Are Toyota’s Problems like the Audi 5000?

Fox News has been broadcasting a sound bite from Congressional hearings concerning the allegations that Toyota cars have a sudden and unintended acceleration problem.

The teary-eyed woman related her experience in Congress when her car went out of control on a highway. Reports are coming every day of people who say their Toyota and even Luxus’ are reported to be experiencing sudden and unintended acceleration problems. Toyota has said they are trying to fix the problem, but has denied that there is a sudden and unintended acceleration problem.

Congress is investigating. The owner and CEO of Toyota Motor Co. will testify before Congress. Fingers are pointing in every direction. So what is the problem? Who is at fault?

My mind flashes back to 1985. The German luxury car, the Audi 5000, came under attack. It started with a CBS 60 Minutes piece which presented several owners saying that sudden and unintended acceleration caused the death of their loved ones. CBS even showed an Audi’s accelerator moving on its own.

However, no one ever found a problem with the Audi 5000. The 60 Minutes producers admitted that they rigged the car to depress the accelerator. However, Audi lost sales. Owners lost the re-sale values in their luxury cars, and dealerships closed.

One thing is certain. A car will not move if the brakes are held down and the accelerator depressed all the way. Brakes have more power than the engines. Click here to read an article on that subject.

The small Japanese and European cars do have pedals close together. American are accustomed to widely spaced pedals. Could that be the fault? I don’t know.

I remember my aunt used to drive with her right foot on the accelerator and her left foot on the brake. I had a girlfriend who drove the same way. Many older women in my experience do drive that way. Could that be the problem? A panicked driver depresses the accelerator but honestly believes they are pressing the brake with their right foot?

Cars were made to be driven with the right foot operating both the accelerator and the brake – one at a time!

Back in 2006 through 2009, high gasoline prices drove many people to abandoned American-made cars and purchased smaller, Japanese cars.

One thing is certain. A 5,000-pound hunk of metal powered by a 150-horsepower engine is a dangerous machine. I grew up working on around heavy machinery. My twin brother and I have a healthy respect for machinery. Rule No. 1: Never stand behind or in front of a machine. After three decades, I still respect that protocol in the garage when my wife pulls in or backs out. Same is true in a parking lot. It’s my observation, that fear or respect for machines is not universal.

If it turns out that Toyota’s problem is all driver error, will the news media report it? I doubt it. They have their story. A major Japanese automaker is on the chopping block. Goodbye Toyota.

Who was Ida May Fuller?

Ida May Fuller was the first Social Security recipient.

She is a case study in socialized  medicine, too.   She is a case study in socialized anything!

Be assured that Miss Fuller did nothing wrong.  She was just the first Social Security recipient and is an example of what can happen with socialized healthcare, too.

Facts about Miss Fuller:

• She contributed $22 in taxes from 1937 to 1939.
• She retired in November 1939.
• She received her first Social Security check in January 1940.  That check was for $22.54.
• She died in 1974 after have received $20,944.42 in benefits.
• LINK   LINK
• She never married and never had children.
• She lived with a niece.
• She lived to be 100.
• She contributed to Social Security for less than three years.

Are there any “Ida May Fullers” out there who will be receiving socialized medicine?   The answer is YES!   They are the immigrants both legal and illegal will come to this country.  It will be the extended family members who will be sponsored into this country by their children who immigrated and became citizens.  These older people will be “Ida May Fullers”.

Who will pay for it?   The workers and the taxpayers.

Obama’s narcissism is unbounded

This is Charles Krauthhammer’s reaction to Obama’s stupid assertion that he is America’s first Pacific president.

Obama’s narcissism is truly unbounded.

 

Tea Party Counter-Demonstration

A North Texas Tea Party counter demonstrated in favor of Rep.  Michael C. Burgess (R-TX).

The conservatives made the demonstration sponsored by MoveOn.org look like Custer’s Last Stand.  See images below.

Supporting Rep. Michael Burgess

 

  
Move on!

In these pictures Moveon.org attempted to  protest  Rep. Burgess' vote against the healthcare plan. We showed up to counter-protest and support Rep. Burgess, said Steve Reynolds, who was one of the protestors.

We’re taking back America in 2010

Great video.  Please watch it to the end.

Tea Party Rally in Dallas

Tea Party Rally in Dallas, TX, on Nov. 5, 2009.

Of RINOS And Real Conservatives

President Barack Obama yesterday praised Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe for voting for the Healthcare billl in committee.  According to Obama, his healthcare bill now has bi-partisan support.

But wait!  Sen. Snowe is a RINO, a Republican in Name ONLY.  This is the same senator who was elected in 1994  when the Republicans swept both houses of Congress.  Little thanks did she have for the Republican agenda.  She preceded to vote against the resolution that would have sent Impeached and failed President Bill Clinton packing.  After that “victory” Clinton invited Snowe to the White House for an “After the Impeachment” Victory Party.

Snowe is not the first Maine senator out of step with the times.  In the 1950’s Maine had a notable GOP Senator in Margaret Chase Smith.   Chase Smith has the distinction of being the first woman whose name was put up for nomination for president of the United State.  That was the year that the Republicans embraced Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater for president.

Chase Smith is also the author of the little known Declaration of Conscience in June 1, 1950.  Her declaration was a reaction to the Red Scare.   One of the leaders in Congress was her fellow senator Joseph McCarthy.

Chase Smith unveiled her Declaration of Conscience on the floor of the Senate.  It declared:

• The right to criticize;
• The right to hold an unpopular belief;
• The right to protest;
• The right to independent thought.

Her Declaration was debated for a while, but her timing was terrible.  Only 24 days later, the North Korean Army launched an invasion across the 38th parallel and started the Korean War.  No one cared about the Chase Smith’s epistle after that.

Chase Smith’s seat eventually went over to Maine’s other senator Susan Collins.   She, incidentally,  is the other RINO in the senate.

The Real conservative of that era and of all eras remains Goldwater.   What would he say today?