Knightskye
04-07-2009, 01:04 PM
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090420/hayes
Via Reason (http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132754.html).
It's about a provision in an alternative fuel tax law that provided for
a fifty-cent-a-gallon credit for the use of fuel mixtures that combined "alternative fuel" with a "taxable fuel" such as diesel or gasoline.
Here's an example:
"You use the toilet every day," said one hedge fund analyst who's been closely following the issue. "Imagine if you could start pouring a little gasoline into the bowl and get fifty cents a gallon every time you flushed."
:D
Of course, at the end of the article, Hayes points blame at private industry, and not Congress for passing the law in the first place.
Whether or not Congress gets around to turning off the spigot, the episode is a useful reminder of the persistently ingenious ways the private sector can exploit even well-intentioned legislation. Considering that the success of the Treasury's recently announced plan to rescue the financial sector depends, in part, on the private sector not gaming the rules, the black liquor story seems particularly germane.
Via Reason (http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132754.html).
It's about a provision in an alternative fuel tax law that provided for
a fifty-cent-a-gallon credit for the use of fuel mixtures that combined "alternative fuel" with a "taxable fuel" such as diesel or gasoline.
Here's an example:
"You use the toilet every day," said one hedge fund analyst who's been closely following the issue. "Imagine if you could start pouring a little gasoline into the bowl and get fifty cents a gallon every time you flushed."
:D
Of course, at the end of the article, Hayes points blame at private industry, and not Congress for passing the law in the first place.
Whether or not Congress gets around to turning off the spigot, the episode is a useful reminder of the persistently ingenious ways the private sector can exploit even well-intentioned legislation. Considering that the success of the Treasury's recently announced plan to rescue the financial sector depends, in part, on the private sector not gaming the rules, the black liquor story seems particularly germane.