Gas is $3.50 a Gallon, So Let's Raise the Gas Tax

[BPSCG]

Link.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said Tuesday that he would consider backing an increase in Virginia's 17.5 cent-a-gallon gasoline tax, despite the record price of fuel at the pump.

In an interview on WTOP (103.5 FM), Kaine said the increase may be needed to generate money to build and repair roads in the wake of the Virginia Supreme Court's ruling in February that threw out last year's transportation plan.

"All issues are on the table," Kaine said. "We are talking about a gas tax."

Kaine said he will call the General Assembly back into session in June to try to force a resolution of the state's transportation problems, including a projected shortfall of several hundred million dollars in the part of the budget that finances road maintenance.

Kaine said he expects to announce his proposal, which would require legislative approval, in about two weeks. He said his plan probably will include several revenue enhancements, including a possible increase in the 3 percent sales tax on vehicle purchases and a potential increase in the gas tax.

"The way to solve our needs is not just do one thing. You've got to spread the pain out a little bit," Kaine said of the enhancements. "I think the message of last year is, we are not going to solve it by just doing one thing."

Increasing the gas tax, which was last raised in 1986, will probably generate fierce debate, given the price of fuel.

Some House Democrats have spoken against raising the tax, but Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said he thinks it could be raised without a backlash from consumers.

"When it's already at $3.50 a gallon, it's not like you are going to notice an extra 3 cents," Saslaw said. "It goes up and down that much in one day."

(...snip...)

Saslaw said that statewide transportation needs are rapidly becoming a public safety issue.

"You are going to have to start shutting down bridges . . . so they don't fall into the river," he said.

You can't spell "Saslaw" without "A-S-S."

Funny, just a couple of years ago, Virginia had a huge budget surplus. They wouldn't rebate the money back to the taxpayers, though, because we were told the state needed to have a "rainy day fund."

Okay, the rainy day has arrived. What'd you do with the money, you crooks?

 

[CFLarsen]

That's DKR 4.42 per liter.

It's DKR 10.59 here.

And we got higher taxes than you.

Quit whinin'.

 

[Worm]

That's about £1.75 per gallon or £0.39 per litre.

UK prices are currently over £1.00 per litre - nearly three times that level, the majority of which is tax.

 

[rjh01]

By my calculations that is $A1.02 liter. Petrol is $A1.50 liter here. So yes they should raise taxes on your Gas. Far too cheap.

 

[Francesca R]

We are, of course, sorry that you have to drive so much. You could have picked a smaller landmass to sail to.

Or just, you know, work out once and for all where you want to be. [/Douglas Adams, kinda, re. bypasses]

 

[CFLarsen]

We are, of course, sorry that you have to drive so much.

Only, they don't:

What is national average of miles each American driver drives per year?
A little over 12,000 miles per year.
Source

In real measurements, that's a mere 19,312 km/year. Let's say 20,000 km/year.

That's a commute of 30 minutes to work, from Hillerød to central Copenhagen.

That's nothing.

 

[Aitch]

UK prices are currently over £1.00 per litre - nearly three times that level, the majority of which is tax.

Just being picky here, but isn't it a duty rather than a tax?

</pedantry>

 

[bobdroege7]

Gee, an international forum is really not the place to complain about Virginia's 17.5 cent/gallon, nor the national 18 cent/gallon taxes, nor a plan to raise an additional 3 cent/gallon.

I say raise the taxes until the market forces us to make the neccessary changes in our lifestyles that would end our dependance on imported oil.

I'd never get elected thank you

 

[CFLarsen]

Just being picky here, but isn't it a duty rather than a tax?

</pedantry>

Both. It's a duty to pay tax.

 

[WildCat]

See, if you guys did what Illinois did you wouldn't have to increase the tax... since ours is based on a percentage of the sale price it's been rising all year and no legtislative action required! And guess what? The state still can't find money to hire their politically connected cronies to fix the roads.

$4/gallon here.

 

[Big Les]

Our gov has put off the 2p rise in fuel duty because of the recent supply problems.

Petrol is now at £1.05.9 just about everywhere in the country - higher in some places.

 

[ponderingturtle]

See, if you guys did what Illinois did you wouldn't have to increase the tax... since ours is based on a percentage of the sale price it's been rising all year and no legtislative action required! And guess what? The state still can't find money to hire their politically connected cronies to fix the roads.

$4/gallon here.

Almost that here about $3.90 for regular.

 

[Rolfe]

Our gov has put off the 2p rise in fuel duty because of the recent supply problems.

Petrol is now at £1.05.9 just about everywhere in the country - higher in some places.

Where, please?

It was £1.08.9 at Lothianburn on Sunday.

Rolfe.

 

[BPSCG]

I'd like to make a motion that everyone from the U.K. kindly STFU about your petrol prices and taxes or duties or whatever the you pay over there and go back to pouring milk into weak tea and drinking warm beer and lamenting over your lost empire and laughing at your royal family.

Thank you very much.

 

[Damien Evans]

I'd like to make a motion that everyone from the U.K. kindly STFU about your petrol prices and taxes or duties or whatever the you pay over there and go back to pouring milk into weak tea and drinking warm beer and lamenting over your lost empire and laughing at your royal family.

Thank you very much.

So, us Aussies can still complain then?

 

[Ranb]

Both. It's a duty to pay tax.

I'm surprised that you did not say it was an honor, or a privilege.

Ranb

 

[Big Les]

I'd like to make a motion that everyone from the U.K. kindly STFU about your petrol prices and taxes or duties or whatever the you pay over there and go back to pouring milk into weak tea and drinking warm beer and lamenting over your lost empire and laughing at your royal family.

Thank you very much.

I'd say you've already made a "motion" by opening this thread. All we're saying us, count yourself ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ lucky that you already have some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, and that this is naught but a minor inconvenience to your own burgeoning, monarch-free "empire".

PS Better warm than weak and tasteless. Beer, that is.
PPS Only ladies drink weak tea. You could stand your spoon up in mine.

Where, please?

It was £1.08.9 at Lothianburn on Sunday.

Rolfe.

This was at a supermarket forecourt at the weekend - it's gone up even more since then;

For the cheapest, try here Rolfe - works a treat:

Station : Birsley Garage
Address : Post Road, Tranent, EH33 1NF
Brand : Jet
Distance: 4.49 miles
Price : 107.9p
Updated : 26-04-2008
---------------------------
Station : Fordel Service Station
Address : Lauder Road, Dalkeith, EH22 2PH
Brand : Esso
Distance: 4.72 miles
Price : 109.9p
Updated : 27-04-2008

Sorry Beepy, but ^that^ is expensive fuel. Yours is a sodding bargain. Quit complaining.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

This is a good thing, from a public policy perspective.

It decreases demand, gets cars off the roads, which decreases wear on those roads and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent maintaining and widening them for ever increasing amounts of traffic due to unchecked urban sprawl.

I'll be perfectly happy to see gas at $10/gallon.

 

[BPSCG]

So, us Aussies can still complain then?

No; you, too.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

I should note we're approaching $4 USD soon (at ~3.80 USD here.) It's actually beginning to hurt our budget.. but that's a different subject.