Are They Dumb – or Something Worse?

By
eric
-
55
4729
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Trump’s second, J.D. Vance, said something true the other day that triggered some on the Left. Something that indicates Vance understands, which is even better.

He said that the reason Stellantis – the European car conglomerate that owns the Chrysler Dodge, Jeep and Ram truck brands – recently announced that it could no longer sell the Ram 1500 classic pick-up that was sold alongside the redesigned Ram 1500 until just recently had nothing to do with lack of market demand for the Classic and everything to do with government demands.

And he’s correct.

The 2024 Ram 1500 Classic is – was – the only version of the Ram 1500 that could still be ordered with a V8 engine. If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that the 2025 Ram is only available with six cylinder engines, turbocharged to make the power of a V8 and hybridized to to comply with federal regulations.

Put more bluntly, Stellantis got rid of the V8 that many Ram buyers wanted in order to placate the government – and hopes that the new inline/turbo-hybrid six will console its customers who wanted the V8.

Many preferred the Classic – and not just because it was the last new Ram that could still be ordered with a V8.

It cost less – with a V8 – than the 2025 Ram costs with its compliance six. You could buy the former – in base Tradesman trim – for $38,705. The 5.7 liter Hemi V8 was available as a stand-alone option that added $2,545 to the MSRP, bringing the price of a 2024 Hemi-equipped Ram Classic Tradesman up to $41,250.

The base price of the 2025 Ram is $40,275 and if you opt for the optional compliance 3.0 liter six, which is turbocharged to make V8 power, it’ll add $2,695 to the bottom line, bringing the cost of the 2025 Ram up to $42,970 – an increase in cost of $2,595 vs. what it cost to buy a Ram Classic with a V8.

Put more bluntly, Stellantis is charging people thousands more for the new Ram with a smaller engine. One that is also under more stress and that has more parts – and so more potential failure points. 

Is it any wonder many people elected to buy a Classic Ram with a bigger engine – for thousands less? 

Of course, that allowed for politically untenable comparisons. It made it all-too-obvious what compliance costs. It is also why – as an aside – VW was subjected to a raking-over-the-coals of unprecedented ferocity over what was sold to the public as its “cheating” on federal emissions certification tests. That was penny ante stuff; automakers routinely program their vehicle to perform well on government tests; this sort of “cheating” has been going on for decades and – until what happened to VW – it was never treated with more than a “fix that” by the federal regulatory apparat.

But VW was given the treatment over a fractional difference in the exhaust emissions of its TDI diesel powered vehicles at wide open throttle that amounted to nothing consequential in terms of air pollution. It was forced to recall them all – and made to offer to buy them all back from people who’d bought them.

It was also was forced to pay crippling fines and pay for ads touting the superiority of its competitors’ EVs.

Italicized because that’s the real reason why VW was subjected to a raking-over-the-coals of unprecedented ferocity. Its TDI-powered vehicles made electric vehicles look preposterous. On the one hand, a $21,640 small sedan such as the Jetta TDI that could go 600-plus miles on a tank; on the other, a small sedan such as the Tesla 3 that cost twice as much and could go maybe 300 miles before it ran out of charge and had to be plugged in for at least 20-30 minutes before it could be driven again.

This could not be allowed to stand. So an excuse was found.

Now VW sells compliance crossovers like the 2024 ID.4 (a good name for a device) that costs almost twice as much ($39,735) as a TDI-powered Jetta once cost that goes maybe 206 miles before it has to be plugged in for at least 20-30 minutes before it can be driven again.

How many people would buy it if they could still buy a TDI Jetta with 600 miles of driving range for just shy of $22k again?

Stellantis deserves credit for trying to let people see what’s being done to them by continuing to offer the Ram Classic as an alternative to the Compliance Ram but that’s come to an end – along with several thousand jobs – because it is no longer feasible for Stellantis to continue offering the V8, even in an almost-under-the-table way. It had to pull the V8 – and with it, the Dodge Charger and Challenger as they were as well as the Chrysler 300 – because it was selling too many of them. And – believe it or not in this upside-down world – that is a problem in terms of . . . you guessed it . . . compliance. Each V8 sold cost Stellantis regulatory compliance points – so to speak – so now Stellantis customers get to pay for the costs of compliance.

