Republican Congressman Calls for Cancellation of $7,500 Plug-in Vehicle Tax Credit

[EVNow]

My sorry it is so hard to understand US politics from 5000 miles across the pond :redface:

Not to worry - hardly anyone understands it even here. Couple of things to remember are
- Republicans oppose everything Obama apparently supports (including anything that Bush supported)
- Laws are written by lobbyists
- Nissan's homestate of Tennesse has Republican senators who support EV tax credit. So, the tax credits aren't going anywhere. A low ranking house republican has vastly less power than a senior senator.

 

[hcsharp]

Isn't canceling a tax credit like raising taxes? Isn't raising taxes something that nearly every Republican politician has vowed (and underwritten) not to do?...

I was waiting for someone to point out this bit of hypocrisy.

 

[Lloyd]

Romney blasts Obama today in a speech in New Hampshire, for giving government money to Solendra, Tesla and Fisker, and then accepting donations to his re-election from the same.

 

[AnOutsider]

Romney blasts Obama today in a speech in New Hampshire, for giving government money to Solendra, Tesla and Fisker, and then accepting donations to his re-election from the same.

I love how the republicans are blasting a democrat for following through on a program initiated by a republican. Gotta love politics. Say whatever you can to be on the side of the majority, making sense be damned!

 

[Lloyd]

I love how the republicans are blasting a democrat for following through on a program initiated by a republican. Gotta love politics. Say whatever you can to be on the side of the majority, making sense be damned!

I believe you missed the point of 'Chrony Capitalism'.

 

[dmckinstry]

My sorry it is so hard to understand US politics from 5000 miles across the pond :redface:

"Normal" people can't understand U.S. Politics. The best I can do is just say it's all about greed and power.

 

[Arnold Panz]

I was waiting for someone to point out this bit of hypocrisy.

What?!?!? American politicians are hypocrites? I can't believe that's really true! :wink:

Bills get introduced with great fanfare, but even during normal times, very few bills that are introduced get passed. In times like these in the US, with hyperpartisanship and a split Congress, a bill like this has roughly 0% (I'm rounding) chance of passing the House, let alone the Senate or being signed by Obama.

The only chance it would have would be if it were tacked onto some other big bill that had to pass, like an appropriations bill. This is how internet poker was stopped in the US :cursing: For the reasons mentioned here (home state senators protecting Nissan, GM etc.), that's extremely unlikely to happen as well.

 

[DavidM]

Then, I guess a possible $7,500 point of purchase credit is out of the question : )

I don't think this politician expects this bill to pass. He just wants to let the oil industry know that he's still in their pocket, and their lobbying money is well spent (with him).

 

[EVNow]

Be that as it may, he's selling it with falsehoods. Completely forgetting about the Leaf, he's all about crapping on the Volt, calling it a car for the rich "guy that makes $175k per year". Really? Can you show facts on that?

For those who don't know - Mike Kelly has a long history of being rabidly anti-Volt.

He is the son of a GM dealer. After he married a rich oil girl, he bought the GM dealership from his father and still runs it.

It is not clear to me why he is rabidly anti-Volt, but he actually fired the salesman who ordered one Volt to his dealership (or accepted the quota).

At this point - him introducing a bill to remove EV Tax Credit is similar to Ron Paul introducing a bill to go back to Gold Standard or kill the Fed. No surprises here.

BTW, that $175k is apparently correct. That is the average household income of GM buyers. But a few very rich people buying Volt can easily skew that statistic - we don't know the median, a much better statistic to use here.

 

[Larry Chanin]

BTW, that $175k is apparently correct. That is the average household income of GM buyers. But a few very rich people buying Volt can easily skew that statistic - we don't know the median, a much better statistic to use here.

Yep,

Master of horror Stephen King likes his Chevy Volt and Sarasota

I'd say that Mr. King is doing a good job of skewing statistics.

