Standing up to big business is not bravery. How many people do you know that actually support big business to people that don't. To go into it as if people support big business and therefore its a risk is kind of dishonest on your part. I might support big business and business in general but I stand pretty much alone.
Pretty much every US politician supports big business over the people. Just look at the last 40 years of legislation.. time and time again the big business have gotten their legislation proposals pushed through.. GE and Exxon paying 0 dollars in taxes is just one of many many examples.
I hate to sound predictable(though I already been doing that the entire time) but gas mileage is a market force with or without government.
Yes, but the market has ONLY provided ****ty gas mileage so far in the US and hence the consumer is getting hit hard with high gas prices. If the government had the balls to go in and mandate European style gas mileage standard, the US consumer would be much better off now. As it stands now, the European consumer with "high" European gas prices is far better off than the American consumer when it comes to going to the gas pump.
Also the EPA is not saving the world and the world would go on just fine without it. I'm all for killing off the EPA.
So who would bust the big polluters? The EPA might not be doing its job good enough, but that is no reason to get rid of the only agency that stands between having 2 headed babies and not. Like it or not, if Big business could get away with it, then they would pollute like no tomorrow.. look at China or Russia for god sake.
People buy what they want. If people want big trucks that IS the free market at work. As for road damage meh, that is a different topic, but good for you for bringing up. Everyone pays for the roads if they work. Driving is not a requirement which it would have to be if you are going to tax based on the damage they do to the road. I'm going to assume that is not what you want.
Yes it is up to the individual if he or she wants a big truck. What I am saying is it should be much more expensive for he/she to own such a truck rather than a fuel efficient car. Of course people who absolutely need a truck for work should be excempt some how, but there is no reason for a person in LA or a major US city to drive around in a freaking truck unless it is related to his/her job.
I see no problem with that. The moon is not interesting and the internet is a waste of time.
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Btw, you could of used medical research and got a bigger bang for your buck. Though the answer would still be meh.
US pharma uses more on advertising than on R&D. And yes their R&D is mostly funded by government grants.. as is the military industry and much more. Is that also a big "meah"?
Like I said earlier in this post, car mileage is market force and would still go up without government as people would demand it and the businesses would want to get more sales regardless if government is in the market or not. What your argument should really be saying is the improvement would be slower, not that it wouldn't exist.
And as I said, the market forces have been going on in the US for the last 40 years and mileage has barely gone up. Why? Because people are ignorant and only think short term. That means when oil does go up, then they have a car that looks cool, has 10 cup holders and can hold 3 average Americans (6 normal human beings) but only goes 20 miles to the gallon if they lucky and then they start complaining about wanting better mileage, but the US car maker cant provide it fast enough. That is why a government mandated minimum mileage standard (not the present US one) is the way forward and it takes the future into consideration. The free market would NEVER do that, especially considering that the free market is a crock to say the least.
So its about you. Kind of knew that already but thanks for saying it outright.
It is about everyone. A huge majority of Europeans are damn happy now days that their politicians did what they did.