Barack Obama

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Jerry Seinfeld, Comedian in Cars, drive to Netflix

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, the innovative and increasingly popular program in which Jerry Seinfeld drives another comedian or personality to a coffee shop in an iconic car, has switched its streaming broadcast from Crackle to Netflix. The 59 shows produced for Crackle and sponsored by Audi since 2012 will be all be cataloged on Netflix. Twenty-four new segments, two standup comedy specials and other pending programming are included in the new deal. New episodes of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee will debut in late 2017. The original program received three Emmy nominations. Seinfeld’s guest have included many of comedy world’s best-known performers. Chris Rock, Don Rickles, Howard Stern, Jim Carrey and Steve Martin have appeared as well as Seinfeld TV

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Obama accelerates self-driving cars with $4 billion

The future of self-driving cars continues to accelerate. The Obama Administration has announced an investment  of $3.9 billion into the 2017 budget for a 10-year plan to support the technology. Correspondingly, Anthony Foxx, the Department of Transportation secretary, has unveiled a plan. It’s the legal framework for autonomous driving technology that would encourage consistent rules across all 50 states. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be in charge in drafting the framework. Although the federal government can dictate manufacturing regulations, non-interstate highway traffic laws are left to the states. California, Nevada, Michigan and Florida have their own respective regulations on self-driving cars, creating a rough patchwork of rules. Foxx encouraged car companies to work with the Department of

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President Obama smooth, Seinfeld sputters in Corvette

Congratulations to Jerry Seinfeld for cruising around the White House driveway with President Obama in a 1963 Corvette Stingray. It was the opening episode of the seventh season of the clever program “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.” It only could have gone worse if the car didn’t start. Like Seinfeld’s comedy act and his longstanding television program, the mini-series on the Crackle network is about nothing except if you like vintage cars, comedians, coffee and the relationship Seinfeld has with his comedian friends. It’s often brilliant, but it wasn’t this time. President Obama may like Seinfeld, but he doesn’t appear to be the comedian’s friend. As a fan of both the President and Seinfeld, it was first time I’ve watched

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President Obama, Jerry Seinfeld to cruise White House

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the car, coffee and comedy show that gave the television network Crackle its first prominent show, will have its highest profile guest to begin its seventh season, President Obama. The season debut, taped in early December at the White House, will feature host Jerry Seinfeld picking up President Obama at The White House in a 1963 Corvette Stingray Split Window Coupe. According to several media outlets, the Seinfeld and President Obama will drive loops around the famed resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. President Obama to Appear on Dec. 30 In previous episodes of the limited run series, Seinfeld picks up a comedian at a residence in a unique car. The duo drives to a coffee

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President Barack Obama's limousine: A modified 2009 Cadillac called The Beast

One of the most anticipated moments of Election Day was President Barack Obama’s arrival for his acceptance speech. One television commentator said it might be shortest processional in history since the president’s motorcade traveled only a few blocks in downtown Chicago to the McCormick Center. The short travel distance nonetheless includes plenty of security vehicles, including the current presidential limousine — a 2009 Cadillac. It’s often called The Beast. According to the manufacturer, Chevrolet, the 2009 Cadillac presidential limousine is the first not to carry a specific model name. The vehicle’s exterior many current Cadillac styling themes, but does not resemble any particular production vehicle. The body is modification of the immediately previous DTS-badged Presidential limousines, but the vehicle’s chassis

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Mitt Romney auto industry television campaign ripped by New York Times

Andrew Rosenthal, who has covered presidential elections for 25 years and is the current editorial page editor of The New York Times, is not pleased how Gov. Mitt Romney is discussing the auto industry. Rosenthal writes the blog Taking Note for the newspaper and he’s upset with a new television advertisement he believes is inaccurate. He writes in part: “It’s odd for Mr. Romney to complain that Mr. Obama ‘took’ the automakers into bankruptcy, since he advocated a managed bankruptcy for those companies four years ago. It’s also odd for Mr. Romney to claim that he’ll fight for every American job, since he got rich, in part, by investing in companies that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers

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President Obama's former Chrysler 300 back on eBay — $1 million

The 2005 Chrysler 300C leased by President Barack Obama in July 2004 with two miles on the odometer, is back for up for auction again on eBay for $1 million. The vehicle, which features a host of options — leather seats to CD player — did not sell for the same $1 million during its recent first eBay auction. In the comments, the seller writes: "We have the original Illinois title showing this vehicle was actually used by Barack. 19,000 miles driven when this vehicle was Obama's – I'm sure many of them were highway miles back & forth from Chicago to Springfield since Barack was an Illinois State Senator during 2004. "He won election to the U.S. Senate in

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President Obama campaigning on a 'magic' $1.1 million bus

The monolithic bus that transported President Barack Obama through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois for three days as one of two purchased for the Secret Service, cost an estimated $1.1 million and was built by Prevost based in Quebec, Canada. The New York Post provided the details. The top-of-the-line bus is the VIP H3-45, the same model used by many rock bands and country music acts and owned by Kid Rock, David Lee Roth and Kenny Rogers. Like the presidential limousine, made by General Motors and nicknamed “The Beast,” the bus carrying the President has armored doors. Inside is a large, flat-screen TV, chairs, sofas and electronic equipment that allows the President to teleconference around the globe. The bus is also

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President Obama: New automotive decree: 54.5 mpg by 2025

President Obama has announced a proposal with the backing of car manufacturers from General Motors to Ford and Hyundai to Toyota to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles to 54.5 mpg by and substantially reduce green house gas emissions by 2025. Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Volvo also approve the plan, which means it will affect more that 90 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States. The announcement extends a 2009 agreement with the auto industry to improve fuel efficiency in the next five years. Fuel efficiency is currently controlled by the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) within the Department of Transportation, which was enacted by Congress in 1975 in response to the

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Obama administration gets 'greener,' buys Chevy Volt fleet

The Chevrolet Volt may have just gotten its biggest jolt. The Obama administration, according to an Associated Press report, is purchasing 101 of the plug-in electric cars — the government’s first purchase viable electric vehicles. Additionally, the government is also buying 10 battery electric Nissan Leaf vehicles and five Think City EV models from Finish EV startup. In the same announcement, the government also said it is installing 100 car-charging stations in Washington, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco at a cost of about $500,000. President Barack Obama has called for a one-third reduction in oil imports by 2025 and wants to put 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015. The electric car purchases are

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President Obama: '1 million electric vehicles by 2015'

It’s no secret alternative fuel cars and electric cars will infiltrate the automotive industry as last evidenced by the attention several new green car models offered by Honda to Toyota and Volkswagen to Ferrari received at the Detroit auto show. But in case there’s any doubt on the major emphasis ahead for carmakers, here’s the short, relevant text from the State of the Union address from President Barack Obama on future car technology: “At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities.” “With more research and incentives, we can break

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