Senator calls for tax incentives on all new-car sales
When automakers are throwing thousands of dollars of incentives on the hoods of their wares in an effort to stimulate sales, what good would another $1,500 on a $25,000 car do? As the recent sales numbers show, buyers aren't being taken in by the constant sounding of the "SELL SELL SELL!" klaxon. Great deals on new cars are out there to be had, if only anyone had some money.Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland thinks that the economic panic can be partially abated by allowing buyers of new vehicles to deduct auto loan interest, fees, and sales tax related to the purchase of a new car from their income tax. The proposed initiative would run from now through the end of 2009, and is only for families earning less than $250,000, or individuals making $125,000. Hey, nobody is really going to complain about getting a tax break, but it seems that buyers have already shown that they're wary, even with fantastic deals to be had.
[Source: Kicking Tires]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
why not the LS2LS7? 7:02PM (11/12/2008)
I vote no (and I'm about to buy a new car for the first time in 9 years).
Reply
Tristan 10:13AM (11/13/2008)
i vote for the fair tax system and then all problems are fixed. lets pay tax on the goods we buy. not uncle sam dipping in to our pockets all the time.
Chad 12:06PM (11/13/2008)
Fair tax? But that would force the government to GASP!!! be fiscally responsible!!!
Paul P. 7:08PM (11/12/2008)
I like it better than some tax plans, but I don't think it's the be-all/end-all answer either.
Reply
dave 7:10PM (11/12/2008)
Bad idea. Everyone thinks we are "in terrible financial times" or another "great" depression. Truth is - fate has called our hand. Giving loans to people who had a pulse for so long proves wrong after all. Now America - sleep in the bed you made. Cut back; don't spend money you don't have. Get rid of your high cable bill and play a game with your kids.
Reply
Joce03 7:55PM (11/12/2008)
I agree with your comment. I believe that this situation has people thinking much harder about every purchase they make. And if someone decides to wait an other year or two to buy a new car, good for them.
hgoigoi 7:32PM (11/12/2008)
Why do we keep electing stupid people to the senate?
This is STUPID. Encouraging Americans who are already broke to go buy a new car just because of a tax credit is stupid!
People who can AFFORD a new car will buy a new car, they don't need some dipsh#t senator helping families go DEEPER in debt.
Its this kind of thinking that got millions of idiots who couldn't afford a house into mortgages they couldn't afford and now need a bailout.
She's a DEMOCRAT BTW. Yet another STUPID democrat. You would think we would have learned to not elect these liberals, but we keep doing it! We gave the white house to a socialist!
Pelosi/Reid/Obama now run the country. Heaven help us.
R.I.P. America
7/4/1776 - 11/4/2008
Cause: Suicide.
p.s.- has anyone ever stopped to think maybe the reason we don't need so many new cars is they last forever and the cost of everything else has gone up and wages are in the toilet because of companies like WALMART buying so much crap made in china?
If this senator gave two sh#ts she would fix the real problem and stop trying to bandaid the effect!
FIX THE CAUSE!!! You want socialism fine, do this. Have the government force a law that a large corporation cannot own more than 10 stores. Done. You increase ownership, opportunity, etc. Mandate a percentage of goods sold must be American made.
They used to do it with radio stations, you could only own so many. Now we have only a few corporations owning every radio station! It has screwed us in more ways than one, the most recent electing Obama. We now have a chinese-like state run media system!
Stop allowing big corporations to get bigger, government to get bigger and the average small american business to go out of business.
Stop them now, or enjoy working for one in the future. Making crap money, being a slave to them with no freedom and no liberty.
Reply
Lil_O 7:39PM (11/12/2008)
hgoigoi I see you are upset we have Obama in the White House get over it you sound stupid anyway
Joe 8:51PM (11/12/2008)
Actually, hgoigoi, he makes several good points. Maybe you should actually READ what he says, rather than just react because he doesn't like Obama.
BoxerFanatic 9:01PM (11/12/2008)
Actually, he/she is right on target.
