Graph of unleaded gas prices in January for US, Europe and Japan.

[pampango]

"Petrol prices in America are substantially below levels elsewhere in the rich world, and this is almost entirely due to the rock bottom level of petrol tax rates. The low cost of petrol encourages greater dependence; the average American uses much more oil per day than other rich world citizens. This dependence also impacts infrastructure investment choices, leading to substantially more spending on highways than transit alternatives. And this, in turn, reduces the ability of American households to substitute away from driving when oil prices rise.

There are any number of good reasons to raise the petrol tax rate. The current rate no longer brings in enough money to cover current highway spending. Petrol taxes are an efficient way to raise revenue, and the government needs revenue; President Obama's deficit commission recommended an increase in the federal petrol tax rate. Burning oil produces carbon emissions, and dearer fuel would reduce America's sky-high per capita carbon footprint. But a higher tax rate would also diminish the possibility that a sudden rise in oil prices would throw the economy into recession. That would be a nice risk to minimize! And yes, higher tax rates would hit consumers just like rising oil prices. But those prices are rising anyway; better to capture the revenue and use it, all while improving behaviour.

It's hard to take any fiscal hawk seriously so long as this measure isn't on the table. It's as close to a win-win solution as one is likely to find."

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/02/energy_prices

There's a graph of gas prices that shows how much is due to taxes. Our gas tax is about 1/8 of that in Japan and Bulgaria and 1/14 that of the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden. Unleaded gas runs from about $6 a gallon in Bulgaria to $8 in the Netherlands. It shows a price of about $2.95 for the US in January.

[SoCalDem]

1. The problem we have is this..

Poor people HAVE to use their cars to get to their mediocre jobs in most places in the US.

Other countries (with forward-thinking leaders) have PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION..good transportation, so people don't HAVE to rely on cars.. Many people only use a car when they rent one for vacation.

Lobbyists have made sure that the US never put in place a good public transportation system, and they dismantled the ones we DID have..

Gas could be $20 a gallon & the rich could pay it easily, but when you are barely covering expenses @$2 a gallon and it just keeps going up, millions of people who are NOT rich, can barely afford to get back & forth to work:grr:

Those same countries with the great transportation models also have universal/single-payer health care for their people, so the people actually get to KEEP a lot more of what they earn, and can save some money.

[kayakjohnny]

2. Well said.

Thank you.

[katnapped]

3. +1

We give the rich another tax break and fuck the poor/middle class even further? The time for a gas tax increase like this was when the economy was good, not in the toilet.

[Newest Reality]

5. + 1

Well said and I agree with your assessment.

[luv_mykatz]

4. I'm with you, SoCal Dem.

Your post is absolutely spot on!:applause:

[SoCalDem]

6. My head explodes when "tv experts" go on and on about how LUCKY we are

to have "cheap gas", compared to those dastardly "Yurapeuns" who charge an arm and a leg for gas...but they NEVER EVER point out that taxation on that gasoline..er..petrol.. goes into the kitty and that kitty helps feed the needs of the people...all the people..not just the "drivers" or the oil-purveyors.

They do the same when it's talk about taxes.. "they" pay higher taxes than WE do.. well..they GET more from their taxes too..

If you knew that the 25-50% tax totally took care of your medical expenses, your education through college, your old age pension, your 5-6 weeks of vacation time, your unemployment for as long as you needed it (without congressional dithering), and supplemental help for housing if you were poor, maybe you could manage just fine on what was left over..and you would not be up nights worrying about how you were going to survive..