[SpockLives]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'A')s we proceed down the back slope of the curve in production, gas prices will go up. We may see $3 again for a short time but $4 is the new norm. By the end of the year, $5 may very well be the next new norm.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'O')ver the last year the price of gas has risen about a dollar per gallon. Who got that dollar? Arab oil sheiks? Hugo Chavez? Exxon execatives? Better to raise the tax and keep it here and try to get it well spent.

[Cloud9]

Have you looked at the housing market lately? Have you looked at unemployment lately? Have you looked at the number of people on government assistance? And finally have you looked at gas consumption year over year? I realize correlation is not causation. Still, something is up.

[SpockLives]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'H')ave you looked at the housing market lately? Have you looked at unemployment lately? Have you looked at the number of people on government assistance? And finally have you looked at gas consumption year over year? I realize correlation is not causation. Still, something is up.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'A')ctually the true progressive would probably not advocate any type of use tax since it affects the poor disproportionately.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpockLives', 'I') agree, something is certainly up. Unfortunately, it is not up enough. Gasoline in the $3-$4/gal range just isn't providing the disincentive necessary to change American behavior. Therefore, we need more "up", and the sooner the better.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'H')ave you looked at the housing market lately? Have you looked at unemployment lately? Have you looked at the number of people on government assistance? And finally have you looked at gas consumption year over year? I realize correlation is not causation. Still, something is up.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'D')isagree here, this is a use tax which would land more heavily on wealthier people since they are more likely to drive more miles in bigger vehicles. Whereas at $4 / gal; people in poverty are already being priced out of the large quantity game. If really worried about lower income effects, you could stick yet another refundable tax credit on the 1040; everyone in that income range is already accustomed to the tax credit drill anyway.

A disproportionate tax would be the annual registration fee; that's $50 from the poor guy that drives 1000 miles a year, and $50 from the rich guy who drives 20,000 miles a year.

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpockLives', 'I') agree, something is certainly up. Unfortunately, it is not up enough. Gasoline in the $3-$4/gal range just isn't providing the disincentive necessary to change American behavior. Therefore, we need more "up", and the sooner the better.

[Pops]

Really the hard part is that the working guy needs to transition just as bad if not worse than the well-off person and with our new-found government austerity plan moving forward, a little pain is the only way to get that reaction.

Driving a '68 V-8 Ford instead of a K-Car is a choice just like any other.

[vision-master]

Why is it Pops is one of a very few here that have any common sense?

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', '
')A disproportionate tax would be the annual registration fee; that's $50 from the poor guy that drives 1000 miles a year, and $50 from the rich guy who drives 20,000 miles a year.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'S')o the janitor who would pay, say, $100/month extra in tax to drive the old F-150 to work is not affected as much as the lawyer who pays twice that? 5x that?

[vision-master]

I wuz a school janitor for a few years, nothing wrong with the job.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'J')anitor needs to get a bicycle. We need more bikes and fewer F-150's for commuting.
Person using inappropriate transportation, causes bad result.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'S')ame with the lawyer and most everyone else for that matter but at least the lawyer has a greater ability to make changes.

[Cloud9]

There is no mass transit in my area.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '8')) I have to take issue with the assumption that my supporting a raise in the gas tax defines me as a liberal. I am one of the more fiscally conservative members on this board so you could not be more wrong. True conservatism is not just a knee jerk refusal of all taxes but a clear view that taxes need to be as low as possible And that budgets need to be balanced.
If the federal budget was in balance, which it most assuredly is not, then a increase in fuel taxes would need to be balanced by a cut in some other broad based tax. The reality is that the federal deficit is enormous and our ability to borrow or print money is fast coming to an end and major tax increases are inevitable. Choosing fuel taxes to raise part of the needed funds will serve two purposes, both raising funds and pushing people to a more fuel efficient future.

[SpockLives]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'T')here is no mass transit in my area.

[ColossalContrarian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SpockLives', 'I') agree, something is certainly up. Unfortunately, it is not up enough. Gasoline in the $3-$4/gal range just isn't providing the disincentive necessary to change American behavior. Therefore, we need more "up", and the sooner the better.