Posted on 02/13/2012 10:36:58 AM PST by Gopher Broke
I am looking for a fair and reasonable system that will allocate the tax proportionate to the actual road usage and cost/benefit ratio. There are obviously a lot of complex issues interacting here. These really need more study before the pols arbitrarily increase the tax on gasoline; which is already forecast to hit $4/gallon by this summer and some are forecasting will reach #5/gallon by this time next year.
The economy is teetering on the brink and raising taxes on something as essential as fuel just seems reckless in the current economy.
Take care,
-Geoff
I’m actually in total agreement with you. actually there is no excuse for the high price of gasoline, or any fuel for that matter. Heck we’re exporting the dag gone stuff, which tells me there is plenty of it and the price should not be anywhere near what it currently is.
I don’t know what the answer is, but there has to be something..........
have a good evening.
You too!
Looks like the Senate just passed the tax bill; so, I guess we both lost.
Yes, we're exporting fuel for the first time in years.
But there is a reason.
Because of lower demand, the refiners have shut down a number of refineries -- the most inefficient ones, mostly located in the Northeast. It makes sense, doesn't it, to shut down the most inefficient facilities when there is an over-supply?
This left the Gulf Coast refineries, still running at close to full blast (the most efficient way to operate a refinery), with an over-supply for the markets they serve. Normally, the excess would be shipped to the fuel-poor part of the country (i.e., the Northeast). But there was no pipeline capacity available to do so -- the eco-warriors and the government having mitigated against any expansion in pipeline capacity between the Gulf Coast and the Northeast.
So, what to do with the excess capacity? Ship it in tankers to the fuel-starved Northeast? Just one problem: All shipments from one U.S. port to another U.S. port must travel on U.S.-flagged shipping with fully unionized crews. Which is so prohibitively expensive that nobody ships port-to-port in the U.S. anymore.
So, instead, the Gulf Coast refineries put their excess product on a tanker and ship it to (mostly) Caribbean countries. Meanwhile, Caribbean refineries (and Nigeria) ship fuel to the Northeast -- because this is the most efficient way to supply the product to the market.
In other words, the only reason why we are exporting fuel is two-fold:
1. A weak economy, thus a weak market for refined products.
2. Adverse government policy on pipeline construction and maritime labor.
If you still want to blame Big Oil, recognize that they're only acting in their stockholders' best interests.
Where did I blame Big Oil? I'll tell you ----- NO WHERE.
Forgive my lack of clarity. I didn't intend to say that YOU did. I was addressing those who might read the post -- and there are a lot of FReepers right now who are blaming Big Oil -- because they aren't aware of the business environment.
I was in the middle of discussing increased gas taxes vs. increasing the number and cost of tolls here in Virginia, the current price of gas was just a passing tangent on the main issue at hand.
I am well aware of the business climate that has skyrocketed the fuel prices - and I blame the government, not the oil companies.
Virginia has a big slush fund that they always keep secret. They have plenty of money to build roads. Just another money grab.
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