Low Oil Prices: Saudi Arabia Says It's Ready To

[BreakerBreaker]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I think it would be a good time to raise the gas taxes and fix the roads that are crumbling all around the country.


OH, THAT'S BEEN PITCHED BEORE...

MAYBE WE WILL HEAR ABOUT IT AGAIN BECAUSE IT'S "ELECTION YEAR" AND PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE MOST ANYTHING.

 

[BreakerBreaker]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Will it stay low? Tough to say....


We are so well trained to brace for high gas prices that I wouldn't be surprised if something didn't just "pop" up in the middle east to raise prices and pad some profit....


It's all shell game.

American people will never accept a new tax, this Administration has zero issues circumventing US Law on an International level and hopefully we slam the brakes on that instead of flooring the gas in 2016 though it is an uphill battle (?) and all the previous excuses for high gas prices are falling apart.

Gas price is still low for all the stuff it takes to get it to us, politicians sure can screw it up by implementing a tax that never gets taken off when it becomes too much - remember 2011? - and every prediction I have heard says the price will "stay low for awhile," with new oil being found seemingly everywhere.

I was taught in school we would "use up all our oil in 50 years" that seems a lie.. and I can't help but think our roads are helping the economy by moving more stuff on them. Traffic is growing, our roads are already congested..

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: JustinH
I think it would be a good time to raise the gas taxes and fix the roads that are crumbling all around the country.


That's fine if in fact the money actually goes to fixing the roads.


If it did, there wouldn't have to be any raises in taxes to maintain the roads...they are already collecting enough to maintain the roads IF they were spending it on the roads...

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I think it would be a good time to raise the gas taxes and fix the roads that are crumbling all around the country.


I think so too. The money has to come from somewhere, and it wouldn't hurt as bad if they do it now. I would much rather pay more at the pump and have better roads to drive on. The stretch of I-64 between Richmond and Norfolk is a deathtrap and should have been widened to at least 3 lanes in each direction years ago. That's just one example. A few bucks a week additional tax at the pump is better than being dead.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Originally Posted By: JustinH
I think it would be a good time to raise the gas taxes and fix the roads that are crumbling all around the country.


I think so too. The money has to come from somewhere, and it wouldn't hurt as bad if they do it now. I would much rather pay more at the pump and have better roads to drive on. The stretch of I-64 between Richmond and Norfolk is a deathtrap and should have been widened to at least 3 lanes in each direction years ago. That's just one example. A few bucks a week additional tax at the pump is better than being dead.


The problem with increasing a tax is that it would never go away, or go back down to what it was before gas prices went up...I wouldn't mind paying an extra tax for road maintenance while prices are low if there was a clause written into the tax increase that states it must go back to the old level if gas prices rise above, let's say, $2.50 a gallon...I don't think anyone wants to be paying an additional or increased tax along with high gas prices...I would also like to know what they're doing with the taxes they're collecting now for road maintenance before they start taking more of my money...

 

[Panzerman]

Isn't the gas taxed per gallon? If so because gas is cheaper people will use more gas and the tax intake should actually be more. Regardless, a added gas tax is stupid. To trust the government to take any money they get from gas and use it for roads. Yeah, right. Go feed your unicorn. The government is so good with money and people never learn do they?

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said "Taxation is Theft" on the back of a pickup truck... on a road... paid for by tax dollars. Oh the pompous hypocrisy. Wanted to yell out the window "Stay off the stolen roads!"

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
Saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said "Taxation is Theft" on the back of a pickup truck... on a road... paid for by tax dollars. Oh the pompous hypocrisy. Wanted to yell out the window "Stay off the stolen roads!"


As was said before, taxes are a necessary evil...spending tax dollars on garbage those taxes were never meant to be spent on and not spending them on what they should be paying for is criminal, unless you believe there is no fraud, waste, or abuse of our tax dollars...

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: grampi
...spending tax dollars on garbage those taxes were never meant to be spent on and not spending them on what they should be paying for is criminal,


Thing is, there are 360 million people in the U.S. One person's idea of waste is another's idea of good tax & spending. In a republic like ours, they make decisions, period. Perfect? No. Actually they are right most of the time from what I've seen.
Back to the thread topic, if gasoline taxes were added to the current low prices, that money could go to roads and bridges per new law.

Two extremes:

1. An old curmudgeon's tax policy: All public schools are pay-per-kid, by the families only, and all roads are toll roads.

