Originally posted by lazs2
We do not need to do anything with our gas prices except to reduce the tax on them.
What difference is that going to make? The federal tax is what - 18 cents/gallon? Not going to make a huge dent in the price, Lazs. All that would happen is that people would drive more, buy more gas, and the increased demand would push the price back up. You'd be right back to square one.
I say we are doing it right... we are letting the supply and demand set price.... you think a tax or fee would help... I disagreed with toad and you on this.... we could offer rewards easily without additional fees. a few billion is a drop in the bucket... we spend ten times that much on stupid grants for stem cell research in one state here for instance.
I think Toad's point was that a small fee or tax of 10 cents/gallon (in his example) could be used to fund development of new fuel technologies. America's long term goal should be to wean itself off imported oil, and certainly OPEC oil. You're probably one of those people who think of the Carter energy policies as bad, and the Reagonomics of pulling the plug on CAFE as a good thing. As I recall this was done to stimulate the US oil business. People came to think of the Carter years as "bad", and with relaxation of CAFE came the SUV era. Whey-hey! Party time! Big-block V8 engines are back in vogue!
Ask yourself - do you think this policy increased or decreased America's dependence on foreign oil? The next question is - do you think this was a good thing or a bad thing?
You've had your gas party - now it's hangover time.
new oil supplies that exceed what we have used all the way up to today may be discovered....
