U.S. Raises Fuel-Efficiency Requirements for Cars and Light Trucks - WSJ

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday that it would require auto makers to achieve a fleetwide average of 55 miles a gallon by model year 2026, up from a standard of 43 mpg set during the Trump administration

More government-imposed market distortions to be soon followed by producer gimmicks.

In total they would cut nationwide emissions by nearly 2%, based on EPA estimates.

And therein lies the rub. Upending an entire industry to make a statistically meaningless impact, especially when compared to the increasing emissions outputs of Russia, China, and India.

Why are we ruining our lives with no appreciable benefit?

“We are setting robust and rigorous standards that will aggressively reduce the pollution that is harming people and our planet—and save families money at the same time,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

False logic. These technology changes are going to increase the cost of new (and later used) cars by a factor of $1,000s while “saving” a family on their annual fuel bills by a factor of $100s.

“Achieving the goals of this final rule will undoubtedly require enactment of supportive governmental policies—including consumer incentives, substantial infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S. manufacturing and supply-chain development,” he said.

That was fast. The automotive industry is already claiming they can’t meet these goals without more taxpayer subsidies.

PirateShip is excellent.

📦

I don’t know if it’s very funny or very sad that my 8yo came up with a clever COVID joke.

Vast Household Wealth Could Be a Factor Behind U.S. Labor Shortage - WSJ

Families that win at least $30,000 in the lottery tend to earn less in the next five years, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released in July by four University of Chicago scholars. The more a person wins, the bigger the effect that the award has on earnings and employment, the paper found. Upper-income winners are more likely to reduce their hours, while lower-income winners are more likely to drop out of the labor market entirely, the paper found.

Fascinating.

White House lights up Manchin after he crushes Biden’s megabill - POLITICO

With an evenly split Senate, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer needs every Democrat to go along with the legislation, which only requires a simple majority vote. That dynamic gives Manchin enormous leverage over Biden’s agenda, allowing him to single-handedly sink a priority that Democrats have spent much of the year working on.

If by “single-handedly” you mean Manchin’s single vote plus 50 other senators’ votes.

The White House Art of Furious Persuasion - WSJ Opinion

The progressive whiz kids who run President Biden’s White House don’t have much sense of self-restraint—or common political sense. Their response on Sunday to Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to Build Back Better was to accuse him of bad faith while saying they’ll beat him up until he changes his mind.

How to win friends and influence people?

Joe Manchin Rescues the Democrats - WSJ Opinion

We have to admit that Mr. Manchin’s defection also vindicates Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s strategy to support an infrastructure bill that showed bipartisan Senate deal-making is possible. We don’t apologize for opposing that bill on the merits; it contains hundreds of billions of dollars in wasted spending. But Mr. McConnell calculated that sometimes you have to sacrifice a piece to win the chess match, and the GOP leader read the West Virginian well.

Agree.

Biden’s Climate Plans Thrown Into Doubt by Manchin’s Rejection of ‘Build Back Better’ Bill - WSJ

Without action from Congress, Mr. Biden could still meet the target, analysts said. But doing so would require more-ambitious state and executive-branch actions such as tighter federal rules on power plants, vehicles and industrial emissions

Now where have I heard this story before…

“Without the cost-reduction assistance of congressional actions, federal and state leaders will face higher technical and political hurdles as they pursue the ambitious policies required to get to the 50-52% target,” the report says.

Cost-reduction assistance, now that’s funny! Excellent writing. Code for forcing taxpayers to pay for terrible projects that the Market won’t support on its own.

And by “political hurdles” do they mean a discontented electorate that disagrees with reorganizing the entire society based on a contested scientific theory?

The Santa Clause

🍿

First fire of the season.

Manchin Says He Won’t Vote for ‘Build Back Better' Bill - WSJ

Thank goodness!

Tech-Savvy Kids Defeat Apple’s and Others’ Parental-Control Features - WSJ

Parents say the controls aren’t simple enough and there are too many loopholes.

This is the essential problem. Software design has the absolute ability to create a master/slave dynamic, but the manufacturers and app developers are incentivized to help kids circumvent parental controls and increase engagement with a key demographic. So instead, they give these convoluted and easily breakable “tools” that are just a veneer.

Maybe parents should just stop giving kids these devices.

“I’ve been in tech for a long time, and I understand products pretty well, and I was incredibly confused,” said Tim Kendall, former president of Pinterest

Same.

Decorated and ready to share.

Taiwan Voters Back Ruling Party in Referendum, Removing Obstacle to U.S. Trade Deal - WSJ

Beijing claims democratically governed Taiwan as part of its territory.

A claim that has never been factual in the 76 years since Taiwan was established.

Culinary art in progress.

Investors Balk at Plan to Buy Coal Mines and Close Them - WSJ

Citigroup Inc. and its partners abandoned the creation of a fund that aimed to shorten the life of coal mines after the group struggled to convince investors of the plan’s green-energy merits

Apparently the Market doesn’t like to put money into stupid ideas.

And that’s saying something in a year where GameStop is up 802%, AMC is up 1,349%, and Dogecoin is up 2,980%.

For the record, S&P 500 is +25% for the year, and Citigroup is -0.6%.

Morning garage projects with son:

✔️Replace truck side mirror

✔️Build jellybean dispenser

Army And Navy Both Forfeit Football Game, Leave Billions Worth Of Equipment On The Field - The Babylon Bee

In a press conference later that day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin proudly announced that it was “the greatest football game ever played in history.” 

Vladimir Putin Names His Price - WSJ Opinion

“The line pursued by the United States and NATO over recent years to aggressively escalate the security situation is absolutely unacceptable and extremely dangerous,” a Russian foreign ministry official said, apparently without irony.

118 years of flight.

Southwest Airlines CEO Tests Positive for Covid-19 - WSJ

Stop writing these stories. This is not news.

Hillary Clinton Reportedly Considering Losing Again In 2024 - The Babylon Bee

ITT Tech Political Science Professor Glenn Measure commented, “Again and again, public opinion polls show that vast majorities of people would choose Hillary Clinton as the person they would most want to see the Presidency dangled in front of, only to have it yanked away in the most painful and humiliating way possible.”