the president (should) step down."Those are the words of former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, a Republican, who penned a blistering op-ed in the Los Angeles Times this weekend calling on fellow GOPers to put country over party and dump Trump."In this election year, opposing Trump is risky for GOP candidates," Whitman wrote. "Invoking the need to choose country over party is an overused trope. But it is essential now." The piece was a reaction to Trump's refusal last week...

Auto Safety: As a Toyota Prius with a stuck accelerator races down a California freeway, no one mourns the victims of the fuel economy standards imposed by Congress. Forced into smaller cars, thousands have died. We can barely imagine the panic felt by James Sikes, 61, as his Toyota Prius accelerated uncontrollably while he drove down Interstate 8 in San Diego County. We can imagine the continuation of the grandstanding by the owners of "government motors" as they further browbeat a competitor of government-run GM and Chrysler. We do not minimize the safety issues here that need to be addressed,...

Toyota Motor said Monday that it planned a widespread release of its plug-in hybrid car in 2011 as the company scrambled to gain the upper hand in an increasingly crowded battle over next-generation “green” technology. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, dominates the current generation of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, but it has refrained from rushing lower-emission cars like the plug-in hybrid to market. Instead, Toyota has focused on plans to introduce regular hybrid technology to all its models by 2020. But Toyota’s rivals are surging ahead. General Motors plans to build as many as 60,000 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids a year,...

RUSH: Emily in Cary, North Carolina, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. How are you? RUSH: Fine. Thank you. CALLER: Great. It's great to talk to you. I'm just calling because I finally have a reason to buy a hybrid. I've been waiting because I've been debating about it because I'm tired of the oil-rich countries, you know, becoming rich on the backs of Americans, so I've been wanting to buy something that, you know, would use less oil so we would in turn give more oil to, you know, Chavez or wherever, but now I have...

Toyota Motor Corp. boasts that its hot-selling Prius gasoline-electric hybrid doesn't have to be plugged in. But a growing number of hybrid buffs interested in further boosting the car's fuel economy are asking, "Why not?" By replacing the Prius' batteries with a more powerful array and recharging it using a standard electric outlet at home, engineers have enabled the hybrid to get more than 100 miles per gallon of gasoline.... But the plug-in Prius is the firm's principal claim to fame. In May, Energy Control Systems entered its Prius in the Tour del Sol fuel economy rally in New York....