| Auto Execs Urge Government to Tax Fuel up to $8/Gallon to Increase Fuel Efficiency; Auto executives want to ruin the economy | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Nov 7 2009, 07:57 PM (100 Views) | |
| wingedwheel | Nov 7 2009, 07:57 PM Post #1 |
Not Pictured Above
|
http://www.dailytech.com/Auto+Execs+Urge+Government+to+Tax+Fuel+up+to+8Gallon+to+Increase+Fuel+Efficiency/article16727.htm Auto Execs Urge Government to Tax Fuel up to $8/Gallon to Increase Fuel Efficiency Jason Mick (Blog) - November 6, 2009 12:29 AM CEO at leading parts supplier: "Energy independence...ultimately means that fuel has to be more expensive" It's no secret that when gas prices dropped early in the year and with the recession in full swing, hybrid sales saw their first drop in years. Faced with tough new fuel economy restrictions, auto executives had come up with all sorts of unusual suggestions -- such as cutting crash testing -- but now had to puzzle over a new dilemma; what if consumers don't want the higher-priced electric vehicles that they plan to start flooding the market with in less that a year? At a special Reuters summit in Detroit, numerous auto industry executives are cited as suggesting that the government raise taxes on gasoline substantially to spur the adoption of fuel efficient vehicles. States Tim Leuliette, chief executive of privately held parts supplier Dura Automotive, "In the United States, we're afraid to touch the fuel price. We've got to continue to raise taxes in the United States so that, by the end of the next decade, gas is about $8 a gallon in today's terms." He adds, "What you have to do is do it in a manner that is slow enough and predictable enough that vehicle selection and choices by people over the cycle can be made in a logical way." Eight dollars-per-gallon gas? The idea certainly sounds absurd. However, the idea of the government pouring over $100B USD into the auto industry and partially nationalizing GM and Chrysler might have sounded ridiculous a decade ago too. Mike Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation Inc., offered similar sentiments, complaining, "The U.S. allows the price of gasoline to go back and forth across this line where the consumers don't care about fuel efficiency and where consumers do care about fuel efficiency." He suggests a near term fix of taxing gas to around $4 or $5 a gallon to help vehicles like GM's 2011 Chevy Volt EV grab marketshare. Jerry York, a former GM board member and an adviser to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, concurred. He states, "Unless gas is $3.50 or $4 a gallon, consumers are not going to want to buy those cars." Hearing such pleas for government intervention and taxation certainly seems a strange one coming from the business sector, which normally argues and lobbies for minimal government involvement. However, a growing number of industry executives feel that a $25B USD advanced technologies loan program and the expensive cash-for-clunkers program just aren't doing enough to boost the sales of clean autos. The solution, they argue, is for the government to hit consumers where it hurts -- in the wallet. Some are suggesting tax rebates at the end of the year for customers with hybrids and a food-stamp-like subsidy for poor citizens. But at the end of the day the general message is the same; tax fuel. Concludes Dura's Leuliette, "Energy independence in this country ultimately means that fuel has to be more expensive." 
|
 |
 
|
| Baldo | Nov 7 2009, 09:20 PM Post #2 |
|
In other words a fake scarcity. Do these fools really understand what this would do to the business community and the prices of everything we buy? No they don't. It sounds like some great idea to a cloistered individual who doesn't have a clue how food is grown, harvested, and brought to warehouse and then to market. High fuel prices will add dramatically to everything we buy. It will crush our economy. Of course maybe that is what some want. In fact it is a page of out Marx & Lenin which moves a Capitalist system to socialist and communism by bringing down the economy. Of course some promoted this for their personal benefit. You want a revolt go ahead and raise taxes on fuel. They will have a revolt on their hands.The Truckers alone will shut down DC. Edited by Baldo, Nov 8 2009, 08:26 AM.
|
|
|
|
| Mason | Nov 7 2009, 09:41 PM Post #3 |
|
Talk about Scary! Wonder if the idea originated by the WH with the deep pockets and never ending bailout funds. |
|
|
|
| retiredLEO | Nov 7 2009, 10:11 PM Post #4 |
|
Who is Mike Jackson, he is the only one mentioned in the article? |
|
|
|
| retiredLEO | Nov 7 2009, 10:13 PM Post #5 |
|
Shutting down DC would be great and maybe a lesson to all of the snobs in the congress and senate. No food would be great for DC. They would have to pay the 8 dollar a gallon tax to drive out of DC at mealtime. |
|
|
|
| kbp | Nov 8 2009, 09:42 AM Post #6 |
|
Should such a tax be added, we would already be there. |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · LIESTOPPERS UNDERGROUND · Next Topic » |
3:18 AM Nov 29
