Posted on 04/26/2006 5:57:18 PM PDT by kenn5
Bureaucrats Responsible for High Prices at Pumps
The Libertarian Party Denounces Stifling Gas Taxes
(Washington) This week, in response to constituent concerns regarding increasing gas prices, Congressional lawmakers sent President Bush a letter, urging him to look into the possibility of oil company price gouging. Additionally, both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert asked the president to instruct the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate.
The federal gasoline tax alone is responsible for 18.4 cents of the price of every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States. When the federal gasoline tax was initially levied in 1932, it was labeled a “temporary” tax of one cent per gallon of gasoline. This tax, however, remained intact, and has increased over the decades.
“Before pointing guilty fingers at Corporate America, policymakers need to take a good introspective look at what role they have played in creating the current energy crisis that American consumers are experiencing,” stated Michael Dixon, National Chair of the Libertarian Party.
The aggregation of local, state, and federal gas taxes are responsible for, on average, 45.9 cents of the final cost of every gallon of gasoline.
“In typical bureaucratic fashion, Members of Congress and current administration are looking for scapegoats to blame for America’s problems,” Dixon said. “If our lawmakers were truly concerned with the gas-price burden that is shouldered by American motorists, then they would stop placing the blame solely on oil companies, and work to repeal the harmful gas taxes that we have in our country. The Libertarian Party remains committed to reducing the tax burden for all Americans, in order to foster the development of long-term growth and prosperity.”
we can name names:
Sununu and Gregg filibustered giving MTBE protection from lawsuits..they are the most immediate reason gas prices are so high.
ANWR opponents in 2001. are also the reason
I'm impressed...the LP finally realized there's a gas tax.
Johnny Carson made fun of it every night.
Well...someone got out there and cut down some more trees to solve the problem.
Seems like all Congress can do with this gasoline shortage/price rise is sit and look at the toilet paper.
Isn't their a single polititian in DC that isn't full of...it?
Those taxes pay for roads. They are more of a user fee.
Why were oxygenates like MTBE mandated in the first place? They do nothing to clean up the exhaust of modern cars with computer controlled fuel injection. The computers automatically adjust the fuel air mixture to minmize unburned hydrocarbons. It is there to clean up the exhaust of older cars. Why not just get those cars off the road in the areas of the country that have the highest air pollution?
i think that woudl be bigger govt than MTBE..of course the govt could always buy old car up, but people would complain about that too
The price is still not up where it should be, but I must register a complaint that my favorite brand of chewing tobacco has increased in price 50% at the same time. The prices of other commodities such as food will of course increase as the cost of fuel increases, but a 50% increase should call for a Senate investigation.
It would have take much less govenment intervention. Just tax the emissions produced by each car per mile. Charge more for cars registered in the most polluted counties. Market forces would get people to retire junkers.
MTBE was a lousy choice. The oxygen in it makes the molecule polar so it is much more soluable in water than most hydrocarbons. Of course that would be a problem with just about any oxygenate. MTBE was just the cheapest to produce.
I heard Rush today say that the tax component of the price of gas was greater than the profit component.
"Those taxes pay for roads. They are more of a user fee."
Those taxes pay for roads like Social Security taxes pay retirement, disability, and survivor benefits. It all goes into one pot and is spent on whatever they want to spend it on.
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