posted April 23, 2004 03:25 PM            

Friday April 23, 2004 12:46 AM

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Does John Kerry, who supports higher automobile fuel economy standards, own a gas-guzzling SUV? He does, but says it belongs to the family, not to him.

During a conference call Thursday with reporters to discuss his upcoming jobs tour through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, the Democratic presidential candidate was asked whether he owned a Chevrolet Suburban.

``I don't own an SUV,'' said Kerry, who supports increasing existing fuel economy standards to 36 miles per gallon by 2015 in order to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil supplies.

Kerry also has made rising gasoline prices an issue in the campaign against President Bush. In Houston on Thursday, Kerry said the president broke a 2000 campaign pledge to ``jawbone'' oil-producing nations by pressuring them to increase their output.

Kerry thought for a second when asked whether his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had a Suburban at their Ketchum, Idaho, home. Kerry said he owns and drives a Dodge 600 and recently bought a Chrysler 300M. He said his wife owns the Chevrolet SUV.

``The family has it. I don't have it,'' he said.

Kerry said it's important for his family to buy American cars and pledged to keep car manufacturing jobs in the country if elected. He said he is interested in a hybrid car, and has talked to Ford about making it the ``campaign car.''

``We're going to keep jobs in America and help the industry be more competitive with foreign manufacturers that are building those cars today,'' Kerry said.

The Massachusetts senator said he'll release more details during the jobs tour about his plans to keep jobs in the country.

``I want cars to be made in Michigan, made in America, made'' by the United Auto Workers, Kerry said.

^---

On the Net:

Kerry campaign: http://www.johnkerry.com

Okay - for those of you that may not know about the Chrysler 300M -it gets about 18mpg on the city and about 27 mpg on the highway - still lower than some SUV's and not within the "36 mpg fuel standards" he wants to push. That reaks of hypocracy not to mention that he is sloughing off the ownership of the "SUV" to the "family. Come on, which nutbar here would actually believe that double talk.http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/chrysler_300m_special_2004/12419/style_overview.html

Then again, why would he need to own a car when the gov drives him around in gov issued gas guzzlers. LOL...

Oh yeah - and I really love that he wants to have Ford supply the hybrid "campaign car".

posted April 23, 2004 04:47 PM            

Like I've said a gazillion times..they are all a buch of self serving hypocrites in my eyes.

posted April 23, 2004 05:10 PM            

juniperb

posted April 23, 2004 05:23 PM            

I'm sorry but there aren't enough hours in the day to detail all the hypocrisy of the left.

It's all about "downsizing you" but not them. For instance, John Heinz Kerry has at his disposal 5 mansions, heated and cooled no matter what the season--after all, the Heinz Kerrys might decide to hop aboard their Gulfstream 5, the largest private jet in the Gulfstream line, and fly off into the sunset. Of course, they need a fleet of SUV's and minivans to get them around. On weekends, there's the oversized yacht, except when John Heinz Kerry is out making a fool out of himself exhorting everyone to conserve energy and downsize their lifestyle, energywise.

Not to be outdone in hypocrisy is Ariana Huffington who never misses a chance to bash the SUV set. Terrible energy wasters that they are, they don't hold a candle to the energy requirements of her reportedly 50,000 square foot mansion, for one person. Nor is her hypocrisy abated by flying in and out of town to deliver her missives to the great unwashed in private jets. How does Ariana reconcile the extravagant use of energy in her own life? Well, the house was a divorce gift and after all, she doesn't own those private jets, they just happened to be going her way.

Turning to another hypocrite in the "let's do away with the SUV" crowd, Norman Lear. Norman Lear whose gnashing of teeth over the fuel requirements of SUV's is a phony. He owns an extravagant mansion of his own with a 21 car garage. Of course, I realize Norman can't drive all those cars at the same time but don't expect to find any Yugos tucked away in any of those 21 parking spaces. Do expect to find some vintage cars none of which are anywhere near as economical in fuel mileage as an SUV. Oh and Norman, be sure to turn off the lights, heat or air when you leave home.

