Tax Breaks For Hummers

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http://ox.eicat.ca/~scarruthers/ilx/bushfiddle.jpg

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:04 (twenty years ago) link

Wow.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:04 (twenty years ago) link

And you can feel free to quote me on that.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:06 (twenty years ago) link

I just love how the Hummer is going headfirst into the burning wilderness, I can actually see that on a car ad with the tiny disclaimer "PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS ON STUNT COURSE" underneath it and honestly it worries me that I don't think it's odd to think of an actual advertisement occuring in which someone drives straight into the pits of hell.

While, like, Andrew WK plays over it.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:07 (twenty years ago) link

how about a tow truck? would that count??

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:07 (twenty years ago) link

I imagine so, but I also imagine that you can find one or two instances of ANYTHING EVER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD working in a way that is beneficial to someone if you want to be a pedant.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:13 (twenty years ago) link

That's the point, vahid - it's fine and well to write a tax break that lets a small business buy a new tow truck. Writing a tax break so broadly that Joe Yuppie can use business funds to buy a Hummer so he can look cool with his kids is severely fucked up.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:13 (twenty years ago) link

If anyone knows a contractor using Escalades for work, please e-mail me their phone number, as I'm willing to switch companies.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 04:14 (twenty years ago) link

Well, more broadly, this is how SUVs got by in the first place. They're allowed lower mpg ratings because (by virtue of their size) they're classified as trucks, and trucks were allowed lower mpgs because they were (allegedly, at the time) mostly used by farmers and other small businessmen upon whom the extra $500 or $1,000 per vehicle (or whatever it would cost to produce slightly less noxious modes of transportation) would have been an economic hardship. Nobody even bothers to pretend that SUVs are mostly driven by farmers or people actually hauling business-related materials (5-year-olds don't count as business-related unless you're involved in businesses of a dubious ethical and legal nature), but now that half the country drives them, it's not really in anyone's interest bump the standards back up. Which is why American automobiles now have the lowest average mpg since the Carter era.

On the other hand, I got to ride around Montreal and Vermont in an Escalade last summer, and I admit I loved watching people's faces (out the tinted windows) as we cruised by; the mixture of disgust, envy and bafflement was kind of intoxicating. And I could enjoy it guilt-free since I was just a guest. Or so I told myself, drinking beer in the back seat.

― spittle (spittle), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 09:07 (twenty years ago) link

When I am king, Hummer owners will be the first against the wall. And it will be slow. One hour for every gallon of gas they used.

― Speedy (Speedy Gonzalas), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 09:55 (twenty years ago) link

Crudders I kiss you many times.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 14:36 (twenty years ago) link

I do not know any pool maintenance men (and with this admission I exclude myself from ever making a valid point in any political/enviromental/economic debate)

― isadora (isadora), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 20:05 (twenty years ago) link

It would be cool if the tax break for hummers had nothing to do with automobiles.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 20:14 (twenty years ago) link

Nickalicious OTM

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 20:50 (twenty years ago) link

why hasn't anyone made the obvious joke yet?

― Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:16 (twenty years ago) link

ha ha

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:17 (twenty years ago) link

Because no joke is as funny as the cosmic one that keeps being played on people that care about the Earth.

― Speedy (Speedy Gonzalas), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:21 (twenty years ago) link

and this is why i come here

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:22 (twenty years ago) link

I know a pool maintenance company owner, and his work truck is a Chevy Silverado -- far cry from a Hummer. The point is spot-on: who the shit buys a Hummer as their work vehicle??

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:06 (twenty years ago) link

well, people who own business licenses can buy whatever they want. I don't see how this law could be written to exclude certain vehicles. It's a loophole and a stupid one, the law is well-intentioned, but I don't know that it's done anything to stimulate the economy as intended.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:11 (twenty years ago) link

seven months pass...

WOOHOO, my picture above made Congress reconsider this tax break!

Congress moves to close SUV tax loophole

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link

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