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Just going to play devil's advocate here, but what about oil subsidies, direct and indirect? What do you suppose gas would cost if it was taxed to pay for all of our mideast military actions and the foreign aid to prop up friendly (not really) regimes?
We’re now about self sufficient! Don’t really need any Middle East oil! For economic reasons oil/gas gets shipped to the Far East from the US and we do import on the East Coast.
Have a large customer who is making natural gas liqifaction plants, containers etc. Not much advertised but liquid natural gas was being imported to Europe from Libya and high pressure gas by pipeline from Russia- Europe has none! Not very stable sources. In fact Germany is paying for another pipeline from their historic enemy, Russia - go figure!
Our liquid gas gets transported via ships from off-shore drillrigs in the Gulf so they don’t have to come in to a port.
India, with ~3 times our population, has committed to buy 5 billion+/year of liquid natural gas from us. Those “No fossil fuel in 10 years dreamers” should not be to unhappy as currently India products ~75% of their electricity from coal! About the same percentage as China!
We’re in the Middle East for many reasons- oil isn’t currently one.
Thank u for calling out corporate welfare. Most expensive part of “ entitllements”.
Hmm, I'm for all government subsidies going away!
See you're from the Mid West. The only thing the Dems and Republicans agree upon is the worst one, IMO. The use of Ethanol! Yep the farmers are happy that keeps all the politicians in office with whatever party! Yep 20% less gas mileage and all the fossil fuel energy used to make fertilizer and transport the stuff! No current economic logic! But will it go away? No way just like al those lawyers for "Injured people!"
Thank u for calling out corporate welfare. Most expensive part of “ entitllements”.
A bunch either ignore that, or are totally clueless.. the tv and radio personalities that feed them information purposely omit it.
My wife has been harassed twice by total strangers solely because of the car she's driving to work. A car we bought used ($0 tax break), do occasionally use gas in, and starting this year have an extra $75 our state added to the cost of the tag.
BTW, no one has ever approached or scolded me over the 100% write off Section 179 allowed on my truck.
^^^ But where does every dollar that IS collected go? Is it solely used for our interstate highways and bridges? The answer is, no. Where is/are the matching state funds to keep up the "feeder" roads and highways that are far more numerous? It isn't there in sufficient dollars because the money's being used "for other programs."
With regard to the FEDERAL gas tax, every dollar absolutely goes to into the Federal Highway Trust Fund, which by law must be spent ONLY on federal highways and bridges. It's doled out in the form of grants to states to be spent ONLY on highways and bridges. Now it's entirely possible some state officials are fraudulently spending that federal money on other things, but the feds do audit and punish those they catch misusing those grant funds.
Every state levies their own gas tax (or not), which is how they come up with matching federal funds, but I can't speak to whether they frequently spend that money on other things.
There aren't sufficient funds to maintain highways because the Federal Highway Trust Fund is SHRINKING proportionate to the need for infrastructure repairs and has not kept up with inflation or vehicles with better fuel economy. Highway usage is way up, tearing up roads at a faster rate, but tax revenue is way down.
Construction costs are much higher than they were in 1993. Roads bridges are crumbling because there isn't enough money allocated to repair them all. The last 3 POTUS have called for major infrastructure plans to correct this problem, but no one has come up with a proposal, and Congress hasn't done anything either even though it's been identified as a major priority for the last 20 years.
As EVs become more prevalent, we can't continue to allow them to use the highways tax free, when no one else is.
Oh good god. This thread has devolved. No one is going to get the Trumpian American that the extreme right wants and no one is going to get socialist America that the extreme left wants. Trump is on the wrong side of history and will be remembered poorly but he can succeed in delaying the inevitable. Universal healthcare is coming. Electric cars are coming. Use of fossil fuels is going away. These are endeavors that can't be stopped because if you are over the age of 25 you are no longer driving the train. The younger generation is politically conscious and the current political climate has just made them angry. And besides, none of what you see on the news is about what you think it's about anyway. No one cares about the national debt. No one cares about voter registration. There are a few basic fights and they are the same ones we've always had. One group wants less taxes while another wants to help the poor so there's a battle over funding. One group wants to be treated fairly for hard work while another group wants equality for every one. The ideals aren't incompatible but they all require funding. Neither side will win because neither side can win. Things have always been somewhere between socialism and capitalism in the US and as long as there is a US it will likely stay that way and just kind of move back and forth toward one or the other. The next thirty years or so will likely move toward the socialist side while also giving tax cuts to make certain groups happy. Accept it.
