Binkies in the Man Cave

On car blogsite Jalopnik, there was a recent post regarding the Ten Vehicles that Bankrupted GM.  Interestingly, one model was mentioned because it was too successful, and all the cars looked alike, yet other models were mentioned because they looked too different.

In the spirit of Jalopnik, I'd like to present the top government bad ideas that bankrupted GM:

FlexFuel

Burn the food supply.  Brilliant!  Not only did taxpayers heavily subsidize the fuel to make it affordable, the price of food increased, and the FlexFuel cars are more expensive than their standard versions (the fuel systems in FlexFuel vehicles need different components so the ethanol doesn't corrode the fittings).  There used to be a couple E85 pumps in my area, but they've been converted back to normal fuel.

Description at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/flextech.shtml.

CAFE (fleet) standards

CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy, and is a joint NHTSA/EPA regulation (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.d0b5a45b55bfbe582f57529cdba046a0/).  Basically, this rule forces corporations who build good trucks which meet class MPG standards for trucks to also build small vehicles people may not be interested n buying.  So, a company, like say GM/Dodge, can't specialize in their great trucks without keeping the unprofitable (and now closed) Plymouth line around.  Honda and Toyota build great fuel efficient cars and cars pretending to be trucks, GMC builds solid trucks and mediocre cars.  Let each do their thing, and let the market do what it will.  Pickups make more sense in my rural area, and Priuses (Prii?) make more sense in Chicago.  Class standards, fine, but get rid of CAFE.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and these two ideas put GM solidly on that road.

Thank you Best Buy!

I've had a pile of old electronics growing in the corner of my office, wondering how to be responsible with them and keep the mess below the wife acceptance factor.  The other day, a 1997-era PC and an old VCR went to the Geek Squad counter at a nearby Best Buy, on their way to a proper electronics recycling center.

For the PC, I had to take the hard drive out, and there's a $10 charge, but you get a $10 Best Buy gift card in exchange.  They'll take a hard drive out for you for a charge if you can't do it yourself.

The VCR they just took.

The gift card is long gone.

Took an old (1997-era) PC and VCR to Best Buy.  Cost me $10 to recycle the PC, but I got a $10 Best Buy card in exchange.  This is awesome of Best Buy--keeping electronics out of landfills.