Horrific fuel prices in Germany (page 2)

MinisterAmos

Actually the first $4.00 already includes a whopping amount of taxes.<<

The majority of states pay under $.40 per gallon with Fed/State/Local taxes combined.

10% is hardly "whopping".

It might seem like the Europeans are paying more for gas (and they are) ..... but remember (me is told) they receive free health, free education, plus a whole lot of other benefits that the USA people have to pay out of THEIR pocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care (cut and paste)

Go figure.

Just not a fair comparison.

PrimateDave

Just make sure you calculate a US gallon at 3.8 liters versus a UK gallon at 4.5 liters, otherwise you won't have an accurate comparison of US dollars per US gallon and Euros per liter.

Dave (who pays about US$1.03 per liter, US$3.91 per US gallon, or US$4.64 per UK gallon)

kwr

They tax the heck out of gas in europe.

SixofNine

"The Democratic controlled US congress would like to make things more fair though by adding an $0.85 per gallon federal tax."

.

While there are certainly some fairly strong arguments for doing so, I think you are lying about this, FairMind. Care to document your claim? Btw, a proposal from one, or even a few congressmen or senators will not back up your claim.

Greensleeves

There are a lot of factors to consider when you see the price of fuel go up.

As an American, the cost of fuel is very high. It is raising the price of everything because the Country relies on trucks to transport everything we buy. There hasn't been a new oil refinary built in the U.S. since the 70's. That would effect the supply and demand aspect. But Supply and Demand are no longer relevant to the cost of petrol. It is Speculators and the buying and selling of oil stock that has driven oil prices up. If China needs more oil, then world prices go up. It is now a global economy. It effects everyone.

For those that live in Europe like our German friend, I ask if your goods are shipped by truck as much as our goods are. The U.S. infrastructure relies on goods shipped 100's or 1000's of miles. Also, we don't have a mass transit system like Europe has. I have to fuel up my vehicle and drive to work. I can't take a train, and most people cannot move within a bicycle ride from work. The U.S. is huge, and many areas are very rural.

Princess Daisy Boo

Here in SA the fuel prices are crippling us - we pay R 10.60 per Litre, which and one South African Rand is about $8 US. The petrol price has gone up every months since the beginning of the year.

We do not have a reliable public transport system... I have no option but to drive my car to work etc!

llbh

I have just paid $136 for 50 litres of Diesel!!!. Not a year ago it would have cost $76.

And to think where all that extra money is going , Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela .....

David

FairMind

While there are certainly some fairly strong arguments for doing so, I think you are lying about this, FairMind. Care to document your claim? Btw, a proposal from one, or even a few congressmen or senators will not back up your claim.

Sixofnine, I don't appreciate being called a liar especially by the ignorant and uninformed. However I was mistaken as the proposed increase is $0.50 per gallon on top of the current $0.184 per gallon Federal Gas Tax that has been in place since 1993. So the total tax (Federal) would become $0.684 per gallon). Here is a bit of proof of what i've just said along with a link to the web site. If you still doubt my integrity then you are welcome to surf the web. I have even added bolded some key words for you (you know what key words are don't you?.

I know that only two congressmen are mentioned below but you don't set rules for me. Why don't you waste some of your time proving that you are not the liar and I am?

Congressman Sam Graves of Missouri had this to say.

If you are in a hole, common sense says to stop digging. But the leadership in Congress is trying to do the exact opposite. With Missourians facing record prices at the pump, Democratic Congressman John Dingell has proposed raising the gasoline tax by 50 cents per gallon.

Raising taxes on motorists only hurts our families and hurts our economy. I will fight all attempts to raise the taxes Missouri families pay at the pump. We need to be working to reduce the price of gas, not increase it.

Congressman Dingell’s proposal would increase the federal gas tax from 18.4 cent per gallon tax to 68.4 cents per gallon. This represents a nearly 300 percent increase in the federal gas tax.

http://www.house.gov/list/speech/mo06_graves/WCgastax.shtml

FlyingHighNow

It might seem like the Europeans are paying more for gas (and they are) ..... but remember (me is told) they receive free health, free education, plus a whole lot of other benefits that the USA people have to pay out of THEIR pocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care (cut and paste)

Go figure.

Just not a fair comparison.

Yes, and Brits and many Europeans enjoy good commuter and rural trains and rapid transit. The countries, many of them, are about the size or smaller than many of our states.

Horrific fuel prices in Germany