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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (155497)	1/23/2006 9:35:26 AM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 793750

The car I drive gets 40mpg. To me, the people that can afford a vehicle that cost more than my house are not going to be affected by raising the price of gas. Only I will. I dont think that I am making a controversial statement by saying that the laws of supply and demand hit the rich as well as the poor. I distinctly remember boat sales taking a nosedive after the institution of the luxury tax in the early 90's (I think by Bush I). The same thing would happen now. I know that most people I know have turned down the heat a bit this winter even though they can probably afford the bills (I know I have). If we ration, I drive 60 miles a day to work. My neighbor drives 5. Who gets to micromanage the gas stamps? How would you write the rules to differentiate between a mom with four kids driving a Hummer and a construction boss driving a Hummer? I don't think we want to start down that road. I'm not a fan of government dictating consumers behaviours....but as JDN originally postulated, can you imagine how different US foreign policy might be if we didnt have to worry about energy dependence? I think our options with Iran would look quite different. For now, I think hydrogen and electricity generated by new nuclear plants we need to start building now is the best solution. Only 20% of our electricity is produced by nuclear plants while France is 80%. One of the better things Bush has done with regards to energy is to get nuclear back on the table (well, $70 oil obviously helped <g>). This is a VERY long process though. I cant imagine that it will have much effect in less than a decade. Slacker