Ray LaHood Grinds His Axe ... Again

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

Ray LaHood is great, isn’t he? When that big nasty corporation, Toyota, was building those awful machines that were murdering people and their children in their sleep in the middle of the night, he urged everyone to “ stop driving your Toyotas” ( Ford also had a problem with unintended acceleration, but LaHood couldn’t go after them with the same vigor as he was busy dealing holding “Toyota’s feet to the fire” at the time). His useful piece of advice led to a calm and controlled recall and gave people the courage to come forward and give their horror stories of how their Toyotas went all “HAL” on them. Then came allegations that Ray and the NHTSA were suppressing a report that confirmed it wasn’t the cars but driver error. Well, Ray knew he was being stabbed in the back but you can’t keep a good man quiet for long…

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he wouldn’t be surprised if a review of documents from Toyota revealed additional safety lapses. He also went on to say that Toyota was “safety deaf” and that they made a “huge mistake” by not disclosing safety problems its accelerator pedals. Ray LaHood also said that “This is the first thing that we have found. It may not be the last thing…it would not surprise me if we discovered other information.” Again, I’m not sure that’s true. When NHTSA said they couldn’t find anything wrong with the Toyota cars and maybe, just maybe, the drivers were at fault, I’m pretty sure that surprised the hell out of you.

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Sep 10, 2010

    I guess he figures that every mine has a gold seam worth digging for, no matter how long it takes. The joke is on him. Consumers intuitively knew there wasn't really much of a "Toyota" problem, and bought their cars anyway. People figure that accelerator pedals are controlled by the driver, and (unlike exploding Pintos) could be related to driver error. I also think the internet helped Toyota in this case (unlike Audi so long ago) since consumers weren't subjected to solely sensational MSM coverage.

  • Contrarian Contrarian on Sep 10, 2010

    I may buy a Toyota Corolla in the near future. Roy-The-Hood's comments may have just convinced me. The quality and intelligence of our rulers seems to be slipping by the day.

  • Corky Boyd Corky Boyd on Sep 10, 2010

    This administration is prone to use thuggish pressure to accomplish its aims. I don't think it coincidental that the Toyota "sudden acceleration" problems came up at the time the administration was trying to force Toyota to keep the NUMMI plant in Fremont open. Never have I seen such a blast of hate filled rhetoric aimed at a corporation of which LaHood's "Don't drive your Toyota" was the most egregious example. But it is standard operating procedure for this gang. They did it to AIG by sending bus loads of SEIU thugs to the homes of its employees to intimidate them out of their bonuses. And this after the Democrat congress had specifically authorized the payments in a bill the President had just signed. The administration threatened to sic the WH press corps on Chrysler's secured creditors because they had the timerity to ask for a judge to decide on the fairness of the pittance they had been offered. Thanks to the internet and great sites like this, the public is now aware the promised hope and change is not what they thought it would be. Using government regulatory pressures along with over-hyped or contrived stories to blackjack companies has no place in our form of government. The public is smarter than most pundits think.

    • See 3 previous
    • CamaroKid CamaroKid on Sep 10, 2010

      Yes, thanks to the internet we can take posts like this apart and show them for what they are. So let me get this straight. It is your POV that "The Administration" was attempting to keep the NUMMI plant open, by convincing customers NOT to buy cars made at that plant? Logic much? They bullied AIG? WTF! That made coffee come out of my nose. This company almost bankrupted the whole nation and you want them to keep their bonuses! Again Logic much? Oh and you missed the point that AIG was bailed out on Sept 16, 2008 almost 2 months before Obama won the election and almost 5 months before he took the oath of office (twice!)... Use the Calendar much? You are rigth about using government regulatory pressures along with over hyped stories to blackjack companies... AIG was blackjacked on Sept 16 2008, Wells Fargo was forced to buy Wachovia on Oct 3 2008, Citigroup was socialized on Nov 23, 2008. GM and Chrysler socialized on Dec 23, 2008. You can try to re-write history, but the log that is the internet will catch you every time.

  • MikeAR MikeAR on Sep 10, 2010

    CamaroKid, just because the previus adminstration screwed up doesn't excuse the current administration. Also left out of your narrative was the fact that Democrats in Congress overwhelmingly voted for the bailouts. It wasn't just by decree from Bush that they happened. He screwed up badly doing that and will be judged by history for doing so. But the current adminstration was doubled down in screwing up. Sorry you wasted your time on something that was totally invalid.

    • CamaroKid CamaroKid on Sep 10, 2010

      You are mostly right, however the Auto bailouts were defeated in Congress in late November, and again in early December. The socialization of GM and Chrysler that occure on Dec 23 2008 WAS by decree of Bush and Paulson and were, at best, "questionable" in their legality. But that is all water under the bridge now.

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