Rightwing pundits attack the Volt, which forces Fox to change definition of who's"rich"— Autoblog Green

We get the feeling that a memo was sent out to right-wing pundits recently to attack theChevrolet Volt. AfterRush Limbaugh's rant a few weeks agoagainst the plug-in hybrid, we found similar editorials in theChicago Tribuneand theTuscon Citizen. We don't have time to point out every misguided critique of the Volt, but we were a bit surprised by the results of research done by the left-leaningMedia Matters: the Volt is causing Fox News to change its definition of who's rich in America.

See, the conservative attacks on the Volt and the federal subsidies it qualifies for are based on the idea that it's too expensive. The Tuscon Citizen calls it"just the latest expensive toy"while Jonah Goldberg says it's a"plaything for the rich."Fox News' Stuart Varney played along, saying:

This car, even at $41,000 a pop, is heavily subsidized. So if it is young, urban, very rich people who buy it {...} This is wealth redistribution in reverse. This is average taxpayers subsidizing the purchases of very rich people, $200,000 income per household.

Ignoring the part about how"Doctor Zero"told Fox a Volt really costs $81,000 (the methodology used is weird. In any case, we've heard cost could be as high as $100,000k, but General Motors insisted it's nowhere near that high), what's interesting here is that at other times, Varney was adamantthat anyone making $250,000 a year isnotrich. Oh, how hard it is to keep up with the talking points these days. Better luck next time, Varney.

{Source:Media Matters,Tuscon Citizen,Chicago Tribune}

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