“Somebody remind Lincoln that it’s OK to be different. Being normal isn’t really working for them right now.”

Lincoln sales are up 8.6% so far this year. They were up 7.1% last year. They were up 15.6% the year before that.

Not sure it isn’t working for them. They’re not leading the pack in sales, but they’re doing very…

Well, what does it compete against in the US?

The Chevy Trax? Ford would have to try to make a vehicle that bad.

No, what is BS is assuming an upfront fee never hurts anyone else, because you’re refusing to consider what it does to the used car market.

So do you - you just don’t want to admit it.

I’m proposing a method that allows people to CHOOSE if it is worth paying a penalty or not.

That doesn’t solve their problem at all.

They can’t repeal the requirement to cover preexisting conditions. They can’t repeal the requirement to have no lifetime or annual caps.

What they would do through defunding is that they would kick millions off insurance, but insurance prices wouldn’t drop one bit - so there…

Keep in mind that the Chinese government requires that foreign automakers partner with a chinese company as part of a JV where the chinese company holds a majority of the ownership.

There’s nothing that really would prevent them from seizing the remaining portion. It would be long term suicide for foreign investment,…

Of course, dismantling the whole thing ends up taking insurance from 25 million people.

And they can’t remove the pre-existing condition mandate without a filibuster-proof majority, which they don’t have.

Turns out governing is a hell of a lot harder than sending pithy racist/sexist tweets.

You assume that China’s government actually cares about its citizens, though.

There are easy-peasy ways to eliminate every concern you have?

Worried about a hit and people unable to change vehicles? Phase it in. Problem gone. Worried about a monthly refund check? Change the withholding tables as I said before. Problem solved. Hell, you could even send a first payment BEFORE you imposed the tax.

We…

Without an “underpay” there is no incentive to move to fuel efficient vehicles. The entire point is that you reward people for voluntarily choosing efficiency. And yes, you do have a choice in how much fuel you use.

On your side, you seem to believe that the used car market operates in a vacuum. It doesn’t. If you push…

No, my plan is not getting more and more complex - you’ve just never understood it.

It is very simple in concept and execution - actually significantly easier and fairer than tacking on a hefty fee at purchase and sucker punching low income individuals with additional finance charges.

Here’s the concept, again, since…

Honda doesn’t have a productivity lead on the Big 3. In fact, back in 2008, Chrysler took the lead in the US for the most productive auto plants. The differences between all the makers now are mostly statistical noise.

1) Changing withholding tables is free.

2) Sending checks is one thing the government actually does VERY, VERY efficiently.

3) You could also take additional steps to minimize how many you send, such as adjusting FICA withholding so the employer sends less to the government but is credited with the full amount (ie, if…

You certainly implied it.

The cost of the environment is certainly a prime consideration. But none of them have ever shied away from plants in non “right to work” states and none have ever had an issue with unions gaining traction, either. The VAST majority of Toyota and Honda’s investments have come in non “right to…

That “Mercedes and Nissan and BMW and Toyota and VW” all went to “non-UAW states” because of the states’ anti-union stances.

Actually, they still do get alt fuel / electric credits. That bit is still carryover.

Most cars need around a 10%-20% fuel efficiency boost to meet the 2025 standards.... that is tough, but doable.

As for the most effective answer to improve average fuel efficiency, I think the clear answer has always been simple - tax…

Nonsense.

You could simply adjust withholding checks or send a monthly rebate, just like we’ve done with the EITC in the past.

Tack on the expected cost on the front end, and all you’ve done is make all cars more expensive, albeit on a sliding scale with the premium based on efficiency. Even used cars go up in price…

Most of Toyotas factories are in non “right to work” states. Your theory is absurd.

Mercedes, Nissan, BMW, VW? They simply went with whoever was willing to bribe them the most. Hell, the Mercedes plant cost $300 million to build and they were given $253 million from the state of Alabama to do it. I suspect that had a…

Honda has four assembly plants, 1 engine plant, 1 transmission plant, and 1 parts plant in the US. Four of those are in Ohio, which is not a “right to work” state. One is in Indiana, which was not a “right to work” state when they built the plant. The only plants they’ve ever built in the US that were in “right to…

Good insights, but also oversimplification, too.

Toyota’s first US plants were not in what we generally refer to as the “south” in the cheap non-union sense most people think about. Their first plant was in California (TABC) . Their second was also in California (NUMMI). Then Kentucky (not “right to work”). Then they…