Amen Jared:)

~Dan

"The Autobahn is much heralded for its beautiful scenery and range of amenities. Gas stations and cafeterias are interspersed at 20 to 30 mile intervals, traffic lanes are spacious, curves are gentle, and the medians are well-manicured. It's a worldwide tourist attraction for drivers who like to stay in sixth."

Uhm? I'm from Germany and I never thought of it that way. Big ugly thingies, that's what they are for me, though functional... well, except for certain parts which get bad traffic jams on a regular basis. During my time in America, I way surprised by the way many Americany talked about "The Autobahn" as if t was something cool and extraordinary... they are just big roads. *shrugs*

The whole gas price discussion is another thing that surpried me. For a german point of view, gas is unbelievable CHEAP in the US. Just to give you a frame of reference - here in Germany, the current price is nearly 2 € PER LITER.
Well, on the other hands we have to drive far less, germany is far smaller, as probably is the average homework distance.

That was supposed to be home - work distance. Got nothing to do with 'homework'.

MB, Germany is pretty much the size of one of our states.  The problem that the US has with transportation is that we have a huge land mass with people strewn across it.  Gas is cheaper here because we don't get taxed as heavily as you do (or..well....Europe in general).  We also don't utilize diesel like we could, which Europeans have figured out.  We would have a lot less SUV's if we had to pay prices as high as Europe's.

So much for the argument that the Iraq war was over oil, eh?

Yes, many years ago when the cry for energy independence was in vogue, he did propose a 50 cent hike; but it never reached the floor of the senate. The ad is indeed crap because they make it sound as though he is proposing a hike now which he definitely is not.

stevendedalus, I really don't believe what either candidate says.  I rather throw them all out and start over at this point.

The whole gas price discussion is another thing that surpried me. For a german point of view, gas is unbelievable CHEAP in the US. Just to give you a frame of reference - here in Germany, the current price is nearly 2 € PER LITER.

After reading this again, and doing the Math, gas is a lot more expensive in Germany than I first thought.  A US gallon is approximately 3.79 liters.  So, that would be 7.58 Euro, which converts to roughly $9.00 USD.  OUCH! 

I would have to move if gas prices were that high because I wouldn't be able to afford to drive to work (even with commuting).  Lets see, my car gets 28 miles per gallon.  I live 55 miles from work.  If I commute with my husband, we drive a total of 65 miles each way (he drops me off them goes to work).  That is 130 miles a day at 28 miles per gallon, so that is  4.64 gallons per day for 5 days a week.  So, 23.2 gallons a week at $9 a gallon would cost $208.80 a *week*.  For 52 weeks a year, that would be $10,857.60 a year (after tax money) to pay just to get back and forth to work.  OUCH!  Even as is, the gas prices have been around $1.77 that ends up to be $2,135.33 per year.   And, unfortunately, being that we have a child and such, I can't always commute with him, so we actually spend over $3,000 a year in just gas to get back and forth to work.  On the plus side, that is still cheaper than buying a house closer to work because the house closer to work would cost more in both payments and taxes.

I drive a truck for a living. Last year I got rid of my truck and started driving a company truck because of the ever-increasing price of fuel. The taxes on diesel for commercial trucks is already far higher than that on gasoline and diesel for private cars. Whether you are buying gasoline or diesel fuel, most of what you are paying at the pump is taxes.

Trucks pay a huge amount of money every years in fuel taxes and 'road use' taxes which are supposed to be used to help build and repair the roadways. That wouldn't be so bad if they actually used the money for that purpose, but most states spend that money for just about everything else but the roads.

Just remember that everything you buy, gasoline, food, clothing, cars, building materials, basically everything, is transported by trucks. Whenever there is an increase in the operating expense of the trucks there is an increase in the rate to transport these goods and ultimately an increase in the cost of these goods to the consumer. Basically these fuel tax increases would hit you far more than just how much you spend to drive. They would result in an increase in the cost of everything you need to buy so you would in effect be paying for the increase many times over. Even if you don't personally drive, you'll still pay for it if you eat, buy clothing, or whatever.

MasonM, I tried to make the point on a previous article with what you stated in your last paragraph.  The gas prices rising had a huge impact on us in our everyday life making us really go into a recession.  A lot of trucking companies went out of business because they couldn't afford to honor their contracts since the fuel prices went up and employees wouldn't take a pay cut.  A lot of people lost jobs, and large corporations started shopping for cheaper delivery services.  FedEx costs more for sending business materials, groceries cost more, everything costs more causing the typical person to feel the pinch on their budget.

Diesel for cars costs more than diesel for trucks with a permit, though   I think you are thinking of diesel used for off highway use, which farmers use and aren't taxed as much on (the red stuff).

Yep everything is affected. As to the diesel for cars, it's only more in a couple of states. Everywhere else it's cheaper. In the states where truck diesel is less at the pump they send you a tax bill at the end of the year that you have to pay. Once that's added in to the pump price it's higher.

The "red stuff" for farm use is cheaper because they take some of the taxes off it to give the farmers a break. They need all the breaks they can get so I don't begrudge them that at all. About the only ones struggling more than trucking is farming. I don't see how those people are making it any more, but that's another subject.

You are right about the effects on many many people though. These rising fuel taxes are definately costing people jobs.

Great topic by the way.

Gas prices are the canary of the investment community when they go up it is in relation to everything else. They have not gone up. Your purchasing power is being erroded - down. Add to this your arguement of dwindling supplies and increasing global demand for a finite resource. Add to this a system that has seen little exploration for new finds in 10 years.

High prices are here to stay.

I'm leaving California tonight.

Dylxx

http://theaircar.com I just can't wait, man!