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I'm conservative, but the US should tax the crap out of truck owners unless you can prove that you need one at least 2 to 3 times a month, or live a reasonable distance from a place where you can rent one, or need one for emergency reasons etc.
While I happen to be a rancher/farmer living in a rural area where pick-up trucks aren't optional for our needs ...
I doubt that you're anything close to being "conservative". If you were, then you'd understand the fallacy of your thinking that anybody else's ownership or use of a vehicle must be on a "need" basis that must be demonstrated to others with a taxing authority.
For that matter, your logic hits the hipocrisy of whatever vehicle it is that you might be owning ...
for example, if taxing a vehicle is based upon "need", then what about folks that drive any vehicle that accomodates 4 passengers when they only drive it as a single or two passenger vehicle?
What about folk that drive vehicles capable of speeds far in excess of speed limits? do they have a "need" that you would approve of?
The slippery slope of your logic extends, of course, to so many other behaviors/property ownership ...
do you "need" that "big screen" TV?
do you "need" to have a water heater that exceeds the normal daily use requirements of your household?
do you "need" to have all the lighting in your house?
do you "need" all the various entertainment/electronics devices in your house? do you "need" all the computer speed/storage capacity that you own?
do you "need" all the clothing that is in your closets and drawers?
do you "need" all the pencils, pens, or markers that are in your house?
do you "need" more than one pot and one pan and one burner in your kitchen?
do you "need" all the recreational sports equipment that is in your house? you can get medically appropriate exercise without using any of those items ....
do you "need" to have the A/C in your house? maybe it should be taxed all to hell unless you can "prove" a medical necessity for it's use? maybe you keep your residence warmer than I think is necessary for my comfort in the winter months ... do you "need" to do so, or should it be taxed all to hell for every degree warmer than I like?
do you "need" to watch or attend pro sports events? maybe they should be taxed all to hell unless you can "prove" a "need" for these activities?
do you "need" to buy any conspicuous consumption item? maybe they should be taxed all to hell unless the purchaser can prove to you and yours that they "need" the item?
do you "need" to take vacations? patronize a restaurant? consume alcohol? wallpaper or paint your walls? have interior doors in your house? visit a museum? should everybody else's behavior and consumption be subject to your approval as a "need"?
I call BS on your claim of being a "conservative". You propose a tax without showing any beneficial purpose for which it would be applied except to punish those who you don't agree have a "need" for their behavior.
I just don't get it. People buy these huge trucks and then use them to commute in etc. They seem like such as waste of vehicle. Sure, they are great for going to home depot a couple times a year or moving large furniture, but what about the other 360 days a year?
All people are doing is hauling around a giant cargo beds everywhere they go that is mostly empty, meanwhile, the usable part of the truck is just not very user friendly for normal day to day living (grocery shopping, commuting etc).
And you pay like twice as much in gas to haul around a cargo bed everywhere, take up two parking spots in urban areas etc.
I tried a truck once, bought a brand new Nissan Frontier extended cab. It was a nice truck, but completely worthless most of the time and traded it in after a year.
And the redneck trucks with all the big smokestacks and what not spewing black smoke???
If you are a contractor or something like that, I get having a big truck, but other than that, I just don't see why people like them.
I didn't realize you could rent trucks from home depot. That further confirms my belief that owning a truck is extremely impractical. I visited Switzerland & didn't recall seeing a pickup the entire time (city or on farms). They even had villages where farmers lived where vehicles were not allowed. I saw some tractors on the farms, but on the roads it was mostly hatchbacks and multi purpose vehicles. Do they even sell Ford F 150s or Silverados in Europe? Many US carpenters use vans.
I'm conservative, but the US should tax the crap out of truck owners unless you can prove that you need one at least 2 to 3 times a month, or live a reasonable distance from a place where you can rent one, or need one for emergency reasons etc.
I generally don't have a great opinion about stereotypical pickup drivers but I would not want to live in a nanny state where there are restrictions on owning one.
Quote: What is the point of owning a pickup truck?
Real men drive trucks. Trucks are versatile vehicles. Women are attracted to trucks and their drivers. Trucks command the road. Trucks in the South, Southwest and West are the most popular vehicle around. Real men drive trucks. You can do most anything with a truck. Trucks sit high and can see the idiot drivers around them. Trucks are better to be in in an accident when one of those idiots does something stupid.
Did I mention real men drive trucks...
.
Did I mention that driving a truck doesn't make *it* any bigger?
No center console ?!?!? No way.. where am I supposed to lean my elbow on ? Put my coffee ? Store all my junk ?
I lean my elbow on the wide, padded, fold-down center armrest. I put my coffee in the cupholder in the little tray on the carpeted transmission hump. I store all my junk in the back seat, and I am able to stretch far and wide because I don't have a useless, ugly console to bump into.
I've had an F series trucks my entire adult life as a Carpenter. I ordered my 01 in Feb of that year, and it took until the end of May to get it. I drove from the bay area to LA dropped the family at Disneyland and had a Bedrug (molded marine grade carpet), and matching color camper shell put on in Anaheim. I only used it for a few months for work while I drove older trucks, and called it my nice truck. We'll throw a Futon mattress in the back and go fish the Eastern Sierra for a couple days and sleep in the back. On a camping trip I forgot the tent poles, but we had the truck. We call it the Bus, because it's so long. I can't imagine not having one, and it is my smallest engine at 281 cubic inches. I even bought my daughter a 97 when she turned 16 in 2002.
I didn't realize you could rent trucks from home depot. That further confirms my belief that owning a truck is extremely impractical.
Except that it is only avaialble certain hours, you have to drive TO Home Depot in something and then leave that something there while you rent the truck, and heaven forbid you need that truck for more than a couple hours. I've done the rental thing at Home Depot and will NEVER do it again. Having a truck is SO much better. it means you can do what you need WHEN YOU NEED TO, on YOUR schedule, not someone else's.
And you don't need to buy a NEW truck. Trucks are tough, cheap used trucks can be just as useful and cost LESS than renting one.
I paid $2300 for this '94 diesel 3500:
And it was extremely useful for a few years. I used it a lot, and friends would borrow it to do things on occasion. Plus I towed our travel trailer all over the east coast with it. I've replaced it with an '02 2500 series Suburban that does much of the same stuff, (though it won't hold as large an item in the bed, and carrying a load of dirt/mulch/gravel is much harder). Big trucks are where it's at.
And frankly, I don't give two ****s about what they do in other countries like Switzerland.
I just don't get it. People buy these huge trucks and then use them to commute in etc. They seem like such as waste of vehicle. Sure, they are great for going to home depot a couple times a year or moving large furniture, but what about the other 360 days a year?
All people are doing is hauling around a giant cargo beds everywhere they go that is mostly empty, meanwhile, the usable part of the truck is just not very user friendly for normal day to day living (grocery shopping, commuting etc).
And you pay like twice as much in gas to haul around a cargo bed everywhere, take up two parking spots in urban areas etc.
I tried a truck once, bought a brand new Nissan Frontier extended cab. It was a nice truck, but completely worthless most of the time and traded it in after a year.
And the redneck trucks with all the big smokestacks and what not spewing black smoke???
If you are a contractor or something like that, I get having a big truck, but other than that, I just don't see why people like them.
This exact post, word-for-word, was posted a few months ago. OP is a troll.
This exact post, word-for-word, was posted a few months ago. OP is a troll.
I thought it smelled familiar.
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