Imagine that. Former President George H.W. Bush recently bought his son, Neil, a Chevrolet Volt as a birthday present. This is the car that all right-thinking, right-wingers demand we hate.
In their political prism, the Volt has everything going against it: It’s beloved by environmentalists for getting 61 miles to the gallon of fuel. It’s assembled by unionized workers at General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck plant. It enjoys government subsidies intended to encourage the production of fuel-efficient cars — started by H.W.’s oldest son, former President George W. Bush.
To many, this resembles progress. But to conservatives wanting government-bailed-out Detroit to go down, especially if the United Auto Workers union goes with it, this plug-in hybrid is the car that has to die.
Lo and behold, U.S. car sales were hot last month, with General Motors selling more than 100,000 vehicles that get at least 30 mpg. And sales of its Chevy Volt more than doubled from the month before.
The irony is that GM has temporarily stopped production of the Volt following earlier weak sales. Why? The right-wing media had launched an outrageous smear campaign against it. As former GM executive Bob Lutz sarcastically put it, the Volt had become “the poster child for President [Barack] Obama’s socialist meddling in the free automotive market.”
Lutz responded with special anger to a recent “Bill O’Reilly” Fox News show in which the host condemned the Volt as “an unmitigated disaster.” Joshing over the disappointing Volt sales, O’Reilly’s guest, Lou Dobbs said, “It doesn’t work.” Also, “It catches fire.”
None of this is true. The European-market Volt worked well enough to be named the European car of the year. The “catching fire” claim is fiction, Lutz said, based on battery tests “under extremely destructive experimental conditions.” Two of the three batteries involved weren’t in a car. No Volt has ever caught fire in an accident on a public road, he added, while between 2003 and 2007, some 278,000 gas-powered cars did.
Sadly, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has lowered himself by catering to feverish right-wing fantasies. He softened the rhetoric a bit by advancing the myth that an already weak General Motors and Chrysler could have survived in bankruptcy reorganization without government help. Most economists deemed that scenario impossible at a time of economic meltdown, when nearly all lending had stopped. And who would buy a car from a bankrupt company not backed by the government?
Judging from past writings on energy policy, Romney probably subscribes to a Bush-like belief that government has a role in helping Americans reduce their oil consumption. But he did join the anti-Volt pile-on this week. Using past tense he commented, “I’m not sure America was ready for the Chevy Volt.” Then he wished it well.
What weird brand of politics revels at the prospect of plowing under a U.S. product so innovative that the Chinese are wanting its engineering secrets? It’s a politics that:
• Ignores the huge subsidies that other governments, including China’s, are pouring into energy technology.
Categorized | Affiliate Marketing 101
What Have Republicans Got Against The Chevy Volt?
Posted on April 9, 2012.
Answers to some of the oft repeated Volt critics here:
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“…Each Volt produced costs tax payers thousands…It’s like Obama’s Volkswagen.”
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Volt was developed from 2006-08, before Obama’s election. G.W. Bush passed the Volt’s $7500 subsidy (which also applies to foreign electric cars, why don’t we care about that?) This is all during the Bush administration. When exactly did all this government money for the Volt show up? And how was Obama in charge of Volt development when he wasn’t president yet?
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“…unreliable, expensive, etc.”
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Volt is extremely reliable. It surpassed every other GM model in Consumer Reports reliability testing. See link: http://www.plugincars.com/consumer-repor…
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“…They take 27 years to pay from themselves.”
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It’s possible that a Volt will take a long time to pay for itself if you never plug it in. If you don’t have a plug, don’t buy one! A Kiplinger Magazine study found a Volt compared to a Cruze will probably pay for itself within 5 years, especially as gas prices spike. See link: http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/car/arc…
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“…They catch on fire.”
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Absolutely false. The only Volt to ever spontaneously combust was stored upside down after a crash test. And it took 3 weeks to ignite. EV batteries are very hard to burn. No “real world” Volts have ever burned. Volt gets perfect 5-star safety ratings from every crash-testing organization in the world. The NHTSA investigation that started this flap found no actual safety flaw in the Volt.
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“…it doesn’t get near as many miles to a charge as it claims to.”
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As a Volt driver I will tell you absolutely honestly that Volt gets between 25 and 50 electric miles per charge. Most of the time low 30’s in the winter, and mid 40’s in summer.
Well the obvious answer is that improvement in the American auto industry is bad for the GOP because Obama saved it.
I didn’t read your short story, sorry.
Each Volt produced costs tax payers thousands. It is a physical manifestation of socialism. It’s like Obama’s Volkswagen.
An electric car would be great, but not at the cost of taxpayers.
Atherosclerotic George H. Bush just bought one for his challenged son Neil as a birthday gift.
Rumor is that Neil intends to christen it and name it Silverado.
unreliable, expensive, etc.
Obamas name is attached at the hip.
$7,500 tax payer subsidy for each vehicle sold.
They cost taxpayers 30 thousand dollars each
They take 27 years to pay from themselves.
It runs on electric.
It was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, too…
They catch on fire.
The charger catches fire as does the battery. Also it doesn’t get near as many miles to a charge as it claims to. Its way too expensive. That makes it a bad buy. The president should not be telling the private sector what to put on the market. How much energy does it save when it has to use electricity as fuel?
Public sector unions are the biggest problem.
The oil companies gave big $$ to Republicans to wage their propaganda campaign against the Volt.
I live in Rural western MI about a half mile off pavement we are lucky if the county plows us out within three days I also have trailers and equipment to move around my land exactly what would I do with that piece ofshit car???
Ok…nice rant. Too bad you are unable to actually think for yourself and can only spew lies and half truths.
@ First lie: “This is the car that all right-thinking, right-wingers demand we hate.” Never happened
Second lie: “In their political prism, the Volt has everything going against it”
Your entire rant is lies. I’m not going to bother pointing out each lie but it is obvious that you have no grasp of honesty or reality.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.