Subscribe!While I would gladly except such rebate check, the proposed $100 gas rebate checks by a group of Senators (Charles Grassley of Iowa, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pet Domenici of New Mexico, and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania) is asinine. It is nothing more than election year politics. If these Senators truly wanted to find a solution to the high cost of energy, they would be looking for ways to reduce the demand for oil and gas.
One such way would be to implement a tax adjustment for passenger vehicles that get less than 25 miles per gallon. And then offer a tax break for people driving cars that get greater than 25 miles per gallon. The tax and tax break should be sizable, perhaps $100-$500 for each mile above or below the threshold. Thus, anyone driving a Hummer would have to pay an additional $1200 to $6000 a year. If you can afford a Hummer, you an afford this tax. Anyone driving a Honda Insight would get a $3600 to $18,000 tax break. Okay, so perhaps there should be some limits. Cap the tax and tax break to $5000. Of course there should exceptions for businesses who can show an absolute need for a low mileage vehicle and those below a certain income. Also, I'm not saying the tax and tax break are absolute adjustments to the tax. The amounts I've listed should be added or subtracted in the calculation for adjusted gross income. And the tax should be affective for every year the car is owned, not just the purchase year.
What should the government do with the extra revenue generated from this tax? Put it straight into energy research, and more than just the hydrogen kick the President is on. We should invest in solar, wind, and hydoelectric power. While it is true that with current technology we would have to cover an area the size of Arizona with solar panels to get enough electricity, that's not something we need to do. Imagine if everyone had solar panels on their roofs. There must be millions of square feet on American rooftops. I would venture to guess that we could collect enough electricity to power our cities and cars in such a scenario. No more gas or coal!
The things I've proposed above may not be the best solutions, but they are certainly better than the politics the government is playing in offering gas rebates and vowing to question oil companies about their profits.
