Biodiesel pioneers threatened with felony charges

Biodiesel pioneers threatened with felony charges

www.herald-review.com

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.

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We live in Nazi America. Threaten pennies from their profits and they'll send in the storm troopers.

www.herald-review.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wonder what they will do when the blueprints for an insta-electrolysis of water machine gets spread out all over the USA. You can easly bolt it on to your vehicle and run it on water. Well, its really running on hydrogen from the water, but techincaly its running on water!

If a device like this is uncontrollably and secretly manufatured by multiple people around the world, and NOT sold for profits, the government wont be able to do crap.

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.

Looks like they are trying to pass a bill to make sure this doesn't happen again. Please stop with the done to death Nazi references...

This sounds like a case of a greedy state agency taking advantage
of a situation, and misconstruing the facts.

I would'nt use this to justify living in 'Nazi America' though.


Unfortunately thes eagencies don't have anywhere near as much
oversight as they should have.


I think this will end up with this man not having to pay anything (though
he may for whatever reason), and some piece of legislation barring such
things from being done.

This is an outlandish example of government gone bad!

I am in total agreement with State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion when he said:

"He's an example of ingenuity. Instead of being whacked on the head, he should be encouraged."

Just my MidWest take on the situation!

M.Agenda!

[edit on 12-3-2007 by Midwest Agenda]

I wouldn't say it's "Government Gone Bad" as it is more like "Bureaucracy Gone Mad" as those actually elected to Government seem pretty willing to rectify the situation.

I thought that you were allowed to produce a certain amount per year for personal use without paying tax on it, like 1200 gallons or something

I don't think the term "nazi' can be overused in our over regulated, over monitored police state that we are forced to live in today. You can't build a house to live in on the property you own in most states without a building permit. If someone is trespassing on your property and injures themselves, you better have home owners insurance or pay a lawyer a fat fee to defend your rights in court or the courts and govt will take your property away and give to the injured trespasser because you failed to maintain a safe property. Thieves and criminals have more rights than victims and citizens in the eyes of the court and lawyers. These Illinois Revenue agents's action were as abusive as any Nazi that I can think of. Waking an elderly man and his wife who's only real crime was to challenge the monopoly of the corporations to fuel their vehicle. So the corrupt corporate controlled govt sent 2 of its minions to remind these 2 people who reall runs things in Amerika: the Corporations through their selected politicians.

We all know that the fuel tax is legal to pay an excise on our usage of the roadways in the US. So if the gov wants to prove that these peope owe tax for fuel they have to prove that they used it. It is as simple as that. If I were them, I would just say that I did not keep any records of how much I used, period. It isn't illegal to run your car on alternative fuels, but it is illegal to not pay fuel taxes. So, just be very light headed and not keep records so the tax man has to drop his case due to lack of his proof.