It’s worth noting that the CNN article doesn’t say what happens if your taxes for the year are lower than the incentive.
I assume you get the full incentive at the dealership, and then are responsible for the difference come tax day.
So if your taxes are… say $4,000 and you buy a new car with the $7,500 rebate. That’s a difference of $3,500 and your taxes become 4K + 3.5K = $7,500 for that year… or so I’m assuming.
You’re not wrong. You can basically blame why college is so bloody expensive because of student loans. You can be certain the professors aren’t getting all that money.