IT'S A GOVERNMENT MIRACLE! – AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  Have you noticed the absence of something?  Have you noticed that there hasn't been a single story about unintended acceleration in Toyotas in many weeks?

Now, if there was something really wrong with all those millions of Toyotas out there, don't you think there'd be more incidents?  Don't you think the industry-skeptical press would be right on them?  So how come they stopped on a dime?

I know.  The cars themselves decided to stop accelerating unintentionally when they heard of the government's approach to the problem.  As the Washington Examiner editorializes...

Members of the House will soon vote on the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010, which is essentially the response by the House Democratic leadership to the Toyota sudden acceleration scandal.

The measure includes a $9 per car tax to fund a lengthy list of actions to be taken by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to make sure your car doesn't suddenly accelerate without your permision in the future. The tax will be disguised as a "Vehicle Safety Fund" fee to be collected by the manufacturers.

That's the spirit!  Have a problem?  Impose a new tax.  That'll solve it.

Only in Washington would the solution to sudden acceleration be a $9 tax hike. By the way, the bill also includes a provision authorizing the Secretary of Transportation under whom NHTSA labors to increase the tax with nothing more than a notice in the Federal Register.

COMMENT:  Meanwhile, some enterprising journalist might go back and check the unintended acceleration "scandal," and fine out why we haven't heard of more cases.  It won't happen.

May 28, 2010