Posted on 07/10/2008 5:22:03 PM PDT by decimon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Declining gasoline purchases, due to higher prices, are hurting the federal fund that pays to maintain the nation's highways, the director of the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday.
The fund is built on an 18.4 cent tax levied on each gallon of gas. It had been forecast to run out by 2009, but the fund is now shrinking more quickly, Peter Orszag testified to a Senate panel.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Increase price = Reduced demand, who would have thought?
boohoo! How much does Big Oil gouge from us on a gallon gas? /s
But not for taxes. The demand curve for taxes is off the chart.
Come to think of it, the extra tax monies being collected from Big Oil should more than make up for any shortfall in retail gas taxes.
I see lots of toll booths...
There are far more taxes paid on a gallon of gas than oil company profit.
Time to punish people for reducing demand.
The govt “gouges” you more on a gallon of gas than big oil and then stands up in front of a camera and blames it on; you guessed it; big oil. Moron.
Am I missing something here?
Couldn't be a case of a bureaucrat trying to shake more money out
of taxpayers in order to pad his empire, could it?
When not punishing us for increasing demand.
There was a sarcasm tag in chaos_5’s post.
Thanks. Seems like there’s more than enough in the increased taxes collected from the oil companies.
It had been forecast to run out by 2009...ummm excuse me, BUT... how does something RUN OUT that COMES IN EVERY DAY???
Don’t think you’ve missed anything.
Well, I've worked with such people. ;-)
They taxed smokers more and allocated it to “health care”. Smoking declined and it hurt their bottom line, so they raised the tax again
Screw these people...
My apologies. Didn’t see your sarcasm tag!
my condolences...
Translation-”we need to raise the gas tax in order to make up for the tax shortfall”
Good thought but the screw turns in but one direction.
For now I guess...
Supply and demand works the opposite way when it comes to government.
LOL, it’s ok. =o)
Then I would expect lots more traffic on side streets to follow.
Yep!
Just because there is less work to do doesn't mean that we will see a smaller bureaucracy, fewer bureaucrats and fewer people surfing the net on their office computers.
Bureaucracies never willingly downsize or curb growth.
Don't be surprised to hear a claim that they need a bigger budget and more headcount because the reduced travel has thrown off all of their calculations, formulas and standards, and they need extra people to adjust to the new paradigm.
They’ll take my Hybrid away, when they pry the steering wheel from my cold, dead driving gloves.
Are you telling me that there is no way we can win?;(
Cheer up. All we need do is vote the right people into office. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
You know the drill
As drivers drive less and switch to more fuel efficient vehicles, the feds and the states collect less gas tax. Then they have to raise the tax just to stay even. Then they have to charge tolls to build new roads.
Reduced revenue doesn’t hurt the trust fund near as much as Congress robing it for their illegal social programs and public transportation.
Wrong, there are screws/bolts left turning-therefore if you turn clockwise the screw/bolt gets loose! ;)
“Declining gasoline purchases, due to higher prices, are hurting the federal fund that pays to maintain the nation’s highways”
So you’ll excuse me if I don’t understand the problem.......But if lower consumption rates are taxing the tax fund, then for crying out loud !. TRIPLE up on the gas taxes !. I mean, DUH.. it doesn’t take a scientist to figure it out. TRIPLE up on liscense plate renewals, TRIPLE up on New car purchase taxes, TRIPLE up on replacement tire taxes. TAX TAX TAX !
ummm excuse me, BUT... how does something RUN OUT that COMES IN EVERY DAY???
************************************************
Highway projects were “accelerated” to stimulate the economy ,, burning the accumulated surplus ,, now it seems they didn’t forsee a drop in demand for gas and miscalculated their receivables.
No, it’s worse than that. Your elected representatives will sell the Interstate Highways running through your state to a toll-road agency, probably some other country or “sovereign wealth” fund. Then, you can pay a toll to drive on the freeway, that you already paid for with your taxed dollars.
Like in NJ, one of the highest taxes on cigarettes has caused many smokers to quit, drastically reducing the revenue?
so then only the surplus is running out not the fund itself.
The fund is built on an 18.4 cent tax levied on each gallon of gas. It had been forecast to run out by 2009, but the fund is now shrinking more quickly, Peter Orszag testified to a Senate panel.
~~~
Well DUH!,,,People that can't afford high gas prices don't
need no Steeekin’ Roads,,,
Go whine to Nancey PigLoosy and the Rats-n-Rinos!!!
IIRC gas usage/miles driven has been droppin’ 1% per month
for the last 3-4 months,,,
Wait till the folks in the north see what they'll have to
pay for Home Heating Oil!!!
Surely the reduced health care costs will more than make up for the reduced cigarette tax revenue. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Rapid Transit!
Only then when we have:
light rail
high speed rail
levitating trains
all kinds of rail
only then will America be able to hold their head high in the world and get the respect of other countries.
the Amish party strikes again. I can't wait until we go back to horses and outhouses!
McDonalds among others has a higher profit margin than ExxonMobil. Saw that here on FR with figures.
That’s right folks, conserve on gas and we will tax your ass.
You mean, they spent it already, before they collected it? Who woulda thought?
What we need is a rail we can ride them out of town on.
Every single time someone complains about the awful Oil Companies remind them that they make approx 9 cents for every gallon sold, while the Federal Government takes 18.4 cents! Add in you state and local taxes to that amount and question the reality of who is really gouging Americans!!
Both numbers are low. Profit and taxes at the final stage of petroleum operations (retail gasoline service station) are not the only source of taxes or profits. The petroleum went through several steps to get their with profit and taxes taken along the way.
Oil Companies make about 9% profit from oil well to gasoline pump, or 40¢ on $4 gasoline. Government usually make more than twice that.
examples:
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-bloggers/2001476/posts?page=11#11
Ah, but you aren’t a member of that criminal class in DC...
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