Posted on 02/04/2010 1:54:59 PM PST by Starman417
There's something inherently sleazy and suspicious about an WH administration mouthpiece that unequivocally states that Toyota owners should simply "stop driving" their cars until they've taken them to a dealership. In the wake of such an unprecedented fear mongering campaign, the mud slinging began, and within days, Transportation Sec'y Ray LaHood, was softening his harsh blow.
But "just words" matter, and one of the nation's most popular vehicle manufacturers saw their shares fall as much as 8% on the heels of LaHood's explosive remarks. Obama's pet, Goldman Sachs, downgraded Toyota from a "buy" to "neutral". If you use AutoBlog's figures, it's 16.7 % over the past five days.
But the Chicago thuggery style of this WH is abundantly clear when LaHood also revealed that the reason Toyota halted manufacturing and commenced the massive recall was at the insistence of the Obama administration.
Much seems to be overblown considering that the gas pedal sticking has occurred in fewer than 300 vehicles. Or, per an IBD op-ed, "Out of 1.8 million cars manufactured each year in the U.S., Toyota has 100 complaints, a handful of injuries, and in two cases deaths are alleged."
In fact, the sudden acceleration events in both Toyota and Lexus models in the past decade resulted in 815 crashes since 1999... eleven years, averaged out at 74 annual events. Two resulted in fatalities. Of the 2000 complaints received in the same time, only five percent - or 100 of them - were attributed to gas pedals potentially sticking.
What's more, NHTSA has conducted eight investigations into Toyota accelerator problems in the last seven years. None have been found to be a faulty sticking pedal as the cause.
"The way the sudden-acceleration problems are occurring in reported incidents doesn't comport with how this sticky pedal is described," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Rehoboth, Mass., auto safety consulting firm. "We know this recall is a red herring."
And that "red herring", forcefully imposed by a WH administration, has further economic repercussions. Economic Journal Policy blog states:
Read more at floppingaces.net...
New Toyotas may be worth it, but the smart money says stay away from Scion (too many niggling little problems) and my own observation is that Toyota (and Nissan) dealers that also sell used cars ask some of the most outlandish prices on the planet.
I wonder how many of the complaintants (is that a word?)have blue SEIU tees under their shirts?
Where a liberal sees reasons to envy, a conservative sees opportunities.
It stinks to high heavens especially the manner that it came out. Kind of loopy. Obama is up to his neck in this farce.
Can’t wait to see Obama out of office. He is the worst thing to happen here.
lol
I DRIVE A TOYOTA TRUCK AND I VOTE. Looking forward to the opportunity to vote these elitist democrats out in November
Government is not the solution to our problems, Government IS the problem. Ronaldus Maximus.
Many of those Toyotas are built in America.
This is getting to be something right out of Atlas Shrugged.
Now what is going to be the train collision in the tunnel?
“(too many niggling little problems)” I have only noticed one “niggling litte problem”.
After having a couple of problems with one of my GM vehilces (one of 5 I have owned: 3 of them went over 200,000 miles one of which was last reported by a previous owner to have 272,000 with no problems) and hearing about the problems (intermediate steering shafts and transmission failures, I am very disappointed in GM. I may go with a Ford next time. I argued with a fellow employee once about a Honda as he argued that the were made in America. I asked him if he would fly a Japanese flag in his yard if it were made in America
After having a couple of problems with one of my GM vehilces (one of 5 I have owned: 3 of them went over 200,000 miles one of which was last reported by a previous owner to have 272,000 with no problems) and hearing about the problems (intermediate steering shafts and transmission failures, I am very disappointed in GM. I may go with a Ford next time. I argued with a fellow employee once about a Honda as he argued that the were made in America. I asked him if he would fly a Japanese flag in his yard if it were made in America
That should be next owner not previous owner. DOH!!
I despise Obozo. His attacks on Toyota are a conflict of interest. I would never buy a car from gubmint motors. I know they will be crap as they always have been.
I have had a couple Toyotas for years and I will keep buying Toyotas.
I hope Government Motors tanks. Sorry GM workers. Fair is fair, your cars suck design and quality wise.
No, but I would certainly fly an American Flag that was made in Japan if it were of a higher quality than the flags made in China.
More for your list at post 23. From April 14, 2009
The Obama Administration Is Criminalizing Dissent? Intimidating Its Ideological Opponents? [Andy McCarthy]
I’m still digging out of my various pre-election hate mail piles — you know, “How could say Obama is a socialist who will redistribute wealth just because he used to be a member of a socialist party and criticized the Warren Court for failing to order the redistribution of wealth?”; “How could you say Obama is a Left-wing radical rather than a centrist moderate just because he made common cause with Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Mike Klonsky, Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, et al?”; “How could you say Obama would be an extremist on abortion and other life issues just because he supported infanticide as a Chicago legislator?”; “How could you say Obama would be anti-Israel in his governance and appointments just because he pals around with Rashid Khalidi?”; “How could you say an Obama administration would turn TARP into a Big Government slush fund just because he managed the Chicago Annenberg Challenge as a Big Lefty slush fund?”; “How could you say Obama will be soft on Iran just because Obama is soft on Iran?”; etc. But I note that I got plenty for this one, too:
Obama’s Assault on the First Amendment
I’ll be blunt: Sen. Obama and his supporters despise free expression, the bedrock of American self-determinism and hence American democracy. What’s more, like garden-variety despots, they see law not as a means of ensuring liberty but as a tool to intimidate and quell dissent....
[I]n St. Louis, local law-enforcement authorities, dominated by Democrat-party activists, [are] threatening libel prosecutions against Obama’s political opposition. County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, abetted by a local sheriff and encouraged by the Obama campaign, warned that members of the public who dared speak out against Obama during the campaign’s crucial final weeks would face criminal libel charges — if, in the judgment of these conflicted officials, such criticism of their champion was “false.”
Item: When the American Issues Project ran political ads calling attention to Obama’s extensive ties to Ayers, the Weatherman terrorist who brags about having bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, the Obama campaign pressured the Justice Department to launch an absurd criminal prosecution.
Item: When commentator Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center was invited on a Chicago radio program to discuss his investigation of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an “education reform” project in which Obama and Ayers (just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood”) collaborated to dole out over $100 million, the Obama campaign issued an Internet action alert. Supporters, armed with the campaign’s non-responsive talking points, dutifully flooded the program with calls and emails, protesting Kurtz’s appearance and attempting to shout him down.
Nor was these an isolated incidents. Cont...
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDkyMDNiNjZjNGM4OTkzZmI0NWJkMGMyODE0NjY2YzE#
It's already more unpopular than Viet Nam.
Toyota owners interviewed give the company high marks for dealing with it.
Obama's got an unbroken loss record.
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