Oh good god. This thread has devolved. ... Universal healthcare is coming. Electric cars are coming. Use of fossil fuels is going away. These are endeavors that can't be stopped because if you are over the age of 25 you are no longer driving the train..... Things have always been somewhere between socialism and capitalism in the US and as long as there is a US it will likely stay that way and just kind of move back and forth toward one or the other. The next thirty years or so will likely move toward the socialist side while also giving tax cuts to make certain groups happy. Accept it.
At least we are not in a position as most of Europe! They pay ~$10 gallon for gas with most of that tax paying for their social programs! Egads, what will they do when EV's take over! I can see another French Revolution- oh they are having one now over much less! Maggie Thatcher was right, "Socialism if fine until you run out of other peoples money!"
Side Bar
It's not that some of us "old folk" are right wing nuts! Some have seen what can happen! I recall when our German plant in the late '80's was so happy when they could hire folks from East Germany- our plant was near the border. They did, ~12 for the plant and the one I really liked, who would answer the phone when I called the Managing Director. She was a former English Teacher in an East German College. I could get straight answers! The prior person's English was fair but it got much worse if I called about something they didn't want to tell me.
I recall when visiting for a Board meeting about a year later I asked where she was. The Managing Director said we had to let her go as she was calling in sick and didn't want to work their "long hours!" We grew that business 3 fold in the 4 years we were a leveraged buyout and they worked a lot of overtime. I then asked about the plant workers they hired from East Germany. He hung his head and said, "We had to let most go as well for similar reasons." Our German plant was staffed with hourly workers who had all gone through appreance training programs and were very skilled.
Jumping ahead to 2018: Went on a river cruise mostly through Germany this past fall and on the ship we had an hour talk about German everyday life, typical jobs, salaries, taxes, cost of living etc from a local college professor. When it was over I relayed the story about our German Plant to the person giving the talk. I asked if it has improved. He sheepishly said "It's getting better." I could recite more about my Cuban friend and what has happened there, but young folks "don't want to hear it!
Frankly I don't care for myself! I'm concerned for my great-grandson and his brother due in May! Just hope that Train you're referring to is not on a track where another is coming the other way!
Why is the past now so vilified anyway? It was far from perfect but in some respects and was better than the times in which we live now. And for all this talk about embrace the future and the future is right around the corner, the future clearly is not looking very bright. what with Wars disease salmon and not to mention we're dealing with our own epidemic right now. If this is the kind of future you talk about embracing we're obviously better off in the past. The C8 seems to me like everything that made the Corvette what it is was completely stripped away just so a small number of selfie takers, pretend millionaires and pretend ballers can claim that their car is every bit as good as a Ferrari just because it's mid-engine. Ferrari has been doing main engine cars for generations. This is the first time Chevrolet is even resorting to building a mid-engine anything so it's a little premature to call this car a home run. This is a time where super cars have become so easier to drive than drivers can easily be fooled into thinking they are better drivers than they are. How many young drivers can actually handle this car without a battery of driver aids to keep them from spinning into the side of someone's building?
Why is the past now so vilified anyway? It was far from perfect but in some respects and was better than the times in which we live now. And for all this talk about embrace the future and the future is right around the corner, the future clearly is not looking very bright. what with Wars disease salmon and not to mention we're dealing with our own epidemic right now. If this is the kind of future you talk about embracing we're obviously better off in the past. The C8 seems to me like everything that made the Corvette what it is was completely stripped away just so a small number of selfie takers, pretend millionaires and pretend ballers can claim that their car is every bit as good as a Ferrari just because it's mid-engine. Ferrari has been doing main engine cars for generations. This is the first time Chevrolet is even resorting to building a mid-engine anything so it's a little premature to call this car a home run. This is a time where super cars have become so easier to drive than drivers can easily be fooled into thinking they are better drivers than they are. How many young drivers can actually handle this car without a battery of driver aids to keep them from spinning into the side of someone's building?
Kind of a negative post, wouldn't you say? The C8 Corvette was a complete sell out before the Corona virus issue, you are a glass half empty kind of person
^^^ Can always look at the "best times" of the past and say "those were the days!" WWII was worse and being on the brink of a Nuclear war no fun! The Corvette will be just fine!
^^^ Can always look at the "best times" of the past and say "those were the days!" WWII was worse and being on the brink of a Nuclear war no fun! The Corvette will be just fine!
How did this old Thread get dragged back?
I always blame the "Related Thread" feature. Right now I'm seeing a thread that was born in 2013 at the bottom of this one.
02-06-2019, 09:38 AM
Can always look at the "best times" of the past and say "those were the days!" WWII was worse and being on the brink of a Nuclear war no fun! The Corvette will be just fine!
