Thursday, October 4, 2007

bitter biker syndrome

i love riding my bike to work, the entire half mile commute. it takes me less than 5 minutes to get there if i catch the light just right. i go home everyday for lunch, and sometimes, catch a quick cat nap. i am helping the environment, saving on gas money, and getting a bit (albeit a very tiny bit) of exercise. so why am i bitter? i am bitter at the tax credits for people who buy hybrid vehicles. it just doesn't seem fair. yes, it is a delayed response, the credit was enacted 2 years ago. yes i know, cry me a river, but logic should dictate that anyone who does their due diligence to ease the burden on the environment should be eligible for some sort of tax break.

granted, there are some challenges in proving that you do indeed bike to work, but what of all the commuters who take public transportation and have a monthly pass of some sort? they are helping unclog the highways for all of those hybrid vehicles. i am going to lobby for a bikers tax credit! all of those hard peddling men and women deserve to be acknowledged in some way. after all, not only are they being "green," but also easing the burden on the health care system, working out is the best preventative medicine. people who work out should get a break for that too, or at least a reduction in their health insurance premiums, i should start a letter writing campaign to my local senator...

life is just not fair. woe is me. now i retire to wallow in my sorrow.

5 comments:

  1. true that! i want my credit too! and my commute takes almost 20 minutes. and i don't even own a car. i should get a credit for NOT owning a car.

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  2. This will make me sound like a whiny liberal conspiracy theorist, but the hybrid tax credit is a great example of the auto industry's influence on the federal government.

    I believe it started in the 1950s, when Charles Wilson, the chairman of GM, was Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense. He helped plan the interstate system, which which was offered as an important means of evacuation should the Soviets attack.

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  3. That's when the influence started... not the tax credit for hybrids :-)

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  4. well there you have it! i learn something new every day.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your thought with us....

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