"Fifty cents worth, please"....

[captenuta]

Can you beleive the nerve of this guy. We (the taxpayer) bail out his company and now he wants to "slap a 50-cent" gas tax on us!!

Talk about your Great Filling Station Hold Up.



http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUT ... 1148/rss25

[Wino you know]

That's very typical of those people. VERY typical.

And what's even worse is there are schlubs among the population that will SUPPORT these a-holes.

[tigzoe]

Here is a thought...lower the cost of the hybrids to make it a more affordable option!

[TropicalTroubador]

Personally, I don't see any logical connection between "The US helped bail GM out" and "We need to pay higher gas taxes."

Except that both are about automobiles in some way.

People in Europe pay close to the equivalent of $10/gallon, with taxes *there*. Our gas taxes are still at the same level as they were in the 1970s. Our highways are falling apart. We import 57% of the oil we use, because nobody has the cojones to *demand* that we get more efficient about how we use petroleum - not just higher-mileage cars, but better land-use, better and more intelligently-designed transit, etc. Suburban sprawl in particular is almost designed to waste energy.

OTOH, since GM among other auto companies has been doing their best to convince us, the consumers, to buy their more-profitable gas guzzling FAVs for thirty-odd years, I agree that they are *definitely* part of the problem.

[RinglingRingling]

I might have a problem with a specialized tax to benefit one industry, but $0.50/gal to take care of existing infrastructure like bridges that are at the end of their predicted life, especially given that we have been neglecting maint. for new roads to the exurbs... that I might be willing to deal with if the funds were specifically for that purpose, and were sunsetted.

[SwissParrotHeads]

Personally, I don't see any logical connection between "The US helped bail GM out" and "We need to pay higher gas taxes."

Except that both are about automobiles in some way.

People in Europe pay close to the equivalent of $10/gallon, with taxes *there*. Our gas taxes are still at the same level as they were in the 1970s. Our highways are falling apart. We import 57% of the oil we use, because nobody has the cojones to *demand* that we get more efficient about how we use petroleum - not just higher-mileage cars, but better land-use, better and more intelligently-designed transit, etc. Suburban sprawl in particular is almost designed to waste energy.

OTOH, since GM among other auto companies has been doing their best to convince us, the consumers, to buy their more-profitable gas guzzling FAVs for thirty-odd years, I agree that they are *definitely* part of the problem.

Here in Switzerland we pay about 7.2$ per gallon, regular (Swiss gas prices being rather cheap compared to Germany or Italy). If I got the correct numbers (tax percentages) 4.5$ of these 7.2$ are taxes...
For this reason cars driven in Europe are mostly small to midsize in cylinder capacity (80 cui to 150 cui) and have a rather good mpg ratio I guess. Normal efficient cars do maybe about 39 miles per gallon.
But still you do see lots of SUV's here, mostly Asian makes, they have not too bad mpg ratios. Plus you see many cars running on diesel. The cars are a bit more expensive, but diesel is cheaper, so if one uses the car a lot it may be cheaper in the long run.

OTOH one has to know that in most parts of Europe it's not a big issue to not own a car, especially when living and working in urban areas.
Public transport is pretty developed. And there are car sharing cooperatives around in case one needs a car now and then.

[Lightning Bolt]

Back in the '70's, Carter took a radical step to conserve energy use by mandating a national speed limit of 55 mph.
It worked as a curb towards the lowered gasoline supply, but nobody liked it.
..and he got run out of office in '80.

Sensible energy policy usually won't do anything for your popularity in this country.
If Obama gets re-elected next fall, I wouldn't be surprised to see him go for another bold move...

[ragtopW]

Here is a thought...lower the cost of the hybrids to make it a more affordable option!

or go back to the old standbys.. my Bug gets close to 31 MPG..
AND I didn't tear up the countryside to make another,'nother,'nother new car..
my old truck (1988) never got the 29 it was supposed to.. but that could have
something to do with the size 13's the driver wears

[ragtopW]

OK let's go "THERE" I work with a multitude of Soccer moms
at least 10 of the women I work with post almost 100 miles.. A DAY!!!
extra,over and above work/school ETC. due to Soccer/Dance/Karate/Baseball... you name it..
I work with about 165 people I know of ten that are in this boat.. my Building employs almost 1700, this is in a little City

let's bring the math into play.. let's say that my Building totals
100 Soccer parents.. at 100 miles a day each.. (this does not even cover the rest that only drive 10-50 miles a day extra due to this)
OK. so.. if they average 25 MPG (good luck) that is 4 gallons extra a day each.. this is not even counting idle time and traffic (yep we gots it) so 4 gallons x 6 = 24 X 52? = 1248 a year X 3.50$ barks at 4500$ a year.. EACH..
again this does not count the natural material that comes out of the ground every 4 years to... build a new car (I hope you do know just
where all the plastic comes from)
again.. this is just a figure.. but just my Building wastes a lot of gas
a year.. on stuff we (if we were lucky enough to live in a neighborhood)
played in the street or on vacant lots..

[Glorfindel7]

Only part I hate about the 7.50/10.00 a gallon argument in Europe is that for the most part Europe is mostly smaller commutes and less traffic (since more people take public transportation which is readily available)....

In America, the average commute is well over an hour to drive 20 miles (I blame the traffic on idiotic drivers, not necessary a LOT of them...) and we end up using a lot more fuel as a result.

But I haven't really seen a traffic study on this... But if I could get a 10 minute commute, I think I wouldn't mind spending 7.50 a gallon (since I probably waste about that much stuck in traffic...)

[sonofabeach]

Back in the '70's, Carter took a radical step to conserve energy use by mandating a national speed limit of 55 mph.

that would work for me because my Jeep is a four banger and that sum b**** barely makes it to 55

[Wino you know]

Sorry, gang, but it WASN'T Mr. Carter that signed the national speed limit law of 55 M.P.H., but, rather, it was THIS man:



To me, that was his greatest blunder while in office.
And just because they're paying $8.00 to $10.00 for a gallon of gas in Europe doesn't mean WE have to. Not with all the resources we have here.

[JollyMon66]

Got Nothing...wait I must be a politician

[ragtopW]

Sorry, gang, but it WASN'T Mr. Carter that signed the national speed limit law of 55 M.P.H., but, rather, it was THIS man:



To me, that was his greatest blunder while in office.
And just because they're paying $8.00 to $10.00 for a gallon of gas in Europe doesn't mean WE have to. Not with all the resources we have here.

not only was it going to save Gas.. BUT lives. too!!!
of course they changed the rules for the Stats they kept on Highway
deaths.. but that is not the point

[TropicalTroubador]

Only part I hate about the 7.50/10.00 a gallon argument in Europe is that for the most part Europe is mostly smaller commutes and less traffic (since more people take public transportation which is readily available)....

In America, the average commute is well over an hour to drive 20 miles (I blame the traffic on idiotic drivers, not necessary a LOT of them...) and we end up using a lot more fuel as a result.

But I haven't really seen a traffic study on this... But if I could get a 10 minute commute, I think I wouldn't mind spending 7.50 a gallon (since I probably waste about that much stuck in traffic...)

That's because most of Europe was built when there were no cars. So you have dense city centers in which transit *works*. Hence my comment about land-use patterns.

And thanks to the phriend from Switzerland who gave us some actual data. Gas is *still* a lot more expensive over there than it is here. And perhaps partly as a result, they *do* have a lot more cars that get decent mileage.

That, and our domestic manufacturers have lobbied limits in place to restrict competition from overseas.