New Jersey car emission tests are a waste of time - and pollute the air

New Jersey requires drivers to have their cars tested for meeting emission standards every two years. What is the point of this?  When right-wingers complain about too much government, this is what they should be talking about.

Drivers have to wait in line for the testing, meaning the idling cars are polluting the air. Everybody knows air quality is worse when there's lots of traffic, so having cars tested so often is defeating the purpose of having clean air.

Why not have all cars, new and old, tested once every eight years?  This would be enough. The old tests on cars that were required once year were proven to be useless in preventing car crashes. The government made the right decision in doing away with them. Now it's time to change the emission requirements. The government should be focusing on other, more important environmental issues.

Why do Americans want politicians, not leaders?

These days there's more campaigning than governing going on. It seems like many Americans enjoy the nonstop campaigning and blame-games that all politicians seem to take part in. Maybe that's why reality shows have become popular. I think they're boring - why would I want to watch people argue about everyday stuff that I see myself everyday - but lots of folks just seem to get off on it. Then the majority of us get disgusted because the important things don't get taken care of.

Does the American government even belong to "the people" anymore? Those who have a lot of money to fund their "causes" seem to have most of the control over policy issues.

Politicians in the United States need to become leaders who will serve the public and deal with the tough issues in order to secure our nation's future. We have dilemmas now (energy, health insurance, job creation) because politicians in the past pushed things under the rug for so long. We need leaders, which means those who will be straightforward with people about what will be best and how long things will take to get better. And for us the people, it means making some sacrifices, something Americans haven't been asked to do in a long time.