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

[lapuwali]

I completely fail to see where, in my argument, I said the additional gas tax money should go to Ford. Bill Ford said: "higher gas prices mean people will buy more efficient cars". I completely agree with that point. Raise the price of gas (by taxing it more), and people WILL buy more efficient cars. Ford will sell fewer Expeditions (which they make a lot of money on, each), and more Focuses (which they make less money on, each. Tell me again how this directly benefits Ford?).

It's market-driven because you aren't *forcing* people to buy more efficient cars, nor are you *forcing* manufacturers to make more efficient cars. You're encouraging them to do so with price changes (altering the market). Granted, it's an artificial change, but gas taxes in the US are among the lowest in the world, and may very well be the lowest in the industrialized world. One could make the argument that they're artificially low, mostly because of those same corrupt politians you mention (which industry would be hurt by lower fuel sales, and which industry does the current administration have close ties to?). It would be a severe change, and require a long time for adjustment, but it would eventually happen. Assuming such a tax change would take place, which it won't unless the political climate changes dramatically.

Say what you will about mass transit. Most people I know that knock it have never tried it. I take the train 3-4 days a week to work not because I'm some tree-hugging environmentalist, but because the alternative is sitting in rush hour traffic on 101, which any other Bay Area club member could tell you is pretty awful. Everyone who complains about how expensive light rail is has no idea of the expense involved in building and maintaining a freeway. Infrastructure is always expensive.