Why I'm Ultimately Glad Trump will be the Nominee (Or, "Why I learned to stop worrying and love the HTC Vive)

[A-Lert]

"I heard from someone that he hasn't paid his taxes in the last ten years."  or maybe, "he has had five affairs" or "his dad was on the grassy knoll"

Thanks 

[Dartman]

Hey Norm, really glad to see you on this site. I just signed up this week. A lot of FR refugees!

[Norm Lenhart]

That's how ethanol fuel helps destroy fuel systems in vehicles and small engines.

Just as a side note, Before my health went to hell a few years back, I built my parents a tow rig for their pontoon boat/off-road toy to play in the desert. 79 Ford F250. My crowning glory of a lifetime of project vehicles. It had, in the current millennial vernacular, "ALL THE THINGS!" ;)

One of the "THINGS!" it had was braided steel Earls fuel line, which as car guys know is some serious stuff. Since This is a normal gasoline fueled vehicle and not a methanol burning drag car, I didn't opt for the more expensive alcohol rated line.

I should have. Because I had to replace not only the fuel line, I also had to do two rebuilds on the Holley 670 4bbl after the alcohol in the pump gas completely destroyed the line, some seals, accelerator pump and gaskets. There is no joy in having $20 grand worth of work suddenly start excreting gas over a hot engine at 80 mph on I40, I assure you. That the truck did not erupt in a ball of fire I count as proof in the existence of God.

All the boat shops here on the Colorado do brisk business replacing various fuel system components every year for the same reason. The stuff even eats purpose built  'alcohol resistant' fuel components.

[Norm Lenhart]

Hey Norm, really glad to see you on this site. I just signed up this week. A lot of FR refugees!

Thank you. though I doubt some of the natives will be as enthused ;)

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Just as a side note, Before my health went to hell a few years back, I built my parents a tow rig for their pontoon boat/off-road toy to play in the desert. 79 Ford F250. My crowning glory of a lifetime of project vehicles. It had, in the corrent millenial vernacular, "ALL THE THINGS!" ;)

One of the "THINGS!" it had was braided steel Earls fuel line, which as car guys know is some serious stuff. Since This is a normal gasoline fueled vehicle and mot a methanol burning drag car, I didn't opt for the more expensive alcohol rated line.

I should have. Because I had to replace not only the fuel line, I also had to do two rebuilds on the Holley 670 4bbl after the alcohol in the pump gas completely destroyed the line, some seals, accelerator pump and gaskets. There is no joy in having $20 grand worth of work suddenly start excreting gas over a hot engine at 80 mph on I40, I assure you. That the truck did not erupt in a ball of fire I count as proof in the existence of God.

All the boat shops here on the Colorado do brisk business replacing various fuel system components every year for the same reason. The stuff even eats purpose built  'alcohol resistant' fuel components.

They sell "boater's fuel", aka, ethanol free gas right? My parents own a boat and they complain how expensive it is. The stuff (ethanol) is the bane of small engines as well. It's murder on snowblowers.

[Norm Lenhart]

They sell "boater's fuel", aka, ethanol free gas right? My parents own a boat and they complain how expensive it is. The stuff (ethanol) is the bane of small engines as well. It's murder on snowblowers.

I havent been on the river in a while so I dunno whats on the docks now, but a lot people out here (Colorado River/Havasu area) run big pontoon type boats/100+ gallon tanks and fuel them at the car gas stations before launching and will pull them out of the water for a trip to the gas station as needed because of the cost of whatever they're pumping.

The high performance boat guys run av gas/race gas and the docks are about the only place here to get it. and THAT stuff is like $10 a gal or more.

[Smokin Joe]

They sell "boater's fuel", aka, ethanol free gas right? My parents own a boat and they complain how expensive it is. The stuff (ethanol) is the bane of small engines as well. It's murder on snowblowers.

Some places they do, some they do not. My kinfolk live in a tidewater area where they don't. My father's engine quit a mile offshore while fishing. Very easy to get killed in that situation at his age, but the reason was the ethanol fuel.

[A-Lert]

Some places they do, some they do not. My kinfolk live in a tidewater area where they don't. My father's engine quit a mile offshore while fishing. Very easy to get killed in that situation at his age, but the reason was the ethanol fuel.

That crap should be removed permanently from the market. When I've been forced to run that in my gas powered vehicles my fuel mileage is drastically reduced, like 20-40%.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

That crap should be removed permanently from the market. When I've been forced to run that in my gas powered vehicles my fuel mileage is drastically reduced, like 20-40%.

Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate

Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal regulators should increase the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.

[Smokin Joe]

That crap should be removed permanently from the market. When I've been forced to run that in my gas powered vehicles my fuel mileage is drastically reduced, like 20-40%.

