Also in the news, Uber’s autonomous vehicles have required the safety driver to intervene at least once per mile on average.

Not only do they need the help to build them, they need help to sell them and drive them. Tax breaks for purchases and they don’t pay road taxes....How are these companies not the enemy. They give taxpayers money to the rich while using the roads for free.

About damn time We dont need to subsidize these companies. Elon can raise VC money and has enough of his own. If people won’t buy electric cars with out tax breaks then maybe they aren’t ready for mainstream and that’s OK. Electric car will happen we dont need to force it. Every rich person that buys a tesla uses…

So wait.. *GASP* You mean he is going to make companies stand on their own financial legs and not have the U.S. Gov’t as a crutch?

I was a customer there when this happened. And I mean *literally* there- My car was there getting some work done, and I had even just shipped a set of winter tires there. Imagine my surprise when I read in the paper that Mr. Loles was in big trouble! Sure enough, later that morning I received a call from them saying…

While it’s good these con artist are in jail, the saddest part is the people that got swindled are lucky if they ever get pennies on the dollar that was stolen from them.  

Looks up exciting in the dictionary....

You mean the Social Security that I’ve been paying in to, but won’t be sustainable by the time I retire? No, I understand what Federal overreach with my tax money looks like, I actually have to balance a budget as opposed to telling my boss to just keep raising my salary to meet my standard of living. Anything else?

I’m glad you mentioned Social Security. When our national debt doubled in an eight year span, I lost hope that any part of what I’ve paid into Social Security would be available to me when I retire. When times are tough, you slash your personal budget to only the essentials. Feds should do the same. And, in 40+ years…

This was one of the myriad of reasons I ended up owning a MINI R58 S Coupe.

That said, one of the kids is old enough to take the car in three years, their legs are probably already too long.

Counterpoint; reasons to not buy it:

Lastly, I need something that I wouldn’t be embarrassed driving to the office if the CEO saw me getting out of my car

Your last statement is exactly how things got so fucked up. The gov’t thinks it’s too good to be run like everything else.

This whole “the gov’t isn’t a business” thing I a new Leftist’s point of view. The original intent was to have a small, highly-efficient group that did function like a well-run business. The gov’t…

So much this. Reducing the size of government is NOT a bad thing, and the people who are losing their publicly funded jobs can now compete in the private sector (which historically pays better wages). Been paying income tax for over thirty years - would like to have some return on it when I retire.

So, in other words, the EPA is “too big to fail?” They should be able to continue to grow, unchecked, with no consequences? What the EPA does is highly questionable as far as actual benefits to society go, but beyond that, cost cutting should be expected of them. They should, just like anyone else, become more…

1st Gear:

Um heat kills lead-acid car batteries not cold. It just shows up in the more current demanding conditions of winter. Furthermore batteries are just plain made better and last longer these days. Lastly it’s been more than cold enough for weak batteries to fail. 

I’m not convinced of that. We saw how this sort of thing played out in the 1970s. California cars got different engines and often were not allowed to purchase engine options available in the rest of the country. CA cars got additional emissions junk in some cases, as well. In the case of the ‘77-’78 Continentals,…

In this case, I think the solution has to lie in the middle somewhere. States should be able to further limit emissions using things like exhaust/intake/tuning treatments or other “bolt-on” type modifications that can easily be done by a dealership. But I don’t think the states should be able to require emissions…