The Perfect Barnyard

     > THE PERFECT BARNYARD
     >
     > "Who will help me plant my wheat?" said the little red
     > hen.
     > "Not I," said the cow.
     > "Not I," said the duck.
     > "Not I," said the pig.
     > "Not I," said the goose.
     > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen,
     > and so she did. She planted her crop, and the wheat grew very tall and
     > ripened into golden grain.

     > "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red
     > hen.
     > "Not I," said the duck..
     > "Out of my classification," said the pig.
     > "I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
     > "I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
     > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen,
     > and so she did.
     >
     >
     > At last it came time to bake the bread.
     > "Who will help me bake the bread?" asked the little red
     > hen.
     > "That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
     > "I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
     > "I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
     > "If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination,"
     > said the goose.
     > "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen.
     >
     >
     > She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her
     > neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But
     > the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves."
     >
     > "Excess profits!" cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)
     > "Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
     > "I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose. (Jesse
     > Jackson)
     > The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)
     >
     > And they all painted 'Unfair!' picket signs and marched
     > around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.
     > Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red
     > hen, "You must not be so greedy."
     > "But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.
     >
     > "Exactly," said Barack the farmer. "That is what makes
     > our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can
     > earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations,
     > the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those
     > who are lazy and idle."
     > And they all lived happily ever after, including the
     > little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly
     > understand."
     > But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She
     > never again baked bread because she joined the 'party' and got her bread
     > free. And all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established.
     > Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed;
     > perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that 'the rich'
     > were paying for..
     >
     > EPILOGUE
     > Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.
     > Hillary got $8 million for hers.
     > That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who
     > for eight years repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't
     > remember anything.
     > IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?

Its just a story. Though -
The EPA is a sore spot for me Joe.
It STOPS US production but says ok we can buy
the same stuff from China.

The world IS a small place in space lets be stuwards
of the whole thing.
Level the playing field so business here can prosper.
Then we can lead the way.

The funny thing about America, there is a lot more
people trying to get in than get out!

Joe, I am letting most of red hen story go, but how do see us making the gains without giving up safety and capability? There is no way I wish to tow a 3000lb boat with a 1500 pound car. I don't see drive train improvements moving us forward fast enough to meet meet those goals without some serious weight reductions. As a former paramedic I am a big fan of having mass on your side. We called it the lug nutlaw. The vehicle with the most lug nuts (biggest) always wins.

Joe, Sorry if I came of too negative, I was hoping to get some of your wisdom. We Have by no means gone as far as we can go. I wonder if we are limiting ourselves by using MPG standards, doesn't that rule out a lot of technology? My specific question is how far can we push the internal combustion engine before the cost exceeds the gains. I have no clue what current efficiency is, 30% 50% 70%? I know as you climb higher in efficiency it gets far more difficult to achieve significant gains. I am very impressed with the ford eco technology. As long as they make useable vehicles with better mileage I look forward to owning them. If they make high mileage vehicle that no one wants or fail to do what they should that is a problem. I heard yesterday that they are shutting down the Volt production for a few months again because production has exceeding sales.