The clueless American voter

[Theophylact]

How often is the gas tax raised?

Quote:

The survey was done from June 30 through July 2, 2009, and involved 800 adults, with a +3.46% margin of error. And a whopping 60% of the respondents — Republican and Democrat alike — believe the federal gas tax is raised annually. Geographic location didn’t make much of a difference — 61% believed this incorrect statement in the Northeast, 58% in the South, 54% in the Midwest, and 67% in the West.

The truth, of course, is that the federal gas tax has been unchanged at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. And, in a colossal error of judgment, the government neglected to index it for inflation. So it’s worth even less now than it was then.

[Steve R Jones]

Call me clueless...Is there something written on the pump that I should have read and known?

How bout you Theo? Which group do you fall in

[The Real Bingo]

On the other hand, states may have raised gasoline taxes since then.

[voogru]

Theo, if you want to pay more in gas taxes just send me $x for every gallon of fuel you buy.

Chances are you wouldn't ever do something like that, because you don't trust me.

But you trust the government?

Oh, those same "clueless" American voters also put Obama in office too, didn't they?

[no1_vern]

I agree. The FEDERAL tax NEEDS to be raised by $2 to $3 per gallon! This 18 cents/gallon isnt nearly enough to fix our roads/bridges!

[Theophylact]

Quote:

Originally Posted by voogru

Theo, if you want to pay more in gas taxes just send me $x for every gallon of fuel you buy.

Chances are you wouldn't ever do something like that, because you don't trust me.

But you trust the government?

Oh, those same "clueless" American voters also put Obama in office too, didn't they?

It's not that I don't trust you; it's that there's no reason for you to use that money to do things I need to have done.

You think liberals enjoy paying taxes? We don't. But we recognize that "taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

It was foolish to tax gas by the gallon rather than by the dollar, like almost everything else we buy; but the rationale was to have a steady source of revenue not dependent on the fluctuating price of oil. The government assumed (correctly) that oil use would continue to rise, and somehow failed to see that that would also cause the price to rise as well.

[The Real Bingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by no1_vern

I agree. The FEDERAL tax NEEDS to be raised by $2 to $3 per gallon! This 18 cents/gallon isnt nearly enough to fix our roads/bridges!

You'd think $800 billion could've made a dent into our infrastructure problems...

We raise it to a couple bucks a gallon and we'd be like Europe. I'm sure many would love that; driving their Geo Metros and Vespa motor scooters and using public transportation.

[butch81385]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real Bingo

You'd think $800 billion could've made a dent into our infrastructure problems...

We raise it to a couple bucks a gallon and we'd be like Europe. I'm sure many would love that; driving their Geo Metros and Vespa motor scooters and using public transportation.

Except for the fact that even with the increase in money we still couldn't afford to bring our public transportation up to the quality and coverage of Europe. Add to that the fact that many people live outside of cities or in areas where a bus or train is not available to get them to work, the grocery store, etc.

When I was in Leeds I lived about 5 miles from center city. There were buses going there every 15 minutes and I could get a ride all day pass for the entire greater Leeds area for less than $4. I could walk to 2 different train stations and take high speed trains to every major city in England and Scotland, as well as smaller trains to almost any small village.
rail - Google Maps

The fact is, most Europeans can get by with 0 or 1 car per family, as opposed to the US where we are closer to 1 car per person... Many of my friends over there didn't even have a license as they were expensive and unneeded.

[thephilosophizer]

Better public transportation would be great, right now it would take 2.5 hours to cover the same distance that would take 15 mins in a car in my town. The bus company is this wield pseudo-private entity, that has no accountability to anybody, it's awful.
What I would really love to have is good trains, like they have in Europe. It would be great to travel cross-continental at hundreds of miles per hour without having to deal with all the crap that goes with flying.
A higher gas tax would be great all around. The roads would get fixed, public transportation and other mass transit would get a boast. Demand for renewable fuels, and higher efficiency cars would go up, and we'd boost national security by reducing our dependence on oil imports from OPEC.

[Epidemic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by no1_vern

I agree. The FEDERAL tax NEEDS to be raised by $2 to $3 per gallon! This 18 cents/gallon isnt nearly enough to fix our roads/bridges!

Beauty. you could tip off a full fledged depression. Great Idea. perhaps even make it impossible for small farmers to get to market, raise the price of food and delivered goods.

how many dollars do we need to fix our roads. are they putting the funds in the right place right now. I mean I drive through west virginia and see these highways that are 50 years ahead of their time and I commute through the 18th worst commute in the country.

perhaps the funds used out in WV would have been better diverted into another tunnel in the Downtown Norfolk VA.

pehaps even making an under water tube for mass transit as well. Nah banish the thought... I think there is plenty of money there. it needs to be spent properly not used as fuel for the pork filled budget. "hey vote for my crappy bill and I will vote to give you an 8 lane highway to nowhere."


Seriously though vern, what would taking 1800 - 3000 dollars out of most americans pockets do the the economy.