Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton propose a summer “holiday” from the federal gasoline tax, but did you know that this tax has been steadily falling in inflation adjusted dollars for the past 15 years?
The federal gas tax was last raised in 1993, from 14.1 cents a gallon to the current 18.4 cents. Adjusted for inflation, that makes our current tax the equivalent of only 12.4 cents a gallon in 1993 dollars. It is interesting to note that if in 1959, the year Congress established the National Highway Trust Fund, the then 4 cent tax was pegged to inflation, consumers would now be paying about 29.4 cents a gallon.
Still think our federal gas tax is unaffordable? Take a look at the US tax compared to a handful of other industrialized nations:
| Country | Gas tax in US cents |
| Belgium | 422 |
| France | 421 |
| Germany | 449 |
| Italy | 403 |
| Japan | 439 |
| Netherlands | 466 |
| United Kingdom | 471 |
| United States | 18.4 |
Even when you add in state and local taxes, US consumers get a relative bargain, only a combined 39 cents a gallon on average, with Washington residents paying a near national high of 54.4 cents.
At a time when our bridges are collapsing and many of our cities are clogged with congestion (not to mention global warming and our blood-for-oil war in Iraq), it is hard to see how we can afford to keep the tax at the current historically low level, let alone suspend it entirely for a few months. Indeed, according to today’s Seattle P-I:
The gas tax holiday proposed by Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton would save the typical Washington driver $28 this year but cost the state about $126 million in lost highway money and more than 4,300 highway-related jobs, according to a recent report.
Or, it may not actually save the typical Washington driver anything, as according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Historically, price changes for consumer gasoline have been driven by changes in supply as opposed to demand. In all recent cases, interruptions in the supply of crude petroleum resulted in significant increases in the prices of crude petroleum, wholesale gasoline, and consumer gasoline. However, changes in demand affected gasoline prices only marginally.
Since suspending the federal gas tax will do nothing to increase supply, and could actually increase demand, one can only assume that market forces will act to increase the retail price to fill the void. (That is, assuming you believe in the economic laws of supply and demand.)
Coming up, I’ll tie all my research together into a cogent argument for higher state and federal gas taxes.
Yet, we’ve had a Democrat in the Governor’s office at least since the earthquake in 2001 and nothing’s been done on the viaduct. I seem to remember the campaign for the gas tax in 2005 to hinge on saving the viaduct because it was in “imminent danger to collapse!” We need new blood in the Governor’s office. Vote Rossi.
@1, Oh, ok. Since you think it’s a good idea, we certainly will.
Geezus, where do you find these guys, Goldy?
slingshot @2,
I don’t find them. They find me.
Our federal gas tax is so much lower than other countries and they are paying $7-10/gallon, and WE complain here in the US that our prices are too high and they are still way below everyone else!
Example: Germany pays $8.00/gallon minus the $4.49 for federal tax = $3.51/gallon…about where we are!
So we need to quit the bitching! We are right on target with most other countries (besides the ones who actually produce the oil)
@1 Ho, ho, ho, ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee.
In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny,
“What a moroon!”
Goldy – not sure if this is available to find, but do you know if these same countries listed above have “state” taxes added to that federal tax also?
Hannah @6,
The figures in the table are combined national and local taxes. The original table (that I link to) shows the US state and federal average, rather than just the federal, which I broke out separately for this discussion.
Goldy @ 7,
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if other countries have “local” state type taxes added on like we do.
Found this worldwide gas breakdown:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/0.....topstories
Check out our rank!
Goldy @ 7,
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if other countries have “local” state type taxes added on like we do.
Found this worldwide gas breakdown:
money.cnn.com/2008/05/01/news/international/usgas_price/index.htm?section=money_topstories
Check out our rank!
@1
We’ve had Democratic governors since 1986. Maybe if you folks ran someone that wasn’t crazy or a lier you’d get someone in there.
Rossi’s transportation plan was exposed as an unworkable fairy tale hours after he announced it. Sorry, you’ll have to do better than that.
And things will be getting worse and NOT better.
http://articles.moneycentral.m.....rkets.aspx
“Oil prices could go as high as $150 to $200 a barrel, Goldman Sachs (GS, news, msgs) analyst Arjun Murti wrote in a note to clients this morning. “We believe the current energy crisis may be coming to a head, as a lack of adequate supply growth is becoming apparent and resulting in needed demand rationing in (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) areas, in particular the United States,” Murti wrote. “The possibility of $150 (to) $200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six (to) 24 months.”
Raising the gas tax and using it to fund transit, bike paths, sidewalks and higher density development will make cars less necessary and help protect folks from getting gouged at the pump in the future. Right now there’s not much people can do other than fork over their cash at the gas pump and continue to drive.
@11 – Or spend twice to three times as long on a crowded metro.
@ 8
Now that Goldy’s added a “Link” button to the editor, you can do this. That way, people don’t have to remove all the “%20” escape characters by hand in order to follow the link.
This has been a public service announcement…
@13 – Thanks! Even though I never add anything in the links, the spam blockers must do that! But I will now use the “link” button! :)
Cool–
Keep raising gas prices and force poor people out of their cars and into public transportation where they belong!
That will solve the traffic gridlock debacle too.
It will also cut down on the number of beaters with worn out tires breaking down on the I-90 Bridge.
