February 20^th

Today, once again, there are no wing-nuts to rebut. I will instead offer a potpourri about a variety of issues:

I begin with my nomination for churl of the week: He is Rudolf Giuliani the self-styled “America’s Mayor.” He who so completely self-destructed in his last effort to run for President has done it again. He began by claiming that “Obama does not love America.” Then he backtracks a bit by claiming that he’s not a psychiatrist so he doesn’t really know. The he ends by saying that because Obama’s mother was white so he is not a racist. Comments like these do get your name before the public. I guess that’s important to Giuliani.  No comment from me can add a thing.

 

Congress is considering an increase in the gas tax to pay for the needed road and bridge maintenance. This is a thoroughly bad idea because such taxes are hugely regressive. The person who doesn’t earn enough to live near the job and must drive to work and back every day will have a substantial increase in the percentage of income devoted to transportation costs compared with the wealthy driver of a luxury sedan. Keep in mind that many decently paid middle class teachers cannot afford to live in the communities where they teach. Even so we must raise money to repair the infrastructure.

Congress could close the enormous loop hole in the gas guzzler tax. To “encourage” auto manufacturers to build fuel efficient cars Congress placed an  excise tax on cars getting low miles per gallon; the lower the fuel economy the higher the tax. That’s a great idea; if you can afford an enormous gas guzzler you can afford to pay more for the car.

There is a loophole: light trucks of all kinds and SUVs are exempt. The three-quarter ton, four wheel drive monster is exempt from this tax. That’s because when the tax was instituted many pick-up trucks were used by farmers and construction workers so the vehicles were exempt. (There weren’t as many lobbyists then but the farm and construction folks were very persuasive.) Things have changed: now there has been an enormous increase in SUVs and large fuel inefficient trucks that never see a farm or a construction site. They are used only for personal transportation. They have become a status symbol. A well-equipped Chevy Suburban has a retail price of about 65 thousand dollars. Such vehicles are heavily advertised by the manufacturers because the profit on each one ranges from fifteen thousand to nineteen thousand dollars. Then there are the enormous class A motorhomes costing 100 thousand dollars and up They aren’t very fuel efficient and there is no, repeat no, gas guzzler tax on them.

Then there are the heavy trucks: these vehicles cause enormous damage to road surfaces. You see signs everywhere in the spring, “Load limits strictly enforced.” The trucking industry in this country has far more clout than the typical citizen so increasing the amount truckers pay to compensate for the damage they do isn’t likely. Congress will just transfer the cost to the average driver. What else is new?