i'm sure there's a very good reason for this.

and i'm equally sure my bank account doesn't want to f'ing hear it.

yay! we're taxing ourselves into prosperity! go team go!

Part of me can rationalize this by noting the dire state of our transportation infrastructure and the possible tightening of revenues coming in as people buy less gas, but the other part of me says yougottabefarkingshiattingme. I guess that 9% approval rating may get even lower. You're doing a heckuva job, Nancy!

While I know we really need to upgrade our roads and infrastructure, but come on. How about some common sense? Get rid of some less needy expenditures before increases taxes.

*sigh*

All of the congress critters deserve a huge dose of reality. Someone have a 2x4 named Reality?

Come on... now they're just f*cking with us.

i'm sure there's a very good reason for this.

- with a prod from the construction industry - that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

and its pretty good reason if you think about it.

log_jammin: i'm sure there's a very good reason for this.

- with a prod from the construction industry - that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

and its pretty good reason if you think about it.

No, it's a shiatty reason. If congress really gave a damn, they'd curtail ALL pork barrel spending and kick that money back into infrastructure programs. But no - they have a budget short fall so they jack taxes up on the one commodity that everyone uses.

farking asswipes.

log_jammin: i'm sure there's a very good reason for this.

- with a prod from the construction industry - that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

and its pretty good reason if you think about it.

That's a reason against the gas tax holiday not a reason for the 50% tax hike, at least in the context of this article.

Weaver95: No, it's a shiatty reason.

jobs are a shiatty reason?

Broken9754: That's a reason against the gas tax holiday not a reason for the 50% tax hike, at least in the context of this article.

I read it as both. There isn't enough money to keep up.

I'm not fan of taxes either but how much do you think it costs for unemployment benefits for several thousand highway workers?

log_jammin: I read it as both.

I understand, but they didn't sell it that way in the article is all.

The only part that surprises me is that this strikes me as political suicide. To even float the idea before November takes either massive balls or a perfect vacuum between the ears.

Broken9754: The only part that surprises me is that this strikes me as political suicide. To even float the idea before November takes either massive balls or a perfect vacuum between the ears.

I agree.

and what annoys me about that is if they just charge it to Uncle Sams credit card like we've done for the last 7 years no one would bat an eye.

nashBridges: Answer? Less than a 10 cent increase in the federal gas tax. WAY less.

until all those roads and bridges fall into disrepair and you start paying for car repairs from driving over pot holes and shiat.

AND those repairs will have to be made sooner or later. you do them sooner and they are much cheaper to do.

Do you see the problem here? They are helping kill demand even further under the auspices of "fixing" the results of lowered demand in the first place.

some. but not near as much as the average 15 or 20 cent jump that the gas companies do on a regular basis.

nashBridges: It's the federal tax, so this money would be applied to interstates and bridges that are included in the federal system.

IIRC that money is also sent out to the states. Even if its not...so what? A road is a road.

And it's still bullshiat because it's a play for jobs that might not be necessary.

huh? Why would the jobs be unnecessary?

If they said the money was going to be used to actually build more roads or expand current road coverage - sure. Instead, this is a play for lobbyists who maintain the idea that there is some magic a road crew works while filling a pothole on a highway.

That makes no sense. why is expansion the only reason for highway funds? whats wrong with paying for repairs and improvements?

and it would take magic to get those pot holes filled without a road crew to do it.

It's a nod to union labor, not that the union will see most of the money. They will use the rest of it elsewhere.

where exactly is it going to go?


look...like I said before. I hate taxes as much as anyone, but THIS is the reason we have taxes in the first place. Infrastructure.

This isnt some BS telecom tax, or a tax on toilet paper to pay for studies on pot bellied pigs. its out roads and highways.

well, with any luck demand will fall and prices will drop

/And we're still taxed less than 10% of most euro area countries

log_jammin: its out roads and highways.

our

and before this hits the main page let me be clear...I live in a rural part of the country and drive 25 miles one way to work at my low paying job in a vehicle that gets about 18mpg.

Meh. If supply and demand are going to set gas prices at a ridiculously profitable level, the government might as well grab what they can.

