Obama Takes US Off Car Standard

On April 5, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt made it illegal for most Americans to own gold when he signed Executive Order 6102, which ordered people to turn in their gold to the government for $20.67 per ounce. While there were some exceptions for dental use, jewelry, and artists and others who used gold in their jobs, most people were not exempted from this draconian order. Because of the economic crisis gripping America, most people were willing to give up what had previously been regarded as an essential liberty without complaint.

On June 1, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the death of the second of the "Big Three" automakers with the GM bankruptcy. Having already shattered the rule of law on the Chrysler bankruptcy to make sure to reward his union supporters, Obama is issuing directives and orders at least as far reaching as FDR's that are going to radically alter the way America lives. This may seem wildly speculatively today, but it is not beyond the scope of Mr. Obama's imagination:

Your ability to choose what car to buy and drive, already impacted by rising CAFE standards (which will kill thousands every year due to safety concessions required to increase mileage) and will now be affected by government control of design and manufacturing decisions by the automakers. But what comes next? What if we don't make the "right" choices? What if all those government cars sit in dealers showrooms (the ones that are left) month after month? Even worse, what if Fords, Toyotas, Hondas and BMWs keep selling? Will the President allow us to remain free, or will he take us off the car standard?

When will we start being offered incentives to do the "right thing? Or, more troubling, when will we start being required to? The government has already passed a law that will require you to buy the "right" light bulbs starting in a couple years. They're already required TV stations to broadcast the "right" signal. Why should cars be any different?