Is It Just Me?

Still Another Reason I'll Never be an Elected Official

I don't know about you, but I am so tired of listening to all of the radio interviews of candidates. They are all asked the same questions and they all do the waffle dance so as not to offend anyone and not to say something that will end up in their opponent's blogs 30 seconds later. Who cares if you offend someone? Most of the electorate is beyond offense. The ratings of Fox News make my point. We are talking about electing leaders here. How can you lead without taking a direction that is counter to a portion of the electorate.

My current favorite interview question is "If elected, what steps will you take to address the energy issue and the price of gasoline?" Out come the rote answers from the playbook. If Republican, we have to find other sources of petroleum to reduce our dependence on overseas suppliers (read shifty terrorists in robes). If Democrat, we have to have balanced approach and look at renewable sources of energy. If the Green party, we need to stop killing the whales.

If someone asked me that question, my response would be:

1. Immediately apply a $2 per gallon gasoline tax. There is no way we are going to reduce our consumption of gasoline (and thereby have any impact on the worldwide cost of oil) unless we:
1. Drive less
2. Drive more economical vehicles
3. Use mass transit - and since we seem to be too dumb to figure this out on an individual basis, raising the price of gasoline and using the tax revenues for energy efficiency research will motivate consumers at their wallet, where they may actually pay attention.
   
2. Establish a rational approach to vehicle licensing so that the huge and inefficient SUV's and pickup trucks pay a much higher fee than the small, lightweight and fuel efficient Hondas and Toyotas.
3. Mandate that all electrical appliances have a "sleep" mode where they truly shut down and use no electricity.
4. Mandate that incandescent bulbs be taxed highly, fluorescent less so, and LED lights even less.
5. Restructure the real estate tax system to penalize the McMansion craze.
6. Offer prizes for innovative design ideas for community planning and transportation infrastructure redesign.

These are just a few more reasons why I will never be elected.

P.

Copyright ©2003-2007 Phaedrous
posted by Phaedrous @ 6:38 AM