If you believe there is collusion and that the taxes will just add on to the price (ie. supply and demand won't keep the price at roughly the same level and the taxes will only cut into corporate profits), then that's a separate issue entirely.

stop spending so much on the military
its pretty simple, isn't it?

Reason 1:
I-35 bridge collapse

That is more than enough reason for me, I personally would not prefer a repeat.

But for you others:
1. Crappy roads mean more traffic delays, more traffic delays mean more fuel utilized, more fuel utilized means higher prices due to transport costs. QED
2. Maintenance is cheaper than replacements.
3. A good infrastructure is inherently good for the economy, see #1;
4. Tolls & taxes or potholes and collapsing bridges. Take your pick.

Gas all across our great nation
(Before Bush's administration)
Was priced at a dollar.
It don't take a scholar
To see that there's some correlation.

Wow, the Dems aren't even in the White House yet and they're already planning tax hikes!

/Your new government, let me show you it!
//dnrta

FTFA:

McCain said the money could come out of the general Treasury fund, in effect adding to the federal deficit, and is still getting mileage from the idea.

"Some economists don't think much of my gas tax holiday," he said in a speech this month. "But the American people like it, and so do small business owners."

Wow. He really is special, isn't he? I think the Viet Cong actually performed a frontal labotomy on this nut.

I strongly favor this. It will surely decrease prices at the pump, and what more important, it will stabilize the price.

America's economy has gotten hammered by the fluctuations in the oil prices four times in the last forty years. It's time we got a clue.

The truth is that the government subsidizes gasoline consumption in America by pumping money into the roads. Raising the gas tax would reduce that subsidy.

Shouldn't this congress be on Vacation?
/this alone will actually save a lot of gas
//congress on Vacation = savings
///think about it, people

jerem43:
Reason 1:
I-35 bridge collapse

...which wasn't from a lack of funding, but from a screw-up by a state bureaucracy.

MaxxLarge:
Gas all across our great nation
(Before Bush's administration)
Was priced at a dollar.
It don't take a scholar
To see that there's some correlation.

The poem was funny
But your logic is runny
Gas price didn't aggress
'Til the Dems controlled Congress.

Weaver95: yay! we're taxing ourselves into prosperity! go team go!

Were you planning on funding a stretch of road maintenance out of your own pocket? No? Then kindly take your sarcasm and stuff it.

Remove all Republicans: ilambiquated: It will surely decrease prices at the pump, and what more important, it will stabilize the price.

Nothing is going to reduce prices until the government teaches Big Oil that raising prices to screw Americans is going to be punished: the companies have to have their profits taken away and their businesses nationalized. Do that and we'll never see companies try to screw us again.

I don't think anyone can really control the price directly. But sending a signal to the markets that conservation is a goal of public policy should dampen the current bubble.

cirby: Gas price didn't aggress
'Til the Dems controlled Congress.

not true

cirby: Gas price didn't aggress
'Til the Dems controlled Congress.

you really believe that don't you?

Remove all Republicans: Nothing is going to reduce prices until the government teaches Big Oil that raising prices to screw Americans is going to be punished: the companies have to have their profits taken away and their businesses nationalized. Do that and we'll never see companies try to screw us again.

Not while the people running the oil companies are running your country.

Weaver95: yay! we're taxing ourselves into prosperity! go team go!

Subsidizing ourselves in to prosperity can't work forever, unfortunately.

shaft6969: well, with any luck demand will fall and prices will drop

/And we're still taxed less than 10% of most euro area countries

But if that happens all the investement in gas saving technology will be wasted. A falling price damages te economy as much as a rising price. We need stability, so we can invest safely.

The government can't deliver stable low prices. It can deliver stable high prices. Stability is more important than the actual price level, because the economy can adjust to any price level, but can't adjust to instability.

Yeah and the government would NEVER try to screw us, would they?

Remove all Republicans: the companies have to have their profits taken away and their businesses nationalized. Do that and we'll never see companies try to screw us again.

And I'm just CERTAIN your gal hillary has plans to do just that

As a bike rider who has not owned a car for 5 years, I am really getting a kick out of this thread. Have fun with your democrats, car people, its gonna get even more expensive now.