I agree. There is no fun like having your vehicle die over bad fuel at -30 in a fairly remote area (no cell service). I lucked out and someone came along. Thankfully, where I live you can get ethanol free fuel, and I bite the bullet and pay the 25% more for it. The better mileage makes it cost effective, and the longevity of older fuel systems (1987-2000 vehicles) is a definite plus. But the bottom line is that without that, I still need for a vehicle to be reliable, and there times when it is no stretch to say it is a matter of life and death.

[Smokin Joe]

Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate

He did that in Iowa. That was the deal-breaker, and remains one.

Here's the kicker:
The EPA is the agency which oversees the compliance with the Ethanol (Renewable Fuels) mandate.
Trump just wooed the coal miners in WV, but it is the EPA which is killing coal fired power plants and destroying their way of life (not just jobs).
The evils perpetrated by that agency are incredible and far reaching, and the second he said he'd use them to the 'fullest extent of the law' to enforce that mandate, I knew they were not going anywhere.
I also knew Making America Great Again in the presence of the agency which has caused more manufacturing, refining, and resource extraction jobs shut down, pack up, and move elsewhere was a pipe dream. Just another bumper sticker.
Note:

The event came hours after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) told voters in the first state to choose presidential candidates that they shouldn’t vote for Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), one of Trump’s most potent challengers.

Note that Gov Branstad's son is a Lobbyist for the ethanol industry, and that Branstad said the Cruz must be defeated "whatever it takes" as a result of Cruz saying he's remove the mandate and subsidies and let ethanol compete in the marketplace. (Oil doesn't get subsidies, just the same tax breaks as any other industry).
At the time I thought Trump was just pandering (and maybe he was) but he explained it away as something needed for energy independence.
A fuel which has a net investment of more oil than the ethanol produced isn't going to make America energy independent any more than a change machine that gives you 85 cents for every dollar you feed in is going to make you rich.

[Norm Lenhart]

He did that in Iowa. That was the deal-breaker, and remains one.

Here's the kicker:

Burning food for energy has the logical consistency of demolishing your house to use as winter fuel when there's 100 cords of dried, split oak directly outside. Anyone that wants to use force of law to mandate that needs to be locked up in a cage and shot full of Thorazine because clearly they present a danger to everyone around them.

[Quix]

FWIW, My perspective:

1. The oligarchy controls all sides of the political spectrum and has for at least 60 years and some researchers say for 200+ years. It is ALL Kabuki dance as FDR indicated when he declared that IF IT HAPPENS IN POLITICS, IT WAS PLANNED THAT WAY.

2. I figure that Trump is either a plant to insure Shrillery gets in . . . or . . . he will be manipulated and ordered to be thoroughly destructive to the Republic in devious ways after he gets in. Because the oligarchy is determined to trash our beloved Nation in order to make overt establishment of the one world government on the world stage easier and sooner.

3. Cruz's wife wrote a long article for the CFR about the 'great merit' of merging Mexico, the USA and Canada into the North American Union. I wouldn't trust his conservatism any further than I could throw the U.S. Capital.

4. Wasting tons of money, energy, blather, anxiety, angst, outrage etc. on a charade, a distracting Kabuki dance . . . is foolishness.

5. It is exceedingly doubtful that our votes achieve anything of any significance whatsoever. The vote rigging has reached a refined state where it seems clear that the puppet masters are all that matters--Was it Stalin who said--it matters only who count the votes. They rig it every way they can--IN ADDITION TO hacking or engineering voting machines in very rigged ways. Jesse Ventura found out how engineered SElections were when the CIA asked him how he won--that he was not supposed to by their manipulations.

6. I'll likely vote for Trump simply because I'm not about to in any way even be seen to functionally end up supporting the wicked BWITCH from hell with her Commie values so determined to destroy more of the Republic than even Othuga managed to accomplish. I have no delusions that any amount of voting for anyone would achieve anything. The oligarchy will put in whomever they have chosen to next fill the role.

7. I consider such a perspective and facts more or less self evident for those who are sufficiently informed. I consider them unarguable.

[A-Lert]

He did that in Iowa. That was the deal-breaker, and remains one.

Here's the kicker:
The EPA is the agency which oversees the compliance with the Ethanol (Renewable Fuels) mandate.
Trump just wooed the coal miners in WV, but it is the EPA which is killing coal fired power plants and destroying their way of life (not just jobs).
The evils perpetrated by that agency are incredible and far reaching, and the second he said he'd use them to the 'fullest extent of the law' to enforce that mandate, I knew they were not going anywhere.
I also knew Making America Great Again in the presence of the agency which has caused more manufacturing, refining, and resource extraction jobs shut down, pack up, and move elsewhere was a pipe dream. Just another bumper sticker.
Note:  Note that Gov Branstad's son is a Lobbyist for the ethanol industry, and that Branstad said the Cruz must be defeated "whatever it takes" as a result of Cruz saying he's remove the mandate and subsidies and let ethanol compete in the marketplace. (Oil doesn't get subsidies, just the same tax breaks as any other industry).
At the time I thought Trump was just pandering (and maybe he was) but he explained it away as something needed for energy independence.
A fuel which has a net investment of more oil than the ethanol produced isn't going to make America energy independent any more than a change machine that gives you 85 cents for every dollar you feed in is going to make you rich.