If you are that partisan to think that dissent = stupidity, and that actual lucid commentary is stupid, then your comments say more about you than about the original comment or commenter.
But he is exactly right. Going into debt for a little rebate is like saying you'll save money by buying things. Inherently fallacious, and when promoted irresponsibly, causes trouble, not improvement.
Sen. Mikulski is a moron, and that sort of uninformed thinking is what caused the problem we find ourselves in. Emotionalism and knee jerk reactions masquerading as public policy, creating irresponsibility.
Buying now will cause more defaults later. Great plans, morons.
And Barney Frank, in the Fannie and Freddie debacle up to his eyeballs, or more, by pushing mortgage debt for those who couldn't really afford it, and now pushing irresponsible automotive purchases, on a depreciating asset, as if home values weren't falling enough for their taste.
IMPEACH THEM ALL, before they completely destroy what they have sworn to protect in their oathes of office. They have betrayed it enough already.
Polly Prissy Pants 9:46PM (11/12/2008)
"Yet another STUPID democrat. You would think we would have learned to not elect these liberals, but we keep doing it! We gave the white house to a socialist!"
Yea, things were so good before we elected all those demi-crats :)
Seriously though, you bash liberals, then complain about free trade, propose government interferring in markets and mandating ownership and size limits for corporations.
Be careful or someone might mistake you for one of those liberals you hate so much.
sdiori 10:11PM (11/12/2008)
A couple of comments:
hgoigoi:
socialism
• noun, a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
Not sure how this relates to any current polictian's political philosophy, Democrat or Republican. If you don't like some one, you are well within your rights to offer a dissenting opinion. I only wish that when we make those choices, we attempt to become well-versed in our assertions before we spread potential slander. In addition, both Democrats and Republicans have all offered ridiculous solutions to a plethora of problems since, well, forever--some made in earnest, some reeking with a populist sentiment for political gain. Please don't assume that one party has all the answers, because it doesn't. Stupid people can be red, blue. or any other color in the rainbow.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats are the model for fiscal restraint. One way or the other, our tax dollars are spent on a variety of things that you may disagree with. Under a concurrent Republican and Democratic government (Executive and Legislative), we've seen our civil liberties compromised like in no other time in recent memory. Who you choose to lay the blame with is a personal choice; often though, it depends on your own political philosophy.
Lastly, negativity breeds negativity. I staunchly disagree with anyone who offers a dissenting opinion without a viable solution. For everyone's sake, I hope your dissapointment in recent events will/have spur(red) you to participate in the political process.
BoxerFanatic:
hgoigoi's comments were replete w/ charges of socialist and/or communist Democratic leadership. That wasn't simple dissent, but rather an assertion that is a bit far fetched. Accusing someone of comunist zeal in the U.S. is akin to yelling 'fire' in a crowded theatre--a call for chaos. It's simply unproductive. Again, if you disagree, participate in the process.
BoxerFanatic 11:47PM (11/12/2008)
No, calling socialists socialists is being accurate.
The democrats are advocating GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP STAKE IN THE BIG THREE. That is socialist control of the means of production.
They not only have absolutely no fiscal restraint, and passed 150 Billion dollars of PORK on top of a 700 Billion dollar bail out, ON TOP of already deficit spending more than any congress in US History.
The non-conservative republican congress was just as bad, and I am just as livid at them for abdicating the oath of office that ALL of them take to protect the country and defend the US Constitution. They are putting the country at grave risk.
High-handed calls for verbal restraint are too late. It is long past the time to call trouble what it is, and speak plainly. If it alarms people, it is about damn time people become alarmed, if it isn't already too late.
I voted. I did participate. I called my congressman and senators, I have made my voice clearly identifiable. Participation is not limited to actually BEING a representative or senator. Those politicians are accountable to the people, but they continue to foster the politics of division, and prey on political division, FAR more than my comments. And they continue to ignore the people they represent.
Roughly 80 percent of the american people voiced their opinion on the bail out plan. NEGATIVELY. And it still passed, after the PORK was added, and arms were twisted.
