One of President Obama’s pet projects is the clean-green wonder called the electric car.
Obama burned through $2.4 billion in stimulus money on grants and tax breaks to boost its production, and pledged in January to get “a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”
That’s aiming high. At the rate they’re selling today, Obama should hit that benchmark in about 900 years.
GM managed to sell just 281 units of its electric Chevy Volt in February, while Nissan sold a meager 67 Leafs.
No wonder. Their batteries die so quickly — the Leaf has a 100-mile range — they’re about as reliable and cost-efficient as running a car on AAA batteries.
Conundrum! What should Obama do to get more electric cars on the road?
Maybe he should pass a law mandating citizens to buy electric cars.
It’s for their own good, right?
Sounds insane, doesn’t it?
Well, that’s the principle behind a key element in ObamaCare — the part that forces Americans to buy health insurance whether they want to or not.
One federal judge actually defended that pernicious notion last month by saying the Constitution’s Commerce Clause gives feds the right to regulate even “mental activity” — in this case, the choices people make.
Happily, the must-purchase mandate has gotten thumbs down from judges in Virginia and Florida, and it looks very much like the matter is headed to the US Supreme Court.
Here’s hoping the jurists pull the plug.
If not, pretty soon there could be two ObamaBuggies in each garage.