Hummer's bummer: GM to discontinue gas guzzler

By GottaLaff

Good riddance.

Whenever I see one of these on the road, I feel my blood pressure go up. They are enormous, take up so much road space that I can never see around them, there isn't a reason in the world the every day driver needs one, and they love and consume gasoline so passionately that they could qualify as their oil dependent own country:

Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term “gas guzzler,” is being shut down after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart, General Motors said Wednesday. G.M. said only that its planned sale of Hummer to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Company “cannot be completed,” without giving a reason, but the $150 million deal had been stalled as the companies awaited approval from the Chinese government.

Biden’s Secret Service motorcade involved in fatal accident

By GottaLaff

The Secret Service has some 'splainin' to do:

Two Secret Service vehicles used by Vice President Joe Biden allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian at an intersection on Washington, DC's Suitland Parkway in the early morning hours of Wednesday, news reports say.

The vice president was not in either of the vehicles when the motorcade, on its way from Andrews Air Force Base to a garage on Washington, struck a pedestrian.

VIDEO: Beauty (Obama) and "The Beast"

By GottaLaff

Barack Obama’s [...] ride may be the most secure, heavily-fortified vehicle in the world.

The Secret Service calls this tank "The Beast". I call it "Reassurance".

Barack Obama, car guy

Geez, it's not like he had it all pimped out. And is it any more fuel inefficient than a Silverado or any other big SUVs that are so popular? Classy looking car for a classy guy.

NEW YORK (Fortune) – One of the least explored personal sides to our new president is the amount of gasoline in his veins. We know all about his affection for the basketball court and his tendency every now and then to sneak out for a cigarette. But we've heard very little about what drove him to acquire one of the least politically-correct cars on the planet: a Chrysler 300C. With its high torque and horsepower, voracious appetite for fuel and gangsta car persona, it is hardly the kind of vehicle you'd expect a consensus-building politician to drive. But those are Obama's wheels.

Or were. During the campaign he sold the 300C in favor of a hybrid Ford Escape, and as president of the United States, he won't be getting into the driver's seat very often - unless he's at a military base or some other secure location where he can let loose. He'll be spending all his time in the back seat of an armor-plated Cadillac.

Gramm-pa McCain's Plane, Homes, and Automobiles: Illustrated edition

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

H/t: Paddy

CNN catches Gramm-pa McCain in another lie

By GottaLaff

Oops, he did it again:

A Newsweek article published on the magazine's Web Site Sunday said registration records show the McCains currently own 13 cars — two of which are foreign-made: a Honda and a Volkswagen. That appears to contradict the Republican presidential nominee's past statements he only buys cars made in America. (Cindy McCain also drives a Lexus and daughter Meghan owns a Toyota Prius, but neither are registered to the McCains.)

How unpatriotic! Anyone see his flag pin? He might need it now, the terrorist!

In a quickly-arranged conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee, United Auto Worker Union President Ron Gettelfinger — an Obama supporter — said the registration records show McCain is not being truthful with Americans and undermining autoworkers.

Listen here: Gettelfinger blasts McCain on conference call with reporters:

"The last thing we need is a presidential candidate who undermines autoworkers, and these days it seems that John McCain is doing just exactly that," he said. "When he's in the Midwest, he tells voters he supports the industry, when he is in other states he brags about buying a foreign car, as he did with the Prius." (It is not clear if McCain or his daughter bought the Prius)

Gettelfinger also pointed to comments McCain made in an interview with Detroit TV station WXYZ, saying, "I've bought American literally all my life and I'm proud."

"That's really a nice campaign line," Gettelfinger said of the comments. "But it turns out that John McCain wasn't being straight with the people of Detroit, or the state of Michigan, or our country as a matter of effect," adding later, "The American auto industry and the American voters deserve a president who will be straight with them.”

Grammps sure makes a lot of unnecessary blunders for someone who claims he and "In What Respect, Charlie" Palin are ready to lead the free world. This is bordering on the ridiculous.

Newsweek's report comes a month after McCain now-infamously could not name how many houses he owned in an interview with Politico. The publication later reported he owns at least eight properties.

Gramm-pa's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week continues.

John Sidney McCain: Auto-crat

By GottaLaff

How Many Cars Do You Own?

Newsweek checked vehicle registration records for both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama and found that when you include the candidates' spouses, McCain owns 13 cars, Obama 1.

Who's the elitist again?

UPDATE:

McCain has a 2004 Cadillac CTS, a 2007 half-ton Ford pickup truck, a 1960 Willys Jeep, a 2008 Jeep Wranger among other American cars. He's got a few foreign vehicles in his fleet as well, owning a 2005 Volkswagen convertible and a 2001 Honda sedan.

The only vehicle registered in Obama's name is a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid.

McCain's wife, Cindy, an heiress to a beer distribution company, has her name on 11 vehicles but actually only drives one car - a Lexus with the personal plates MS BUD.

John Sidney McCain didn't know what kind of car he drove, either

By GottaLaff

How will he get to the houses he doesn't know he has without a car he doesn't recognize? Let's close our eyes in unison and think back to 2007:

[A] 2007 interview revealing he knew neither how many houses he owned nor what car he drove:

In our News interview, he was asked what kind of car he drove. As with Politico’s question about home ownership, he didn’t know and had to ask a nearby aide. “A Cadillac CTS,” she told him. But then the senator was quick to point out that he had bought his daughter a Prius — the prefect (sic) halo symbol for his green pretensions. […]

We also pressed McCain on the home issue, though at that time he was only willing to reveal two of his dwellings: one in Phoenix and a second home in Sedona. And he was quite proud of the fact that he had installed solar panels on the Sedona pad.

It doesn't say how many cars he owned/owns. 7? 8? 9?

VW's 235 mpg car

By GottaLaff

In 2010, we may see these on the road:

...Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term "fuel efficiency" with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets a stunning ... 235 mpg.

Volkswagen's had its super-thrifty One-Liter Car concept vehicle -- so named because that's how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers -- stashed away for six years. The body's made of carbon fiber to minimize weight (the entire car weighs just 660 pounds) and company execs didn't expect the material to become cheap enough to produce the car until 2012.

But VW's decided to build the car two years ahead of schedule.

It looks cool, too, doesn't it? All futuristic and bullety and stuff. It's tiny though, not big enough for all those well-dressed beverages I'm going to start carrying around with me.