Are You Ready for $8-a-Gallon Gasoline?

HerbieHeadley · Dec 17, 2008

By EXAMINER EDITORIAL HOT ZONE
- 12/17/08
Better get ready for gas prices to go way back up, to the $4-per-gallon heights of last summer and even beyond. And it wont be because of anything OPEC does, or the lunatics running either Iran or Venezuela. It will be because the U.S. government thinks you should pay much more for the gas you depend upon to get to work, go to the grocery store and pick up the kids at school. Its all for your own good because, remember, the government is here to help us.

It hasnt gotten much attention but Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obamas choice as Secretary of Energy, is a firm believer that the federal government should increase taxes on gas in order to push the price-per-gallon up to European levels. Thats what he told The Wall Street Journal in September. Its for our own good, see, because forcing the price of gas into the stratosphere will make us stop driving our evil automobiles and instead use mass transit. Or bicycles. Or walk.

Whats that you say, you cant carry a weeks worth of groceries home on the subway because it doesnt go anywhere near your home? Then youll just have to move back into the noisy, crime-infested, crowded city. But, hey, you should be glad to give up that beautiful suburban single-family home that was your American Dream, along with the schools for your kids and the private automobile that took you anywhere you wanted to go when you wanted to go there. Give it up because Barack Obama and Stephen Chu are from the government and theyre here to help you. Be sure and check this out from the National Taxpayers Union, too. And this from FreedomCongressUSA.

:doh:

And Obama says he is going to reinstate the off-shore drilling bans.

Jester4kicks · Dec 17, 2008

HerbieHeadley said:
By EXAMINER EDITORIAL HOT ZONE
- 12/17/08
Better get ready for gas prices to go way back up, to the $4-per-gallon heights of last summer and even beyond. And it wont be because of anything OPEC does, or the lunatics running either Iran or Venezuela. It will be because the U.S. government thinks you should pay much more for the gas you depend upon to get to work, go to the grocery store and pick up the kids at school. Its all for your own good because, remember, the government is here to help us.

It hasnt gotten much attention but Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obamas choice as Secretary of Energy, is a firm believer that the federal government should increase taxes on gas in order to push the price-per-gallon up to European levels. Thats what he told The Wall Street Journal in September. Its for our own good, see, because forcing the price of gas into the stratosphere will make us stop driving our evil automobiles and instead use mass transit. Or bicycles. Or walk.

Whats that you say, you cant carry a weeks worth of groceries home on the subway because it doesnt go anywhere near your home? Then youll just have to move back into the noisy, crime-infested, crowded city. But, hey, you should be glad to give up that beautiful suburban single-family home that was your American Dream, along with the schools for your kids and the private automobile that took you anywhere you wanted to go when you wanted to go there. Give it up because Barack Obama and Stephen Chu are from the government and theyre here to help you. Be sure and check this out from the National Taxpayers Union, too. And this from FreedomCongressUSA.

And Obama says he is going to reinstate the off-shore drilling bans.

You know... I looked around, checked several media outlets on both sides of the spectrum... and I couldn't find anything that said Chu wanted to combat oil usage by increasing gas taxes.

Here's what I DID find:
-Chu hates coal, and is a strong proponent of clean-coal technology.
-He supports nuclear power, but wants to make sure the waste is handled responsibly.
-He supports biofuels and new biofuel research and development.
-He's also a major proponent for solar and wind power.

-Oh... he's also pretty smart... the guy won a Nobel Prize in physics. I know we're not accustomed to intelligent people in the executive branch... but that IS a change I'm looking forward to.

Oh... and if you're STILL concerned.... think about what $8/gallon gas would do to the economy and the auto industry. I can't see Obama allowing that to happen.

The OP was nothing more than the same fear-mongering we've lived with for the last 8 years. Yeah... I'm ready for change.

Doctrine1st · Dec 17, 2008

The next paragraph from the orginal Wall Street article:

"But Mr. Obama has dismissed the idea of boosting the federal gasoline tax, a move energy experts say could be the single most effective step to promote alternative energies and temper demand. Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

WSJ

HerbieHeadley · Dec 17, 2008

Jester4kicks said:
You know... I looked around, checked several media outlets on both sides of the spectrum... and I couldn't find anything that said Chu wanted to combat oil usage by increasing gas taxes.

Here's what I DID find:
-Chu hates coal, and is a strong proponent of clean-coal technology.
-He supports nuclear power, but wants to make sure the waste is handled responsibly.
-He supports biofuels and new biofuel research and development.
-He's also a major proponent for solar and wind power.