Andy Kalmowitz

Vance had the effrontery to say this out loud.

“Just a few days ago,” he told an audiience in Grand Rapids, MI “Stellantis announced that it was going to permanently cut nearly 2,500 proud Michigan auto workers who make the iconic Ram 1500 (Classic).”

“Kamala has done nothing.”

In fact, she – and the walking dead who is still nominally president – did a lot. The regulations imposed by the Biden-Harris regime are exactly why Stellantis can no longer sell the Hemi V8 and by dint of that, the Ram 1500 Classic as well as the Charger and Challenger and Chrysler 300, too.

A triggered dummi (or something worse) who writes for Jalopnik, which is a car site for people who hate cars, wrote as follows about what Vance said:

“I thought Republicans were all about keeping the government out of big business. Wouldn’t her (somehow) interfering with this free-market choice from Ram fly in the face of those principles? What do I know?”

Italics added – because it speaks for itself.

. . .

If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos. 

We depend on you to keep the wheels turning! 

Our donate button is here.

 If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:

EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079

PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)

If you like items like the Baaaaaa! baseball cap pictured below, you can find that and more at the EPautos store!

Related posts:
  1. Dumb – As Seen in the Rearview
  2. A Bad Idea Made Worse . . .
  3. Which is Worse?
  4. Helmet Laws Are Unsafe . . . and Worse
  5. Worse Than Just Force

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

55 COMMENTS

  1. While the criminals masquerading as “government” and their agents are indeed stupid beyond belief, stupidity alone does not adequately explain their actions. These people are very evil and very dangerous. (The most dangerous sort of evil as they believe in their own self-righteousness.) The only reason things have gotten so out of control is because too many good people have, for too long, continually acquiesced to their persistent encroachments and usurpations.

    I believe there was a time when this ship could have been righted without major upheaval and bloodshed. (Ross Perot ’92? Perhaps some time later?) I’m afraid that time has passed. (I hope I’m wrong. Oh God how I hope I’m wrong!) The only way I can imagine fixing this mess without a massive loss of blood and treasure is if Americans wake up and snap out of their collective stupor and boycott these bastards with everything they have. Boycott them to oblivion. Boycott them until we can laugh them out of the room. Boycott them until they retreat with their tail between their legs and they learn to leave us alone.

    These people are dangerous parasites who cannot live without a host to feed off of. (Fact is, they need us and we do not need them. We would be much better off without them. Without us, they would starve.) We need to stop supporting them. Do not give them a dime. Do not seek their permission. Do not buy their licenses. Do not sign their paper work. Do not respect their ill gotten authority or their kangaroo courts. Boycott it all. Boycott them until they are dead.

    This would have been easier to do and more effective if everyone started doing this years ago…
    But here we are. Boycott is the only way we might be able to avoid the darkness ahead. Boycott is our only chance at a peaceful resolution.

    Unfortunately, because most Americans are abject cowards who are horribly stupid it is probably too late to exercise this option to produce the meaningful positive change required at this juncture. (There is only one other way this gets resolved. And it’s going to be very ugly.)

    If we have any chance of avoiding this inauspicious fate then Lawful Rebellion is our only hope.

    So… Cheers to your health, everyone!
    I look forward to seeing you all on the other side…
    Basking in the sunshine looking forward to the brighter days ahead! ☮

  3. All that just impels me to scrounge about for a decent USED DODGE (not effin’ RAM) pickem up truck, preferably with a “plant” (Slant Six or 318 or 360 V8) that has no catalytic converters, so it COULD run on LEADED gasoline, were it available. With an A833 OD four-speed. Preferably at least an extended cab so I can stow some shit, but camper shells and bed liners are still readily available, new or USED. As are parts to keep those engines and drivetrains going, although stocking up on spares is WELL ADVISED. After all, how much has the basics of what constitutes a PICKUP TRUCK changed in a half century? The greatest risk, indeed, is STATE and/or FEDERAL REGULATORY INTERFERENCE, on the dubious grounds of “S-a-a-a-a-a-f-t-e-e-e” or “Smog”. Never mind that if one lives in an HOA-infested area, or even some town with pretentious notions, that the old pickup, particularly if it’s “Pattina”, will get angry attention from the local Karens that are offended at the sight of an “experienced” truck.

