$7 a gallon Gas Hike: Coming Soon!

[BamaFanNKy]

$7 a gal. gas?!? dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/fuel-taxes-must-rise-harvard-researchers-say/

 

[FrankRep]

Thank you to Obama and the Copenhagen Accord.



Copenhagen Accord Still Threatens U.S. Economy
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index...-copenhagen-accord-still-threatens-us-economy

Socialist International in Copenhagen: "Birth of Global Governance"
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index...al-in-copenhagen-qbirth-of-global-governanceq

Cheers and Jeers at Copenhagen’s Climate Conference
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index...s-and-jeers-at-copenhagens-climate-conference

Climate “Teacup Tempest”?
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/environment/2589-climate-teacup-tempest

 

[BamaFanNKy]

Yep. I know some C-Store owners who hate this with a passion.

 

[RM918]

Amusingly, gas prices are what's going to finally force people to give a damn. Let them come, I say. People don't care that their government is using the money they take from them to kill hundreds of thousands of Middle-Easterners for no good reason, or running the country into the ground with an astronomical debt. No big deal.

7 bucks a gallon, though?! FUCK THIS!

I honestly think a majority of the country deserves the roof to fall on them.

 

[DapperDan]

I can only imagine how angry people will be if it truly comes to 7.00 numerically at the pump interface.

 

[BenIsForRon]

Gas is already $7 a gallon when you factor in all the subsidies and military spending.

 

[DjLoTi]

I don't drive so I'm not worried. Imagine the national outrage and the economic reverberations of $7 gas. Sure would be interesting to watch

 

[mczerone]

This tax, if true, isn't about cutting emissions anymore that the cigarette taxes are about health.

One phrase explains it: inelastic demand curve.

Some advisers know that they can do whatever they want with the prices of some commodities, people will still need to buy them. Contrast this potential tax to a tax on beef (which could be excused as a way to cut greenhouse gas (methane) emissions): triple the price of beef, and you'd just have a ton more poultry, fish, and veggie eaters. Triple the price of gas and people just have to deal with it.

This could also be the trigger for hyperinflation, as gas prices are imputed to nearly every consumer good on the market for production and delivery. Triple the price of gas and your groceries will suddenly cost 3 times as much, if not more. This will result in the call for more "stimulus" so that consumers can afford to live, and printing the difference will be the end of the dollar.

And that's my optimistic prediction.

 

[dean.engelhardt]

Look of the bright side. Maybe we'll stop sending $25B/month to OPEC and start using our own resourses.

 

[RCA]

The question is when. $4 a gallon 50 years ago would also have caused rioting. Not today.

 

[mczerone]

Look of the bright side. Maybe we'll stop sending $25B/month to OPEC and start using our own resourses.

Whose resources? I'd rather the govt just get out of the way and let people take ownership of these "protected" reserves of oil: they'll have incentive to leave as much nature in tact as possible, and to preserve the resource for long-run optimization. The govt being in control leaves only two options: don't do anything, or rape the land immediately for instant gratification.

The whole Anwar and sea-shelf discussions are missing the point: to drill or not to drill isn't the question.

 

[tmosley]

I would hardly call the supply curve for gas inelastic. When gas got above $3, the trucking industry in America basically shut down. We weren't far away from a real crisis in terms of empty shelves. The same could easily happen again, only this time it won't be speculation driving up the price, so there will be no sudden reversal.

 

[andrewh817]

The question is when. $4 a gallon 50 years ago would also have caused rioting. Not today.

True but $4 back then was worth SO much more than $4 today. So that situation was extremely different than today's.

 

[FrankRep]

The question is when. $4 a gallon 50 years ago would also have caused rioting. Not today.

That depends on the government.

 

[Pepsi]

Yes and on top of that they want to tax for every mile you drive.

 

[MelissaWV]

Thank goodness I don't own a vehicle.

Oh, and people have been saying this for quite some time. It's becoming like the "End is Nigh" guy. Eventually, someone is going to be right about it, but it won't really be through some stroke of genius. There is $7/gallon (equivalent) gas in other places around the world, and people deal with it in their own ways. I think that's part of the "rationale" behind all of this, but it won't work in the good ole USA. People commute a lot in this culture, and most cities do not have even mediocre mass transit, let alone efficient means to get to work without driving long distances on clogged roadways. We drive, and we love it. You are not going to see a flood of people trading in their cars for bicycles, and if history is any indication you'll just see a lot of griping, with few real targets for the angst. Then the Government will swoop in and harness that angst, using it to rally support for whatever the pet project du jour is.

 

[dgr]

It may not all be in the "green" taxes. The 21st Century Transportation and "pay go" were discussed in 2007 meeting. The plan calls for 60 to 80 cents a gallon additional gas tax to be split between the state and feds for all this upcoming construction

 

[andrewh817]

You are not going to see a flood of people trading in their cars for bicycles, and if history is any indication you'll just see a lot of griping, with few real targets for the angst.

Oh, don't get me wrong there will be griping APLENTY, but I think you're wrong in saying people won't switch to bicycles. Unless you work and live in two different cities the gas money you spend getting to work is a complete waste and I'm already seeing more and more people bike to work in my area.

Now this next statement is going to depend on the city you live in and how the roads are set up, but I'm fairly convinced that if you have a good bike and are fairly physically fit, you can get to work close to as fast as a car will get you there (unless you take the freeway). A lot of people don't even give this idea a chance...... but it's a great way to not only a great way to reduce your budget but it's fun and helps you get exercise.

 

[Jeros]

This tax, if true, isn't about cutting emissions anymore that the cigarette taxes are about health.

One phrase explains it: inelastic demand curve.

Some advisers know that they can do whatever they want with the prices of some commodities, people will still need to buy them. Contrast this potential tax to a tax on beef (which could be excused as a way to cut greenhouse gas (methane) emissions): triple the price of beef, and you'd just have a ton more poultry, fish, and veggie eaters. Triple the price of gas and people just have to deal with it.

This could also be the trigger for hyperinflation, as gas prices are imputed to nearly every consumer good on the market for production and delivery. Triple the price of gas and your groceries will suddenly cost 3 times as much, if not more. This will result in the call for more "stimulus" so that consumers can afford to live, and printing the difference will be the end of the dollar.

And that's my optimistic prediction.

Taxing the inelastic has been their strategy ever since Mr. Reagon's buddy Art Laffer indirectly excused excessive taxation through the neat little concept called the Laffer curve. Basically, all products have an ideal point were tax revenues are maximized. If taxes are raised beyond that point, revenues start to fall. If taxes are lowered below that point, revenues fall.

This is why it is more or less illegal to brew your own alcohol. The tax revenues would plummet if there were no restrictions.

Ahhhhh. The wonders of efficient government! Or as the great Mogambo Guru would say, weeeeee!

 

[TortoiseDream]

I can only imagine how angry people will be if it truly comes to 7.00 numerically at the pump interface.

lol yup