Subject to Change

If there’s one constant in American politics, it’s this: America knows how to make the most of a dead Kennedy.

The federal budget deficit has exceeded a trillion dollars for the first time in history, and it’s only July.

Trillion: that’s billion with a ‘T.’

This gives me an idea: someone needs to engrave a message inside president Obama’s watch, marking the end of capitalism and America the Free, starting with the stimulus bill.

I drove a Ford Focus last week for work. When I was returning it a sticker in the window caught my eye. It advertised that this was a “Partial Zero Emission Vehicle.” Is that like being a little bit pregnant? I couldn’t imagine what that’s supposed to mean, so I had to Wiki it:

PZEVs have their own administrative category within the state of California for low emission vehicles.

This vehicle category was created as part of a bargain with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), so that the automobile manufacturers could postpone producing mandated zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), which will require the production of electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

…

In order to qualify as a PZEV, a vehicle must meet the SULEV standard and, in addition, have zero evaporative emissions from its fuel system plus an extended (15-year/150,000-mile) warranty on its emission-control components, which incidentally covers the propulsion electrical components of a hybrid electric vehicle.

So, PZEV is California’s hat-tip to reality. Automakers couldn’t achieve the state’s insane emission standards and Californians didn’t feel like walking everywhere. It’s to bad, really. They might not babble on so much if they were all out of breath. Rather than admit defeat, California decided to change the rules. Technically, there’s compliance… Technically.

Some people want to put government in charge of health care and this demonstrates exactly why that’s a bad idea. Can you imagine getting a “Partial Organ Transplant” for your “Localized Cancerous Anomaly?” If you stop to think about it, this is already happening! Who, exactly, is the term “Partial Birth Abortion” supposed to fool anyway?