BoB Lutz just on MSNBC saying we should pay $7.50 gal for gas.

[z28camaro2471]

Originally Posted by DevilsReject97

I'm sorry, but this just makes me laugh.

To start, increasing taxes while NOT increasing efficiency is a joke. People will always drive more if they can afford it, but if you are getting 40mpg as opposed to 15mpg, why wouldnt you?

Example: I need a truck to do my business, not because I want one, because I need it to haul heavy items. If we only get 8mpg, I'm screwed. The companies producing the trucks make zero effort to improve it. However, once the government started really pushing the issue, all of a sudden we now have trucks getting 20-23mpg in a full size truck.

I'm all for free market, but I also think taxes aren't the answer. The answer should be to try to balance the two. We all know that the car companies aren't making the best efforts to produce fuel efficient cars as they could have. Look at the diesel engine. You can buy countless cars in Europe and Asia that are getting 45+mpgs real world but you can't even buy them here in the USA.

Your just cutting your nose off to spite your face...

I'm glad you're laughing because I'm not. I was simply stating that in my opinion, we're stuck with one of the two choices. Given the two choices I would go with higher taxes.

If I had my way, we would drill here for our own oil, the government would become smaller, people would buy American cars and other American products, our economy would improve which would would in turn generate greater tax revenue to be spent on reducing the deficit, buying back our treasuries from the Chinese and investing in our aging infrastructure. Yes I'm a dreamer.

[camarowa]

Originally Posted by 2ndgenz28

Words of wizdom from "a free loading Canadian"

No Canadians here bud, just someone who lived in Europe for 23 years.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

I say we ship the tree huggers out of this country to iceland so we can start drilling the massive amount of oil we have here and we pay $1/gallon.

Problem is your CURRENT taxes are over a $1/gallon. So your plan would require drilling and eliminating the gas taxes as well. Just sayin'...........but even $2 would be ok. But to get the amount of oil from our resources requires shale. Shale last I checked requires 3 times the processing that the Jed Clampett oil does (shoot at some food up comes some bubbling crude, cheap a$$ oil). Even the Canadien tar sands require one extra step of processing/refining.

Originally Posted by kbui

Prices would probably be increasing with time anyway. Why should the government even be involved in setting prices?

You mean like in most of the other products every day? A lot of farm and crop subsidies are already well ingrained in the prices we pay for food. But if your point is take ALL subsidies away, I'm with you. Just be prepared to be buying food from South America and end the last of the family farms.............which is I think why those subsidies won't go away.

Read an article today that suggested the impact of the 2025 CAFE standard will cost anywhere from $3,500 to almost $10,000 per vehicle. The article aslo suggested that at even $6/gallon, these technology improvements would not pay for themselves.

So you can pay a tax to the government or you can pay a mandated extra up front fee for your vehicle. If it is a gas tax, you can at least choose of your own free will how much you drive. But with CAFE you will pay regardless of how much you drive up front. The article also goes on to suggest that these added costs will cut nearly 5 million vehicles from the annual vehicle sales and cost upwards of 200,000 jobs. Not buying or selling. The article also quotes those that claim all this technology will magically be free by the time we need it.

[King Sun]

somehow some you guys blame the government for what someone else believes should happen. And socialism has been part of american society for quite some time now.

[King Sun]

Originally Posted by TOMS1SS

Someone has to, or at least that's the American mentality. Seriously when I took my current job I knew my annual commute was going to be between 50,000 to 60,000 miles a year. Using my Camaro for such a task would have just been a waste of money, so I decided to get a more economical vehicle to offset the high fuel costs. Most people hide behind excuses like "my family is too big for a car" and "I'm an American I should drive whatever I want even if I can't afford it."

The question is what do you do when people can't take care of themselves anyone or make the right financial choices? Ideally I'd say let them crash and burn but we aren't a society for good or bad that lets that happen. Look at all the drugged up freeloaders who are on wellfare and foodstamps who refuse to get a job. You think the latest economic downturn would have made people think twice about what they do about money, but it hasn't and thus we see government intervention.

