AUTOS: There's No Such Thing As A Free Tank Of Gas

I'm a car nut, and have been since I was in the crib. I intend to comment here often on things automotive. Because I'm so interested in cars, it stands to reason that I'm highly interested in our energy policy. So here's one that just blows my mind.

Gasoline is selling at record levels. I've downsized my own personal vehicles with fuel efficiency in mind, a way of putting my money where my mouth is, since I consider energy policy as regards oil a matter of national security. So while we all ought to be thinking about and working on ways to use less fossil fuel so we can get ourself off the teat of dysfunctional foreign regimes, why is Congress acting against our national security in this critical area?

First they vote to create a $100,000 tax break for people who buy large SUVs (more on this to follow), yet at the same time, limiting the tax break for people who buy fuel-efficient hybrids to just $2,000. Now, as part of the most recent energy bill, Congress is actually limiting the number of hybrid tax credits that will be available, while leaving the unlimited SUV giveaway untouched.

This is obscene, and I have anecdotal evidence that it works exactly the way you might fear. Here's how it works. The giveaway goes to vehicles classified as trucks (which all large SUVs are) for companies even as small as one employee; in other words, a sole proprietorship. The purchase price has to be no lower than $50,000, and can be up to $100,000. So let's say you're starting up a tree-trimming service, or you're a building contractor, or a surveyor, or whatever. Do you go by a utilitarian pickup truck or some other smaller and more economical vehicle? Or do you buy your self a huge, gas-guzzling Ford Excursion, Cadillac Escalade or Hummer H2, and write the whole thing off, even if you use if for personal purposes at the end of the day.

My accountant told me she was advising all of her small-business customers who needed to buy a vehicle to take advantage of it because it was a way to get yourself into a really nice vehicle, virtually for free. And I know two small-business people, one a real-estate broker who bought an Excursion, and the other a tree surgeon who bought an Escalade, who took the government up on this. They both told me it was a no-brainer. They get the nice ride, the government pays the bill.

And the Saudis finance terrorists with what they spend on the gas.

POLITICS: Let Congress Keep Its Chump Change

While I'm a big fan of PBS, CPB and NPR, and I support my local affiliates, I have to say that when I heard that Congress will likely vote on cutting off the federal funding to those three, I considered the possiblity it might not be all that bad a thing.

For one thing, absent from all arguments I've read, pro and con, is an accurate accounting of what percentage of each entity's funding comes from the federal government. I suspect it's less than 20 percent in most cases. I seem to remember my favorite NPR station saying a couple of years ago that it was only 7 percent of their revenues, and that the rest all came from grants from foundations, and from "listener support." If what I suspect is correct about funding for public broadcasting, let Congress keep its chump change. A 20-percent blow to the revenues of any company, even a non-profit one, is painful, sure, but for a well-run organization, not terminal.

I'd rather see public radio and public television commit the resources they devote to lobbying Congress for funding to writing grant applications to private foundations. And if it means they have to hold membership drives and on-air auctions quarterly instead of twice-a-year, I'll put up with it. I'd rather see (or hear) that than have political forces in Congress constantly holding this sword of Damacles over the whole thing.

Cutting off funding for public broadcasting is an obvious attempt by partisan forces to manipulate the message, but it could easily backfire on them. Public broadcasting divorced from Congress might end up as a MORE independent and powerful voice than it is now.

Be careful what you ask for, right-wingers. You may get it.

Extra Innings

When I was a kid growing up, I was the biggest Mets fan you could imagine, so cut me some slack, would ya? I suffered enough through the '70s and '80s. The worst were those West Coast games. They would start around 10 p.m. on the East Coast, and I would sit in my bed, the room dark, the radio on until 1 in the morning, waiting in futility as the Mets blew another game to the Padres, the Dodgers or the Giants. I remember one particular game against the Astros went into extra innings. I remember giving up around the 16th, thinking it would be over soon because they were starting to run out of pitchers. The next day's newspapers revealed nothing new in another Mets loss. The real news was that it took 23 innings, or something crazy like that. Most amazing to me, though was that both sides had used catchers, shortstops, and any other warm body on the bench to come in and pitch an inning or two as the innings piled up.

I remember this because it reminds me of the Bush White House. The Administration is notorious for only employing people they know, and they only had a small circle of friends to begin with. As more people leave and new positions open up, I begin to wonder, how soon before Dubya has gone too deep into the bench? How long before he's got two out and two on with a one-run lead? He needs a fireballing closer, but he looks down at the bench and all he's got is a good-field, no-hit utility infielder? Or have we passed that point already?

The Training Wheels Come Off

I still have a scar on my right thigh about the size of a quarter. I got it when I was about 6. I had just gotten the training wheels off my first bike, and aimed to serve notice to the world that I was officially ready for the big time. As I rode down 92nd St., I got it in my mind that I should challenge some imaginary slalom course around some imaginary cones, so I started weaving back and forth. On about my third course correction to the left, the right handlegrip came off in my hand, followed quickly by the bare, chromed steel of the end of the handlebar plunging into the flesh of my thigh. Lots of crying and blood and bandages -- but not much time -- later, I was back on the bike, challenging the cones . . . and for safety's sake, learning to steer one-handed.

Lessons learned:

1. Bill Cosby was right, children are born brain damaged. How do we ever make it to adulthood?
2. Consumer product safety was still lacking in 1969. These days, I would have had a nice lawsuit.
   
3. One day I will know what I think I know. Whether it's how to ride a bike, or how to choose a high-deductible health plan with a tax-advantaged HSA.

I'm mindful of that other exhilirating and horrific "first" when I was 6 as I take an ownership stake in my own little corner of the blogosphere. I've read, commented, bookmarked, copied, pasted and printed from other people's blogs. But this is my first time hanging out my own shingle. This is me with no training wheels, folks. Let's see if we can do it without the blood this time.