Conspicuous consumption at it's best----or worst if you're one of the hypocrites demanding everyone else give up their "so called" gas guzzlers to conserve energy.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against SUVs, stretch Hummers, private jets, mansions, yachts, motorhomes or anything else people want to buy with their own money. Just don't make the mistake of trying to lecture me on my lifestyle when your own energy consumption is astronomical.

Here's some more celeb hypocrites.

Barbra Streisand
Uses her website as a soapbox for her attacks on oil companies, and the Bush administration's environmental record. Drives SUV. So does husband James Brolin.

Gwyneth Paltrow
Outspoken environmentalist, MC of Environmental Advocates 2000 Advocate Awards. Drives Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Robert Redford
Actor, director and conservationist Robert Redford has been a member of NRDC's board of trustees for 28 years. Wrote a chain letter complaining about the "massive new loophole in the Clean Air Act that will allow [big business] to dramatically increase air pollution and harm the health of millions of Americans." Lashes out at the Bush Administration about oil drilling. Drives an SUV not just in rural Utah, but rents them in LA, NYC, etc. He admits he's a hypocritical environmentalist, yet still feels the need to preach to the unenlightened

By the way, none of my race cars ever got more than 10 mpg and that only if I kept my foot out of it.

Ummm Eleanore, why is your sister a hypocrite for owning an SUV? Does she lecture others about the evils of extravagant energy use?

And then, there's Patrick Kennedy, flying all over the country in private jets to deliver his barrages against SUVs at every opportunity.

posted April 23, 2004 05:29 PM            

I mean really.

posted April 23, 2004 06:51 PM            

quote:

---

This is what I'm talking about.. Now I could take my turn to list the hypocrisies of the 'right' but WHAT would be the point??
I mean really.

Why can't we talk about the fact that ALL our friggin politicians are hypocrites..
Why are we forced to choose beween the more slick of the two parties of liars and manipulators!??

---

We can't do that----yet because no one has established here that they are all liars, hypocrites and manipulators.

I draw a distinction between a liar and one who is misinformed or wrong.

Feel free to point them out.

posted April 23, 2004 08:02 PM            

It sounds a little extreme to me for your friends to expect you move out because your sister owns an SUV. Calling you a hypocrite for not doing so is over the top, in my opinion.

Hydrogen fueled cars are coming and sooner than most people think. I wonder what the conspiracy theory will be then? We invaded Iraq for it's water to make the hydrogen to fuel our cars?

posted April 23, 2004 08:59 PM            

Yeah, I thought it was a little extreme too but whatever. It was just their opinions. Besides, most of them agreed with my sister anyway so I think they were just trying to get a rise out of me ... seeing as how most of them were "her" friends, anyway. You know, I was the freaky kid sister who liked the trees and was into the occult . Seriously though, I can't dictate to anyone, not even my family and friends, how to run their lives. I try to live my life by my own standards and that's good enough for me, especially since my standards are always undergoing growth themselves as I learn and experience more.
However, I am not living there now so they can't use that extreme point anymore.
Geez, I could understand me being a hypocrite if I owned one of those vehicles and still felt the way I do about them, generally, but I don't.

******

juniperb
I can understand your point about needing an all-terrain vehicle ... SUV is an acronym for sports utility vehicle. I can't imagine you trekking through the snow in a Mazda Miata or anything like that. I'm from Miami originally and, frankly, there isn't a lot of natural terrain there to go sporting on. And the parking spaces are so small that if you get stuck between two SUV's you're gonna' be stuck waiting around for one of them to leave just to get into your car! (Unless you want to be intrepid and climb in through the trunk of your car ... which my friends and I have done on occassion.)
I can understand the use of them where you live. I just don't see the point of driving around in an Escalade with 22" rims and limo tints (with the windows half way down and the AC blasting) through a city full of traffic, especially if you're by yourself. Of course, everyone can drive whatever they want, and I've never preached to anyone about their choices ... It just kind of seems a little ridiculous to me to want to spend that much money on gas, even if you've got it, when you don't really need to. That, of course, is aside from my tree-hugging wishes for fuel-efficiency and clean air and whatnot.