Powerful statement.

[Sax1031]

Would never happen.

It is a bottom up approach. At those prices for gas the whole economy would collapse. And the people that would need to have more fuel efficient cars the most are the same ones that can't afford them. While the rich could continue to either drive what they want or buy fuel efficient cars.

[Neriah]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

I say we ship the tree huggers out of this country to iceland so we can start drilling the massive amount of oil we have here and we pay $1/gallon.

x infinity

[14pilot]

The cost of gas is currently $3.499 a gallon. About $1.68 of that is Federal Taxes... ARGH. So the true cost of a gallon of gas would only be $1.82, if our Federal Government would get the hell out of the gasoline business.... Seeesh!!!

The evil oil company makes about a 3% profit off of gasoline sales, so their profit on a gallon of gas is roughly 5 cents. Compare that 5 cents to the $1.68 the Feds make. Now, I ask who is in the gasoline business ?

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by 14pilot

The cost of gas is currently $3.499 a gallon. About $1.68 of that is Federal Taxes... ARGH. So the true cost of a gallon of gas would only be $1.82, if our Federal Government would get the hell out of the gasoline business.... Seeesh!!!

The evil oil company makes about a 3% profit off of gasoline sales, so their profit on a gallon of gas is roughly 5 cents. Compare that 5 cents to the $1.68 the Feds make. Now, I ask who is in the gasoline business ?

[AZCamaroFan]

Lutz was on CNN later. The host mentioned something about politics and Lutz said something about being republican and pro-business. But Limbaugh and Beck turned him off and he mentioned how they're claiming Obama created the Volt, and then he said ' i thought that up in 2006"

[SUX2BU]

I vote for better public transportation and higher fuel costs. That will keep people off the road when I'm out enjoying myself driving Ginger.

Government has to intervene in our lives, most people are too stupid to police themselves.

[Inferno2SS]

So we should pay more just for the sake of paying more? Yea, great idea. Lets put even more taxes on gasoline, lord knows we arent paying enough taxes as it is. Im sure the government would spend the extra money with great care.

[kbui]

Originally Posted by TOMS1SS

The question is what do you do when people can't take care of themselves anyone or make the right financial choices? Ideally I'd say let them crash and burn but we aren't a society for good or bad that lets that happen. Look at all the drugged up freeloaders who are on wellfare and foodstamps who refuse to get a job. You think the latest economic downturn would have made people think twice about what they do about money, but it hasn't and thus we see government intervention.

I can agree with this to a certain extent, as a society we shouldn't abandon all of these people either, but there are organizations that would do much more efficient charity works. The American people has been and always will be most generous with all causes. The government shouldn't be a big charity organization by forcing contributions via taxes. For every dollar you pay in taxes, the government spend 70-80 cents on administrative costs (salary, regulations....). Why should I be more careful with my money when I know if I screwed up, there will always be government to bail me out???

I think we are deviating from the original post. I say leave the gas price alone. The best answer to a lot of the problems we have today and particularly with the automotive industry is to reduce regulations. Forcing the people that push for these regulations to get a real private sector job or small business to support themselves so that they can feel the pain the rest of us are facing every time they gave us a new law/regulation.

[kbui]

Originally Posted by Number 3

So you can pay a tax to the government or you can pay a mandated extra up front fee for your vehicle. If it is a gas tax, you can at least choose of your own free will how much you drive. But with CAFE you will pay regardless of how much you drive up front. The article also goes on to suggest that these added costs will cut nearly 5 million vehicles from the annual vehicle sales and cost upwards of 200,000 jobs. Not buying or selling. The article also quotes those that claim all this technology will magically be free by the time we need it.

I can honestly say that neither of these 2 choices would effect me very much personally. I am not rich, but I can afford it. However I can see that either of these 2 choices will put undue burdens on a large segment of our population. In the name of taking care of the population that are effected, the government will have to get even bigger and more tax revenues from the rest. The cycle will continues, more taxes-> larger gov->more regulations->...What's the end game?