Obama announced new CAFE standards today.

Two quick notes:
First, they're supposed to be fully in place by the 2016 model year.
God willing, Obama will still be in office, at the end of his second term. So there'll be consistent pressure to implement these new standards.

Second, Obama announced that these requirements would add about $1300 to the price of a new car.
Notice that that's in 2016, so it's eight years to get used to the new prices. They won't suddenly jump $1300 in the last year of the phase-in.

And with cars being much better built than 20-30 years ago (mine is 10 years old, and my wife's is 15,) this $1300 can safely be amortized over a ten-year lifespan. That makes $130 a year, just over 10 bucks a month, or about $2.50 a week. Which is the price of one Starbuck's coffee, or a gallon of gas. And both of those are bound to go up before the end of the eight-year phase-in on these new standards, much less the following ten years of a new 2016-model-year car.

So, when the Republicans try to scare you with these increased costs, stay calm. Have a latte. In the long run, that'll be more expensive.

After years of abuse, the battered woman is brought to the ER. Many of her injuries are obvious: bruises, malnutrition, missing teeth. But a closer look reveals several broken or mis-set bones, internal bleeding, and several orgaans on the verge of shutting down. The lead doctor in the ER can't be overwhelmed. He must do everything to save this woman's life, and then make arrangements, through diagnosis and then long-term treatment, to return her to health, while he and others document the situation so that her abuser never commits these crimes again.

Dr. Obama isn't trying to do too much. He's just trying to staunch the bleeding and return the victim to a level of strength that she can stand on her own feet and start growing again.

Meanwhile, we owe it to America to document the abuse, so that the abusers never dare do it again.