Quality Weenie

TOYOTA RECALLING 3.8 MILLION VEHICLES

Now that's a headline you won't see on the front page of any paper and that's because big media is in the tank for the Japanese auto makers.

Now if that was Ford, Chrysler or GM it would be screaming from not only the front pages of every newspaper but also top stories on every news station.

Toyota says it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States to address problems with a removable floor mat that could interfere with the vehicle's accelerator and cause a crash. The company says it will be the largest recall in its history. Owners could learn about the safety campaign as early as next week.

Toyota and the government warned owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to the removable floor mats. They say the mats could interfere with the vehicle's accelerator and cause a crash.

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

Owners should take out the floor mats on the driver's side and not replace them.

Obama To Destroy Your Car's Engine

Just another attempt by the Obama Administration to get your gas consuming car away from you.

By Dec. 1, the Environmental Protection Agency must decide whether to approve a request to increase the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with most gasoline sold at pumps to as much as 15 percent.

Most pumps already sell E10, which is 10 percent ethanol.

Big deal you say? Well it is a big deal, most engines are not set to take such a large quanitity of ethanol mixed in with the gas.

And there are a number of problems with an immediate boost in the ethanol blend.

Automakers warn the higher ethanol blend could boost greenhouse gas emissions, damage engines or disable vehicles.

In Baltimore, nearly a third of the city's patrol cars stopped running earlier this month because a station had boosted the amount of ethanol in the fuel. It isn't clear how much ethanol was in the mix.

Your engine could seize eventually.

Why the push?

Congress has required that the nation use 11 billion gallons of ethanol next year and 36 billion gallons by 2022.

Mike Stanton, CEO of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group representing major foreign automakers, noted the United States would not be able to consume even half of the ethanol required by Congress by 2022 by simply requiring all pumps to be E10.

Congress is demanding that we use ethanol, but the people in the know say it's going to be almost impossible to meet the demands set by congress without screwing up everyones gasoline engine.

Guess that would be considered a tree huggers wet dream.

But it's just not vehicles that one should be worried about, it's anything that uses gas. Like lawnmowers, snowmobiles, motorcycles, etc.

No testing has been done on vehicles with such a high mixture of ethanol in gas, that needs to be done before congress can allow this to pass. Testing will take a couple years to complete.

And of course the Obama Administration, who claimed they don't want to run auto companies sure has a funny way of not really running them.

Congress is also considering whether to force automakers to build more cars that run on nearly all ethanol.

The auto industry has produced 7 million vehicles that can run on E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol, or on regular gasoline. A bill in Congress sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., would require automakers to produce 50 percent of their fleet as E85-compatible by 2012 and 80 percent by 2015. A House version is sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

It must be one of Obama's goal in his first term to get rid of as many auto companies as he can.

You Must, But We Don't Have To

When Cash for Clunkers was being proposed both Japanese and Chinese manufacturers were up in arms because the idea that it would be american cars only was being tossed around.

They got their panties in a bunch and threatened going to the WTO and get sanctions imposed on the U.S. if we made Cash for Clunkers for american cars only.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow asked President Barack Obama on Friday to press officials from Japan and South Korea over restrictions on American cars in those countries' versions of a cash-for-clunkers stimulus.

What is good for us, isn't good for you so shut-up says Japan and China

The original version of the cash-for-clunkers program proposed earlier this year would have applied only to U.S.-made vehicles, but that proposal faced stiff opposition from foreign automakers and dealers, along with some wariness from American automakers that rely on Canada and Mexico for large portions of their production.

The final version contained no restrictions, and several imported models ranked among the most-popular vehicles sold. (emphasis mine)

Cash for Clunkers in the U.S. was nicknamed a stimulus plan for Japanese auto makers because they benefited from it far more then american auto makers did and now they are trying to exclude american vehicles from being included in their own version of cash for clunkers.

I think it's quite safe to say that Obama doesn't do anything about it.

Obama's Next Attempt At Bankrupting Auto Makers

Obama really really hates automakers and the public, why would he set standards that could possibly bankrupt at least a couple auto makers that the government owns?

The Obama administration's proposed standards for fuel efficiency and tailpipe emissions will raise vehicle price tags by more than $1,000, depress sales by 58,000 and cost more than 5,000 auto industry jobs in 2012, a government analysis said Tuesday.

So he bankrupts a couple auto makers, makes people lose their jobs and raises car prices at least he will save a couple trees!

But the plan, which sets fuel efficiency standards fleetwide at 34.1 miles per gallon by 2016 and establishes federal tailpipe emission limits for the first time, also has compelling benefits, the administration said. They include a 950 million metric ton reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; fuel savings of about $3,000 per vehicle; and conservation of 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of vehicles produced between 2012 and 2016.

I want to know how it will save $3,000 per vehicle? That can't be a year, probably a lifetime but they don't give specifics.

But it's really all about making people drive what the government wants them to drive ..

The pollution and fuel efficiency standards unveiled Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the EPA will usher in an era of smaller vehicles with less powerful engines.

This is just scary that they are more concerned about fucking trees then lives.

Under a worst-case scenario, NHTSA said the new requirements would result in an estimated 493 additional "weight-related" auto deaths from 2016 models. Under that scenario, nearly 1,100 additional people could die over the lifetime of the 2012-16 models, with about 250 of those through 2020. The fatalities would have a net societal cost of up to $15 billion.

