Like Robin Hood, Only In Reverse

The next time the DFL jabbers about being “for the little guy” and “fighting for the 99% against the 1%”, wave this bill in their face.

Then let them read it.  Then read it to them and explain what it means, since they won’t get it.  Because they’re DFLers.

It’s Senate File 2405.  It does two things, both of which should make a putative “liberal”, to say nothing of conservatives, yak up their skulls in disgust.

Plugged Into Your Wallet:  The bill directs the state’s various electric power utilities to start building more charging stations, so that electric cars have some place to plug into.

And to pay for all these dictated power stations, the utilities are being directed to…

…raise rates for everyone in Minnesota.

That’s right – every Minnesotan that uses electricity from the grid will be paying for the infrastructure to support the fun and frolic of the electric car hobbyist.   Every struggling family in North Minneapolis, every family of every unemployed Iron Range miner, will be paying for that charging station in Edina. via their power bill.

Or they can freeze.

But it gets worse.

Dear Poor People: Thanks Suckers:  If you’re in the market for a $70,000 Tesla Model S, a $160,000 BMW i8, or even just a $35,000 Chevy Volt, you get a $7500 federal tax credit.  To this, the bill would add a $2,500 state tax rebate.    The rebated is funded from the General Fund – in other words, from general tax revenue.

This rebate, by the way, is not means-tested.  So when a CEO in Edina buys a $35,000 Nissan Leaf for their daughter’s “going to Macalester” present, or a Twins player nabs a BMW, they’ll get that $2,500 rebate…

…paid for by the gas station attendant on Forest Street in east Saint Paul who’s trying to coax another year out of a 1996 Buick Century he got for $3,000 on Craigslist five years ago; from the family in Thief River Falls that’s hoping the transmission in their Dodge Caravan doesn’t bonk out before they get their IRS refund; from the guy in the ’04 Corolla that just topped 200,000 miles.

In Other Words, the bill robs from the poor to give money to the well-to-do who are following the latest PC trend.

When people say “politics is the least effective way to allocate resources”, this is what they mean.

This is today’s DFL.

21 thoughts on “Like Robin Hood, Only In Reverse

  1. Wait for it…

    Doggy Doo Doo will be posting any minute to tell us that we angry conservatives has totally misunderstood the bill and that it is a benefit for the poor. As a brainwashed useful idiot of the left wing moon bats, she will do anything to cover for their economic ignorance.

  2. Silly Merg. Next coming to legislature near you, Senate File 2406 – Free Electric Cars for all registered DFLers.

  3. I’ve had this argument so often about so many things that supposedly help the poor. I get the same response. People who support bills like this often seem to believe that making people poorer will “save the environment.” Of course, if we help people become wealthier, more educated, etc, their habits will be harder to control…

  4. Every struggling family in North Minneapolis….

    Baaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa!

  5. Ever been to Japan? The prices are astronomical, but the salaries are pretty much comparable to the US. Companies keep employees happy by purchasing things like group discounted tickets to amusement parks on certain days, discounts at certain stores, etc. But they’re very careful to keep that list to things of which they approve. For example, if they come to the US first they try very hard to persuade the employee not to rent a car, but if they can’t because of the destination the car they choose for their employees is carefully selected to be a safe, underpowered car. (Not that it always works. My friend downgraded his full size SUV to a convertible Mustang on his last visit to California.)

    The DFL is trying to turn us Japanese. The goal is for you to be able to afford only what they want you to do.

  6. You folks just do not understand the New Math used by the DFL (and unfortunately taught to our kids in the publik skools. You see, when the “public good” benefits only a few wealthy DFLers, it’s a public good and must be paid for by tax dollars. But a tax cut that benefits everybody, well, that is BAD for the public. Now, of course, all this “good” costs something, but because of the magic of DFL taxation schemes, the money magically appears and nobody really has to pay. It’s kind of like buying things with somebody else’s credit card; you never see the bill and don’t give a rodent’s rump about that.

  7. Lots of places the government subsidizes the rich–farm subsidies, ethanol mandates, set-asides for favored vehicles in HOV lanes, public transit (how else do the rich get their butlers and gardeners to work without providing parking), child care tax credits, etc.. All favored by the left–why is it that the left so hates the poor?

  8. Can someone explain this to me……..Governor Mark “Dayquil” Dayton has banned travel to North Carolina by state employees. But he has set up junkets to Cuba, and worked with Keith Ellison for a trip to Saudi Arabia. Does Dayton think North Carolina has a worse human rights record than Cuba and The Kingdom?

  9. Also, there are stats for everything. What is the average household income for someone who purchases and electrical car? I would say it is quite high.

  10. Well, the internet is wonderful. A quick search to sites that appear credible:
    21% of electric car purchasers make greater than $175,000 a year.
    And federal “clean energy tax credits”……60% using those credits make greater than $200,000 a year. Only 10% make less than $75,000 a year.

  11. correct me if I’ve got this wrong but charging the battery of one of these wonder cars takes longer than the 7 minutes it takes me to fill my 25gal Suburban’s tank. These charging stations would eventually have to be a 1 or 2 acres in size (imagine the horror – more paved space – environmental nightmare) and would be crime magnets (easy prey, can’t get away, and the perfect demographic for your enterprising robber/mugger). I can’t see anything going wrong with this idea.

  12. silly kel, once you give everyone an electric car with a 200mi radius, why, you gonna have to build more rail! You will sequester everyone inside the cities. Centralized goobernment to the rescue with more light rail and higher pop density by building up. It is all part of the plan, you see.

  13. “These charging stations would eventually have to be a 1 or 2 acres in size (imagine the horror ”

    Well, you can also charge at home in your garage – either on 120VAC household current (which might not completely charge a car overnight) or a special step-up transformer (much faster, but it costs a few bucks).

    “Super-Charge” stations are *extremely* fast – but still take an hour or two to completely charge a car.

  14. In my view, the most damning thing about electrics is how they’re not cleaner than gas fired cars. When you take 3 miles per kW-H and typical power plant efficiency–about 4kW-H / kG of carbon burned (half coal, half natural gas)–you end up with about 0.3kG of carbon dioxide per mile from electrics with an additional 0.05-0.1kG/mile for building the electric propulsion system.

    In contrast, a Civic getting 35mpg emits only 0.24kG of carbon dioxide per mile. So we would end up paying a bunch in taxes to help people pollute more.

  15. Chuck, Gov. Jim Beam’s edict is a gift to the Carolinas. I only wish NY, CA, MA, RI, OR, MD and WA would follow suit.

  16. Well, you can also charge at home in your garage

    Whenever you talk about electric cars, it seems 99% of the audience thinks that you can plug it in and it is free. As BB said, there is a cost associated with those electrons. There are a couple of plug-in stations in front of Whole Foods here and you have to pay to plug in.

  17. Another ecological cost to an electric car that I didn’t mention arises because batteries don’t do real well in cold weather. Hence, you’ve got to have at least a warmed stall in your garage for it, and optimally an additional car for when the temperature is below zero. By the time you get that done, a half ton pickup or Suburban is downright ecologically sound in comparison.

  18. Plus, the pollution created by producing the batteries also contributes to the far “dirtier” creation status of a hybird/electric car, before it turns a wheel under its own power.

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