2. A new immigrant from Mexico: All taxes come from the wealthiest 1% only, and they go to income redistribution, roads, buying a car for everybody who makes under $20k/yr, etc.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

The problem with gas taxes is, they are not spent on roads and bridges. They are spent on public transportation. We have a hugely expensive light rail system being built here in Charlotte . Money that should have been spent on improving I-77. So what happens, the state signed a 50 year secret contract with a private company the build new toll lanes in the Lake Wylie bottleneck. Now we are stuck with this political boondoggle and both parties are responsible.

 

[sciphi]

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwaytrustfund/

Looks to me that the trust fund has run low enough in recent years that transferring cash from general funds has been necessary. And FY 2016 looks like it's no different. Tax receipts of $4.2 billion and expenditures of $7 billion so far. For public transportation, they're listing a mere $2 billion with outlays of $814 million.

Oh rats, I let those pesky facts get in the way of a good argument!

 

[Panzerman]

`Its like giving a crack [censored] more money thinking she will eat more if she had more money to buy better food. The problem isn't that they are not getting enough money, its the way they spend what they got. A gas tax is stupid. Cheap gas invigorates the economy in so many other ways. The idea to make gas more expensive just to put it in the hand of the idiots who have proven they are terrible at budgeting. Less money people spend on gas, more money they spend in other sectors. This economy needs that money, not the government.

 

[Silverado12]

I think some of the anti-gov't posts are silly. The only other reasonable alternative is to have toll roads everywhere. The money has to come from somewhere. There is no money fairy that s-its out dollar bills to fix our roads and bridges. All I'm saying is I would rather pay more at the pump (think about it-would be an extra 5 bucks max per week) than have dangerous roads like we have now. Some of these roads on the eastern seaboard needed improvement 20 years ago. Also, the idea of privatizing everything will cost even more. Gotta figure in profits to shareholders and ridiculous CEO pay now.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
The money has to come from somewhere. There is no money fairy that s-its out dollar bills to fix our roads and bridges.
Not too get too political-but read up on the Federal Reserve-there unfortunately IS a money fairy. I personally think the gas tax needs to be on a sliding scale-higher in times of low prices, lower in times of higher prices-but there needs to be CONTROLS on what it's spent on, something that is anathema to the Feds at this time.

 

[Silverado12]

Gas tax link


Here's what I found doing a quick internet search assuming the information is accurate. It seems that the rumor that gas tax isn't spent on roads and bridges is another lie spread by right wing talk radio (as if they don't spread enough bee yes around).

 

[fdcg27]

The thing is that road and bridge repairs and reconstruction are infrastructure investments that benefit the whole economy, not just commuters.
What we need is some sensible federal accounting that would allow all of us to see the difference between capital investments and current expenditures.
Hasn't happened since the birth of our republic, although many who actually understand accounting wish it would.
Meanwhile, we argue about a fuel tax to maintain a national infrastructure, as though only those who buy fuel benefit from it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Imagining that the Government will spend the money intelligently is our first mistake. Anyone seen the national debt? Giving them an additional revenue stream is idiotic based on past performance. Congress has a history of filching money from wherever they want to, leaving IOU's they cannot repay.

It has already been shown that private for profit companies watch their dollars FAR more carefully than any Congressman. Removing the corruption behind huge highway projects would be a great start...

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
The thing is that road and bridge repairs and reconstruction are infrastructure investments that benefit the whole economy, not just commuters.
What we need is some sensible federal accounting that would allow all of us to see the difference between capital investments and current expenditures.
Hasn't happened since the birth of our republic, although many who actually understand accounting wish it would.
Meanwhile, we argue about a fuel tax to maintain a national infrastructure, as though only those who buy fuel benefit from it.
Many trillions are wasted on wars with out profit. We are taxed too much already for what we receive for the taxes charged

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Imagining that the Government will spend the money intelligently is our first mistake. Anyone seen the national debt? Giving them an additional revenue stream is idiotic based on past performance. Congress has a history of filching money from wherever they want to, leaving IOU's they cannot repay.

It has already been shown that private for profit companies watch their dollars FAR more carefully than any Congressman. Removing the corruption behind huge highway projects would be a great start...


Most, if not all of those projects are done by private companies anyways. The gov't just strokes out a check.

 

[IndyFan]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
My question is when do I buy shares of American companies involved in unconventional plays?

Like Strata-x and SM Energy?;

Is now the time?


I bought a few airline stocks due to the drastic drop in crude oil prices....(Southwest , Delta, JetBlue, American). You know airline tickets didn't drop 50%.
Kinder Morgan got beat up due to crude oil prices, they are in the pipeline business not oil drilling, exploration, refining, etc... KMI pays good dividends.



Well, I invested in KMI at exactly the wrong time, before oil prices tanked. They just cut their divident significantly, putting all the investors undies in a bunch, including mine. I still think now is probably the time to buy, but it is really hard to get my head around actually doing it.