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[July 2nd, 2008]

LEAVE YUPPIES ALONE

You know, Corey Pein could have written a great article about the tax credit given to folks who purchase a hybrid, but instead, wrote a mass of crap with disjointed statements complete with statistics which either didn’t support each other or just made a confusing mess that much more confusing (“Tax-Guzzlers,” WW, June 25, 2008).

First off, Chuck Sheketoff’s statement that the tax credit offered was junk from day one. Not so, Kemo Sabe. The credit allowed many to get into a new product which proved to be viable and thus has set the stage for lines of 300 at dealerships today.

The new motivator of getting folks into a fuel-efficient vehicle may be $4.50 a gallon gas. But retiring the credit could be unpopular, as it levels the field by capping the number at 600,000 vehicles per manufacturer. The credit for a Prius is virtually gone but is still available for most domestic Detroit products.

I would agree when Sheketoff said, “It’s an issue of budget priorities.” Handing out $5 million last year to new hybrid owners may have screwed the poor, but so did that little OHSU Tram project. One wonders how many bus passes and college educations that little expenditure would have purchased.

Rather than bash yuppies (do they still exist?), perhaps Corey could investigate how we can help the SUV owner switch when many have (resorted) to the justification that now they have to keep their SUVs because they cannot afford to take the huge loss trying to sell.

Brian Toye
Lake Oswego

Editor’s note: Records show Toye claimed such a credit.