Archive for September, 2008

Earlier last month, Washington, that is Congress, began discussing the possibility of increasing the price of highway diesel by $0.10. Why, you’re probably asking, in the wild wild world of sports would Congress raise the price of fuel, when they say they are trying to lower it! Taxes. Here’s the dilemma, and a perfect example of why the gubment doesn’t need to be involved. When the price of diesel got high enough to affect our pockets, we made changes; trucking companies laid people off, distribution centers switched to rail, those of us with diesel cars stopped driving so much; you know all the stuff THEY told us to do. CONSERVATION was the word of the summer, so we all conserved. Now, since we stopped buying it, they stopped benefiting, and the highway trust fund is drying up. Oh c’mon, you knew that right? 23.8 cents of that $3.60 goes to Washington, and depending on where you live, another 12 to 25 cents goes to your state coffers.

So, what do we do? Price goes up, we stop buying, the fed’s funds dry up, Congress increases the tax, price goes up again, we buy even less, the fed’s funds dry up more, and round and round she goes…

So, what do we do? We can’t buy gas, because the price is too high, and militant conservationists are out to string us up if we do. We all should switch to bio-diesel, fuel cell, and hybrid or electric cars. But, because we aren’t buying gas, the roads aren’t being fixed. Who wants to drive a pregnant roller-skate on a rough road? So, what do we do? Here’s what I think we do. We all buy bicycles, and they better be mountain bikes.