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| Re: Gas Hits $3.15 in California (20065) | |||
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Re: Gas Hits $3.15 in California |
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Posted by Mitch45 on Fri Mar 18 11:15:40 2005, in response to Re: Gas Hits $3.15 in California, posted by BIE on Fri Mar 18 10:51:30 2005. OK. Lets start with the biggest consumers of foreign oil - the automobile. Would you suggest that Congress create an escalating tax based on the size of a vehicle's engine? For example, in some parts of Europe, any vehicle with an engine under 1500 cc (1.5 liters) in displacement is exempt from gas use tax, but engines larger than that are taxed on a sliding scale. This is why you don't see many V-8's in Europe, except for the very high brand cars (Ferrari, BMW, et al).Sounds reasonable, right? Here's the problem: GM and Ford would scream their heads off that such a tax would make their companies unprofitable, because Americans are addicted to gas guzzlers, particularly large SUV's like the Hummer. Imposing such a tax would force people to buy smaller cars, forcing GM and Ford to cut back production of large cars and SUV's, requiring them to close plants and eliminate jobs. Those jobs are held by voters, you know, who would summarily vote the pro-tax pol's right out of office. Any other ideas? |
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