I am sure Daimler Chrysler is fuming over this slight! :lol:

You have hit a hot button with me with the way you worded this. The tax credit is NOT money spent, it is money they never got their (gov't) greedy hands on.

To address your point though, I am not sure there is a magical number. I think it just gradually rises. It is kind of like milestone...i.e. the first time the deficiet hit 1 billion, then 1 trillion. THe public gets inurred to it.

Our beloved elected officials like to hide spending in tax credits, tax deductions, and tax exemptions because they can spin it in just the way you just did.

In the end analysis, the difference between money spent and money collected (the deficit) gets financed through borrowing.
If the gov't elects not to collect a certain amount of money, say $3150 per Prius sold, and does not choose to collect that money in the form of taxes elsewhere, it adds to the national debt.
The gov't (that's us) are still responsible for paying that money back to the investors.
If they "never got their (gov't) greedy hands on" it as you assert, they at least took out a loan and signed our names to it.

And by looking at it this way, you don't see that if the gov't does not collect it, it should not be spent. I oppose deficits totally unless an emergency occurs. Hey, I can't spend money I don't have. I have to borrow it, not from myself, but from a money-lender. And I can't MAKE the lender lend it. (as the gov't can)

I don't know how you saw that as a spin! It is only a spin if you agree that the gov't should spend on everything they want and FORCE us to cough up.

As long as the gov't is allowed to spend money without regard to collecting money, then spinning a tax credit, deduction or exemption as money not collected is disingenuous. It is money borrowed and we own the debt.
Collected now, collected later, not much difference.

I agree with your position on deficit spending.
I take it then that you don't approve of the fiscal responsibility (record deficits) of the current administration?

Good, concise little analysis!

See how you twist that question. No, I disapprove of EVERY past and present CONGRESS's deficit spending! The CONGRESS that, until the last decade, was DEMOCRAT. It is like a freight train, it will take time to skow it, stop it, and turn it around. And unlike the past, there are groups of republican congressmen that are fighting to do this. Did you know that a large majority of "so called" republicans are really democrats in sheeps clothing?

It may not pay for a lot of advances in hybrid technology but it may help manufacturers reach the break even point on their current lines. The advantage is that if they can make money on the car, they are more likely to continue research on the technology. The government doesn't need to pay for the technology only encourage it.

How much do you figure they are paying to encourage reseach to convert corn to ethanol?

Pretty cheap when you consider the cost of our adventure in Iraq to be $177 million per day, or $7.4 million per hour, or $122,820 per minute. That's less than 6 days of Iraq war expense. (These numbers are from 1 year ago.)

So don't ask me to do much hand-wringing about how much money the government is spending to promote hybrid technology. IMO, between the government and the oil companies they have probably spent nearly as much doing studies and writing papers to justify drilling in ANWAR.

IMO, $1 billion is so far down in the noise level that Congress doesn't even want to worry about making an issue about it. Pass it, get it signed, look good to the tree huggers and then pour a lot more billions into the pockets of oil companies

I think they should be kicked out of the Republican party immediately!

Is my memory going bad or did not the government completely bail them out of bankrupcy and without that they wouldn't even exist today?

Why is it only the bad sons or the irresponsible ones that squander away their money supposed to get bailed out from dad?
Shouldn't the responsible companies get even more of a hand if they are using their money wisely and doing a service to the public?

I think its kinda cool the Uncle Sam wants to join in to help in the movement to move us more to using less petroleum?

Its a pretty tough apple to bite to tackle such a feat that toyota has done by bringing in this hybrid technology and doing it with excellence rather than a token effort like so many others... even at a financial loss to get the ball rolling! It nice Uncle Sam is rewarding a responsible company and helping the public at the same time.

No no no...Can't you even hear yourself? I said I was opposed to spending what we don't have...you questioned if I was against deficit spending by our current administration...I said ALL past administrations for YEARS have been doing this DEMOCRAT and REPUBLICAN...AND I pointed out CONGRESS approves the budget and until recently (in the big picture) Congress was democrat....then I mentioned there is a group of Republicans (about 128 of them) that are sick of the game playing by both parties and want to change it (no democrats are doing this) i.e exposing the "Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska"

The last part was simply a poke that most politicians...when they get to washington...become spenders. BTW (Chafee and example) many "Dems" in conservative districts CALL themselves Republicans.

But then again..party desiganations have been distorted.

I think we've had a republican congress for about 12 years (not sure of exact length).
You may consider that recent (in the big picture) but I don't.

The recent deficits and projected deficits are record breakers.
I hardly think you can blame the democrats for the spending binge the Republicans are on.

president clinton balanced the federal budget during his second term and created an actual budget surplus. (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html for proof).

meanwhile, the current national debt is a little more than eight trillion bucks. (http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/)

so... you tell me. who's doing what, exactly?