What would happen to the fuel subsidies if the EPA were severely reduced or eliminated?

[Smokin Joe]

What would happen to the fuel subsidies if the EPA were severely reduced or eliminated?

The subsidies are going to ethanol producers. Not to you at the gas pump. If the Renewable fuels mandate and subsidies were repealed, they'd go away, but the EPA is the greatest proponent aside from the Ethanol Lobby and the agency tasked with enforcement of the mandate.

[A-Lert]

The subsidies are going to ethanol producers. Not to you at the gas pump. If the Renewable fuels mandate and subsidies were repealed, they'd go away, but the EPA is the greatest proponent aside from the Ethanol Lobby and the agency tasked with enforcement of the mandate.

If the EPA is dissolved there is no enforcement agency. So the mandate is useless and the subsidies would disappear along with the ethanol producers. I'm  realist to know that is highly unlikely to occur, but there is no reason there can't be significant reductions of both the EPA and ethanol subsidies negotiated.

[Smokin Joe]

If the EPA is dissolved there is no enforcement agency. So the mandate is useless and the subsidies would disappear along with the ethanol producers. I'm  realist to know that is highly unlikely to occur, but there is no reason there can't be significant reductions of both the EPA and ethanol subsidies negotiated.

Well, maybe there is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6ZX_epWcc 

right around 2:25

[geronl]

3. Cruz's wife wrote a long article for the CFR about the 'great merit' of merging Mexico, the USA and Canada into the North American Union. I wouldn't trust his conservatism any further than I could throw the U.S. Capital.

She wrote the rebuttal, opposing that.


6. I'll likely vote for Trump simply because I'm not about to in any way even be seen to functionally end up supporting the wicked BWITCH from hell with her

So, you'll support the one that supports her. lol

7. I consider such a perspective and facts more or less self evident for those who are sufficiently informed. I consider them unarguable.

Except when it comes to Ted's wife and Trump's own life history, apparently.

[geronl]

If the EPA is dissolved there is no enforcement agency. So the mandate is useless and the subsidies would disappear along with the ethanol producers. I'm  realist to know that is highly unlikely to occur, but there is no reason there can't be significant reductions of both the EPA and ethanol subsidies negotiated.

ethanol mandates RAISED the price of fuel.

[A-Lert]

Well, maybe there is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6ZX_epWcc 

right around 2:25

I understand where Trump is coming from, but I disagree with the need for subsidies and  ethanol for energy self-sufficiency. I believe he could be persuaded to see a contending view of ethanol use.

[geronl]

Trump believes that big companies need to be supported by the taxpayers.

[A-Lert]

Trump believes that big companies need to be supported by the taxpayers.

Can you provide a link to that claim? Or is it your contention  that lowering taxes on "big companies" is financed by other taxpayers? If so, can you explain?

[geronl]

Trump loves subsidies and handouts and he didn't think "Stimulus" was nearly big enough. Just taking into account many of the things he has said in the past.

Yes, he will be judged on his past and his present.

[A-Lert]

Trump loves subsidies and handouts and he didn't think "Stimulus" was nearly big enough. Just taking into account many of the things he has said in the past.

Yes, he will be judged on his past and his present.

So will you. Remember your accusation that Trump didn't like Scalia? 

http://www.lifenews.com/2016/02/13/donald-trump-antonin-scalia-was-one-of-the-best-of-all-time-didnt-legislate-from-the-bench/

“Justice Scalia was a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court Justice, one of the best of all time,” Trump said.

“His career was defined by his reverence for the Constitution and his legacy of protecting Americans’ most cherished freedoms,” Trump continued. “He was a justice who did not believe in legislating from the bench and he is a person whom I held in the highest regard and will always greatly respect his intelligence and conviction to uphold the Constitution of our country.”

[Smokin Joe]

I understand where Trump is coming from, but I disagree with the need for subsidies and  ethanol for energy self-sufficiency. I believe he could be persuaded to see a contending view of ethanol use.

Perhaps, perhaps not. I find it interesting that Trump made that announcement very shortly after Governor Branstad of Iowa (Whose son is a Lobbyist for the ethanol industry) declared that Cruz 'must be defeated, whatever it takes' because Cruz said he would eliminate the mandate.

Frankly, that reeked of avoiding negatives in a close race. Which ever is the case, that was a deal-breaker for me.