Your tax dollars at work to sell more cars

"The House has voted to rush an additional $2 billion into the popular but financially strapped "cash for clunkers" car purchase program."

So we have to ask why not a "Cash for beater bike" program? The car industry is not the only industry hurt by the recession and if you want to talk about reducing our dependence on oil and curb global warming nothing works like the bicycle. Riding a bike 1.5 times a week or for 2.5 months out of the year would be the equivalent of trading in a 18mpg clunker for a 22mpg new car. Now if car qualifies for a $3,500 check from Uncle Sam shouldn't a bike used for similar reductions also qualify for a $3,500 check? (Eying the top end bikes at my LBS.) Heck, even a $350 check would help get people to buy a bike and would help ten times the number of people in reducing dependence on oil and curb global warming. Think about this; ten people riding a bike (instead of a car) for just one week out of the whole year is equivalent of one person buying a more fuel efficient vehicle.

Part 2 of this commentary is if the Highway Trust Fund is financially strapped because of a 4.4% decrease in gas tax revenues how is a 20% reduction in the purchase of gas going to help? We need to put an end to the non driving public directly subsidizing the driving public.

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House approves $2B more for 'cash for clunkers'
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090731/ap_on_go_co/us_cash_for_clunkers">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090731/ap_on_go_co/us_cash_for_clunkers</a>;

Highway Trust Fund Revenue Falls $3 Billion in Single Year ... The Secretary noted that Americans drove 4.4 percent less
<a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa0824.htm">http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa0824.htm</a>;

...this was irrefutable proof that the non driving public was directly subsidizing the driving public
<a href="http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20081126222436847">http://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20081126222436847</a>;