  4. I argue the French owners hated the v8 more for the image it creates. A modern DOHC v8 4.0TT could have been tuned to also be compliant and fuel efficient and keep the traditional buyers happy as well. The problem is they hate the stereotypical MAGA knuckle draggers that buy mopars so in their twisted mind even is they only sell 1/4 of their former volume at least they have the “right” kind of customers with 6 cylinders and EVs.

    • Which is exactly why the industry execs won’t stand up to the feral government even though after the Chevron decision they could refuse to comply and there is nothing short of violence the feds could do about it.
      Its a recipe for corporate suicide but the execs all have their golden parachutes while the laid off workers are all being told by union management to vote their jobs away and pray for welfare. (UBI)

      • Agreed but my point is that the problem goes deeper than government compliance. Obviously a tiny turbo v8 tuned for fuel economy and emissions can do the exact same numbers as the 3.0 6 cylinder. The company just hates v8s plain and simple

        • I agree with you, Snake –

          V8s (like V12 before them) are luxury items that us Deplorables are not supposed to be able to afford. What is the distinction of owning a V8-powered $150,000 Benz when your electrician drives a V8-powered Tahoe?

  5. They know exactly what they are doing. They are phasing out what Americans want, and forcing them to buy what they do NOT want, knowing that if pushed, Americans will simply roll over and buy whatever is left on the market (lot), because they still want to drive. Or boycotted the woke companies (like Harley Davidson and John Deere) into bankruptcy, so that we have no choices-just like Bernie Sanders said we had too many of. Eventually, though, like that frog boiling slowly, it will get to the point where even an EV, or a stupid cross over with a lawn mower equivalent engine will not be “allowed”, and we will be forced out of our vehicles entirely. Getting rid of the V-8’s was only the start, and we have complied beautifully, and so have the companies who will not buck against the Empire.

  6. As much as I would like to add something warm fuzzy and affirmative here, if I am to be honest its not dumb.. it is obviously the ‘much worse’.

    I hear Harley Davidson not only went queer but is also moving production out of the country.

    Using the woke ‘I’m a gay pedophile” theme to sour the American consumer, corporations are deliberately destroying themselves and closing up shop here. I expect they are going to take the only free (ish) country in the world – that also happens to be armed to the teeth and make a serious example out of us.. for the rest of the world to see and fear.

    When they succeed in completely destroying and openly enslaving the American population they will have completed their ‘new world order’ the money printing bank owners have been working towards and salivating over.

    See it is not national politics, this billionaire or that one. It is the flesh and blood folks who own and control the Federal Reserve Bank. They are the ones directly orchestrating this evil and for Gods sake, is it not time we all started focusing on the actual criminals?

    Is it not time we all started focusing on the Actual Criminals?

    ..or just move along. Nothing to see here. Go Trump!

    • Why would anyone buy a Hardly-Ableson anyway? If I wanted a lawnmower engine in my scooter, I’d do it myself…

      Unfortunately, it’s all much worse than AMC Guy supposes…

      Everything being done that seems “dumb” or similar, is actually all being done on PURPOSE.

      There are no mistakes about what (((they))) are doing… it’s only being done slowly, like the frog is being boiled slowly… because (((they))) know if it was done quicker, there’s an uprising that’d happen to make the Civil War and Revolution look like a Sunday picnic with dessert…

      Put that in your pipe and smoke it for awhile…

      YMMV…Be Prepared!!!

