G. David Felt

I strongly feel as an Independent Middle of the road that the people of this country need to revoke all current politicians and force change on the Gov to be held accountable to an actual budget that takes the specific tax dollars and puts it into the proper Infrastructure and defense of this country. The political system has had long enough to properly fix and remove a General fund so that the areas such as Roads, police, fire departments and schools get funded. Also where in our constitution does it say that we will defend the world, Police the world and pay for everyone's life style. {rant} In regards to the Mass proposal I strongly am leaning more towards removing ALL Gas tax and have a mileage tax. Driving just like cell phones, internet and TV are Privileges you earn, not Rights! As such, level the playing field and have everyone pay a standard much like we need a income tax system that tax's everyone equally rather than allowing for certain groups to make millions while paying little in tax's compared to the average person. 2 to 3 cents per mile tax would work out well. State, Regional and Federal collection of Gas Tax Amounts through 2009 http://www.gaspricewatch.com/imgs/popup.html?motor_fuel_rev.gif More current info seems to be here: http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/fuel-taxes.aspx Current copy of the first quarter 2014 fuel taxes here: http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/~/media/Files/Statistics/state-motor-fuel-taxes-report-summary.pdf Detailed tax on fuel by state, a break down that shows the federal, state, county, city taxes for a gallon. Pretty interesting. http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/~/media/Files/Statistics/StateMotorFuel_OnePagers.pdf Chart of the above PDF for quicker comparison. http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/~/media/47E397E1D3B14F61BAADCB6CA56A9F84.pdf It would seem that in federal tax collected it runs depending on the site and report from 68 billion to 78 billion in tax's collected and this is before the states add their tax's on, so when you consider like Washington state, the 18.5 cents in federal tax plus the 41 cents state tax, they do collect billions and yet with going into a general fund, it really is lost on going back into the roads as it should. As such, remove the gas tax and charge everyone the same fee, 2 cents per mile tax. Semi trucks would be something else that would have to be tackled. How do you properly charge trucks moving between states, estimated miles based on delivery, require all trucks to stop at the border and report / pay? I see how this would be a brain twister for some but I think it would balance out in the end with all registered auto's semi's etc in the state paying a per mile tax. For cross country trucks, you have a permit fee to come into Washington. Thoughts?

I challenge this to wonder how much of this is based on political posturing, old habits of I scratch your back, you scratch mine and that the new GM is not wanting to play these games now. By no means do I imply that GM is perfect as all companies are far from that, but I suspect Reuters is not reporting the full story as there is clear holes in their story.

Cake Boss

Thanks, corrected it as I totally misread the story.

Ocn, while I am not a supporter of Electric auto's I do believe the Volt system is far superior than many other systems out there and is given a shaft by many who have never actually sat in one, test drove it or even really checked it out. The Cadillac ELR might be over priced, but it is very clearly a different beast than the Volt having actually had time in one at the local Cadillac invite. While I myself have not had a chance to actually test drive one, I can say that there are many things on the ELR that make it very different than the VOLT. In some ways, GM should have done the ELR first and then brought out the VOLT rather than the reverse order. I challange you Ocn to go and actually check one out, and if possible test drive it and then report back your impressions.

Very Nice, Looking forward to seeing the whole project completed.

Nice write up, enjoyed reading it and the comparison to the top two japan competitors. Question, how does this line up against what American auto companies offer?

Very true, I am the worst at playing politics and as such have been screwed out of job openings due to others that played better politics and could kiss ass like a hoover even though they could barely perform in their existing role and ended up getting promoted. Eventually things collapse and the idiots who got ahead will fall hard. I believe what goes around comes around and eventually the morons will loose who abused the system.

With such an amazing country to see, why would you want people to drive less? This is cast system thinking of keep people in their place. Politicians from either party are idiots as they only think of themselves and never truly work for the people. Term limits and accountability need to be instilled into our gov again.

G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com The late wife of the driver that killed Actor Paul Walker claims her husband was killed by a faulty designed auto that had suspension problems and that the car was only going 55mph when it had failed before the crash. Msn Movie news is reporting, full story here: http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=866888&ocid=ansent11

Funny that they want the smallest to be an S660, poaching the stupid name from MB. All in All, I think they should use the NSX hybrid power train in all 3 cars making it a family of performance sedans that covers a wicked range from say 200HP/250LBS of torque to 600HP and 600+ lbs of torque. It would be awesome and would lower the cost since most of it is programming / detuning.

True, it does, but does it have the Bite to go with that Rattle Juice? Me thinks it does!

85 Monte Carlo SS Maroon. Man I loved these cars, even better if it was an Areo model.

BMW and MB are going down the natural progression of luxury makers and will have to be rebooted at some time in the future just like Cadillac has done.

I will say that who ever laid the fiber glass for this car is talented as it looks really good. Would be interesting to see it finished, painted and decked out on the Interior and then show up in Hot Rod magazine as a Post Apocalyptic car.

Washington state has one of the countries highest gas tax's. http://www.gaspricewatch.com/web_gas_taxes.php I bet that if they dropped the gas tax by half and went with .05 cent a mile road tax, they would generate more income to support the state DOT in building new bridges, roads, repairing existing roads and bridges etc. This I base on the fact that at 55 cent tax per gallon and if the average car gets 20 miles per gallon, they collect only 55 cents where at .05 cents per mile, they collect $1.00 The key is these tax's MUST only go to the DOT and not into the general state fund where they get spent on social programs or what ever else the idiot politicians can think up on spending. So at 15,000 miles a year for an auto that gets 15 miles per gallon, one would pay $750 a year for miles tax versus $550 a year in gas tax.

Breakfast Biscuits

That needs some serious love to restore. All the road salt is attacking it. Poor Car!

I got it, 21st Century version of Mad Max all over again!

Cracks me up, I will stay with my Suburban, the Mans Ultimate Mobile!

Garth Brooks - Thunder Rolls!

Ummmm, WOW, I am just left Speechless. Ummmm, WOW, I am just left Speechless.

Yes this was covered in the front home page story on FCA 5 year plan where it was covered that Dodge would merge with SRT and be the Focused Performance Brand. http://www.cheersandgears.com/_/chrysler-news/deep-dive-fiat-chrysler-automobiles-five-year-plan-r2211 Enjoy

Should we place dates on how long Fiat will hold onto Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep before they have to either sell it off or make radical changes? MB had them for how many years? 9 years if I remember right before selling them off for a Buck!

Cool, always love a good Toyota Blow up!