And neither of these two articles below discusses the oil subsidy that's hidden in the defense budget. The Department of Defense has estimated that if the cost of keeping the 6th Fleet in the Persian Gulf were collected from users of motor fuel (as it should be), gasoline in the U.S. would sell for about $8 a gallon. Those sailors are not keeping the sea lanes open to make sure Americans get an adequate supply of figs and dates.
Tax truth: We need to raise the levy on gasoline
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tax truth: We need to raise the levy on gasoline
Thursday, July 8, 2010
SUMMER DRIVING season is upon us. This year, the annual migration of vacationers coincides with rising concerns over the federal debt and a nasty oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What better time to revisit the enduring, maddening, illogical contrast between how little Americans actually pay to drive -- and how fiercely they resist even modest gasoline tax increases that would go a long way in addressing the nation's environmental and fiscal crises?
By any measure, driving in the United States is cheap. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline averaged about $2.70 during June. That's up almost a dollar since the depths of the Great Recession in December 2008. But the price has been steady for about a year, and adjusted for inflation it is 66 cents per gallon less than it was in 1980. Gas prices have had their ups (the $4-a-gallon spike in mid-2008) and downs (the consistently low prices of the late 1980s and 1990s). Overall, though, driving today is substantially cheaper, in real terms, than it was about a generation ago. In fact, it's cheaper than it was at the end of World War I. Government forecasts suggest prices may rise slightly over the next year.
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Gas taxes give us a break at the pump
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY 7/2/2010
When drivers hit the road in large numbers for the Fourth of July holiday, they will have something extra to celebrate — the lowest gasoline taxes since the early days of the automobile.
Gas taxes give us a break at the pump
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY 7/2/2010
When drivers hit the road in large numbers for the Fourth of July holiday, they will have something extra to celebrate — the lowest gasoline taxes since the early days of the automobile.
Holiday drivers will pay less than ever at the pump for upkeep of the nation's roads — just $19 in gas taxes for every 1,000 miles driven, a USA TODAY analysis finds. That's a new low in inflation-adjusted dollars, half what drivers paid in 1975.
...The nation's roads are increasingly financed by other taxes and borrowing. The federal stimulus plan set aside $26.7 billion for roads, most of which will be spent by year's end.
Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org
