Like it or not....your gas mileage is affected by politics.
As is the car you drive, how and where you drive it, the equipment it is required to have, the fuel it uses and much more.
AND your ability to legally tinker with it.

Fact is....the majority of people who do not participate in politics have allowed small interest groups to become the 'tail that wags the dog' and allowed government to rapidly take away more and more of your freedoms.

shatto, the problem is that excessive political talk gives this site a sour demeanor, creates enemies out of members who could otherwise discuss other things nicely, and runs off members who are here to talk about things like driving techniques and modifications. This site is primarily about driving techniques and modifications.

There are politics that are directly related to fuel economy, but most of the political discussions I see are not.

Sounds like time for a command decision.

so why not just make a subforum for politics and be done with it? if you dont like it dont go in there. problem solved.

i was listening to a radio program on the way home from work which i had never heard before. the host pretty much conveyed my thought on politics...

for many years he was a registered independent, not interested in what the 2 major parties offered. but, because he could not vote in the primaries nor attend political conventions, he decided to join a party to REALLY have his voice heard.

like me, he is conservative and decided that the republican party MOST closely represented him. so he changed his affiliation and started to attend local republican conventions.

he found out quickly that there were those in the party that actually put values and country above party, BUT they were few and far in between. he talked of frustration and anger that those in the local meetings would promote big names over individuals w/ integrity.

he(and i) understands the "need" to support winnable candidates, but that most of them are corrupt or put party first at all costs. this is what we have RIGHT NOW in congress and the white house as well.

NOW is the time to act, before this nation becomes far removed from what it was created for. my kids will not live in "the home of the free" by the time they are adults if our present course continues.

THIS is why i talk about politics...because the future of my country and my children depend on it!!!

^^ doesnt get any better than this. hardcore american values right here folks.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

I guess the two political camps here, as they relate to fuel savings are: Liberals, who want to save gas to "save the world" and do the right thing ecologically, and Conservatives, who believe saving gas is good business and it is, therefore, the right thing to do.

Since we here are likely a tad bit above the general population in smarts, understanding, and active in doing things, it would be natural that we would be a little more outspoken on things that affect the use of fuel. Much of what affects our use of fuels IS political...regulations on fuel, regulations on things that use fuel, whacky regulations, regulations that are needed (in whichever direction we tend to lean), and the price of fuel as it relates to the economy (which is a very broad and contentious area).

It's just a natural thing to do to discuss these things with our peers here. The problem arises when the discussion leaves the nice and heads straight for the nasty. Emotions over ideas, it's easy to do.

But, like I tell my daughter, too many people don't know the difference between talking a lot and actually having a lot to say.

good post my friend, but i'd like to add to this statement...

i suggest to my girls that they allow NO ONE to dictate their mood or type of day to be had. often times in life, and here as well, we get our feelings hurt over minor differences of opinion.

of course things can get nasty in political discussions, but if we'd stop to consider the other view and be courteous...well the rest would take care of itself.

i typically get more aggravated over a lazy or irresponsible person, than one of a differing opinion. the problem is, entitlements involve much of what i consider to be lazy individuals, and THAT is politics!

got this in an email today. good stuff. the comment about young voters really struck me hard...

CHANGE

Not long ago I read a joke... It said all the politicians running for president are promising change to the American people. We send them billions and billions of tax dollars and they send us the change.
Funny? Not really; there is too much truth in it to be funny.
But that got me to thinking... They all promise change.

A restoration that would take us back in time to a place where things ran better, smoother and life was more enjoyable.

Change? That, in truth, is what they have been giving us all along.

We used to have a strong dollar....
Politicians changed that.

Marriage used to be sacred...
Politicians have changed that.

We used to be respected around the world... Politicians changed that.

We used to have a strong manufacturing economy... Politicians changed that.

We used to have lower tax structures... Politicians changed that.

We used to enjoy more freedoms... Politicians changed that.

We used to be a large exporter of American-made goods... Politicians changed that.

We used to teach patriotism in schools... Politicians changed that.

We used to educate children in schools... Politicians changed that.

We used to enforce LEGAL citizenship... Politicians changed that.

We used to have affordable food & gas prices...
Politicians changed that, too... and one could go on and on with this list.

What hasn't been changed, politicians are promising to change that as well, if you will elect them.

When, oh when, is America going to sit back with open eyes and look at what we once were and where we have come and say "enough is enough"?

The trouble is, America 's youthful voters today don't know of the great America that existed forty and fifty years ago.
They see the world as if it has always existed as it is now.

When will we wake up? Tomorrow may be too late. When will America realize... Politicians are what is wrong with America ? This goes for BOTH parties... Republicans and Democrats, there is no difference anymore... they all do only what they can to be re-elected, not what is best for the citizens!

What is needed is for the Constitution to be amended to limit all Senators and Representatives to TWO terms in office like the President.

Oh, by the way, no big pension either, social security just like the rest of us. How do they rate bigger and better entitlements than the people THEY WORK FOR? WHICH IS US!!
Being a politician shouldn't be a person's life work but rather a call to public service then back to being an honest hard-working citizen.
Politicians are no more than housekeepers and janitors... unfortunately they act like they own the building.
GO GREEN....RECYCLE CONGRESS!
PASS THIS ONE AROUND.. FOR A CHANGE...