-Oh... he's also pretty smart... the guy won a Nobel Prize in physics. I know we're not accustomed to intelligent people in the executive branch... but that IS a change I'm looking forward to.

Oh... and if you're STILL concerned.... think about what $8/gallon gas would do to the economy and the auto industry. I can't see Obama allowing that to happen.

The OP was nothing more than the same fear-mongering we've lived with for the last 8 years. Yeah... I'm ready for change.

Laser cooling of atoms for study does not make a economic smart guy.
The truth is he said what he said, and so did President elect.
I don't believe for a minute that President elect has changed his mind on raising fuel tax.

[serious] · Dec 17, 2008

so wait, you think this guy is going to put a $6 a gallon tax on gas to bring it up to $8 a gallon? and you base this on what?

Realistically, gas taxes are a very very small part of what we pay at the pump. If we doubled the federal taxes on gas, we'd still be under $2 a gallon. We would have to raise it to 1200% of it's current level just to hit the $4 peak. So really, put the lance down. It's just another windmill.

HerbieHeadley · Dec 17, 2008

It is a known fact that federal and state taxes dwarf the profit the gas man makes.
I wont be shocked to see the new "vision" for cap and trade funnel to me as a John Doe citizen.
Government has decided to increase commitments to last year by 25%....gotta get it from somewhere.

Jester4kicks · Dec 17, 2008

HerbieHeadley said:
Laser cooling of atoms for study does not make a economic smart guy.
The truth is he said what he said, and so did President elect.
I don't believe for a minute that President elect has changed his mind on raising fuel tax.

Doctrine1st said:
The next paragraph from the orginal Wall Street article:

"But Mr. Obama has dismissed the idea of boosting the federal gasoline tax, a move energy experts say could be the single most effective step to promote alternative energies and temper demand. Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

WSJ

Do you have to choose to not see stuff like that... or is it just automatic for you now? ^_^

HerbieHeadley said:
It is a known fact that federal and state taxes dwarf the profit the gas man makes.

Really? "A known fact"? Well then it should be too hard for you to find a source to back that statement up!

I'm not holding my breath.

Steve Petersen · Dec 17, 2008

Doctrine1st said:
The next paragraph from the orginal Wall Street article:

"But Mr. Obama has dismissed the idea of boosting the federal gasoline tax, a move energy experts say could be the single most effective step to promote alternative energies and temper demand. Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

WSJ

Did you miss the 'right now' part?

genXer · Dec 17, 2008

Steve Petersen said:
Did you miss the 'right now' part?

I think he did.

Doctrine1st · Dec 17, 2008

Steve Petersen said:
Did you miss the 'right now' part?

sure did. we can all rest assure given the state of the economy "right now" the other "right now" isn't realistic to warrant posts warning of a future of $8 a gallon.

GeorgeKillen · Dec 17, 2008

[serious];49820524 said:
Realistically, gas taxes are a very very small part of what we pay at the pump. If we doubled the federal taxes on gas, we'd still be under $2 a gallon. We would have to raise it to 1200% of it's current level just to hit the $4 peak. So really, put the lance down. It's just another windmill.

The government makes more than the retailer on a gallon of gasoline.

There's something that is just wrong about that.

[serious] · Dec 17, 2008

HerbieHeadley said:
It is a known fact that federal and state taxes dwarf the profit the gas man makes.
I wont be shocked to see the new "vision" for cap and trade funnel to me as a John Doe citizen.
Government has decided to increase commitments to last year by 25%....gotta get it from somewhere.

while it's true that the owner of the gas station has a small markup, you are ignoring everyone else along the line that takes a slice. the "gas man" is not teh supplier now is he? Nice try though.

platzapS · Dec 18, 2008

But, hey, you should be glad to give up that beautiful suburban single-family home that was your American Dream, along with the schools for your kids and the private automobile that took you anywhere you wanted to go when you wanted to go there.

If that's the "American Dream", we should wake up. We should move away from the idea of suburbia as ideal, rather than the wasteful absurdity it is. Let's improve our cities and protect healthy farmlands and eco-friendly villages, and not worry about having a nicely-watered lawn and a couple of SUVs per family.

GeorgeKillen · Dec 18, 2008

[serious];49822158 said:
while it's true that the owner of the gas station has a small markup, you are ignoring everyone else along the line that takes a slice. the "gas man" is not teh supplier now is he? Nice try though.

Well, do any of those people make more than fifty or sixty cents from each gallon of gasoline? That's about how much the government makes. And they don't even have to do anything other than say, "Give us money."

