Poor Old People Get Whacked By Government For Trying To
Save Environment And Help End Dependence On Foreign Fuels.
 
 
 
Updated: Thursday, March 1, 2007 8:24 AM CST
State makes big fuss over local couple's vegetable oil car fuel
By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR - David and Eileen Wetzel don't get going in the morning
quite as early as they used to.
So David Wetzel, 79, was surprised to hear a knock on the door at
their eastside home while he was still getting dressed.
Two men in suits were standing on his porch.
"They showed me their badges and said they were from the Illinois
Department of Revenue," Wetzel said. "I said, 'Come in.' Maybe I
shouldn't have."
Gary May introduced himself as a special agent. The other man, John
Egan, was introduced as his colleague. May gave the Wetzels his card,
stating that he is the senior agent in the bureau of criminal
investigations.
"I was afraid," Eileen Wetzel said. "I came out of the bathroom. I
thought: Good God, we paid our taxes. The check didn't bounce."
The agents informed the Wetzels that they were interested in their
car, a 1986 Volkswagen Golf, that David Wetzel converted to run
primarily from vegetable oil but also partly on diesel.
Wetzel uses recycled vegetable oil, which he picks up weekly from an
organization that uses it for frying food at its dining facility.
"They told me I am required to have a license and am obligated to pay
a motor fuel tax," David Wetzel recalled. "Mr. May also told me the
tax would be retroactive. "
Since the initial visit by the agents on Jan. 4, the Wetzels have
been involved in a struggle with the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The couple, who live on a fixed budget, have been asked to post a
$2,500 bond and threatened with felony charges.
State legislators have rallied to help the Wetzels.
State Sen. Frank Watson, R-Greenville, introduced Senate Bill 267,
which would curtail government interference regarding alternative
fuels, such as vegetable oil. A public hearing on the bill will be at
1 p.m. today in Room 400 of the state Capitol.
"I would agree that the bond is not acceptable, $2,500 bond," Watson
said, adding that David Wetzel should be commended for his innovative
efforts. "(His car) gets 46 miles per gallon running on vegetable
oil. We all should be thinking about doing without gasoline if we're
trying to end foreign dependency.
"I think it's inappropriate of state dollars to send two people to
Mr. Wetzel's home to do this. They could have done with a more
friendly approach. It could have been done on the phone. To use an
intimidation factor on this - who is he harming? Two revenue agents.
You'd think there's a better use of their time," Watson said.
The Wetzels, who plan to speak at a Senate hearing in Springfield
today, recalled how their struggle with the revenue department
unfolded.
According to the Wetzels, May told them during his Jan. 4 visit that
they would have to pay taxes at either the gasoline rate of 19¢
per gallon or the diesel rate of 21¢ per gallon.
A retired research chemist and food plant manager, Wetzel produced
records showing he has used 1,134.6 gallons of vegetable oil from
2002 to 2006. At the higher rate, the tax bill would come to $244.24.
"That averages out to $4.07 a month," Wetzel noted, adding he is
willing to pay that bill.
But the Wetzels would discover that the state had more complicated
and costly requirements for them to continue to use their "veggie
mobile."
David Wetzel was told to contact a revenue official and apply for a
license as a "special fuel supplier" and "receiver." After completing
a complicated application form designed for businesses, David Wetzel
was sent a letter directing him to send in a $2,500 bond.
Eileen Wetzel, a former teaching assistant, calculated that the bond,
designed to ensure that their "business" pays its taxes, would cover
the next 51 years at their present usage rate.
A couple of weeks later, David Wetzel received another letter from
the revenue department, stating that he "must immediately stop
operating as a special fuel supplier and receiver until you receive
special fuel supplier and receiver licenses."
This threatening letter stated that acting as a supplier and receiver
without a license is a Class 3 felony. This class of felonies carries
a penalty of up to five years in prison.
On the department of revenue's Web site, David Wetzel discovered that
the definition of special fuel supplier includes someone who operates
a plant with an "active bulk storage capacity of not less than 30,000
gallons." Wetzel also did not fit the definition of a receiver,
described as a person who produces, distributes or transports fuel
into the state. So Wetzel withdrew his application to become a
supplier and receiver.
Mike Klemens, spokesman for the department of revenue, explained that
Wetzel has to register as a supplier because the law states that is
the only way he can pay motor fuel tax.
But what if he is not, in fact, a supplier? Then would he instead be
exempt from paying the tax?
"We are in the process of creating a way to simplify the registration
process and self-assess the tax," Klemens said, adding that a rule
change may be in place by spring.
David Wetzel wonders why hybrid cars, which rely on electricity and
gasoline, are not taxed for the portion of travel when they are
running on electrical power. He said he wants to be treated equally
by the law.
David Wetzel, who has been exhibiting his car at energy fairs and
universities, views state policies as contradicting stated government
aims.
"You hear the president saying we need to reduce our dependence on
foreign oil," Wetzel said. "You hear the governor saying that."
State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, also plans to support
legislation favoring alternative fuels.
"I'm disappointed that the Illinois Department of Revenue would go
after Mr. Wetzel," Flider said. "I don't think it is a situation that
merits him being licensed and paying fees.
"The people at the department of revenue apparently feel they need to
regulate him in some way. We want to make sure that he is as free as
he can be to use vegetable oil. He's an example of ingenuity. Instead
of being whacked on the head, he should be encouraged."
 
