Tax Breaks For Hummers

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.

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.

Crudders I kiss you many times.

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)

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

Nickalicious OTM

why hasn't anyone made the obvious joke yet?

ha ha

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

and this is why i come here

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??

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.

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

Congress moves to close SUV tax loophole