Gas Tax Holiday a bad idea

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buster

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080430/pl_nm/usa_politics_gastax_economists_dc


Quote:
"Score one for Obama," wrote Greg Mankiw, a former chairman of President George W.

Economists said that since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline
in the space of a few summer months, lower prices will just boost demand and the
benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers.

The Tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads
and bridges.


Well duh...
 
We should be improving our public transportation systems and get those up to par. It would also create a lot of jobs. I would have much rather seen the money spent on Iraq spent on improving the infrastructure of our own country. It would also help reduce demand.
 
Something about taxing ourselves into prosperity comes to mind, along with Obama, your rather elitist implication that most people drive and consume petro products for pleasure.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Something about taxing ourselves into prosperity comes to mind, along with Obama, your rather elitist implication that most people drive and consume petro products for pleasure.



There is nothing elitist about Obama. How absurd. I'd rather see the gov. not spend money at all, but that won't happen. At least spend it on a worth cause if nothing else.

It's sad how pathetic the conservative talking points have become. They think saying "911 911 evil do'ers evil do'ers and cutting taxes" is the answer to all our problems.
 
Originally Posted By: buster
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Something about taxing ourselves into prosperity comes to mind, along with Obama, your rather elitist implication that most people drive and consume petro products for pleasure.



There is nothing elitist about Obama. How absurd. I'd rather see the gov. not spend money at all, but that won't happen. At least spend it on a worth cause if nothing else.

It's sad how pathetic the conservative talking points have become. They think saying "911 911 evil do'ers evil do'ers and cutting taxes" is the answer to all our problems.


Not sure what got your goat. But anyone who thinks taxes aren't a burden on us taxpayers is an elitist in my book. I never mentioned the war, 9/11/01 or "talking points" (what the heck?). You know I don't want to haggle politics, but sometimes things aren't always "well duh".

To say that taxes should be even higher on fuel does imply that most people drive purely for pleasure, or that somehow we could absorb any more taxes with no problem.
 
Driving a large pick-up truck as a commuter, around town runabout-grocery getter but rarely as an actual get down and dirty use-it-as-a-truck is one form of driving and consuming for pleasure. Multiply that by millions in North America. We're idiots.
 
Originally Posted By: paul246
Driving a large pick-up truck as a commuter, around town runabout-grocery getter but rarely as an actual get down and dirty use-it-as-a-truck is one form of driving and consuming for pleasure. Multiply that by millions in North America. We're idiots.


Hard to argue with that, but do you really think people are continuing to do this? Not around here. Sure a lot of bozones use trucks for commuters, but I think that number is way down - most driving is Point A-Point B with some planning and specific purpose.
 
The more I learn about Obama the less I like him.

Read his books and you'll see that he is obsessed with RACE.
 
there was a thread in another forum of a guy buying his 16 year old a truck with alot of power as his first vehicle. gas prices be ****ed
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: paul246
Driving a large pick-up truck as a commuter, around town runabout-grocery getter but rarely as an actual get down and dirty use-it-as-a-truck is one form of driving and consuming for pleasure. Multiply that by millions in North America. We're idiots.


Hard to argue with that, but do you really think people are continuing to do this? Not around here. Sure a lot of bozones use trucks for commuters, but I think that number is way down - most driving is Point A-Point B with some planning and specific purpose.


If that were the case, there would be idle P/U trucks laying about everywhere... far from the actual reality. Our roads are very well populated with these big empty guzzlers. Its still some sort of stupid "status" symbol I guess, mine's bigger than yours.

Just look how needlessly outsized they have become, too. I guess that is what happens when you have decades of artificially low priced gasoline, the Europeans know all about that.

Also, GM is starting to focus a little further down the road, hence the proposed drop in P/U production. Most likely too little, too late.
 
Quote:
Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.

Proves that he is an idiot. If you raise supply, the price will also go down.
Quote:
"We will pay for it by imposing a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies

Proves that she is an idiot. Increase the overhead on a product of which you want the price to fall? Pure lunacy...she belongs in a padded room.

As far as money going to the oil companies. GREAT! Much better than it going to the Gov. More money for investment, drilling, pumping, maybe even a refinery if big G would let them. And people actually wonder why we are in this situation...
33.gif


Energy-big.jpg


Quote:
We're idiots.

It's about choice. People are all over SUVs but don't seem to have any problem with ten's of thousands of jets flying around the world using several gallons per minute so they can go see their aunt Flow in just a matter of hours rather than days.
Once Big G starts telling you what you need, that is the time to start worrying as something you want is surely not going to be on their list.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Something about taxing ourselves into prosperity comes to mind, along with Obama, your rather elitist implication that most people drive and consume petro products for pleasure.



Try naming a prosperous country with a decent or better standard of living that has no taxes at all. Name a country that can't pay its own bills and operating expenses, mostly since the 1980s, to the tune that the people work 2 weeks a year just to pay TAXES for only the *INTEREST* on the debt. Does the USA surprise you? It's like getting a credit card bill EVERY month for a few hundred dollars but you bought absolutely nothing. Hurray for not balancing the budget.

Keep this in perspective too. The average person would pay about 50 cents less per gallon with no taxes on gasoline(Wow super cheap $3.10/gallon gasoline). While our infrastructure would lose billions of dollars in road building and repair. I guess buying more junk at ChinaMart is more important than having bridges collapse.

As for the additional debt; put it on the countrys' credit card from China and let your grand kids figure it out.
 
Last edited:
Hong Kong had zero income tax for ~75 years and did pretty well. Thailand has about 15% tax, and a middle class worker there can save up more us$ money per year than a lot of my friends here can. Chinese income tax is 20% for the top bracket.
 
Originally Posted By: oilyriser
Hong Kong had zero income tax for ~75 years and did pretty well. Thailand has about 15% tax, and a middle class worker there can save up more us$ money per year than a lot of my friends here can. Chinese income tax is 20% for the top bracket.


So far you're proving my point oilyriser. Basically they still need taxes and yet China with its dictatorship is the most polluted and toxic place in the world these days.
 
The politicians redistribute our tax dollars throughout the world for what ever reason is lobbied for at the moment .The money should be used in this country for repairs etc instead of redistributing the dollars and needing more taxes.
 
Originally Posted By: paul246
Driving a large pick-up truck as a commuter, around town runabout-grocery getter but rarely as an actual get down and dirty use-it-as-a-truck is one form of driving and consuming for pleasure. Multiply that by millions in North America. We're idiots.
The vehicles we may choose may not be proper but if you look at the people that get reelected over and over I would have to agree on the idiot part.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Quote:
Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.

Proves that he is an idiot. If you raise supply, the price will also go down.
Quote:
"We will pay for it by imposing a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies

Proves that she is an idiot. Increase the overhead on a product of which you want the price to fall? Pure lunacy...she belongs in a padded room.

As far as money going to the oil companies. GREAT! Much better than it going to the Gov. More money for investment, drilling, pumping, maybe even a refinery if big G would let them. And people actually wonder why we are in this situation...
33.gif


Energy-big.jpg


Quote:
We're idiots.

It's about choice. People are all over SUVs but don't seem to have any problem with ten's of thousands of jets flying around the world using several gallons per minute so they can go see their aunt Flow in just a matter of hours rather than days.
Once Big G starts telling you what you need, that is the time to start worrying as something you want is surely not going to be on their list.
A.GORE for example?
 
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