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A couple of articles in latest (#41 Feb) issue. A 1940 120 and some more pictures of other years but the most interesting is the editorial.
Seems that the EPA has new rules that they apparently slipped thru with little --30 days via their website-- public comment that will be finalized and in effect this month. It pretty much makes anything other than a can of spray paint (including MeCl paint stripper & autobody refinishing) illegal for the garage restorer. Another proposal they are trying to implement by 2011 is to outlaw automotive paint sales to anyone other than professionals with booths, etc.

I just received an email yesterday citing the Hemmings article. It seems the bureaucrats are going to strip us of all our rights by regulation rather than having it put to any vote or suppported by any candidate. This is what occurs when a "broad" interpretation of the Constitution is upheld by the Supreme Court. These kinds of regulations are not really within the scope of the federal government. If the states would stand together and demand enforcement of article X of the Bill of Rights we wouldn't have any federal bureacracies and regulations tieing us up in knots. FDR started us down this path and no one has the cojones to stop it.
I'll put my soapbox back underneath the tool cabinet for now.

If they outlaw all automotive paints by 2011, all my cars will be painted with Sherwin Williams Latex.........

Agreed--And for my soapbox will say I wouldn't count on the states either. I thought we'd cornered the market on overzealous bureaucrats out here since there's a lot of things available in the other 49 that are not available in Calif due to efficiency or air or whatever other reason they can come up with to justify their job. It always frosts me to find something on the web that absolutely fits my need only to see the disclaimer "Not for sale in California" tacked on. I think we must be breeding and exporting them also because I notice a few other states and now the fed stating to follow. There's a couple of things in the courts now just about to break free re automobiles that some Eastern states want to adopt.

Randy: I guess you have to blame a Republican for what FDR is to have supposedly started. Seems old Herbert Hoover couldn't pull us out of the Great Depression, which started under his watch.

FDR lead us out of the Great Depression, made sure that people in the South got electrical power into their homes through the formation of the TVA. Showed outstanding leadership through out WWII. It always seems to me that when Conservative Republicans think things are wrong in this country they blame the Democrats. While kindly ignoring the screw ups they have made.

Now I too will put my soap box away.

John F. Shireman

Though I was born long after FDR had passed away, I am very grateful for the legacy of his New Deal. If it weren't for Social Security, my folks would be living in abject poverty.

Because history has shown - time and again - that you cannot trust Korporate Amerika to do the honorable thing, government intervention is inevitable. However, I wouldn't trust ANY politician to look out for my best interests these days - no matter which party they belong to. Seems like their constituency only extends as far as the money trail.

Yet, finger-pointing won't change anything. If ya wanna make a difference, get out and VOTE. If enough of us remember to repeatedly vote carpetbaggers and the like out, maybe we'll get someone in there who will give all these the self-serving bureaucrats the bums rush.

Meanwhile, if the EPA gets it wish on this paint situation, it's only gonna backfire on the producers of coatings and body shops (who are 100% behind this move). Most people I know in the hobby can't afford the cost of a professional paint job under the current paradigm. I suspect we'll see a lot more daily drivers painted with a roller and a lot fewer restored cars.

Brian, if you read the initial SS setup, the money was supposed to be in its own trust fund - not to be touched for any other reason. LBJ changed a lot of that, put the money in the general coffers and spent SS money on anything the politicos wanted. I was lucky enough to be outside SS and the govt is still trying to get their hands on railroad money. We are probably poles apart politically, but good friends under the hood

Randy -

...and they're still dipping into the SS kitty to this day.

I think LBJ was one of the worst presidents this country has ever had; as a child, under his administration, my greatest fear was growing up to be drafted and shipped off to the endless VietNam War - only to come back in a coffin (or worse).

However, I haven't seen one President in my lifetime who lead us into real prosperity; some just haven't been as bad as others. Yet, the current administration's plan to fix SS is nothing short of insanity. (Don't even get me started on Pennsyltucky's Gov. "Swindell"!!!)

You might be surprised to know that I didn't bother voting until 1992 (when I felt compelled to help remove Bush I from office), but know also that there's never been any political party listed on my voter registration card. Yet, because I won't classify myself as Republican, the typical member of that party considers me a Democrat by default, when nothing could be further from the truth. (I'm nobody's patsy.) It doesn't matter to me what political party you subscribe to, but you strike me as a free-thinker - not the typical party member.

Heck, anyone who owns and appreciates a Packard and works on it with their own two hands can't be all bad - LOL!

Seriously, I'm all in favor of anyone being allowed to squirt their own paint on their car as long as they exercise reasonable care in disposing of wastes. I don't think that effectively banning the hobbyist from painting his own car is going to help the environment one bit - especially when Korporate Amerika can buy and sell pollution credits.

NEVER vote ANY politician/party for a second term.

There should only be one term for any elected office. Government "service" wasn't meant to be a lifetime on the dole.