"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Still waiting for an answer, NOYB:

Do YOU have any bright ideas for getting lazy thinkers to reconsider the
types of cars they buy, or how they use those cars? Or, is everything just
fine the way it is?


I'd impose much stiffer gas guzzler taxes on vehicles before I'd tax
gasoline. If the vehicle is necessary for business, I'd make the gas
guzzler tax partially deductible/refundable so that businesses that need
trucks/vans/SUV's aren't squeezed as hard by it.

It must be realized that this would negatively impact truck/SUV sales, so
the government must offset the tax with huge tax rebates to those factories
which attain a certain production level of vehicles employing new
fuel-saving technology.






To put it another way, it's EXTREMELY likely that this country could, in
the
not-so-distant future, exercise some leverage with oil prices in the same
way I can exercise leverage with new car prices because there are at least
4
dealers for any brand of car in Rochester NY.

To put it another way, people in relationships will refuse to admit
they're
wrong about even the most trivial crap until they've been dragged through
194 hours of couples counseling. Analogy: At some point, people need to
give
up their attitude of "God gave every American the right to own whatever
vehicle we want, to drive it as much as we want, and maintain it as poorly
as we want, and you're a fascist/commie/whatever if you suggest
otherwise."

Do you think it's worth beginning the oil consumption counseling now, or
doesn't that give you as big a hard-on as seeing cities in flames? A real
man would get a HUGE woody from being able to tell a supplier to shove
their
product.

Taxing gas isn't the answer. A person who is driving a hybrid fuel car may
be doing so because they have a long commute to work and that's the only way
they can fit fuel expenses into their budget. By taxing the fuel, you may
make them exceed their budget, but leave them with no alternative. Taxing
the purchase of products which use a lot of fuel is a better answer.

It's cheaper to buy a two-stroke outboard motor than a four-stroke. If the
government wants to attack the fuel economy issue and some environmental
issues at the same time, then they should impose a stiff
gas-guzzler/polluting tax on the conventional two-strokes.

They can also offer huge incentives on the manufacturing side. Having
manufacturers make large changes in technology is very expensive. The
government needs to reward the companies which make those changes.

"NOYB" wrote in message
k.net...


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Still waiting for an answer, NOYB:

Do YOU have any bright ideas for getting lazy thinkers to reconsider the
types of cars they buy, or how they use those cars? Or, is everything
just
fine the way it is?


I'd impose much stiffer gas guzzler taxes on vehicles before I'd tax
gasoline. If the vehicle is necessary for business, I'd make the gas
guzzler tax partially deductible/refundable so that businesses that need
trucks/vans/SUV's aren't squeezed as hard by it.

Logical, although you'd have to work out some sort of highly detailed scheme
for hobbyists, like someone who raises horses for kicks and needs one of
those huge diesel pickups with a 5th wheel for the trailer. Same for people
who haul an RV and need that same kind of truck.


It must be realized that this would negatively impact truck/SUV sales, so
the government must offset the tax with huge tax rebates to those
factories
which attain a certain production level of vehicles employing new
fuel-saving technology.

Only if those car makers redesign their SUVs to reflect the fact that maybe
10% of owners actually need the vehicles geared for off-road use. Otherwise,
all they'll do is tweak the engines just enough to squeeze under whatever
new limit is set. No redesign, no tax break.



To put it another way, it's EXTREMELY likely that this country could, in
the
not-so-distant future, exercise some leverage with oil prices in the
same
way I can exercise leverage with new car prices because there are at
least
4
dealers for any brand of car in Rochester NY.

To put it another way, people in relationships will refuse to admit
they're
wrong about even the most trivial crap until they've been dragged
through
194 hours of couples counseling. Analogy: At some point, people need to
give
up their attitude of "God gave every American the right to own whatever
vehicle we want, to drive it as much as we want, and maintain it as
poorly
as we want, and you're a fascist/commie/whatever if you suggest
otherwise."

Do you think it's worth beginning the oil consumption counseling now, or
doesn't that give you as big a hard-on as seeing cities in flames? A
real
man would get a HUGE woody from being able to tell a supplier to shove
their
product.

Taxing gas isn't the answer.

I'm not referring to taxing. I'm talking about an advertising scheme as
pervasive as what we now see for tobacco, drugs and DWI. Taxing may cut
demand indirectly, but changing minds is direct. If you don't believe this,
take a peek at what the carbohydrate scandal has done to the earnings of the
major bakers in this country.

What's the *real* price of oil these days?

When you consider the military costs involved to try and secure a few countries
in the middle east that we can ultimately compell to sell us as much oil as we
want/need? Gotta be north of $100 a bbl.

Cost of oil?
$100. An arm and a leg. Your first born.

John Kerry has proposed a $4000 tax credit for people who will buy hybrid or
alternative fuel cars. That seems to me to be a bit more repsonsible than
making a list of oil-rich countries where we can claim terrorists may be
hiding.

