David Online

The $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate yesterday contains $300 million for the government to purchase a fleet of “green” cars.

This $300 million is not just for the purchase of fuel efficient American-made hybrids from Ford and Chevy (Heaven forbid we should buy a foreign car even if it was made in the U.S.), but also for what are called “neighborhood electric vehicles”, NEVs.

Just think of all the jobs that are going to be saved and how the economy will be stimulated with all these pregnant-looking golf carts chugging along at a maximum 25 miles per hour. You wouldn’t want to go head to head with a Hummer or any other gas-guzzling SUV in this thing, but I’d give you 50-50 odds against a three-year old on a tricycle.

The House-passed version of the stimulus provides even more money for federal car purchases – $600 million. The pot of money also specifically includes the NEVs.

The Democrats are thrilled with NEVs. They “only” cost $8,000 apiece and because they operate on battery power and can be plugged into 110 volt outlets for recharging, they produce no carbon emissions.

Apparently Democrats believe electricity is magic and comes from the electricity fairy that produces no carbon emissions. But that’s true only when Democrats are talking about little “green” plug-in golf carts. The electricity to power our homes, businesses and factories on the other hand, come from a different electrical source – filthy, coal-burning, CO2 emitting power plants.

It hardly needs saying that neither the Democratic congressmen who inserted this pork into the bill nor the Energy department itself was able to say specifically what the “golf carts” would be used for.