NOW they want to continue to push the BAD, SOCIALISTIC agenda that caused the problem in the first place.
So, I do participate. I do stay informed. And I call a socialist a socialist.
They are socializing private losses at the tax payer's expense. That isn't hyperbole. THAT IS A FACT. And it is about time people start getting direct about it.
BoxerFanatic 11:56PM (11/12/2008)
Correction.
Roughly 80% of the people that voiced their opinion to congress on the bail out plan, were negative.
And additionally, as we can see, it gives the SecTreas FAR more power that the constitution allows an agent of the executive branch. Not that the Legislative branch, or Judicial branch are acting particularly responsibly, either.
But the US Constitution is just a piece of paper... not like it is the foundation of the government or the law that the rule of law relies on, or anything.
the vegas style guy 2:12AM (11/13/2008)
WTF are you on about?
You've got so many dogmas and isms going on I'm afraid you might have a coniption.
You're so busy blaming liberals/democrats for everything you don't even notice you then go on to blast the global corps (btw, I agree) which is anathema to the current oligarchy, oops, the republicans.
Let's keep it simple. This whole mess is the result of greed. Poor people thinking they could live like the people on reality tv. Greed of the rich who thought they could just take and take with no consequences. Greed of the politicians of both parties who allowed themselves to fiddle while Detroit burned while they fed at the trough of lobbyists.
Greed of all us.
In the words of that nutjob Rev. Wright: The chickens have come home to roost.
Hopefully, Obama will be able to get us out of this. Otherwise, we're screwed.
BoxerFanatic 12:25PM (11/13/2008)
@VegasStyleGuy...
All of us?
SPEAK FOR YOUR SELF. I am not over-extended. I have very little debt, and I am well ahead of schedule on the remnants of my student loan debt, and my completely appropriate fixed rate mortgage.
I am not greedy. According to most statistics, I am quite UNDER-paid, but that is my issue, not anyone elses. But that is not "greedy."
I have paid off cars that are not brand new, I have done all of my home improvements with cash. I have been saving for retirement, and that has been evaporating with no input from me. I don't have HDTV, I don't have credit card debt. I don't go out for dinner very often. I buy what I can afford, and that is decreasing every day due to inflation.
I DO what I need to do, and I live responsibly. The same cannot be said of the government that is supposed to represent me.
So stop this collective blame BULLCRAP. This is NOT everyone's fault. There is plenty of blame to go around, but not on everyone.
I CLEARLY said that the Republicans have been NO BETTER than the democrats.
But the Democrats are the ones pushing bail outs, and threatening to seize ownership in everything from the oil industry to health care, to the big 3 now.
I am calling socialists what they are.
I am calling irresponsible people irresponsible.
3 months have added 5 Trillion dollars to our debt. THE LAST THREE MONTHS.
That is 50% of the debt that this country has accrued in more than TWO HUNDRED YEARS.
The time is at hand to be honest, and to look things in the face, and call them what they are.
RE-READ the comments that I, and other conservatives and libertarians are posting, and LEARN SOMETHING before it is too late. It might already be too late.
If Socialism is too difficult a word for you people, then get a fricken back bone. It is real, and it is at hand.
Will 7:40PM (11/12/2008)
I'm from MD, and the only reason that old bat is still in office is because her opponent in the last election was a guy that nobody had heard of. I believe i still voted for him though, because she is a major retard.
Reply
Don 7:46PM (11/12/2008)
With the constant 'Sale Events' on dealer lots, low prices became the 'norm'.
$1500 off of the norm isn't going to make a difference. The problem is the unavailability of credit.
Reply
mr.ed 9:15PM (11/17/2008)
Last report, you needed a 700 credit score to buy a vehicle. How many of us aren't even close?
Joe Sixpack 7:48PM (11/12/2008)
How about if the tax credit applies only to automakers that are incorporated with their ultimate headquarters in the Good Old U.S. of A instead of a bail-out plan?
Reply