Are politicians full of themselves?

I'd say so. That was the point of Peggy Noonan's Conceit of Government article yesterday. "There is nothing wrong with compromise and nothing wrong with announcements, but the senators who spoke referred to themselves with such flights of vanity and conceit--we're so brave, so farsighted, so high-minded--that it was embarrassing."

Those in the House and Senate get paid very well and make connections that many use to their financial advantage for the rest of their lives. Issues like fuel economy prove that most legislators are not really willing to do the right thing if it means losing their job.

Serving the people is an honor and privilege that demands the noblest behavior. Standing for the people, rather than lobbyists and party lines, is the highest action, yet so few of our representatives do it. Most are neither brave, farsighted, or high-minded, most are simply self-serving.

I guess that's just politics.

Hybrid car tax credit approved by Senate

The Senate has approved tax credits for hybrid cars. (More)

Cheap gasoline is a fiction created by American politicians and corporations

Hypocrisy - a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not

What choice does GM have, but to start hyping its future hybrid cars?

Oil problems are already starting to garner America's attention, and it appears that things will get worse before they get better, especially with Iran's new conservative President already making threatening statements regarding foreign oil companies (more).

Get ready, $3.00 gasoline is coming, and the possibility of $4.00, or even $5.00, gasoline is no longer outlandish. (more)

Thus, the much hyped "two mode" hybrid powertrain of GM is making news. Unfortunately, its release is still almost two years away. Nonetheless, it didn't stop AutoWeek from hyping the GMC Graphyte Concept vehicle that could only be driven 35 mph during the AutoWeek test drive.

It's ironic that any Toyota hybrid that graces AutoWeek's homepage includes negative caveats, yet a GM hybrid headline provides only positive hype, even though the technology isn't a fully testable reality. (AutoWeek story)

AutoWeek and GM believe that cheap gasoline will forever be, but how cheap is gasoline when it causes the U.S. to stick its nose in Asian, African, and Middle East politics? If not for our gross foreign oil dependency would such a strong U.S. presence be required in the Middle East? Would we be at war? Would 911 have occurred?

The true cost of gasoline is much greater than what consumers pay at the pump. While GM and AutoWeek can claim that automobiles are about freedom of choice, true freedom doesn't come at the enslavement of others.

Cheap gasoline is a fiction created by American politicians and corporations, and it represents the greatest example of money laundering ever created. If the military costs of cheap oil enforcement were added to the pump price, Americans would immediately act much different.

See no evil, hear no evil, do no evil.

America has done many great things for the world, but its reliance on cheap, foreign oil has turned America into the greatest hypocrisy in the world.

While I wait longingly for a true GM hybrid vehicle, I cannot advocate a company that hypes the importance of buying American while increasing the necessity of foreign oil.

How can that be anything but ignorant, self-serving, greed-driven hypocrisy?

Simulated oil meltdown shows need for hybrid vehicles

On the same day that the Senate overwhelmingly rejected increasing fuel economy, a simulation demonstrated the U.S. economy's extreme vulnerability to oil. Unrest in Nigeria, an Al Qaida attack at Alaska's Port of Valdez, or a Saudi insurgency attack on foreign oil workers, could push the price of oil to $150 a barrel and gas prices to $5.74 per gallon. Former CIA chief James Woolsey called these scenarios "relatively mild". (More on the simulations)

Automakers, especially American automakers, didn't push SUVs and large trucks in the 90's because Americans demanded them, automakers pushed such vehicles because the profits margins were as high as $10,000 or more. In my book, that's just greed.

Hybrid cars can meet the needs of increased fuel economy, without taking away America's demand for choice. Instead of better automotive technology, pork-fed politicians would rather give billions of tax dollars to oil companies to solve America's oil problems.

Oil glimpses $60.00, is Congress watching

The trading day started off O.K., but when oil hit $60.00 today, the Dow dropped triple digits. In the next few years, America is going to walk a fine line. If a hurricane knocks out Gulf of Mexico production, gasoline prices could spike significantly, especially if it appears this winter will be cold. Then there is always the specter of terrorism.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that either the government, nor American business, will offer any solutions for Americans.

So what can you do? Hybrid cars are one of the greatest free market choices consumers can make. The purchase tells automakers that consumers want clean, efficient automotive technology.

While I think the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrid are the best overall choices, there are more choices than ever. The Ford Escape hybrid and Toyota Highlander hybrid can fulfill your SUV needs, while the Lexus RX400h while fit the luxury-motivated consumer, and if you need a highway vehicle, the Honda Accord hybrid is a nice choice.

Things will get worse before they get better in the world of oil - if they ever get better. Since the government doesn't appear capable of intelligent legislation, it's going to be up you, the consumer.

You can make a difference.

500 mpg Flex-fuel plug-in hybrids?

Hybridcarblog.com

When the oil embargo hit the world in the 70's, it didn't just affect the U.S.. At the time, Brazil imported 80% of its oil from foreign sources.

Today, Brazil has almost wiped out foreign oil dependency using flex-fuel vehicles (more on this).

The U.S., on the other hand, is more foreign-oil dependent than ever.

While hybrid cars provide excellent fuel economy, the technology could do even more. Hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, have the potential to use electricity to charge their batteries when not in use, which advocates have demonstrated could provide an extra 20 miles of driving per day - without using gasoline.

