Brazil,80% of country on Ethanol flex fuel vehicles,with GM engines why not America?

[Shogun]

And if I want to drive an SUV I have every right to.

More of a right than the idiot bicyclists who clog the streets of our cities.

ill give ya that...


and, by all means, drive your suv. But you are part of the problem and I hope your monthly gas bill reflects that.

 

[AllieBaba]

I don't have an SUV, but I long for one, lol. My sister does have one. Two, actually.
With dogs, kids, grandkids, horses, living out in the boonies, believe me, it would be put to good use. My state car is a Jeep.

And don't worry, I'd definitely pay a chunk.

 

[Shogun]

if you can pay for it then go for it. If most people COULD pay for it then we would not be where we are today.

I remember when the closest thing to an SUV was a bronco. They are nice vehicles. Hell, even a hummer would be situationally fun. kinda like a three wheeler.

 

[AllieBaba]

My sister had a Bronco, one of the big old monsters. Had to have it, it was the only thing that would break through the snow drifts around her house. Her 2nd car was a VW Wabbit. Blech.
Don't forget the Suburbans! Still see those around.....

 

[52ndStreet]

Ehh Kirk, we're going to have to agree to disagree on part of that...
Transportation, yes, our rail system is the laughing stock of the world, and we need some help on that front.

Gun control laws? I think the jury is out at to whether that type of regulation is intrinsically "better". Take this article for instance: Thugs committing 350 knife assaults EVERY DAY, as menace spreads to rural areas | Mail Online

According to that article, not only are folks over in England and Wales encountering increasing gun related violence (up 2 percent last year) and an increase in homocides, now they have to deal with the rising popularity of knife-based offenses, where kids are getting brutally stabbed to death, or at least robbed by people brandishing knives.

So what to do? Outlaw knives, and then blunt objects, and then making fists in public...I'm just not convinced that regulation is the answer.

Healthcare, on the other hand...Canada may be of some interest to us, but I don't think Europe's shoddy hospitals have much to offer in the way of inspiration. Just my opinion on that one.

We don't need the government controlling our rights to buy Guns!

 

[52ndStreet]

The Brazilians are paying pennies on the Gallon, while Americans are being price gouged
by the Oil companies.!!$$?!!

 

[Zoomie1980]

Do you really think the US, a society hellbent on immediate gratification, would have made better choices? It's not like this little energy issue is NEW. I think, much like GM ceos, those who HAD the opportunity took it future be damned.

I dont blame the MSM. THEY didn't manipulate SUV prices or act like a Hummer was a great investment. I blame capitalists who are in it as long as it takes to make a buck society be damned. I blame "conservatives" who talk about free markets but then don't have the balls to let their economic philosophy hit the fan in fear of lasting political reprocussions. One can't assume that the SU population is going to choose broccoli over candy when chocolate is being waved in their faces. Nor can we alleviate the responsbility of chicken necked capitalists who tout hummers 4 years before they lost dominance in the market to economic cars. It's a "take the money and run" business practice that I blame and it's directly anchored in bullshit "free market" rhetoric worn on the sleeve of conservatives.

While the media is the main culprit in creating the psychology of mass energy shortage hysteria, it is still largely a free market. Prices shot up and Americans have made a very fundamental change in their habits as a result. The automobile market has worked pretty much the way it should work.

 

[Shogun]

uh, yea dude.. 2003 tax cuts notwithstanding..

I tellya.. NOTHING says "worked like it should" like pumping out hummers and suvs 5 years ago! You know, since this energy thing just kinda leaped out at us from the unassuming dark!


blaming the media doesnt absolve the failure of the capitalist market place just like blaming the media wont put Obama into the white house just because some would like to ignore the failure of W.

 

[editec]

The capitalists didn't fail us, Sho, our government did... at THEIR behest.

Capitalist's jobs are to increase net worth/share prices. Can't blame them for doing so.

But the government's job is to proect this nation for disasters and they fail and fail adn fail to do that because they are now nothing more than handmaidens to the rich, enabling them to get rich and bankrupt the working classes.

 

[Shogun]

oh sure I can. while unscrupulous politicians also have their hand to play it's capitalists and their "everything has a price" mantra that is the root of the problem. Tell me, why was Cuba so quick to trade their Batista Gov for Castro Communism? It wasn't merely a matter of standard right wing talking points.

 

[Zoomie1980]

No, my friend, just about every country in the world has something to teach us. The Europeans have better healthcare, better gun control laws, and better public transportation than we do. They also have a rich cultural heritage to share with us. They are our best friends, and a country without friends cannot accomplish much.

Europeans have better healthcare than here??? How? Chronic shortages of basic services. Widespread dilapidated hospitals. The most talent doctors move to the US where they can actually make a living. Healthcare in Europe is a TRAIN WRECK!!!! A socialized TRAIN WRECK!

And yea, that cultural heritage that spawned Napolean Bonaparte, Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Slobidan Milosovich... No thanks!

 

[Zoomie1980]

Well then I would have to say I'm not one of those chicken necked capitalists, because I believe GM should pay whatever price comes about from their obvious ignorance, including failure. If you know me at all around here, you know I'm the cheerleader for letting a failing business fail, no matter WHAT the perceived consequences might be.

There's no real way to cleanse the market of stupidity than to let the stupidity play itself out so that very stupidity never happens again.

Bailing out GM would only REWARD that stupidity. But don't be against a bail-out because you have a specific grievance against a specific company. Be against it because it's the right thing to do, regardless of your feelings.

Wow we agree here. GM is getting what GM has coming to it. What really gets me here is GM has a chance here to redefine itself. Why produce only 60,000 Chevy Volts? Convert all those shutdown Silverado and Tahoe plants to produce Hybrids and electrics. Don't produce 60,000 Volts, make 6,000,000 of the DAMDED things!!!!!! Convert those truck facilities to make Elecrtic cars, hybrid SUV's and GET OUT IN FRONT of the market with ELECTRICS and HYBRIDS!!!!!

If GM doesn't get this, screw 'em. I hope they DIE.

 

[editec]

Europeans have better healthcare than here??? How? Chronic shortages of basic services. Widespread dilapidated hospitals.

Sheer poppycock. The morbity/mortality stats in those nation are far better than ours. Ergo, their aggregate return on invest for HC is FAR superior to our private system.

The most talent doctors move to the US where they can actually make a living. Healthcare in Europe is a TRAIN WRECK!!!! A socialized TRAIN WRECK!

Blather. It is no such thing. Your scare stories are complete hokem, sport.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

How many Cars does Brazil have on the road?

I actually couldn't find the statistic...

= (

But I am curious.