In response to the article at: http://www.channel3000.com/automotive/2858969/detail.html
Today, Matt Logan, president of the �Alliance of the 90% of Americans whose livelihood is harmed by unfair subsidies to the automobile industry� denounced a recent press release by the so-called American Highway Users Alliance suggesting the American Taxpayers should further subsidize automobile-related industries. �A quick look at the list of sponsors of the report quickly reveals it is not the highway users that this press release is intended to benefit�, said Logan. The report, located online at http://www.highways.org/bottleneck/2004/index.cfm?city=63 states: �This report was made possible thanks to the generosity of a number of contributing partners. Sponsors include: Platinum Level � Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; Gold Level � National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association and Portland Cement Association; and Silver Level � Associated Equipment Distributors and Associated General Contractors of America.� �If there was a real safety benefit in what the report suggests, I�d expect insurance industry groups to be major sponsors or the report. instead, we see a list of sponsors who are interested in selling more cars, more cement, and more road construction services�. Logan went on to further suggest that the infrastucture the sponsors want the US congress to create will eventually force more Americans to spend more on their transportation. �Today, the average American spends almost 20% on transportation. Because the use of the automobile is often made necessary by our current development patters, this means Americans are forced to pay what amounts to a 20% transportation tax. "What the report suggests will eventually increase that tax � a tax that falls disproportionally on those at the bottom of the income scale." See: [ http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/transportation/call_trans.php ] �Further, this 20% tax goes to only 10% of Americans employed by the industry, according to the automobile industries own numbers:� See: [ http://www.autoalliance.org/pressreleases/pr092403.htm ] �When an American is trapped into spending 20% of their income on transportation, that�s 20% less they can spend on the goods that the other 90% of us produce.� _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
