The Nation - News from Dec. 15, 1988

Ford Motor Co. Vice Chairman Harold A. Poling said the No. 2 auto maker would support a gradually phased-in gasoline tax increase as a means of reducing the nation’s budget deficit. Poling also said Ford, which has enjoyed industry-record profits and has a cash reserve of about $9.3 billion, is bidding to acquire a package of troubled savings and loan institutions before the end of the year to take advantage of tax breaks which will expire after Jan. 1. Success in the effort would make Ford the country’s largest savings and loan institution. Speaking to a group of reporters at a year-end press conference, Poling said a gas tax hike could be phased in over three to five years, at an increase of about 5 cents per gallon per year.