SeattleR is right. Actually Dem’s have controlled the Governor’s Office for 28 years!!
The Alaskan Way Viaduct was the #1 fear factor used in pushing for the GasTax increase.
Has it fallen down yet?
Where is the urgency in getting it fixed?
The KLOWNS keep reference DOT’s website where they report on themselves and how great they are at getting things done on time and within budget. Comical really. You can always come in on budget when the budget keeps changing. You can always come in on time when the timetable keeps being adjusted.
Hey, how about all those Tacoma Narrows Tolls lost due a snafu re: the tolltag reading machine?? Sweet.
@3:
We just follow the smell of ignorance, and it leads us here.
Goldy–
Part of energy conservation are tips on how to get better gas mileage. Here are a few:
1) Check air in tires and slightly overinflate. For you SLOW KLOWNS..this reduces drag. And no Goldy, I don’t mean you get better mileage by dressing in drag!
2) Use Octane Boosters and other products to keep Fuel Injection system clean.
3) Keep car well-tuned. Most KLOWNS are so cheap, they run it until it falls apart. Have you ever smelled the exhaust of some of those Progressive Beater Volvo’s??
4) Remove Bike & Luggage racks unless you are using them.
5) Remove heavy excessive junk out of your car.
Darryl, if you lost 100 lb’s, you would get an extra .3 MPG!! Stop shoving so much crap in your PIEHOLE Darryl….do it to save the Planet!
Any other tips??
Not to sound too elitist, but we just got back from Germany. I did some serious driving through Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland. I don’t remember a single pothole, or worn and shredded section of interstate like is common here. Take the stretch of I5 between downtown and the airport, (please). The tire industry and suspension lobby must love it. For some reason, the Europeans seem to be getting more return on their investment.
A true conservative understands that poor people with bald tires or such a thing as a bridge toll snafu is to be blamed on Democrat Christine Gregoire. If Dino was running things poor people would have sufficient tire tread and bridge tolls would always be collected.
16. Mark1 spews:
We just follow the smell of ignorance, and it leads us here.
Mark1–
You mean the “stench” on ignorance, don’t you??
A true conservative always has some octane booster on hand.
The stench “on” ignorance hangs heavy over the nation, emanating from 1600 Pensylvania Ave.
The stench comes from O-blah-blah’s Racist Black Theocracy beliefs a la Rev Wright.
Check out the news today and why Oprah Winfrey left Wright’s House of Hate!!
This isn’t going away.
A true conservative says things like, “Racist Black Theocracy” while ignoring the threat of extreme right-wing Christian Reconstructionists who would replace the constitution with biblical law.
Let’s index the gas tax to inflation.
Steve–
Then WHY did Oprah leave Wright’s Church for reasons made public today…and O-blah-blah stay??
He must answer this..again & again.
Mr. Clynical, it is going away-just like the GOP.
I don’t need no steenking links buttons.
Republican logic:
– If you build a project without it being put to a vote, Democrats are dictators who won’t trust “the people.”
– If you put a project to a vote and it is approved and built, it’s snooty elitist King County unfairly dominating the noble residents of the sparsely populated areas of the state, who should really get two votes apiece.
– If you put a project to a vote and it is not approved, it’s the Democrats’ fault for not completing the project. And it is also clear evidence that we need more roads and less transit.
A true conservative knows that the black terrorist-sympathizing muslim Senator O-blah-blah attends a house of hate and that McCain’s sucking noises made in the direction of Reverend Hagee bring McCain and all other Republicans nearer to the one true Christian God.
steve–
O-blah-blah–
20 years in the pews of hate-spewing.
His SPIRITUAL GUIDER steve.
Good luck with that.
PS–
What would Oprah do??
Answer–Leave that hateful Reverend when she was well aware of his unacceptable dogma.
O-blah-blah—stayed until it was no longer political acceptable.
Odd in an article in the P-I it took 11 paragraphs to point out that Hilary does have a plan to replace that money. And a post here on HA, well it doesn’t come up. I’m not particularly thrilled with the proposal, it seems like kind of an important omission.
Gotta love those taxes!
After all, it’s not my money.
So take it and don’t be accountable for it either!
Mr. “C” et all…
Tell you what. Let’s go to Germany and you can show me all the chuckholes and truck ruts on the Autobahn, like we have all over our “free”ways here.
Let’s go look at the general condition of the infrastructure in Europe, and take into account that they had to rebuild just about everything after it was all blown to shit in WWII.
Let’s take a ride on a train where you can relax while zipping from one city to another at over 100MPH.
You get what you pay for. What we get here is oil companies slurping up the difference so their senior executives and fat cat stockholders can go play….in Europe!
@ 32
Really? Her plan to implement windfall taxes on Big Oil? How you figure she is gonna do that, seeing how the republican lapdogs of Big Oil in the House and Senate will filibuster it, and the Big Oil urine stain in the White House would never sign such a bill?
That is no plan, so why would anyone report it?
They should be taking the money and fast tracking road infrastructure projects across the country. Prices of materials and labor have dropped, time for the Fed’s to take advantage of it and start rebuilding this country.
@35
Then why include her in the first blockquote at all?
Cynical: Actually if Darryl lost 100 lbs, there would be no Darryl…