Off Topic. Ford wants gas tax Options

[dmenche914]

I could not believe what I read on the news (reported on Reuters), Bill Ford Jr. of Ford Motor Co. wants a $.50 gallon gas tax to encourage people to buy more efficent cars, he also wants a tax incentive to assist people buying his complex Hybrid vehicles! You all might want to write Ford about this joker, as his tax will effect all drivers, even those that get near 30 mpg in there 30 year old 914s, which is better milage than most Ford products sold today. Just venting today on a statement from a true idiot. What a self serving proposal, that would cost many of us hundereds of dollars per year.

dave

[dmenche914]

Doesn't sound like a sensible market driven approach. taxes aren't market driven. Taxes will harm the public as pointed out, mainly the less well to do, who would need adjust their life styles. educating the public to buy more efficient cars might work. But to subsidize ford products with my tax money is wrong, that would be stealing from the poor (me) to subsidize the very rich company (Ford) Ford will get a shotgun up its butt when they try to take my money like that.

As far as public transit, it is run by politicains right now (ie many crooks in this group) that build transit systems that help developers of thoose system, which then line the re-election pockects of the politicians. We have expensive light rails, that cost ten times what a bus would cost, and no one rides them, because they cannot afford to run trains frequently enough, or to enough places, cause all the money was shot on the expensive rail system. A simple system of cheap busses on roads (even bus only roads) is much wiser, as more riders will choose it, because it will be more cost effective, hence busses will run more frequently Politicians do not want an efficient system, as there is no political kickback in a fully efficeint system. The other key here is the riders will choose to take the bus, not forced into it by high taxes on the gas. Be forced into something is not freedom, and we have freedom here (or at least are supposed too, until the taxing politicains take over) With public transit we would be stuck when ever a transit union decides to strike, so we would be at their mercy. My city wants to subsidize a ferry system, go thru the math that they qoute in their expensive info flyers they mail out, and it comes to a $5000 per year subsidy per rider (assuming two way trip, five days a week) good god that is expensive. Hell, that is more than what my 914 cost!
I am all for private busses, or even public ones where the fair box pays the cost. Until we get the politicains greedy hands out of the transit system, we will continue to have inconvinent systems that no one rides. Throwing more tax money at it will not help, they will just blow it on contracts to their political friends. Projects that cost $100 of million to run trains to airports yeah right, i am going to put all my luggage on a bus, transfer to a train, and hope I make it on time for my flight. This project was a total waste of my tax money. That amount if they spent wisely could have run busses or other less expensive system to places where many people will actually ride them, maybe even allowing the fares box to pay for the system (as it was 50 years ago when many system were private, they actually made a profit off the fares. Thosse systems went under for many reasons, including the "competitin" of tax subsidized system, once the private systems went belly up, the public systems had no competition, and got worse and worse, as politicians funneled more tax monty into stupid projects that gave little true value to the rider.

yes I would ride a bus, if they had direct lines, frequent times. I will not ride a light rail, that costs many times more, with few trains, subject to delays when even one train ahead breaksdown, and takes longer to travel than in the car even in the worst traffic. For me to go to work on public transit would more than double my 30 minute commute each way, thats over an hour wasted each day, times 200 work days per year is 200 lost hours sitting in a train or bus, thats more hours than i recieve for vacation pay in a year. no thank you.

keep the tax off the gas, let the market decide the price, and keep my tax money away from the public transit waste of useless projects that only a politician recieving kickbacks would love. keep Public transist simple, frequent, time saving and allow private sector run it by removing as many restrictions and requirements that hurt the chances of private transit.

If I had $600 less per year (what a 50 cent a gallon tax would cost me) i would probably have to drop the 914 hobby, what would many of the 914 based vendors, and manufactures do then without my business? the tax would hurt not only poor me, destroy a years worth of vaction time, and drive vendors of my 914 hobby out of business, maybe we ought to tax thoose that are left to pay for the unemployment that would result?????

We need a free society, not one controlled by taxing politicians that claim to know best for me, yet act in there own self interests. This idiot Ford guy is just as bad, He is acting in Fords self interest at the expense of everyone else. If you want to take your own money and give it to the transit authorities, I will not object, its your money, but keep your hands out of my wallet.

at any rate i will never buy a ford with stupid exectutives that want to tax me working at ford. He is stupid, because he wants to hurt me, a former potential customer, and that is really stupid.


dave