Electric Cars, Liberal Dreams, and Decepticon Democrats

For many years, liberals have been gushing with enthusiasm over the prospect of a totally-green planet, one where CO2 emissions are a thing of the past (but wouldn’t that kill green plants?), wind turbines spin like glittering pinwheels in a parade (killing hundreds of thousands of birds each year), and electric cars line the roads (stopping every 40 miles for a recharge). To help ensure this dream becomes reality, President Obama pledged in his 2011 State of the Union address that he wanted to see one million electric cars on America’s roads by 2015.

Of course, the President’s pledge meant taxpayers will subsidize the progressive vision for a clean planet. The day after his State of the Union speech, liberal Democrats proposed creation of tax incentives to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. What progressives consistently fail to understand is that government screws up each time its big shoes step into the private sector (can anyone say Amtrak?). When it comes to the markets, consumers and the private sector drive it forward or backward, not government. Winners and losers are determined by what people want, need, or desire, and not by what government wants for them.

This was played out recently with the announcement that Green Vehicles, a Salinas, CA electric car start-up company, was closing its doors. Barely two years into its Vision Quest to create an “electric valley” in the state, Green Vehicles ran into problems creating enough capital to survive (translation: nobody wanted to invest in or buy the sewing machine engine scooters). What makes the story most disturbing, however, is that the company’s start up was subsidized by California taxpayers, to the tune of $540K.

If electric vehicles were a winning, money-making idea, someone would have perfected the technology and sold millions of them by now. That’s how capitalism works.

Instead, General Motors Corp (owned and operated by the Dear Leader), spit out the Chevy Volt in fawning reverence to his greatness. This puny poser gets 40 miles to a charge and sells for $42K. And just like the Green Vehicles debacle, taxpayers get to foot the bill for the incentives used to entice buyers. That’s how socialism works.

I recently saw Transformers 3, Dark of the Moon, and was amazed at how much Democrats remind me of the Decepticon robots in the series. In their quest for endless power and control, the Decepticons consume and then destroy all that is good around them. Democrats operate much the same way. They confiscate and redistribute wealth and waste it on frivolous projects that flop, fizzle, and fail, like an electric car company in Salinas. Word is, they may be coming out of the closet. Democratic National Committee Chairperson, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, was spotted recently with a Decepticon logo on her lapel. I’m just sayin’!