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It sounds like most of you have only seen snow on television. Some of us have to deal with it every winter. Before I bought a 4X4 I missed an average of 10 days of work a year due to my "civic" being stuck in a snow drift. Raising gas taxes is only going to punish those who can't afford it. Do you really think the guy who can afford a Hummer H2 is really worried about how much it cost to fill up at the gas station?!? It'll hurt the guy with the 10 year old Jeep because it's now considered a SUV. How do I prove I'm using the truck for the correct purpose? Should I take a picture of myself climbing a snow drift? Take a picture of the truck when it's real muddy? What?
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I deal with snow every winter, and I've never been late for work because i got stuck. That doesn't mean i didn't get stuck, but if all you are worried about is getting stuck, get a subaru outback.
As far as punishing the poor, capitalism is all about motivating the poor by hanging that carrot just out of their reach. And saying that not being able to afford to drive an SUV is a punishment is really a stretch. Atleast, it is not punishment anymore than me not being able to afford buying a ferrari is punishment.
The rest of your arguments deal with the implementation of such a plan, and i agree that they would need to be dealt with. Perhaps some sort of permit could be issued to you if you could demonstrate that you actually used your SUV for something productive. Maybe it could be grandfathered in so as not to effect older vehicles.
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I am with Lebell on this one here, but for my own reasons as well. You are limiting people's choices here, and choices are freedoms my friend. In a free market economy, the government has no place in telling manufacturers or consumers what to make/buy. Sure, the people can get together and say hey, Ford, GM, Dodge, etc. make some more efficient cars because we're gonna start buying these other models if you don't. Which is what is occurring right now. Yeah, it makes more sense economically to get a more fuel efficient car, that's why consumers buy them. I own a 95 Ford F-150 because I use it for more shit than just hauling my lazy ass all over the place. Helping friends move, hauling stuff and other things like that when I need it. The manufacturerers will make the decision to move to more fuel efficient vehicles on their own without help from the government, law of supply and demand my friend, Ford, GM, and Dodge will either adapt, or die.
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As far as limiting my choices, it could be argued that the people who are really going to be robbed of choices are the future generations who are going to have to clean up after the mess we left for them.
I think there needs to be regulation, beause without it profit and growth are the only motivations. Sometimes society's interests are more important than profit or growth. Waiting for the market to catch up means you will wait a very long time, if not forever. How long have we been waiting for the healthcare to become affordable? Seem like it is only getting worse.