 
 
In all that people can do for themselves, the government ought not to interfere.
- Abraham Lincoln
 
Government is not the solution to our problems, Government is the problem.
- Ronald Reagan
 
 
 
Will you HELP David Wetzel ??? Call, Fax or Write -
Representative- Bob Flider, 132 South Water Street, Suite 101, Decatur, IL 62523 / Ph. 217-428-2708 / FAX 217-428-3419
Senator Frank C. Watson- 51st District 309A Capitol Building Springfield, IL 62706 / Ph. 217-782-5755 / FAX 618-664-9112
Representative Ron Stephens- 632 Capitol Building Springfield, IL 62706 / Ph. 217-782-6401 / FAX 618-651-0413

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Americans all over this land are asking the questions;
Just how many more new laws and new taxes are going to keep getting invented? Our current system of seemingly endless new
codes and taxes laws has to stop at some point in time or we shall all end up living in an intolerable and oppressive police state!!!
FACT: Both tax and code regulation publications grow 8% annually but they never get any smaller. The odds of a tax law or
civil code of being repealed are almost nil. In 15 years from now there will be over 1,000,000 new laws on the books for us to obey
and probably over 10,000 new tax codes, if so, where does FREEDOM find any room to live ?
 
It is time for us to start screaming at our electorate every time we hear about cases like Mr. Wetzels.
We should all be howling like a loud pack of angry Wolfs! Trust me it works miracles!
We now live in times where action speaks MUCH louder than voting since the lobbyists own both
sides of the political isle these days. The party line grows thinner every year with lobbyists generously
donating the bulk of your representative's election funds to both Democrats and Republicans equally.
 
(All except one Congressmen RON PAUL now running for president! He just maybe the last honest man in left Washington.
RON PAUL is not a "PAID" insider so he is getting black balled from the press and the "machine" is doing all they can to
keep him from being noticed, the 'status quo' treatment for an honest politician that aims to crack corporate corruption)
Read a congressional speech by Ron Paul.
 
Fuel notes: Mr. Wetzel successfully burns a mixture of filtered vegetable oil and Diesel blend. No chemicals, no Bio-Diesel process,,, simple and it works just fine.
The big fuel companies and their government partners want to over complicate the simple nature of all home grown oil fuels. The end goal of the Corporate / Government partnership is to make sure ONLY big corporations have the entire Bio-Diesel market cornered, controlled, regulated, taxed and completely locked down and to make sure individual citizens cannot get involved in the making of environmentally safe back yard fuel manufacture. Soy bean oil runs great in the older high compression Diesel engines! It works perfectly without any chemical processing! From the bottle right into the tank. Trust me, I know after 275,000 miles and 20 years! All the lies you have ever heard about engine damage is absolute BUNK! Engines run on Soy oil show only a small fraction of the wear that is found on engines that ran on conventional Diesel fuels. This knowledge stands as one of the single greatest threats to the oil companies profit margin to date!!! So their government partners have made new laws to lower the compression ratio's of the NEWER Diesel engines all in the name of 'emissions control' which is more bunk science since veggie oil burns completely clean and is CO2 neutral!!! The lower compression ratios of the new Diesel engines makes burning the vegetable oil fuels a bit harder so this is their game plan revealed. Thousands of people in-the-know have already figured this out so they are buying up the older Diesel vehicles as fast as they can.
Washington's many lobbyist's have been buying up our Congressman in record numbers. Our representatives no longer serve the people of this great land, they instead serve the needs of their corporate masters and their profit margins. We need Washington as well as local politicians to hear HOWLS of discontent from us,,, we the people!
 
An educated and proactive populous is indeed a powerful vehicle for change!
 
 
 
 
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