      • moto guzzi has more of a lawnmower engine but they made it sound good…harley is a cut out part of a radial aircraft engine hence the unique sound and vibration. Boxer BMW bikes are also aircraft based, but your point stands, the new stuff has too much government compliance stuff. I want the carbed smelly vibration of an evo or earlier HD

        • I always thought the Harley engines were best suited for a compressor. The only one I ever really seemed to enjoy was a 1977 sportster 1000 of my buddies back when I was teenager. That thing screamed and got a lot of attention. But I Never took to another and out of at least 40 motorcycles I’ve owned none have been HD.
          When asked why I tell them “I’m just not cool enough for a Harley” 😎

          • If two wheelers could talk:

            Moped: “I get 100 miles per gallon”

            Honda: “I get 60 miles per gallon and can go 90 MPH”

            Harley: “I get laid.”

            Buddy fills up his Harley, walks up to the attendant station to pay, the little cutie says “uuhh nice Harley!, I’m off work at 3 swing by and pick me up!”

    • Time for some patriotic SSBN skipper and his like-minded crew to put an END to the psycopaths that PRESUME to control the USA. Their “Iron Dome” could at best fend off the FIRST UGM-133 SLBM coming their way, and for THAT fire mission, it should detonate three W88 warheads at FULL yield (nominally about 475 kT, wink, wink) and the rest of the re-entry vehicles have only “Penetration Aids” (literally, FOOK ISRAEL) that’ll take out their radar, rendering them blind and helpless. The SECOND and THIRD missiles would have eight warheads, two W88s and six W76s, along with their “penetration aids” (portable “Patriot” ABM systems might still be active), giving up to sixteen targets which should be enough to take out the IDF. THEN they can deal with Hamas and whoever else they’ve ABUSED.

      Wonderful FANTASY, but who can say…

  7. They had to ban the VW Audi small diesel engine…it was so economical, low maintenance, long range, long life….some lasted over 500,000 miles….. nobody would buy an EV….

    Why are they forcing people into 5000 lb, $50,000 EV’s that get 25 mpg?…..that is wasting a lot of fuel and polluting more….

    The Audi A2 3L – The REAL 100 MPG car!

    maybe the perfect ice powered car…..a car that could get up to 125 mpg…..so less polluting, because it uses far less fuel….a car far smaller and lighter that wasted far less resources when it was built, which gave it a much smaller carbon footprint when built……and no 1000 lb lithium fire bomb battery, to burn your house down when charging….no replacing expensive tires every 5000 miles…like an EV….

    Car only weighs about 1900 lb….the engine only weighs about 200 lb….it can get over 100 mpg and carries four people….

    ……the engine only weighs about 200 lb….the drive train and battery in an EV is around 1200 lb to 2200 lb…

    …..a diesel engine also has far lower fire risk….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTPnQneEtVs

    • wish they had a truck with this type engine: Deutz BF6L513R. 10 liter straight 6 diesel that’s aircooled. They were from the late 80s used in tractors but emissions killed them as well

    • Thermostat failing at 10,000 to 30,000 miles because of a non-traditional design with a PLASTIC actuator arm? And now the defective part is on back-order?

      Weak bullshit. Unacceptable.

      Please dispose of this engine properly. Do not attempt to flush it down your toilet.

  9. ‘Camel Toe is stupid but her handlers are evil.’ — Mike

    Yesterday Elon Musk reposted a food industry insider’s step-by-step summary of what will happen if Kamala’s economic price control plan is implemented. There are 13 steps. Excerpts:

    3. Stores in lower-income areas make less money than those in higher-income areas, as the former disproportionately sell lower-margin prepackaged foods (“center of the store”) instead of higher-margin fresh products like meat (“perimeter of the store”). Because stores in lower-income areas aren’t able to cover overhead, grocery chains start to shut them down. Food deserts in rural areas and low-income urban areas become worse.

    12. Shockingly, the government struggles to operate one of the most complex industries on the planet. The entire food supply chain starts imploding.

    13. Communism, mass starvation, and the end of America quickly ensue.

    https://tinyurl.com/nhnj4x22

    Kamala & ‘Emhoff’ are a two-lawyer leftist couple, just like Bill & Hillary and Barky & Big Mike. Fool me thrice, shame on … well, we won’t get fooled again.

    • Kamala’s plan to collectivize food distribution undoubtedly was developed by communist lawyer (and fake eclownomist) Gene Sperling, a career-long tax feeder:

      ‘White House senior adviser Gene Sperling is leaving his administration position to work with Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign. Sperling will be a senior economic adviser to Harris’ policy team.

