Tax gas guzzlers off the road.. like here in UK!

You have a valid point. Yes, the U.S. does need reasonable taxes. However with our serious debt problem, this country doesn't necessarily have a tax problem. We clearly have a spending problem!

Keith

 

It would appear to make good sense to tax the gas, provided you had a government honest enough (a paradox) to diligently apply said tax proceeds back into the economy in the manner envisioned, eg mass transit, better roads, whatever..

But who in your presidential year would have the guts to suggest this before taking up the Oval Office ? Even worse, which President will have the courage to do it once elected ?

Easy enough solution taxing gas, difficult to put into practice in USA I think.

 

Anyone who wants to create additional taxes is out of their mind!
In the US we are already taxed to death.
If they could find out how to tax the air we breath they would.
Yeah, I have a Prius, I bought it to save money on gas going back and forth to work.
I also have a Dodge ram pickup, 17MPG. There are times I need a truck for hauling, and I should be penalized for that?
I also have several "hobby cars", which I use for recreational purposes like going to car shows and cruise nights. Now you want to tax my hobby?
Maybe they should start taxing soccer!

I have no buses going to where I work, my wife works delivering mail in her Jeep. While delivering she gets 12MPG. So if she couldn't afford gas maybe she should quit and go on the dole...............

 

Actually, until the expiration of the surface transportation act putting the money where it was supposed to go wasn't that difficult. It went into a trust fund which, unlike the SSI trust fund can not be raided for general fund expenditures. The only issues that arose are earmarks, not by the Administration, but by Congress. Even these; however, had to go to projects that were within the purposes outlined in the legislation (interstate and primary highway system and mass transit plus some research expenditures). While we certainly appreciate advice from the mother country you might want to make sure you are a bit better informed before preaching to the colonies.

 

Thanks for the information Bob47, so the mechanism to redistribute it exists, which is good, but how come it expired ? BTW I wasn't preaching, just making a viewpoint, because here we are taxed to high heaven and cars and fuel more than get their fair share of taxation, BUT the tax levied does not go back into worthwhile transportation projects, it goes to fund deficits in other non transport areas like NHS and social security.
Your government seems a lot wiser in being able to earmark those taxes, so tax on gas will work better than here in returning taxes to transportation projects. Point is, will anyone in USA do it when you have big oil and GM probably highly against it ?

 

I can't believe you guys think americans are taxed too much. It's ridiculous. Northern European countries have much higher taxes -- oddly enough, also have less poverty, high child survival rates, are generally more happy than your average American, and are consistently ranked to be 'better' places to live than the states. All the crap you can buy from China won't make you happy -- yeesh!

 

+1 - This is sad but true. We seem to have lost track of what is important in life, and instead chase the almighty dollar, running as fast as we can on the treadmill of a consumer economy.

Tom

 

Many of those countries do not feel the need to spend the same proportion on defense as the US, benefiting from the NATO umbrella.

 

Won't happen here. The politicians are in the pocket of the oil companies. They need to feed the media so much money to pay for all that phoney TV advertising that they'e beholden to every special interest in town that can keep their coffers full. That's the reality of American politics--Democrat and Republican. McCain gets money from big oil. Obama gets money from the ethanol lobby. And all those SUVs and pickup trucks in everybody's driveway are still eligible for commercial vehicle tax writeoffs. What you might call energy unconservation--American style.

 

Yeah--it's just a lot of right wing propaganda--the stuff about needing tax cuts. Bush cut tax revenues to the bone and kept on spending, fighting wars and building huge deficits to be paid for by our grandchildren. The Republicans used to be the fiscally responsible party, but they have gone nuts to the right. The Democrats under Clinton were the last party to balance the budget.

Regarding China, some of the American media still views China from a Cold War perspective. Without China buying our bonds and selling us goods cheaply, we might be in a depression with our fiscally irresponsible government in Washington.

 

Hi Dozzer, getting back to your original post, sorry, I forgot to mention that the US has also already started offering tax credits of up to $3,000 for hybrids, and up to $4,000 for alternative fuel cars, among other incentives.

 

Exactly the point I was trying to make, a noble cause but who would actually do it ?

 

I'm as liberal as they come. Ok, I'm not. I'm very socially liberal and fiscally conservative (and I believe B. Clinton was the most fiscally conservative president in decades). Regardless, this flies against any idea of a free market economy. Just socialize big oil while you're at it. And yes, there's a huge difference between intelligent regulation and socializing.

 

Funny, I'm a social conservative / fiscal liberal...

 

You two should get together.

Tom

 

Would you get a moderate or would they annihilate each other like matter and anti-matter? :madgrin:

 

We could either form a very open minded individual or we could make mini Sarah Palin.

 

US auto manufacturer lobbyists do too good a job to let the government impose a engine size tax on motor vehicles. Instead, our gas is taxed. My other car is a 10 cylinder M5 and believe me, I get taxed when I pay for gas in that car.

 

It kind of seems that some folks like to brag about how many miles they drive in a week, year whatever. Case in point, I have 200 miles on my 2 1/2 week old car. At work, some say, 'that's it? I drive 100 miles a day'.

I guess driving a lot is a sign that one is outgoing or 'get's around'.

I wish this V-6 type SUV had been taxed off the road already - I was just out for a spin in my new Prius, I start speeding up in an entrance lane to the freeway, some driver in an SUV is just barreling along in the slow lane (aka, entrance, exit lane). I see him, I'm forced to get on the gas quite a bit as they are not slowing or making way at all.

I get off at the next exit, this driver is still hauling along, traveling in the slow lane.

I've read the driver's handbook enough to know that the slow lane, to the right here in the US, is largely for entering and exiting the freeway, not for cruising, making it hard for others to merge. May that driver get a nice, fat citation with mandatory traffic school.

Rant over.

 

Unfortunately, they give anyone a license in this country. OH and MA are the worst states, by far. In OH, they'll drive below the speed limit in the left lane. That's extremely frustrating. As you suggested, the left lane is also known as the passing lane. Meaning the right lane is for slower driving and getting on and off the roads.