posted April 23, 2004 09:07 PM            

I do know that original owners of certain 2003 and 2004 models of hybrids do get a tax break because I came across it at the official IRS website a couple of weeks ago. I think the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius qualified. There was also another one I think, but I'm not sure if it was the Honda Insight or another one.

posted April 24, 2004 12:05 AM            

Anyway..I digress from the topic....I did NOT get a tax break...my ex did NOT get a tax break...my dad did NOT get a tax break. But hey..here is an idea. I should buy a smaller car- better mileage so that I can take twice the number of trips taking supplies to my peeps so I can save gas...yeah..that makes sense - twice the pollution to make the libbies happy....what a concept.

Eleanore, your sister is totally irrelevent to the John Kerry's spouse. He is pinning the SUV on the "family" is he not part of the "family"? I understand what you are saying and I am not putting you down- because you mean we are not in control of other's decisions. But I would hope that a person would marry someone with at least similar beliefs and if Kerry wants to pass US laws affecting all of us, don't you think he could at least start at home?

jwhop....as always..you are my hero!!!

posted April 24, 2004 05:02 AM            

quote:

---

However, when it comes to a husband and wife, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, aren't the purchases you make supposed to be a compromise? Like, you both agree on the car or computer or whatever? That's just my experience, I know, but it seems odd that as a married couple their views would be so drastically different, especially considering it has become a major issue in his campaign. And "his" car isn't exactly fuel friendly either.

---

posted April 24, 2004 03:05 PM            

So it's not a wholesale tax cut for all SUV owners. I didn't get any sort of "tax cut" when purchasing my SUV. I also don't own a small business however. But we leased our vehicle at first so that we could run the lease payments through my husband's business and thus lower the business' taxable income (our last car, not the SUV).

posted April 24, 2004 03:40 PM            

And that's what every business owner does, if they don't, they should. The whole goal, whether you make $4/hour or $400/hour is to have your cost of living come out of your income BEFORE taxes, so that you get what you need before the govt does. Hence, you run as many expenses as possible through the business, it means you don't have to pay for it (even though technically you do through the hard work you put into the business which brings in money to pay for it), and it lowers the taxable income of the business.

Small business, not megala-corps, are the backbone of our economy. They pay more tax on average per dollar of income than corporations do.

It's funny how everyone hates business, big and small, but most are employed by (and feed their familes with payroll checks signed by) business owners, not welfare recipients.

posted April 26, 2004 09:50 AM            

Ahhhh, now I see what you mean. Yes, that is right and it is for business owners which makes sense.

Say you have a delivery business catering food and you have an SUV that gets 18 miles to the gallon and you need to transport 2000lbs of food. You can either make one 50 mile trip and burn 2.7 gallons of fuel each way, or you can buy a little economy car that gets 30 miles to the gallon and can only carry 500lbs at a time. So in affect you must make four trips (a total of 200 miles there and 200 miles back) burning a total of 13 gallons of gas.

Which one makes more sense?

I knew these little number crunchers that wanted to guys in agriculture sales to purchase little economy Fords...To deliver 400lb molasses tubs....YOU CAN'T do that...you have to purchase pickups - big ones to make the deliveries. So it becomes a tax break - not for the average Joe - but for the average Joe Business owners that uses them.

Trust me - the tax break is not enough to cover the cost of the vehicle - but it does help.

posted April 26, 2004 11:09 AM            

I suppose my big problem with these rigs is the soccer mom who buys this tank to drive to the grocery store and back or the business owner who really has no need for the tank beyond the fact that they want to feel 'safe' on the road.