      ‘Sperling served both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as director of the White House National Economic Council. President Joe Biden tasked him with managing his $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package, a role in which Sperling implemented the temporary expansion of the child tax credit.’ — APe News

      https://tinyurl.com/3xje2p32

      Communist leeches like Sperling have infested the US fedgov from top to bottom … but mostly the top.

  10. I have a suggestion for ..Stellantis..

    Go *Glider* Pick-up Trucks. Sell the truck as a completed without engine or transmission. Sell the Hemi or other option engines as short block purchases by customers from the parts department. Let the customer complete the assembly.

    Yep….California will outlaw them, maybe some other Marxist Democratic states but some will refuse to and embrace. Entrepreneurs maybe in other states like free-Texas will sell them as custom vehicles.

    Here is an excerpt from an ad in the trucking industry:

    “This is a question we get quite frequently, and the answer is simple. A glider kit is a new truck without an engine or transmission that has reman rears that are factory installed. The name “Glider Kit” comes from the fact that these units are unpowered from the factory. Glider kits retain the factory warranty on the cab and chassis of 1 year/ 100k miles. We then take the glider kit and install a number of different engine and transmission options to give you a complete unit ready to go to work.

    We keep a large inventory of Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth, and Western Star glider kits in stock ready for immediate delivery. Once the assembly is complete you have a truck that looks, feels and drives like a brand-new truck. The advantages really stack up to make a glider kit a great option when purchasing a new truck. “

  11. For all the multi-millions the auto industry has paid on fines it would have been much better spent on some high powered law firms to push back hard on all the Fedgov regulations, especially in light of the Supreme’s recent “Chevron” decision. Will they ever grow a spine or are they masochists who enjoy being bent over?

    • Government civilian FLEET (and not just at the Federal level, States and municipalities order fleets also with a lot of Federal funds and “strings attached”) and military CONTRACTS are why Detroit et al put on the knee pads, KNEEL in front of Uncle, and commence fellating.

  12. Stellantis can just stop doing business permanently, the gov would still place a hefty fine on them for quitting.

    My FIL attended a vocational technology school, state school of science, learned how to, and became an electrician.

    He also was trained in refrigeration.

    He traveled to Chicago and worked for a period of time in refrigeration. The business he worked for was doing some renovation in a grocery store, he showed up for work one day and the grocery store was in shambles. Somebody was keeping track of what was going on and divvied out some kind of warning.

    It was bidness as usual for Chicago, me thinks.

    He left Chicago, rode a freight train back home. On the way back, there was a sheep herder at one end of the boxcar, he was filled with lice. My FIL and all the other bums were at the other end.

    I’ve got dozens of friends
    And the fun never ends
    That is, as long as I’m buying

    Is it any wonder I’m not the President
    Is it any wonder I’m null and void

    Is it any wonder I’ve got too much time on my hands – Styx, Too Much Time on My Hands

    • Our idiot governor, “Gabbin’ Nonsense” (Gavin Newsom) is actually contemplating SUING both Telsa and Chevron/Texaco for DARING to LEAVE Calipornia.

      As Don Henley of the “Iggles” (Eagles) put it nearly a half century ago: “You can ‘check out’ anytime you like, but you can NEVER leave!”

    • I once was in Amsterdam at the Anne Frank house and wondered how could people be so evil? How could something like the Holocaust have happened?

      I now know.

