Fuel Prices

[KrazyDawg]

Originally Posted by chrisj

So, while I hate $2.50 a gallon gas, we all have to pay it, and it only makes sense to get a car that gets the very best fuel economy.

I'm still paying $3.03 here. It's mainly because CA pays the highest taxes in the nation for gases at nearly $0.64 while KY is $0.37. Alaska pays the lowest tax yet they have one of the highest rates.

http://gasbuddy.com/Tax_Info.aspx

With all the revenue generated in gas taxes, there's still plenty of potholes and roads that need to be addressed.

[DevilGirl]

Originally Posted by KrazyDawg

With all the revenue generated in gas taxes, there's still plenty of potholes and roads that need to be addressed.

There always will be just due to the simple factor of how many cars are on the roads these days. The more road/bridge is used, the sooner it needs repairs.

[Jitazuki]

Be thankful you don't live in the UK.

1 US Gallon of Petrol costs on average £4.56 ($7!!!)
The UK yaris will do 54 imperial-mpg which is around 45.8 us-mpg combined though.
But our insurance is also heavily taxed. I pay £2900 for insurance on my UK yaris which is roughly $4500. Just for insurance! Around 20% of this is tax.
On top of all this there is road tax varying from £20 - £955 dependant on CO2 emissions. (Luckily the yaris will only set you back £30($45) here)
And on top of this, we still have motorway(highway) toll roads!
The vehicle tax is also huge. The standard UK yaris has a 1.33L engine and 101bhp and costs £11200 OTR. ($17350!!)

And our streets aren't exactly "perfect" either..

[why?]

Originally Posted by Jitazuki

Be thankful you don't live in the UK.

1 US Gallon of Petrol costs on average £4.56 ($7!!!)
The UK yaris will do 54 imperial-mpg which is around 45.8 us-mpg combined though.
But our insurance is also heavily taxed. I pay £2900 for insurance on my UK yaris which is roughly $4500. Just for insurance! Around 20% of this is tax.
On top of all this there is road tax varying from £20 - £955 dependant on CO2 emissions. (Luckily the yaris will only set you back £30($45) here)
And on top of this, we still have motorway(highway) toll roads!
The vehicle tax is also huge. The standard UK yaris has a 1.33L engine and 101bhp and costs £11200 OTR. ($17350!!)

And our streets aren't exactly "perfect" either..

I've seen some of those crazy British and European taxes. I don't think I could bring myself to own a car if I lived over there, I'd have to live and work near a rail, or in a city with a good metro system.

Of course the Brits are starting to go in the right direction to, while we go in the opposite. You'd think our leaders would take a look at what they've been doing, and learn from their mistakes, but nope!

[BailOut]

Originally Posted by why?

I've seen some of those crazy British and European taxes. I don't think I could bring myself to own a car if I lived over there, I'd have to live and work near a rail, or in a city with a good metro system.

Of course the Brits are starting to go in the right direction to, while we go in the opposite. You'd think our leaders would take a look at what they've been doing, and learn from their mistakes, but nope!

+1 on all points

[KrazyDawg]

Originally Posted by Jitazuki

Be thankful you don't live in the UK.

1 US Gallon of Petrol costs on average £4.56 ($7!!!)
The UK yaris will do 54 imperial-mpg which is around 45.8 us-mpg combined though.
But our insurance is also heavily taxed. I pay £2900 for insurance on my UK yaris which is roughly $4500. Just for insurance! Around 20% of this is tax.
On top of all this there is road tax varying from £20 - £955 dependant on CO2 emissions. (Luckily the yaris will only set you back £30($45) here)
And on top of this, we still have motorway(highway) toll roads!
The vehicle tax is also huge. The standard UK yaris has a 1.33L engine and 101bhp and costs £11200 OTR. ($17350!!)

And our streets aren't exactly "perfect" either..

But in return, you have universal health care and mass public transit. The cars in Europe also have higher MPG.

[why?]

Originally Posted by henry33

why? you are right the taxation is horrible here but what can you do :(

Revolt. Or more easily, move.

Originally Posted by KrazyDawg

But in return, you have universal health care and mass public transit. The cars in Europe also have higher MPG.

Universal health care that is becoming more basic with each passing day, and with more and more Brits also buying private health insurance supplements.

And the cars are taxed like crazy as well. I forget what it is, but it is usually 1 tax based on engine displacement, another on car size, and sometimes some other ones as well. All due every single year. Not sure any of our European friends have really mentioned all the car based taxes they pay.

Now the public transportation? That is awesome.

[Jitazuki]

Originally Posted by why?

I've seen some of those crazy British and European taxes. I don't think I could bring myself to own a car if I lived over there, I'd have to live and work near a rail, or in a city with a good metro system.

Of course the Brits are starting to go in the right direction to, while we go in the opposite. You'd think our leaders would take a look at what they've been doing, and learn from their mistakes, but nope!

We aren't technically going in to the right direction. Everything is simply taxed heavily because the UK Government has a huge multi-billion pound deficit that they are trying to pay off.

Originally Posted by why?

All of Europe and most of the rest of the world gas is taxed to death. And then of course the fools try and tell you how horrible the product is and we shouldn't use it, like they are doing with cigarettes.

You think these people would know how to think, and realize that if no one is buying it no one would be paying the absurd taxes.

I completely agree. They sell us things and say "Oh you're buying this and this is very bad for you and the environment."

