A little history first. Back in '78, when the guzzler tax came into existence, it penalized vehicles that got fewer than a combined 22.5 MPG; however, trucks, vans and SUVs weren't included because they made up such as small percentage of personal vehicles. Fast forward 30 years, there's a Grand Cherokee in every garage and some folks say it's high time to revisit the gas-guzzler tax...and perhaps the hybrid tax credit. Let's just say we can see both sides of the argument.

It's probably evidence of how far we haven't come that 22.5 combined MPG doesn't seem all that low to us. Regardless, if we're going to have a tax, then a true gas-guzzler tax should apply to gas guzzlers — vehicles that can't top 18 MPG combined — and be made an across-the-board rule, regardless of vehicle type. Yeah, there'd have to be an out for contractors, and yeah, some folks would cheat. What's new?

What about the hybrid tax credit? The intention was to help folks afford hybrids until the costs have been amortized enough for automakers to lower the price. But guess what? Prices ain't coming down. Instead, it's nothing more than a cheap gimmick. A better alternative would be to apply a "gas-sipper credit," a sort of reverse gas-guzzler tax that would credit buyers of the most fuel-efficient vehicles.

In the end, Americans are going to buy what they want, burn what they want, and drive as fast as they like. It's what we do here, and that's all good by us. But a little cash under the table to "do the right thing" is apparently part of the American way too — especially when it's complete hypocrisy. [blogs.nytimes.com]

Of course then the tax holiday would end and the 18.4 cents on the gallon tax would be added right on top. Clinton even went on to advocate for paying off the hole in the budget which would be left by levying a windfall tax on the huge profits of the oil companies. Now, we're not really whooping and hollering at the idea of high gas prices, but discouraging the profit motive of corporate energy producers in favor of short term political gains seems like a recipe for disaster. Who knew you could mix two different disaster recipes from the same list of ingredients? Oh, and let's not forget the additional consumption would mean additional profits for big oil, something that would just rub salt in the wounds of the fuel-buying public — especially given the record profits released today by the two biggest oil-producing companies. [Reuters via Yahoo News]
photo from redstatearizona