Despite Promises, Economic Goals Remain Beyond Politicians' Reach

Promises are cheap, especially when you're just trying to win the next election

The Washington Post editorialized recently that President Barack Obama set a goal of 1 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. Just last year, the Obama administration's Department of Energy produced a report that said, "The goal is achievable."

These projections turned out to be wildly incorrect.

The DoE thought General Motors alone would make 120,000 Chevy Volts in 2012. Instead, there are about 21,000 Volts total on the road and GM just announced that it was shutting down parts of production for the vehicle because of low sales. And this despite massive state and federal government subsidies for the car.