And in terms of petroleum reserves, most of the largest oil companies are run owned by governments.

romanov · Dec 18, 2008

Jester4kicks said:
You know... I looked around, checked several media outlets on both sides of the spectrum... and I couldn't find anything that said Chu wanted to combat oil usage by increasing gas taxes.

Well, I timed it and it only took me 5 min and 21 seconds to find this.

Jester4kicks said:
Here's what I DID find:
-Chu hates coal, and is a strong proponent of clean-coal technology.

Hates coal, but is a proponent of clean coal. I guess that makes him a contortionist as well as a PHD.

Jester4kicks said:
-He supports nuclear power, but wants to make sure the waste is handled responsibly.

I have heard this line before. It is becoming and old joke. So, let me guess, as soon as we can safely handle the technology he is all for nuclear power.

Jester4kicks said:
-He supports biofuels and new biofuel research and development.

Bio-fuels still would put out CO2 and as I understand it Al Gore is none to happy with that. Form what I have read it takes more energy to produce these fuels then what you get out of them. That may well change in the future. What can we do now? What is wrong with increasing our supply of current fuels and working on the Buck Rodgers stuff.

Jester4kicks said:
-He's also a major proponent for solar and wind power.

I have heard this for I do not know how many years. We have thrown so much money at this holy grail and are no closer to having either one of this ideas as a economical solution.

Jester4kicks said:
-Oh... he's also pretty smart... the guy won a Nobel Prize in physics. I know we're not accustomed to intelligent people in the executive branch... but that IS a change I'm looking forward to.

I watched two guys with PHDs trying to put a piece of test equipment into a crate. After ten minutes I got up drug a bigger crate over and put the equipment in it. Sometimes one thing has nothing to do with the other.

Jester4kicks said:
Oh... and if you're STILL concerned.... think about what $8/gallon gas would do to the economy and the auto industry. I can't see Obama allowing that to happen.

Two minutes fifteen seconds. Yes, I know what your are going to say. He was taken out of context, you will accuse me of quote mining, do we know for sure that he meant he wants higher fuel prices, blah, blah, blah. Well no one in the main stream media bothered to ask Obama what he meant either.

Jester4kicks said:
The OP was nothing more than the same fear-mongering we've lived with for the last 8 years. Yeah... I'm ready for change.

Fear-mongering. That such a hoot. You want fear-mongering listen to the libs. Now that is fear-mongering as an art form!

romanov · Dec 18, 2008

Jester4kicks said:
Really? "A known fact"? Well then it should be too hard for you to find a source to back that statement up!

Three minutes twenty two seconds for this. I went and got a beer.

romanov · Dec 18, 2008

[serious];49822158 said:
while it's true that the owner of the gas station has a small markup, you are ignoring everyone else along the line that takes a slice. the "gas man" is not teh supplier now is he? Nice try though.

Well your are right. Everyone along the way makes a relatively small profit. Mostly about a 4 to 6% net profit. The most cost by far is government. You have got lease fees, royalty fees, transport fees, dock fees, port fees, environmental impact fees, not to mention licensing fees and the additional costs of regulatory fees etc. Big oil is the government.

JustOneWay · Dec 18, 2008

Steve Petersen said:
Did you miss the 'right now' part?

You are reading way into that paragraph to extract what you believe Obama said. That says it would immediately put an additional burden on American families. If it said what you are wishing it said then Obama would have said a "mistake right now"

chaz345 · Dec 18, 2008

romanov said:
Form what I have read it takes more energy to produce these fuels then what you get out of them. That may well change in the future.

The most mature of biofuel technologies, ethanol, doesn't take more energy to produce than we get out, but as it is currently done in the US, it only gives back about 1.3 times the energy we put into it. That's because making it from corn is about the least efficient way to do it. But of course the reason that it is done that way here is because the government is too involved. End the subsidies and we'd see far better ways of producing it, ways for which the technology already exists, spring up overnight.

More to the point of the OP, I think it is stupid and irresponsible of the government to try to force such a change in the way we live, essentially forcing people back into the cities, before taking steps to make cities more liveable. Obama and his administration might or might not actually favor raising the gas tax to those levels in order to force changes in the way we live. But either way,that way of thinking is certainly not a rarity on the left side of the aisle. Where I live, Portland Oregon,the attempts by the city and regional government to force us our of our evil cars are blatant.

revanneosl · Dec 18, 2008

I myself am firmly in favor of raising the tax on gasoline enough to bring the price back up to the neighborhood of $4.00 per gallon.

Are You Ready for $8-a-Gallon Gasoline?

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