Comments on: At $4, Everybody Gets Rational

By: Ty

Ty — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:40:57 +0000

Wait… This, “You want more fuel-efficient cars? Don’t regulate. Don’t mandate.”

Does not go with this, “I have been advocating the cure: a U.S. energy tax as a way to curtail consumption and keep the money at home.”

Isn’t this an oxymoron?

By: AmericanJarhead

AmericanJarhead — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:55:03 +0000

The market will always determine what happens if the stupid government will stay the hell out of the picture…

By: Giorgi

Giorgi — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:41:45 +0000

it is easier to regulate the economy and an industry through incentives rather than amending some kind of industry-prohibiting law. let the consumer choose what he will buy, alas give a consumer a choice. let the auto industry struggle with marketing the “right” goods for the market…artificial protectionist laws are poison for an economy as they work only to a certain point after witch the law is no longer capable of protecting the home industry from the outside competition, rendering it inefficient, thus stretching time till the bigger collapse of an economy, that otherwise would have recovered naturally…or by actions of rational people who choose the right product at a right time, forcing the rest of players in the market to keep up with the demand and provide better goods…despite what has already been said about the Europeans, their auto industry has been under pressure since the 70’s oil crisis, and the gasoline tax has kept the automakers under pressure to produce fuel-efficient cars (Germans don’t count, i like their cars cause the average Pierre of Luigi couldn’t afford to keep a gas-guzzler…no wonder that the Japanese automakers have been kicking ass pas several years, people want a fuel-efficient and a reliable car that is also easy on maintenance… trucks and SUVs are nice, but as we can see today the govt had a responsibility to somehow throw in incentives to buy more efficient cars, in light of growing gas prices, and the auto industry would have adopted better to a changes in demand, rather than what i see on the news GM closing 4 factories that produce trucks - no need for such shock therapy for an industry in trouble, they could have retooled and designed more efficient cars gradually, knowing that the govt would slowly raise the gas tax…less govt interference the more the efficiency

By: azbastard

azbastard — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:07:36 +0000

forget the fact that Americas backbone is suffering big time, strugling to carry the weight of the idiots at the top, its gonna snap

By: shotty628

shotty628 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:12:06 +0000

I usually agree with krauthammer but this is nuts. Draconian taxes on energy is the best way to destroy the economy. It is anti-Amercian and attacks our freedom of mobility, growth, industry ect. The boating industry, PWC, snowmobiles, atv’s, RV industry ect is gonna get sunk. We aren’t buying chinese motorhomes, pwc’s and snowmobiles, lots. A lot of Indiana and Michigan assembly plants are gonna go tits up. Never forget these columnists all live in NYC and have no idea how Americans elswhere choose to recreate (not a walk in Central Park).

By: sully

sully — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:17:03 +0000

The dynamic changes dramatically at several levels and on several fronts if we’re drilling our own oil and building refineries and nuclear plants and using coal and shale oil more.
Glad to see the Senate Repubs acknowledging that finally. Now if they’d scare the fuck out of the oil speculators by threatening an intervention and then filibuster any Dhimmi attempt to control housing by pretending to give a shit about foreclosures, things might start improving.

By: Giorgi

Giorgi — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:33:00 +0000

but the sad part is something has to be done…one being the US becoming self-sufficient with regards to oil production…this will negate the whole worldwide oil demand, US consumes about 35% of oil produced worldwide…and draconian gas-tax, that something that shouldn’t be implemented right away, it should be done slowly, hell the price is high already, and i think at 5-6$/gallon all of the recreation industry is suffering, so whats the difference…the is fact that the oil demand will continue to rise globally, china is buying cars like crazy, main thing is to keep the economy out of control of politicians and adopt new laws at a whim of someone in power at the moment…then again why don’t people bother their senators and representatives to push for oil exploration on the US soil, whats the deal with that?

By: Brian H

Brian H — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:02:04 +0000

shotty;
you utterly miss his point. The price was gonna go up ANYWAY. Why send the money to the Saudis? They have enough.

So the price of avoiding the tax is to pay the same money abroad.

Capice yet?

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:26:09 +0000

A US energy tax to curtail consumption? What planet is this guy on? How in the world does he expect our foods and goods will be transported..by cow?
This kind of opinion is clearly written by someone who has a travel account, doesn’t own a car and walks to work or takes the subway.
Oh..and the illogic that the price of gas will not increase and therefore allow for a $2 tax to go to the US treasury. Is he going to ask the Saudis personally to cut back on production?
I have too many questions here..tells you how irritated this kind of commentary makes me.