Posted on 03/08/2012 1:51:43 PM PST by SeekAndFind
In a speech before the Daimler Trucks North America manufacturing plant in Charlotte, N.C. today, the president delivered his answer to rising gas prices: He wants to increase the $7,500 tax credit for alternative-energy vehicles to $10,000, earmark $1 billion to reward cities that provide infrastructure for such vehicles, earmark an additional $650 million for a research program to increase the range and decrease the price of the vehicles, and repeal $4 billion of tax incentives for oil and gas companies.
Why? Here is a telltale paragraph from The New York Times:
The credit’s enhanced value would bring the purchase price of alternative-energy vehicles more in line with conventional models, supporters say. Partly because of the vehicles’ costs, sales have been a problem. General Motors announced last week that it was suspending production for five weeks of the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid that Mr. Obama has promoted in the past. On Wednesday, he did not mention his goal of having one million electric vehicles on the nation’s roads in 2015.
So, supporters admit that, right now, the benefits of alternative-energy vehicles don’t yet outweigh the costs to consumers. To the producers of such vehicles, I say: Tough luck. The onus is on them to produce a product that consumers actually want to purchase at a price they can afford. Tax credits might give consumers more reason to purchase the vehicles, but it won’t give the producer any incentive to look for cheaper ways to manufacture them. The president’s tax credit ensures that taxpayers will continue to pay an arbitrarily high price for the vehicles long after the market would have brought costs down.
The tax code exists to raise revenue so the federal government can fulfill certain basic, essential functions that individuals or state and local governments cannot (like defend the nation from its enemies!). Tax credits, tax subsidies and tax penalties turn the tax code into an instrument to manipulate behavior instead. That some Republicans favor tax credits for oil and gas companies and that some Democrats favor tax credits for alternative energy companies reveals the problem inherent in the use of the tax code for such behavior manipulation: It leaves it up to politicians in Washington to determine what behavior is desirable. Let the people decide instead.
Speaking of the tax credit, would anybody buy a Volt if the tax credit amounted to the entire price of the car?
Hell no!
Gotta help GM recoup its losses.
What an outrage.
I might possibly take one as a tax free gift if I did not have to pay to get rid of it at the end of its battery life.
They ought to give them away in a sweepstakes.......
Sign up for Food Stamps and you are automatically entered to win a Volt!
Second prize: TWO VOLTS!............
The true outrage is from former GM bond holders.
Speaking of the tax credit, would anybody buy a Volt if the tax credit amounted to the entire price of the car?
NO. I travel through heavy traffic daily with many delays. there is little to no support for these vehicles around here.
The vehicle itself is crap. and my electric bill is already to high.
Hey Obama take the volt and shove it UYA............
Apparently, they have no voice.
Illinois is giving and additional 4k tax credit.
Payback to the tree hugging leftists who fund his campaign. Outrageous stuff.
Well if 0blah blah wants to sell sum karz, all he’s gotta do is cut the price to 5 bucks, and watch the demand go crazy!!
He’s heartless! I should be given a new Volt for free, I’m entitled! I’m from some disadvanted group!
When is enough enough??
When do we put a stop to this thuggery from our own government??
Why not just give them away - for free!
Maybe Dick Obama will just give me one. I can park it in the drive to let the thugs think someone is at home when we are at work.
That smacks of free enterprise. These things must be done by government. If the Constitution mattered anymore, where in it would we find the power for the government to buy a private company?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.