If everybody drove a hybrid car, we'd have all the more fuel left for my boat.
:-)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:30:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There are no angels.

A - freakin' - men.... [1]

Take care.

Tom

"The beatings will stop when morale improves."
E. Teach, 1717

[1] Except for my two daughters and wife that is. :)

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:30:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There are no angels.

A - freakin' - men.... [1]

Take care.

Tom

How did you like that lobster book, by the way?

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 11:17:12 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:30:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There are no angels.

A - freakin' - men.... [1]

Take care.

Tom

How did you like that lobster book, by the way?

It's on the top of my pile of winter books - I was afraid that if I
got into it, I'd waste a couple of summer days reading it.

There is such a dearth of good reading material out there today that I
ration my books. And I don't particularly care for action or
adventure novels, except for sci-fi and that genre has pretty much
gotten VERY boring and predictable. I've read every 19th century
sailing hero novel ever written, five times over I might add, so
that's out.

I'm even thinking of breaking down and buying a DVD player for my
office so I can catch up on movies this winter.

~~ sigh ~~ it's tough being old, 'ya know? :)

Take care.

Tom

"The beatings will stop when morale improves."
E. Teach, 1717

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 11:17:12 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in
message
.. .
On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:30:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

There are no angels.

A - freakin' - men.... [1]

Take care.

Tom

How did you like that lobster book, by the way?

It's on the top of my pile of winter books - I was afraid that if I
got into it, I'd waste a couple of summer days reading it.

There is such a dearth of good reading material out there today that I
ration my books. And I don't particularly care for action or
adventure novels, except for sci-fi and that genre has pretty much
gotten VERY boring and predictable. I've read every 19th century
sailing hero novel ever written, five times over I might add, so
that's out.

I'm even thinking of breaking down and buying a DVD player for my
office so I can catch up on movies this winter.

~~ sigh ~~ it's tough being old, 'ya know? :)

Yeah...I know. Two weeks ago, I was out with Da Boyz - the same crew I've
known for almost 20 years. I'm 51, and a youngster who's 47 started whining
about his health, followed by how all supermarket cashiers are idiots. We
took his drink away and told him we'd pants him and toss him in the parking
lot if he kept it up. He was starting to sound like my 82 old mother in law.
:-)

Doug Kanter wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 11:17:12 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in

message

...

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:30:22 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


There are no angels.

A - freakin' - men.... [1]

Take care.

Tom

How did you like that lobster book, by the way?

It's on the top of my pile of winter books - I was afraid that if I
got into it, I'd waste a couple of summer days reading it.

There is such a dearth of good reading material out there today that I
ration my books. And I don't particularly care for action or
adventure novels, except for sci-fi and that genre has pretty much
gotten VERY boring and predictable. I've read every 19th century
sailing hero novel ever written, five times over I might add, so
that's out.

I'm even thinking of breaking down and buying a DVD player for my
office so I can catch up on movies this winter.

~~ sigh ~~ it's tough being old, 'ya know? :)


Yeah...I know. Two weeks ago, I was out with Da Boyz - the same crew I've
known for almost 20 years. I'm 51, and a youngster who's 47 started whining
about his health, followed by how all supermarket cashiers are idiots. We
took his drink away and told him we'd pants him and toss him in the parking
lot if he kept it up. He was starting to sound like my 82 old mother in law.
:-)





Speaking of books, I recommend The Last Sail Down East, which discusses
the end of commercial sailing in the New England to Baltimore areas.
Lots of nice photos, too. Sail power was not uncommon as late as WW II.

Here's a page that references the book:

http://www.hazegray.org/features/schooners/

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:03:23 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.. .

~~ sniggappe ~~

~~ sigh ~~ it's tough being old, 'ya know? :)

Yeah...I know. Two weeks ago, I was out with Da Boyz - the same crew I've
known for almost 20 years. I'm 51, and a youngster who's 47 started whining
about his health, followed by how all supermarket cashiers are idiots. We
took his drink away and told him we'd pants him and toss him in the parking
lot if he kept it up. He was starting to sound like my 82 old mother in law.
:-)

Heh - my Platoon has a reunion every year - kind of a last man alive
thing. We all put $100 into a kitty, placed under the control of a
lawyer (now a law firm) whose instructions were to make at least 10%
per annum reviewable every five years and the last man alive get's to
spend it with any charity he so desires. There's a French word for
it, but I can't remember what it is.

Anyway, last years annual event, one of the guys started with the same
crap only in this case he was complaining about the lack of roughage
in diets and it degraded from there with his complaints about his
health.

We threw a bucket of ice over his head. :)

All the best,

Tom
--------------

"What the hell's the deal with this newsgroup...
is there a computer terminal in the day room of
some looney bin somewhere?"

Bilgeman - circa 2004