Gas Prices

the Coug wrote:

richter69 wrote:Its still too damn high

I remember when I was just starting to drive I use to pay .15 cents a gallon for Premium. I use to wait till the stations would go on price wars and get it for as low as .07 cents a gallon...

kim wrote:

61coon wrote:

whitefield wrote:

61coon wrote:$2.19 for unleaded 87, $2.98 for diesel here this morning. Still too high LOL.

Red it is a 1.99 in Lebanon Tn  .

Wow! I was listening to the radio this morning and they mentioned raising the tax on gas because of the lower gas prices and people buying more fuel efficient vehicles. They were claiming that the are not making the money they need for road projects... Sounds like a croc to me..

Gas tax is a % to cost tax.  So its a hidden variable.  As the cost of gas skyrocketed, the federal government got a HUGE influx of tax dollars without us poor dumb consumers even knowing (or acting).  They built all the interstates, the state and county roadways when that same tax was applied to gasoline (and diesel) when it was between $.45 and $.65 a gallon.  sooo  lets figure $.018 cents per gallon.  That's about $1,170,000,000 in national revenue.  That doesn't even count the additions of state taxes which usually are a straight number of pennies per gallon.  Now figure that same percentage against $4.00 a gallon gasoline  7.8 billion dollars  or a 6.7 billion dollar tax increase....  without asking the nation for approval.

Now most of that tax revenue is NOT going into highway construction or maintenance.  And like any one that's had access to more money, new job, promotion, raise etc....  the government has become accustomed to spending that money.  SO now with the cost per gallon down almost half from its peak, that tax revenue is down by half...   So they sneak in a little bump in the rate to cover the shortfall.  And alas, gas will creep back up, because the market glut will only last so long before exploration will die because of lack of profit.  At 120 to 200 a barrel....  there is lots O money on new oil discoveries.  At  $52.00 a barrel....  lots O wells are going to go into maintenance to wait for a better return on the dollar....  cutting off the glut.