Why sell it us then? Taxing it heavily is supposed to make us use it less apparently. But it's just another moneymaker. However you see it, there are people that need to use their cars for everyday use, even treehuggers drive cars.

Originally Posted by KrazyDawg

But in return, you have universal health care and mass public transit. The cars in Europe also have higher MPG.

If you lived here you'd know the problems with the overcrowded and extremely poor public transport systems. I went to college for 2 years using the same bus service, which involves me changing the bus twice with the journey time of around 1 and a half hours. You wouldn't believe me if I'd tell you it was only 7 miles away.

With the new Conservative Government looking to privatize the current health care, it will not be as "universal" as you think it is.

[KrazyDawg]

Originally Posted by Jitazuki

If you lived here you'd know the problems with the overcrowded and extremely poor public transport systems. I went to college for 2 years using the same bus service, which involves me changing the bus twice with the journey time of around 1 and a half hours. You wouldn't believe me if I'd tell you it was only 7 miles away.

San Francisco's MUNI has bus lines that take the same amount of time for a city that's only 7x7 miles. The "train" service can take even longer but it's a light rail/underground "train." Besides the schedule, MUNI has its own issues with unions not wanting to work and expecting pay raises and bonuses all the time.

[why?]

Originally Posted by mryaris

lots of meaningless things.

Just comparing numbers is meaningless. And your average salaries are meaningless as well.

Originally Posted by fmicle

It's funny to me how people complain about $2.50 a gallon for gas. Let's see, a Grande something at Starbucks would cost about $4 , that's 16 oz. It's 8 times that in a gallon, so that makes $32 for a gallon of boiling water run through some ground beans... I haven't heard anyone complaining about that or blaming the government...

Why do people think they are entitled to cheap gas? Ferrchrissake, gas is cheaper than most drinking water at Safeway!!!

We are entitled to low taxes. When Starbucks pays more money in taxes than it earns in profits, I am sure people will complain.

Not to mention crappy coffee and bottled water are luxury items. No one would consider gas a luxury item, for 99% of the USA, it is a necessity.

Originally Posted by Jitazuki

We aren't technically going in to the right direction. Everything is simply taxed heavily because the UK Government has a huge multi-billion pound deficit that they are trying to pay off.

I completely agree. They sell us things and say "Oh you're buying this and this is very bad for you and the environment."

Why sell it us then? Taxing it heavily is supposed to make us use it less apparently. But it's just another moneymaker. However you see it, there are people that need to use their cars for everyday use, even treehuggers drive cars.

If you lived here you'd know the problems with the overcrowded and extremely poor public transport systems. I went to college for 2 years using the same bus service, which involves me changing the bus twice with the journey time of around 1 and a half hours. You wouldn't believe me if I'd tell you it was only 7 miles away.

With the new Conservative Government looking to privatize the current health care, it will not be as "universal" as you think it is.

Yes, the Brits have a large deficit, but I mean politically. They are going away from socialism and communism, and realizing free markets are better. The USA has a bunch of people willfully charging in the other proven failure direction.

[KrazyDawg]

Originally Posted by Jitazuki

With the new Conservative Government looking to privatize the current health care, it will not be as "universal" as you think it is.

People are willing to travel from the US to Mexico for health care because it's better and cheaper. Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...al_tourism.DTL

[why?]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Please stop putting this forth as fact. It's just someone playing fast and loose with the numbers to get the free-marketeers all lathered up.

Nevermind the most obvious fact that corporations don't pay taxes, we do, through the cost of the service or goods they provide. No company would last long if it didn't pass these types of expenses onto the consumer.

it is the same thing, duh. In the end the product costs the consumer more. And it is a fact. Guess what? Most oil companies are publicly traded, so the real info is all out there.

While they were recording record profits last year, they were also writing checks to Uncle Sam to the tune of $100.7 billion -- two and a half times what they made in net profit. In fact, previous Tax Foundation research found that from 1977 to 2004, federal and state governments extracted $397 billion by taxing the profits of the largest oil companies and an additional $1.1 trillion in taxes at the pump. In today's dollars, that's $2.2 trillion.

So again, use whatever term you want to. Exxon pays more money in taxes than they earn in income.

Originally Posted by KrazyDawg

People are willing to travel from the US to Mexico for health care because it's better and cheaper. Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...al_tourism.DTL

Um, you got half of that right. They go to other countries because it is cheaper.

The rest of the planet comes to the USA because it is the best, by far. US medical tourism, from wikipedia.

So they come here for people with brains, and Americans go other places for cheap.

Also note Companies come here to sell medical necessities for profit, while selling the same products in foreign markets at a substantial discount.

We could fix a lot of the US cost problem by making it harder for idiots to sue anyone they please. Tort Reform in TX and CA.

[Callisto]

Originally Posted by DevilGirl

There always will be just due to the simple factor of how many cars are on the roads these days. The more road/bridge is used, the sooner it needs repairs.

In theory, it should not matter, as the taxes on gasoline/road diesel would be proportional to the number of vehicles on the road and the amount of damage they cause. A small vehicle that does less damage also burns less fuel. The problem is not that there are too many cars, but that the tax money goes into a "general fund" where it is impossible to determine where the money came from and thus what it should be used for. It would be great if those "representatives" in the various governments would make a law that all tax revenue that is earmarked for a certain use goes into a specific account that can be accessed only for those uses. However, this will probably never happen because it makes pork-barrel that much more difficult.