Thus, instead of 50 - 60 mpg, a plug-in Prius could achieve 70 - 80 mpg, but the potential of hybrids doesn't end there.

According to groups such as the Set America Free coalition, a plug-in hybrid system that utilizes a flex-fuel gasoline engine in its powertrain, rather than a conventional gasoline engine, could achieve 500 mpg if it burned a fuel mixture of 80 percent alcohol and 20 percent gasoline.

That's today's technology.

It is time for American politicians to give up the pork and to start representing average Americans. An energy bill that gives billions to the oil industry is a miscarriage of justice and a slap in the face to the majority of Americans.

Where's the leadership?

What happens when gas hits $3.00 per gallon?

So oil is almost at $60.00 per barrel and has a very good chance of approaching $70.00. While I've predicted $3.00 gasoline before year's end, which was an aggressive prediction just weeks ago, others are sounding the $3.00 dollar alarm as well now. "I think within a year from now, you're probably looking at $3 gasoline and you're probably looking at something over $60 for oil," stated oil tycoon Boone Pickens, who runs a billion-dollar hedge fund that invests in energy commodities and equities.

What will happen if gas hits $3.00? Not much good from Congress or U.S. automakers - that seems clear. And why should they act, most Americans are complacent, apathetic and don't vote anyway.

What could they have done?

Biofuels are competitive when oil is $35 per barrel in Brazil (See more). Why couldn't that have happened in America? I'm sure pork-barrel lobbyists had nothing to do with it.

For more see Gas prices, hybrids, and Politics.

The politics of gas prices and the importance of hybrid cars

This morning oil prices went higher and should push beyond $60.00 per barrel sometime this week. So what should America do? Well, if you are a California Democrat, such as Fabian Nunez, we should lower gas taxes and raise the sale's tax on everything else (more).

Suddenly, Democrats are starting to sound an awful lot like oil-controlled Republicans. The conservationist, environmentalist, anti-war party wants to increase foreign oil dependency so as not to offend consumers at the pump? Pure hypocrisy.

Unfortunately, it isn't just California Democrats, but many Union-controlled Democrats as well. Case in point, raising fuel economy standards in the U.S. While the majority of Republicans are against raising such standards - surprise, surprise - enough voted for change that Democrats could have made it happen, but they didn't.

Instead, Democrats, such as Nancy Pelosi, ridicule and blame the Republican party for every oil ill, when in reality, the Democratic party has conspired with the Republican party to maintain the status quo. The phrase think globally act locally could well be utilized by Democrats. Rather than blaming Republicans, change the turncoats in the Democratic party and make something happen.

Until then, BOTH sides of the aisle stink.

Obviously, Democrats, just as Republicans, care more about re-election than actually standing for something. The Union edict of Buy American or Eat your Import doesn't apply to America's foreign oil dependency - the main driver of pollution, global warming, terrorism, and two wars in Iraq. Isn't that convenient?

Hybrid cars might not be the perfect solution to foreign-oil dependency, but they are a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately, selfish and ego-centric Americans appear unwilling to change their driving habits towards smaller vehicles, regardless of the costs. Thus, emerging hybrid technology can help create a bridge between larger vehicles and fuel economy.

The United States is a country that has succeeded via technology, and hybrid technology can help begin solving foreign oil dependency today. Instead, American politicians are going to promote cheaper foreign oil dependency. Brilliant!

Brazilian flex fuel vehicles demonstrate U.S. Congressional incompetence!

If there is any doubt as to the incompetence of the American Congress, Brazil's handling of its foreign oil dependency puts the matter to rest. When the '73 oil embargo created gas lines in the U.S., the crisis was even worse in Brazil, which imported 80% of its oil. Today, Brazil is almost free of foreign oil dependency, the U.S. is more dependent than ever. Brazil uses 40% ethanol, the U.S. uses 3%. (More from the LATimes)

Who exactly does Congress represent? I guess recent reports demonstrating that the gap between rich and poor has grown far wider pretty much sums that one up. I say we fire them all!

Medical marijuana and voting

So, the Supreme Court ruled that federal law is more important than state law when it comes to medical marijuana. I guess that isn't really much of a surprise.

Nonetheless, the evidence that marijuana has medical uses is indisputable. The Medical Association, not the DEA, should be responsible for the governance of this medicine. The rights of Americans are being denied.

Doctors already control the use of drugs far more dangerous than marijuana. Why the bias? Prisons, police, pharmaceutical companies, and fat advertising contracts - whole industries demanding more money to increase the race for the proverbial carrot on a stick, a battle that can never be won?

For decades 100s of billions have been wasted trying to prevent 'Reefer Madness' without success as drug use has increased. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results each time?

Then there is hemp. Hemp For Victory saved America in WWII, but it's too dangerous to help with global warming, pollution, and foreign oil dependency?

Are the only leaders in American politics fascists? If hemp was so important for Washington and Jefferson, why is it so dangerous today?

The Supreme Court made it very clear, this is an issue for Congress and the people. Since Congress only cares about re-election, nothing is going to be accomplished.

So, get registered to vote! Let's wipe the slate clean. Down with all incumbents!

And buy a hybrid car!