      • Simple. The HOLOHOAX never happened. At least not the “Sechs Millionen” like propagandized by the Zionist monsters since 1945. Sure, the Frank family, being Jews, had reason to hide, as the German invasion of May 1940 that overran the Netherlands in 1940, including a daring Fallschirmjager (paratrooper) attack on Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport that enabled them to ferry in more troops on those Ju-52 “Tante Ju” transport and seize the capital in one day, so they had no chance to “bug out” for the UK or Spain/Portugal (Denmark and Norway had been invaded and overrun in the prior month, so they and Sweden weren’t another place to flee). And Anne’s father, Otto, had ANOTHER reason to hide…he was a fugitive from JUSTICE, being wanted for EMBEZZLEMENT in Germany since 1929! BTW, since Frank had TB and was incapable of performing manual labor, and his “accounting expertise” wasn’t in demand (there were plenty of bookkeepers and accountants in the camps, as well as LAWYERS), it’s a wonder why he rode out the rest of the war in Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, instead of being immediately GASSED at Auschwitz as a “useless eater”. Anne and her older sister ended up in Dachau, and passed away there, not “gassed” or otherwise murdered as commonly thought, but, rather, died of TYPHUS, as the epidemics thereof were wiping out inmates and GUARDS by March 1945. What’s really tragic is that her death was but a few weeks before the camp was liberated by the UK’s 11th Armored Division on April 15, 1945. She went of the same causes as most of Holland’s 107K jews that died in WWII went of: DISEASE. To further compound the senseless tragedy, although most of the inmates, when the camp was liberated, were starving and near death, with about 10K of them dying anyway soon after, there were still about 5,000 young male inmates, relatively healthy, that REFUSED the work details to dig mass graves and throw the accumulating piles of decaying bodies, even though the few German guards left promised them PPE. It was these piles of bodies that worsened the epidemic, and caused the few deliveries of any supplies to stop. Needless to say, news of what was going on was suppressed by the SS, lest the locals panic, as they were having their hands full maintaining a sense of order with the front rapidly approaching!

    • Most Americans can’t come up with $500 emergency funds I constantly read.

      Yet observing the parking lots 75% of the vehicles are 3 years and younger. Best Buy has cars lined up to load 80 inch plus TVs. Lines inside for cell phones and apple products. Grocery stores packed.

      Did I miss something?

  14. I left a 27 year career in automotive early due to the OEMs willingness to bend a knee to .Gov and their mandates.

    First it was the mandates for “safety” and CAFE. I shrugged my shoulder to grin and hear it because I loved engineering cars.

    Then they capitulated to the unofficial mandates for “driving assistance” where there was no legal mandate but they always want to appease the beast.

    When they finally crossed the line of threatening my personal health by mandating that I take the vaccine that isn’t . . . I had to leave.

    It was a soul crushing experience. To be told you cannot work unless you take an EXPERIMENTAL drug to keep the job you love so the OEM can COMPLY with the presidents insane mandate. My labor was regulated out of the labor market.

    But there is an upside. I was able to sell my home of 25 years while the market was hot. When Detroit OEMs begin to fail in earnest, home values will tank. They do every time the OEMs do layoffs or the economy cools and people exit Michigan. I got out early!

    When it all goes south for the final time because they no longer build products that people can afford and the government can no longer bail them out, I’ll piss on the graves of OEMs that used to be . . . with a smile on my face. Let it Burn!

  15. I noticed that diesel is back to parity with regular unleaded around here. For a while the extra road tax imposed on diesel pushed the economics of TDI out a little, especially with “improved” gasoline engines getting closer to the 40+ you could see with TDI. But looks like the Chicago BOT boys leveled up.

    When will drivers cry Uncle? We have to be getting close. $3.50 is too much for gasoline if you’re in a $40K/year job. Especially if you have any distance of a commute, which you probably do thanks to the hollowing out of cities and close-in suburbs. But buying a $70,000 truck that will need de-carbonizing every 15K miles and blow itself up after 75K isn’t an option either.

    • Rk,

      Diesel is always at parity with regular or mid during the summer. Gas is artificially high because of summer evaporative emissions rules and reformulation requirements. Diesel is lower because the refiners dont have to produce two blends, one for heating oil and one for on highway diesel. Because of the idiotic low sulfur requirements of diesel engines, it is much more expensive to refine. Back in the day, diesel and hime heating oil came from the same stock.

      I know you know. Just pointing it out. Its crap. All of it.

      • Normally yes, but I believe Colorado raised the road taxes on diesel just after the VW scandal. It’s been higher since COVID for sure. Maybe there’s been less produced, since most of the fuel for Colorado is refined in Commerce City.

