I read the other day that overwhelming majorities of Americans support federal fuel economy mandates: 77 percent of Republicans and 92 percent of Democrats, according to a recent poll (see here). That means they also support the $1,300 line item on the window sticker of the new Cadillac CTS-V GM dropped off for me to evaluate this week. It’s not a wheel/tire package. Not an upgrade audio system. Not special paint.
It’s a “gas guzzler” tax.
You buy the CTS-V, you pay $1,300 extra – on top of the sales tax; on top of the title taxes – with the money you’ve got left after paying federal, state, local, Social Security and Medicare taxes. And why? Because your fellow (and frequently flag-waving) Americans are anti-freedom. They resent you – the buyer of a car like the CTS-V, which uses more fuel than they think itought to use – and have put in place mechanisms designed to punish you for having the effrontery to buy such a car.
They will cry, “but the CTS-V is a gas hog!”
And they are liberty hogs – because they cannot comprehend that whatever gas the CTS-V uses – whether it’s a lot or a little – every last drop of it was paid for in toto by the owner of the car. These people have no more right to bitch about the gas that goes into the tank of a CTS-V than they do about the gas that goes into the tank of a Prius hybrid. In both cases, the owners of the cars bought the gas. It is their gas. Whatever stake that amorphous entity that goes by the name of “society” might have had in the disposition of that fuel prior to the sale of that fuel is vitiated by the fact of its purchase – at which point the fuel becomes the property of the person who bought it. Who paid for it in full – including the regressive and confiscatory motor fuels taxes that are part and parcel of every gallon purchased.
The buyer of a car such as the 556 horsepower supercharged CTS-V, which does indeed use a great deal of gas, also pays a great deal more in motor fuels taxes than the Prius driver. That means, he paysmore to maintain “our” roads than the Prius driver. A great deal more, in fact. It says so – in bold face type, right there on the MSRP window sticker: “You SPEND $6,150 more in fuel costs over five years, compared to the average new vehicle.”
The Prius driver should applaud the CTS-V driver, who is subsidizing his hybrid. At the least, he ought to have the decency to leave him in peace. After all, he’s paying the lion’s share of the tab for “our” roads – not the Prius driver.
Instead, the Prius driver, the freedom-hating American, wants to punish the driver of the CTS-V.
Again. (Don’t forget all those other taxes, already paid – and in greater proportion, since “the rich” who buy cars like this also pay disproportionately higher taxes).
It’s despicable.
But also indicative of the envy-addled, control-freak cancer that’s metasticizing across the country. The sickness of mind – and heart – that begrudges others their liberty, their free choice. And which is determined to impose its values and views on others by force.
