Quotes of the day

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So another Bam task force making something nobody wants, and even the defenders in the Fake Media — I’m reading some of the critics of me out there in the partisan political operative media — say, “Well, I guess Mr. Limbaugh was opposed to the Internet because it wasn’t fast enough at first. I guess he was opposed to getting into buying products that…” You people fail to understand. You do not make any effort to understand. This is not a criticism of General Motors and it is not a criticism of the Volt. We in the country class of this great nation are aghast. We are apoplectic over the fact that a bunch of know-nothings, a bunch of people who have a chip on their shoulder about this country are now running some of the greatest industries that twine this country’s greatness — and they don’t know diddly-squat, and they’re turning these great industries into nothing more than arms of their political agenda.

The Chevrolet Volt is a political statement. When President Obama is driving around in a limousine that has every protection and has the same weight that his current gasoline-powered limousine has and when it’s powered by a battery, then I’ll think about it. When Air Force One is powered by solar panels or windmills or self-generating propellers or whatever the hell else the wizards of smart have on the design table, then I’ll think about getting on one. But putting four seats on top of a lawn mower that runs on premium gasoline as a “backup,” is not innovation. It is classic liberal screw-upism, incompetence, and danger.

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The problem is not the cost of the engine (which serves as a dynamo that recharges the batteries, and allows the Volt to go another 320 miles, beyond the 40 miles it gets on electricity). It is running out of electricity in a snow storm on the New Jersey Turnpike on the one day a month you go to Granny’s. By building in the capacity to use the existing gasoline infrastructure, it turns the electric car into something a family of four can entertain as their only car. This is revolutionary…

It is precisely because the Volt is the first car with a real shot at the mainstream car market that we should be thinking about its impact, and the impact of all electric vehicles, on the economy as a whole. What makes the Volt such a landmark is that electric cars are the killer app for the smart grid.

This launch of the Volt, really, should be seen as comparable to the launch of personal computers. The car makes sense as a solution to the problem of gas prices and ecological responsibility, the same way the personal computer made sense as a solution to the problem of having to retype documents. But in the same way that the ubiquity of personal computers drove the development of the Internet, the growing presence of electric cars will drive the development of the smart grid, and all the infrastructure jobs this entails.

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Look at me. “[C]onsider this declaration: The electric car ‘has long been recognized as the ideal solution’ because it ‘is cleaner and quieter’ and ‘much more economical.’ That story was published by The New York Times on November 12, 1911.” “The electric car ‘has long been recognized as the ideal solution’ because it ‘is cleaner and quieter’ and ‘much more economical.’” The New York Times, 1911. “[T]he new Chevy Volt costs as much as a new Mercedes-Benz C350, consider this assessment by a believing reporter: ‘Prices on electric cars will continue to drop until they are within reach of the average family.’” That’s what a reporter said this week about the Volt: “Prices on electric cars will continue to drop until they are within reach of the average family.” (interruption) That’s what I said yesterday: If you’ve got 41 grand in a Mercedes C class… (interruption) Look, this is what’s sad to me. I am not here to (sigh) rip into General Motors. At any rate, it is what it is. (interruption) Mercedes has a sunroof, yeah. (interruption) Don’t… Don’t… (interruption) Snerdley, just cool it. Cool it in there. Just cool it in there. Yes, it has real seats. It’s got a bench seat. It’s got… (interruption) Yeah. It’s got headroom and leg room, yeah. (interruption) Just be quiet. Rob in Wichita, I do not want General Motors to fail. It’s just the exact opposite. This is painful.

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General Motors said Friday that it is boosting production capacity for its new Chevrolet Volt due to strong public interest in the electric car that goes on sale this year.

GM will now have a production capacity of 45,000 vehicles in 2012, up from previous plans for 30,000 vehicles.

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Click the image to watch.

• Bobby Jindal: Paternalistic, big-government liberalism is the biggest loser here
• Chris Christie: “I’ll be here to welcome” Obama when he comes to tour the NJ coast again next week
• MSNBC consensus: Obama’s speech was historic, amazing, “one of the best of his presidency”

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