BTW: American oil companies do not control the price of Oil. Supply and demand does. India and China have been subsidising gasoline for their population to modernize. A whole bunch of new cars are on the road, all of which need gas, combine that with no significant increase in the supply of oil, and it will inevitably lead to a significant price hike because more people need a limited commodity. Yeah, the oil companies have been making record profits, because their product is more valuable and more people need it. The world is much bigger than America and its oil companies and if the oil companies could raise the price at will, was it their benevolence which stopped them from doing this years ago? Did they recently get a change of heart? The problem is that more people need the product and are willing to pay more for it. If we want it, we have to pay more too.

The gas tax is political suicide, but unless funds can be diverted from less necessary programs and into the highway fund, I guess it is in reality necessary and I almost respect the democrats who will be willing to fall on their swords and vote for this.

log_jammin: cirby: Gas price didn't aggress
'Til the Dems controlled Congress.

you really believe that don't you?

yeah why?

Let's dress up like Arabs and throw oil in Boston Harbor.

Damn...they keep screwing us with all these tax increases...

WAIT! IDEA!

Lets counter-screw them. But first...we need at least a truckload of anal lube...

lets see...after i go fill my tank up for $5.09 a gallon...then drive over to my friendly neighborhood porn shop...I have about.......

$10.33...

How many people in Congress can I rape?

ilambiquated: yeah why?

why what?

You know why don't they stop spending our money on useless shiat and direct it on needs rather than wants? I mean do we really need a potato, tomato, apple museum? Do we really need bridges to nowhere? Do we really need to pay people who can work not to work? Why do we subsidize the farmers, sugar industry, or any of hundreds of pork projects just to get these arses re-elected?

Time for a tea party my friends or better yet a lynching!

Chunes: Yeah and the government would NEVER try to screw us, would they?

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Got to pick one, so go with the one that at least pretends they give a crap about you.

ham-tomato: Chunes: Yeah and the government would NEVER try to screw us, would they?

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Got to pick one, so go with the one that at least pretends they give a crap about you.

But... but I saw a commercial from an oil company that said they're investing in new, green sources of energy. I'm so confused. I don't know what to believe anymore!

tehtater: lets see...after i go fill my tank up for $5.09 a gallon...then drive over to my friendly neighborhood porn shop...I have about.......

$10.33...

How many people in Congress can I rape?

None. You're going to need about a million times that. But if you ever do have that kind of money, you won't have to rape anybody -- they'll step on each others' necks to fellate you.

nelbuts1: You know why don't they stop spending our money on useless shiat and direct it on needs rather than wants? I mean do we really need a potato, tomato, apple museum? Do we really need bridges to nowhere? Do we really need to pay people who can work not to work? Why do we subsidize the farmers, sugar industry, or any of hundreds of pork projects just to get these arses re-elected?

Time for a tea party my friends or better yet a lynching!

A totally reasonable response to a nominal tax increase that still leaves America having some of the cheapest gas in the world.

Looks like that blood for oil deal in Iraq is really working out.

ecmoRandomNumbers: tehtater: lets see...after i go fill my tank up for $5.09 a gallon...then drive over to my friendly neighborhood porn shop...I have about.......

$10.33...

How many people in Congress can I rape?

None. You're going to need about a million times that. But if you ever do have that kind of money, you won't have to rape anybody -- they'll step on each others' necks to fellate you.

YAY DOMINATION!!!

Now all I need is a "get-rich-quick" scheme, invest into a non-rape fund raiser, and then pay people to lay on the ground next to me...

Wait...then where does the counter-screw come in?

ham-tomato: nelbuts1: You know why don't they stop spending our money on useless shiat and direct it on needs rather than wants? I mean do we really need a potato, tomato, apple museum? Do we really need bridges to nowhere? Do we really need to pay people who can work not to work? Why do we subsidize the farmers, sugar industry, or any of hundreds of pork projects just to get these arses re-elected?

Time for a tea party my friends or better yet a lynching!

A totally reasonable response to a nominal tax increase that still leaves America having some of the cheapest gas in the world.

America isn't down there among the cheapest anymore. If you want cheap, try Venezuela or Iran. At $4.00 we're actually pretty average. Europe is on the high end.

jdmac: American oil companies do not control the price of Oil. Supply and demand does.

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Dumb dumb dumb dumb duuumb, duuumb.