Friday, December 5, 2014

Fedex CEO, Skull & Bones Member, Urges Obama to Pass a 15-Cent-Per-Gallon Fuel Tax Hike

Martin Hill writes;
Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx, had a lengthy discourse with President Obama Tuesday at the Business Roundtable meeting and urged Obama to raise the nation's fuel tax by fifteen cents per mile.
In their discussion, Smith promoted a law being sponsored in Congress which calls for the tax increase as well as an eventual road usage charge. Being the CEO of one of the largest transportation companies, one might assume that the likes of Smith would oppose such a drastic fuel tax increase.

 Keep in mind that this fifteen cent per gallon tax increase will not just penalize commercial drivers, but will effect all Americans because it includes a fifteen cent tax increase per gallon on regular gasoline too, not just diesel fuel.

Independent truck drivers would surely oppose such a measure, as it would cut into their profits substantially. But that doesn't concern ivy league oligarchs such as Smith, who's a 1996 Yale grad, Skull & Bonesman, and pal of George W. Bush and John Kerry.

UPDATE

A friend advises me that Smith is also a board member of the Cato Institute.

UPDATE 2

Martin Hill emails:

Bob it appears Fred smith is not on the Cato board, altho he's had long involvement with them. http://www.cato.org/board-of-directors if that were the case, my headline would be 'CATO BOARD MEMBER SEEKS 85% TAX INCREASE AROUND AMERICAN TAXPAYERS NECKS. BECAUSE 85% of 18 cents (the current gas tax) is 15 cents, the increase which smith begged obama for.

Here's an example of what that increase would mean to truckers. Say a trucker goes a typical day of 500 miles minimum. Divided by 6mpg (if they're lucky) equals 83.3 gallons diesel per day. That's $12.49 per day, or $375 per month, or $4500 anual. F these MFers! The govt claims it needs $2 trillion for the highway trust fund. Why don't they ask rumsfeld, who announced 2.3 trillion missing from the pentagon budget on 9/10/01! Now they want to take it out of our ass! Man this country is really something else

10 comments:

  1. I would assume this comes out of FedEx doing the bulk of their shipping by plane and using this as a method to gain market share for all of their pricier shipping options.

    This is assuming that the tax doesn't apply to jet fuel.

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    1. Fed Ex has a lot of trucks. I've been near a fed ex freight facility late at night and there are countless trucks. The CEO might not be aware of that side of their business or feels that FedEx can better deal with the tax than its freight competition because it has a more diversified business.

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  2. According to Reason.tv, FedEx delivers the majority of its mail via airplane, while their top competitor, UPS, is mostly via truck.

    From June 2013:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZ0nz7XVFo

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  3. So....have Saudis drop the oil price. Get gas down to two bucks. Pass gas tax cause no one will put up a stink. Profit?

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  4. I didn't know Bonesmen ever went into the productive sector, but I see when they do they still manage to be the enemy of Man.

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  5. Schmuck Smith............good reason to boycott FedEx. Expected that the current oil price collapse (short term) would soon energize the gov to enact a new higher gas tax to again exploit the consumer and on top of the gov (federal and state) already making more on a gallon of fuel than the oil companies profit margins on their product. It is already astronomical the amount of funds this tax provides the State. Cut the employment in the transportation division and remove all public pension.......then we would have enough to build roads. However, the alternative, which is NEVER talked about is the consideration and open debate about privatizing the rotten monopoly to begin with.

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    1. "Schmuck Smith............good reason to boycott FedEx. "

      I have avoided FedEx for years, and I ship small packages almost daily in my business. In my particular area, the service is horrible. Unfriendly subcontractors and the main depot is all screwed up and they consistently deliver late in the day.

      UPS ground is a little more cost wise than the FedEx equivalent, but I get most of my packages before noon and every driver seems to have a decent attitude. Not that UPS is perfect mind you, but far better in my area than FedEx. I'm really surprised given UPS has a union too, but then again libertarians should have no problems with unions as long as their not violating the NAP.

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  6. Federal Express was so-named due to the patriotic meaning associated with the word "Federal," which suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity. At that time, Smith hoped to obtain a contract with the Federal Reserve Bank and, although the proposal was denied, he believed the name was a particularly good one for attracting public attention and maintaining name recognition.

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    1. "he believed the name was a particularly good one for attracting public attention and maintaining name recognition"

      I wonder if he ever pondered that the name might become tainted one day, a virtual albatross around his company's neck?

      Can you imagine starting a new car company and calling it "Yugo Express"?

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