So are you ones of those that will give up your life for a few saved trees?

Looks like California is going to get it's ass kissed by Obama also.

The plan outlined Tuesday resulted from a deal reached in May by automakers, the White House and the state of California to end years of litigation. It effectively makes California's 2004 emissions the national standard.

Better buy your trucks and SUV's now because in 2 years most won't be avilable.

NHTSA and EPA must finalize the proposal by March 30 for it to take effect in the 2012 model year.

2012 model year vehicles come out in October of 2011.

We are so screwed.

Granholm Recall Attempt Gets OK'ed

Quite a few people have turned in petitions to try and attempt to get Governor Granholm recalled.

Michigan has a two term limit for Governors and she is termed out, so 2010 is an election for a new Governor.

I guess better late then never ...

The Omer prison guard trying to recall Gov. Jennifer Granholm is collecting signatures and building a Web site now that his petition language has won approval.

He has 90 days to collect 950,000 signatures.

After Piche submits the signatures, the county clerk must determine within 35 days whether sufficient signatures have been gathered. If so, the clerk calls for a recall election on the next regular election date that is not less than 95 days after the date the petition is filed.

She'll be out of office before anything is decided, not to mention the fact that she has stated she will be appealing the ruling.

Nobody Thanked Him

Obama is going to make his first visit to an automotive plant since being elected this week in Ohio. You would have thought he could have done this anytime in the prior 9 months, especially during the auto bailout hearings but I guess he has been to busy apologizing to terrorist nations.

President Barack Obama plans to make a speech at General Motors Co.'s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, next week, his first visit to a U.S. auto plant as president.

Administration officials said the president is planning the trip Tuesday as part of a Midwest swing to talk about jobs and the economy. The president plans to highlight the fact that GM is recalling 1,050 workers next month to return to work at the Detroit automaker's assembly plant.

Quote me now, this will be temporary call back until they have enough inventory and then they will be layed off again. And they are being called back because a new vehicle is beig launched at the plant.

On Monday, Obama named his auto czar Ron Bloom as a senior manufacturing adviser to try to turn around the struggling sector. Of the 216,000 jobs lost last month, nearly a third were in manufacturing, including 15,000 in the auto sector.

Craig Ruff, a senior policy fellow at Public Sector Consultants, said Obama's aim is to send a couple of messages.

"He wants to show proof that both cash for clunkers and the auto bailout program worked in putting people back to work," Ruff said. "What better place to show the evidence than a place where cars are rolling off the assembly lines."

This makes me physically ill, Cash for Clunkers has not put anyone back to work. Not one single job. The auto makers have only speed up the lines as they are running very slow right now, speeding up a line does not equal new jobs.

And just to prove that it really is all about Obama and has nothing really to do with rescuing the auto industry

At a July 13 meeting with labor leaders, UAW secretary treasurer Elizabeth Bunn thanked Obama for helping rescue GM and Chrysler.

Obama told the labor leaders that was the first time he had been thanked for supporting automakers, according to a participant at the meeting.

Really? He hadn't been thanked before then? It really is all about graveling at his feet.

Obama Fires Another Auto Executive

GM and Chrysler better beware of what they say to anyone in the coming years, because if Obama doesn't like what you say Obama will make sure you get fired.

General Motors Co. Chief Financial Officer Ray Young is expected to leave the automaker in coming weeks as part of a shake-up of the company's finance department, sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

Members of the Obama administration's auto task force, led by Ron Bloom, briefed the board last month, and have raised questions about the performance of Young and the finance department as a whole.

The Obama auto task force had issues with Young and GM's finance team over the last six months. In at least one instance, the task force took Young to task over a June 2 interview, a government official said.

Obama's is showing his hand a little early, he wants the executives of GM to bend to his will and he will replace those that won't.

Young is not the only GM executive being scrutinized.

The task force also raised the issue of revamping GM management.

Government Motors is becoming more true.

Manufacturing Czar

Great, now Obama thinks the manufacturing industry needs a czar. And of course he has to hire someone for the job that has never worked in a manufacturing industry, the man has worked as an investment banker.

Good God helps us now.

President Barack Obama is tapping a member of his auto industry task force to advise him on manufacturing.

Bloom was senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker.

And just what is this manufacturing czar going to do?

Bloom will work with the National Economic Council to lead policy development and planning for Obama's work to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, the White House said.

The way to revitalize the manufacturing industry is to let people have the money they make so they can go buy things and make sure free trade is really fair trade.

The labor secratary is telling us that the economy is stablizing, well if it's stabilizing why would they feel they have to go messing around making new policy and appointing a czar?

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who will join Obama at the Ohio labor event, said Monday she sees "stabilization occurring" in the job market, saying some sectors have shown improvement.

And can someone please tell me where this "stablization" is occuring because I look every day for jobs in the manufacturing industry and there is just not any to be had anywhere.

Outdoor Pictures

I mentioned back in June that the Bradford Pear tree in front of our house lost a huge branch from it, eccentially 1/3 of the tree was gone.

Well a couple weeks ago we had a high wind thunderstorm move through and took another 1/3 of the tree with it. So now the tree is going to need to be removed, sucks because it was a beautiful tree.

Pictures of my flowers ...

The Impatients in front of the house (also see picture above)

My Lily's

This Is Just Plain Wrong

Normal average low's for this time of the year is mid 50's.

I shudder to think how low it got last night if at 8:30 in the morning it's 47 degrees outside.