One of the presidential limousines had mechanical trouble and had to be replaced before President Obama's arrival in Tel Aviv, according to the Secret Service.
"We experienced mechanical trouble with one of the cars," said Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service. "We don't know the cause."
There have been media reports that the vehicle had been filled with diesel fuel rather than gasoline.
Donovan said the Secret Service "did not have a read on what the specific issue is at this point."
POTUS was driven in a different vehicle, he said. "That's why we bring different multiple vehicles," Mr. Donovan said.
Statement from the White House will follow.
UPDATE: The Secret Service takes the blame:
Here is a statement from Edwin Donovan, spokesman for the USSS, on the vehicle incident.
Clarification from Pool Report #7: The statement is from the USSS, not the White House:
"One of our protective vehicles experienced mechanical problems in Israel earlier today. This is why we bring multiple vehicles and a mechanic on all trips. Situations like this are planned for extensively by our advance teams so that the President's itinerary is unaffected by these types of issues."
The American taxpayers stand to lose billions as General Motors today announced a plan to buy back 40 percent of the company owned by the federal government.
Household debt jumped once again to $2.7 trillion, according to the New York Fed. "[T]he Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that in the third quarter, non-real estate household debt jumped 2.3 percent to $2.7 trillion," reports the fed. "The increase was due to a boost in student loans ($42 billion), auto loans ($18 billion) and credit card balances ($2 billion)."
The auto bailout debate, already a triumph of narrative over reality, took another turn for the absurd last week as both presidential campaigns exchanged salvos over what amounted to a misunderstanding about Chrysler's plan to build Jeeps in China.
Bill Clinton revealed at a campaign rally today that President Barack Obama's feeling were hurt over Mitt Romney's ad suggesting Jeep might move some of its production facilities overseas:
Former Obama administration official Steven Rattner said on MSNBC that Jennifer Granholm "must have had some medications or something in her system" when she addressed the Democratic convention last month:
Today is the first day of the Democratic convention in Charlotte. Coincidentally, GM, the embattled car company that was bailed out by the federal government, has some good news to report.
Earlier today on the campaign trail, Vice President Joe Biden said, "I'd trade being vice-president in a heartbeat for having won Daytona." The comment was made to an owner of a stock car that won Daytona. Via the pool report:
The Detroit Free Press reports that “General Motors made $1 billion in the first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations before being dragged down by a special accounting-related $590-million charge in struggling Europe.”
So now they have gone and politicized the Super Bowl ads. Have they no shame?
Everyone is familiar with the Chrysler spot that has Clint Eastwood walking ominously dark streets, talking about how America is down and hurting, but we’ve been here before and this is just halftime. We will be coming back. Included in that “we” is “the Motor City,” because this is a commercial about Chrysler cars, which are built in Detroit (by a company that is mostly Italian-owned but never mind).
Just to close the loop on President Obama’s claim that GM is “now making a profit for the first time in decades,” reader D.B. sent along GM profit-loss statements from 1990 to 2000.
It seems entirely possible that the only thing keeping consumers away from the Chevy Volt is its price point. It’s basically a $41,000 Honda Civic with better mpg, a quieter ride, and an upgraded interior. So the big brains at GM have decided to address the price issue by making a more expensive version of the Volt: the Cadillac ELR.
The auto industry makes America’s most regulated consumer product. So the annual North American International Auto Show here has always been a nervous intersection between public and private, between green and sexy, between what Washington wants and what the public wants.
But now that Washington is part-owner of two automakers, heavily subsidizes the purchase of alternative-fuel cars, and dictates that by 2015 vehicles get 40 percent better gas mileage to fight global warming, the intersection belonged to government at this January’s show.
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