  16. Here’s the late French film star Alain Delon, driving a Ferrari when there was no such thing as a sports car without a manual transmission:

    https://ibb.co/vzGj4ZT

    All gone with the wind — the fun; the glamour; the coquettish starlets in their halter tops and kitten heels.

    All because of a megalomaniacal, evil clowngov from hell.

    I see the girls walk by
    Dressed in their summer clothes
    I have to turn my head
    Until my darkness goes

    I see a line of cars
    And they’re all painted black
    With flowers and my love
    Both never to come back

    — Rolling Stones, Paint It, Black (1966)

        • You may be onto something, Jim. The word salads, the ability to not follow through on anything, etc. Is the Veep an alcoholic?

        • This rumor about Harris’ drinking from an anonymous account on X Twitter with 169,000 followers went viral after being posted after midnight Saturday and has nearly three million views, “Apparently Kamala’s aids are having trouble keeping her sober which is why she’s only doing the scheduled rallies. Every time she gets off the plane she’s apparently drunk so that’s why they are hiding her from the press.”

          Apparently Kamala’s aids are having trouble keeping her sober which is why she’s only doing the scheduled rallies.

          Every time she gets off the plane she’s apparently drunk so that’s why they are hiding her from the press

          — Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) August 17, 2024

          The same poster claimed Harris was intoxicated when she gave her word salad remarks about American hostages being released on August 1, “Apparently Kamala was told not to speak during this event because she was too intoxicated, but she did anyways.”

          Apparently Kamala was told not to speak during this event because she was too intoxicated, but she did anyways. https://t.co/yN7vzILiE0 pic.twitter.com/yBEdkAw1BA

          — Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) August 17, 2024

          This video clip of Harris at an appearance in the Philippines on November 21, 2022 caused another poster to question her sobriety:

          How drunk was Kamala Harris when she was speaking at this town hall to Filipino youth? pic.twitter.com/NiTLtO8OfJ

          — Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) July 24, 2024

          An anonymous observer of an undated viral clip of Harris stated, “Kamala has the fun alcoholic day drinker at the pool type vibe. I’m all for it, it’s fun, you just typically don’t want those people also calling in air strikes.”

          Kamala has the fun alcoholic day drinker at the pool type vibe. I’m all for it, it’s fun, you just typically don’t want those people also calling in air strikes. pic.twitter.com/nsBAv773Io

  18. ‘Each V8 sold cost Stellantis regulatory compliance points.’ — eric

    And more precisely, compliance DOLLARS — lots of them:

    ‘Chrysler parent Stellantis paid $190.7 million in civil penalties for failing to meet US fuel economy requirements for 2019 and 2020, and owes another $459.7 million in outstanding penalties, government documents seen by Reuters show.

    ‘In 2023 the automaker paid a record-setting $235.5 million for the 2018 and 2019 model years in fuel economy penalties and $156.6 million in penalties for the 2016 and 2017 model years.

    ‘In March 2022, the NHTSA reinstated a sharp increase in penalties for automakers whose vehicles do not meet fuel efficiency requirements for 2019 and beyond, nearly tripling the penalties.’ — Reuters

    https://tinyurl.com/mz2znfa2

    An article linked within this one spells out the details:

    ‘The final rule boosting penalties was signed [in March 2022] by NHTSA’s top official, Steven Cliff*, ahead of its formal publication. [*now executive officer of CARB, overseeing ‘1,800 employees and a budget of $2.7 billion’]

    ‘For the 2019 to 2021 model years, the fine is $14, up from $5.50, for every 0.1 mile per gallon new vehicles fall short of required fuel-economy standards, multiplied by the number of noncomplying vehicles sold. For the 2022 model year, this rises to $15.

    ‘Congress in 2015 ordered federal agencies to adjust civil penalties to account for inflation. U.S. fuel economy fines lost 75% of their original value, having risen only once since 1975 – from $5 to $5.50 in 1997.’ — Reuters

    These fines are the vig paid to mafia thugs so they won’t burn your business down. But as any eclownomist can confirm, fines are paid by the buyers, as auto makers hike prices to sustain margins. NHTSA = organized retail theft. Didn’t dashing young Gavin just sign a law against that?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here