Larry

 

[donauker]

Yep,Master of horror Stephen King likes his Chevy Volt and SarasotaI'd say that Mr. King is doing a good job of skewing statistics. Larry

Yeah, and Jay Leno!

 

[Larry Chanin]

Yeah, and Jay Leno!

Hi Don,

I doubt that Jay payed for his. :biggrin:

Larry

P.S. I spoke to the dealer that sold the Volt to Mr. King. He paid an additional $10,000 to get it shipped from California at the time Volts weren't beig released in Florida.

 

[donauker]

Hi Don,I doubt that Jay payed for his. :biggrin:Larry

Probably not in dollars. But what he's said about it is worth a lot more then the price they charge for the car!

 

[dpeilow]

Are there any democrats spreading anti-EV FUD?

 

[Robert.Boston]

I'd say that Mr. King is doing a good job of skewing statistics.

Which is why one should always use robust statistics, like median, to characterize highly skewed distributions like income.

 

[DrTaras]

If you can identify a hater without realizing that you yourself are one, then you are part of the problem, not the solution. When you make comments that start with "All Republicans" or "All Democrats" then chances are you are a hater as well. Keep the discussion factual and you will appeal to both sides of the aisle. Start making broad sweeping statements and you'll loose HALF the audience but sound real cool in your own echo chamber! A few early posts were chalk full of facts & scientific method, but many of the latter posts veered off into Partisan-Land! Refocus... its for the good of the country... its for the good of the planet!

 

[DrTaras]

Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2011

We need to be cheering for even the Prius because they are all carrying the football down the field for the EV cause. When a person approached me at a local auto show to brag that he bought a Leaf, drove it and ran out of juice so proudly returned the car to the dealership (that's a whole other tangent) it came out that he did not charge it every night but yet did charge his cell phone every night, that hurts the EV community as well. Sales of the Volt are helpful to the EV cause no matter that the car is a PHEV as the perception is that it is an EV.

To that end, I'm miffed when these talking-head shows say that we should end these EV subsidies without any mention of the 10-fold plus subsidies to oil. These are info-tainment not informational shows when they go off into partisan talking points. By the same token, these same haters were laughing when the Leaf & Volt had only sold a few hundred cars in the beginning of 2011! Where were Prius sales, one of America's best selling cars, when it was first launched? Doesn't it seem that if you want to use numbers to prove an argument, you'd use comparisons?

Furthermore, now that the Leaf & Volt have each sold nearly 10,000 cars last year, the haters continue to laud them as billion-dollar failures! Huh? They're not interested in any comparisons of low selling models in 2011, but I am so was happy to find this recent article:

Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2011

10. Subaru Tribeca
MSRP: $30,595
Units Sold: 2,791

9. Mazda Tribute
MSRP: $20,555
Units Sold: 2,696

8. Mercedes-Benz R-Class
MSRP: $52,690
Units Sold: 2,385

7. Suzuki Equator
MSRP: $17,899
Units Sold: 2,127

6. Cadillac Escalade EXT*
MSRP: $63,060
Units Sold: 2,036

5. Toyota Land Cruiser
MSRP: $68,920
Units Sold: 1,662

4. Acura ZDX
MSRP: $46,020
Units Sold: 1,564

3. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback*
MSRP: $18,395
Units Sold: 1,548

2. Hyundai Azera
MSRP: $25,495
Units Sold: 1,524

1. Acura RL
MSRP: $47,700
Units Sold: 1,096

 

[Robert.Boston]

To your point, good doctor, here's the chart of Toyota hybrid sales (dominated by Prius), from the story here

I'm sure that skeptics could point to US sales in 2000 and dismiss this Prius as a joke.

 

[DrTaras]

To your point, good doctor, here's the chart of Toyota hybrid sales

Perfect!

 

[DrTaras]

From the "or you could buy an Electric Vehicle department..."
Skeleton In Passenger Seat: Driver Bryan Stime Busted For Breaking HOV Rules
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