gas prices - nah, I'm not bitter
So the government wants to give us $100 to ease the cost of gas prices... ooh look, our elected officials care! Now they'll win our votes in November.How stupid do they think the public is? The Washington Post had a very good editorial saying how pointless their efforts are... and where the real blame lies (although I think Congress is just as worthy of blame):
"The president has, of course, had plenty of opportunities over the past five years to shape a more rational energy policy, one that would have provided incentives to move away from oil and toward other energy sources. He could have lobbied harder to remove the oil industry tax benefits from the energy bill he signed. He could have insisted that Congress add more tax breaks for hybrid cars, as he now says he wishes it had done. He could lift the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol, which would help address some of the ethanol shortages across the country. He could have endorsed a tax on oil and coal, which of course would not lower the price of gasoline but would, again, begin to reduce demand while encouraging investment in new technologies.
And he could have used his statutory authority to raise automobile fuel economy standards or persuaded Congress to find other ways to improve mileage per gallon of U.S. vehicles. Again, if he were completely honest, the president would tell Americans that the main reason fuel prices are higher in this country is because demand is growing -- and one reason for growing demand is that people drive inefficient cars. They drive inefficient cars because public policy, long shaped by the president and by Congress, has made it advantageous to do so. Until that changes, little else will."
[full text of article is here]
We're a wasteful country, and it's finally coming back to bite us in the @ss. A puny rebate isn't going to help out inflation--when the cost to produce and transport goods and services increases with the fuel costs, and your paycheck buys you less, that $100 will disappear real fast.
/end bitterness
Labels: life
posted by deb @ 12:35 PM
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