Hello, Kos'ers. I saw
a diary today (which slipped off the front page) but which struck me as having the seed of an excellent idea.
As Kayakbiker noted, Tax Freedom Day, which falls sometime in April, is a highly-loaded ideological tool of the right wing. It's also surprisingly well reported -- every year, it hits the news with a bang and even TV-less me knows when it happens. Just our liberal media, I guess. I think we should get on the ball now and plan to roll out a response. It won't change the world, but every little thing counts, and having a nation-wide coordinated "jam" might change some minds.
For those not in the loop, Tax Freedom Day is the day on which the average salary, pro-rated, accumulates enough to pay off the average tax burden (at least, I think that's what it is -- wikipedia says it's when the total tax burden is paid off by the total income of the country, and I'm pretty sure that's not the same thing.)
Being good media-jammer types, though, we should be able to come up with a response. The reason Tax Freedom Day is so famous (apart from a general plutocratic bias in the media) is that it's a simple, vivid concept. It also represents taxes as a burden on our freedom, rather than the very thing that preserves it.
Kayakbiker's original idea was to have a "Gas Freedom" day: the date on which the average person pays off their annual energy costs. I think a better idea is to have Car Freedom Day: how long does it take to pay for the direct costs of owning and running a car?
Car Freedom Day would factor in the cost of gas, parking, registration, taxes, tolls, insurance, interest payments on loans, and depreciation. I haven't done the calculation (and could use some help), but 2001 figures suggest it's around $600 a month (and that fits with my personal observations of friends.)
Because of regional differences in car usage, having an effective Car Freedom Day would probably involve lots of DKos'ers fine-tuning the data for their particular state or city. I also think Car Freedom Day should be plain and not preachy; I don't own a car, but it's a sad fact that, unlike Europe, America today is designed in such a way that many people have no other option.
There are a few things that Car Freedom Day could do:
- Encourage people to delay or forego altogether a car purchase. Many people don't start driving until they leave college (and if they drive during college, they often borrow a parent's junker.) I know most of my friends bought new or slightly-used cars around their second year after the BA (and were subsequently shocked at how heavy the burden was.)
- Encourage people to drive less -- a Car Freedom Day editoral could also present calculations showing how Car Freedom Day could be hastened for a family by carpooling or public transportation. ("Car Freedom Day is today, but if you carpooled, it happened last month.")
- Focus attention on alternative transport. Car Freedom Day editorials in different cities could highlight alternative transportation projects in the legislation and calculate how much less it would cost per person, e.g., to build a new commuter rail. ("Car Freedom Day is today; monorail freedom day would have been late January.") This would be great because it could focus attention on local issues and really get people going; sort of a national-local synergy.
- Focus attention on energy dependence ("while our federal, state and local taxes pay for our security, our schools, and our hospitals, our gasoline money goes straight to fund repressive regimes in the Middle East.")
I'd love to hear from people who do spend a lot of time driving (I've been car free for years now.) What do you think?
We've missed the 2005 Car Freedom Day, but let's get prepared for the next one. Post your ideas and comments in the diary below, and we can brainstorm for good angles and reliable sources of data. Where can we find 2006 info on things like:
- average price of gas.
- average cost of car
- average car loan terms
- average rate of depreciation
- average repair costs
I'll keep a watch on the diary, and when next year rolls around, we can collaborate again in March.
One point: when to publicize Car Freedom Day? On the day itself, or on Tax Freedom Day? My feeling is (duh) both: editorials on Tax Freedom Day could point out how much later Car Freedom Day is and contrast paying taxes with buying gasoline. Editorials and LTEs on the Car Freedom Day itself could provide more advice on how to reduce or eliminate car use itself.
Another question is: how to calculate Car Freedom Day? Gathering the data is tricky, but also car usage (and costs like insurance) vary widely from place to place. My feeling is that using the national averages, and declaring a single nationwide day "Car Freedom Day" is the best idea -- it would also be more likely to generate national media attention. We could announce Car Freedom Day, but in different editorials in different places also describe additional costs or savings that make it earlier or later.