The 2010 Obamobile
Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants the president of the United States the power to be commander in chief of the armed forces (subject to declarations of war in Congress), to make treaties with other nations (subject to ratification in the Senate), to grant pardons, to appoint ambassadors, judges and other officers, to recommend measures to Congress. The Constitution also bestows a number of other minor powers based on these major components.

Nowhere in our nation's governing document can one find a presidential power to regulate the minutiae of private business, much less take ownership of those private businesses. Yet that is how Barack Obama is wielding his ever-increasing power, despite taking an oath to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and ... to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

"President Barack Obama announced plans on Tuesday for a national fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas standard that would significantly increase mileage requirements for cars and trucks by 2016," Politico reports. The fuel standards will require that automakers reach an industry average of 35.5 miles per gallon within just seven years. The current average is 25 mpg. The goal is to link the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard to the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse-gas standard. Congress is working on legislation for $25 billion in further loans to the auto industry to pay for the change, which will likely cost upwards of $100 billion.

Of his fiat Obama said it is a "historic agreement to help America break its dependence on oil, reduce harmful pollution and begin the transition to a clean-energy economy." The White House claims it will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil, along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 900 million metric tons. History says otherwise, however. The original 1975 CAFE standards resulted in more fuel consumption, not less, because driving became cheaper.

The flip side is that the new regulations will add $1,300 to the cost of a car as reckoned by the same administration that estimated this year's budget deficit: so potential car buyers will almost certainly be hanging on to their older cars a bit longer -- counter to Obama's stated purpose. That $1,300 is also a tax increase, even on the middle class whose taxes Obama has repeatedly promised not to increase.

Finally, the regulations aren't safe. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Sam Kazman explained in 2002, "[T]he evidence on this issue comes from no less a body than the National Academy of Sciences, which issued a report last August finding that CAFE contributes to between 1,300 and 2,600 traffic deaths per year. Given that this program has been in effect for more than two decades, its cumulative toll is staggering. CAFE has this impact on safety because it restricts the production of large cars. Large cars are less fuel efficient than smaller, similarly equipped vehicles, but they are also more crashworthy in practically every type of accident."

The BIG Lie
"[E]ven as the price to build these cars and trucks goes up, the cost of driving these vehicles will go down, as drivers save money at the pump. And this is a point I want to emphasize: If you buy a car, your investment in a more fuel-efficient vehicle as a result of this standard will pay off in just three years. In three years' time you will have paid off the additional investment required. So this is a winning proposition for folks looking to buy a car. ... The fact is, everyone wins." --Barack Obamaatriotpost.us/

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