Why do some democrats think that raising the price of gas to $4 a gallon is good for America?

Question

Besides their line about caring for the environment?
Do they really think that most Americans can afford that?
We still have to go to work. Many of us live in areas where we cannot take a bus or a train. Many of us have children that we have to bring places after work.

Don't get me wrong - I drive a car that gets 30 - 35 mpg, but even my gas cost has more than doubled from when I bought it new in 2002. It cost me 15 to fill it then and its almost 40 on the cheapest grade.
Do democrats really think that taxing gas a huge amount will help the environment that much?
Could we not put our own money to better use.

I am a working mother, a Republican, and not wealthy.

It's written about in a column under the Money Headline on MSN this morning. Go to MSN money and you can read the story there...

I know the price is set by the economy supply and demand and the oil companies. This column talks about another tax on gas to purposely increase it's price.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/GasPricesHighButNotHighEnough.aspx

I only make 14.50 an hour and use the best economy I can, I think I have enough sacrifice already. I need the money to feed my three kids, not to put into the government's hands. Incidently the rising cost of fuel has made everything in the grocery store more expensive. Like milk for instance.

Answer 1

I don't know if there are any democrats who want to raise the price of gas to $4. However, there might be some who advocate it to lower demand & encourage conservation or alternative fuel use.

Actually, the Free Market has a fundamental flaw (among many). Prices almost NEVER reflect "True Value". Compare the wages (labor prices) for a teacher who makes 35K vs. a baseball player who makes 1MIL. Is what the baseball player produces truly 30X more valuable than what a teacher produces??? This is why market demand isn't necessarily "intelligent" or "values-based".

At $4 a gallon, gas is only slightly more expensive than milk, and still cheaper than a gallon of orange juice or beer.

But which one is more important to your lifestyle? Which one is more important to society, or to the functioning of the economy??? Gas, or milk/orange juice/beer?

What's even more preposterous is, milk/OJ/beer are all much more "renewable" than Gas, which is Finite & Nonrenewable.

In addition, oil is used for all plastics, many chemicals, synthetic textiles, some pharmaceuticals, lubricants, etc. Asphalt, paints, fertilizers, aspirin, synthetic clothes, etc. The product list is in the thousands.

So what the gas tax advocates are saying is, Gas prices should more closely reflect true value - which should be actually much higher than $4/gallon. We already used up 1 trillion, and there are only 1 trillion barrels left in the world - enough to last 25-40 years at current rates of global consumption.

We're at "Peak Oil". You should become aware of this issue.

As global supply plateaus and falls, while global demand keeps going up, prices are only going to trend higher. Except for short, temporary declines, they're not going to go down. EVER. If you think $4/gallon is a lot, wait til $7 or $12. (Keep your eye on world crude prices, where oil is now around $65/barrel.)

It's virtually inevitable unless global demand goes down. And by the way, we're the world's #1 demanders, followed by China, Japan, and the EU - the world's richest economies, by the way.

So it's not the last day 25-40 years later when there's no more oil that counts - it's the slow, long decline as the oil slowly runs out which is going to wreak havoc on the global economy & our lifestyles.

I'm sorry to tell you, and this will sound crazy, but you seriously have to consider moving to a small town - or else you will literally have to pay a heavy price. Or, consider making your own biodiesel (but you'll need a diesel car). A lot of people are already doing it - check online.

This is not about "democrats". This is about the End of the Oil Age.

Answer 2

Other than the taxes , the government does not raise or lower the price of gasoline. There is no law that allows the government to go in and raise the price of gasoline. Why do you think lawmakers are raising it? That just does not make any sense. The price of gasoline is affected by the laws of ecomonics. Nothing more. There is not vast conspiracy to pump up the prices. All it takes is one gasoline company to decide to go the other way and lower the prices to the minimal profit level and the others will have to follow suit.

The closest thing to support your question is that environmental laws have crippled the building of new and better refineries. The US could produce cheaper gasoline with new technologies but the refineries cannot be built due to environmental laws. These new refineries would also be better for the environment than the old ones. Most of the people supporting these laws would be democratic, I do believe.

Answer 3

Well, you do understand that oil is a finite resource, do you not? One day in the future it will run out, that is an undeniable fact. Exactly when, we don't know, but it's a pretty good bet that we'll start to see shortages towards the ends of our lifetimes, and a very good bet that your children will live with the reality of hardships caused by oil shortages.

So the more we encourage conservation NOW, the longer the oil lasts and the longer we have to develop suitable alternative fuels to replace oil once it has been depleted.

So higher gas prices encourage more conservation, thereby giving all of us a little more long-term insurance that we won't be caught in a pickle once the oil reserves begin to run out.

Look at it this way. If you have to bite a little bit of the bullet now, perhaps by doing so your children won't have to endure taking a much BIGGER bite if oil begins to run out and we haven't developed enough suitable alternatives.

Aren't you willing to endure a little sacrifice and hardship now if it makes the prospects for your children's lives a little better in the long run?

Answer 4

Well, in the long run, higher gas prices do have some beneficial effects:

1. It spurs production of oil from sources that were not cost effective at lower oil prices. Such as low producing wells or shale oil.

2. It spurs research and use of alternative fuels, such as bio-diesel, ethanol, etc, that are a direct replacement for petroleum based fuel.

3. It spurs reasearch and development of alternative energy sources for vehicles, such as battery power.

4. It encourages reductions in use of gas, such as buying smaller vehicles, driving less, more public transportation, etc.

Sure it hurts the pocketbook, but the low cost of gas was eventually going to come to an end as the rest of the world becomes more industrialized and prosperous.

Answer 5

Bush can open the Strategic Oil Reserves to bring down the gas prices. He is the first president in American History to refuse to open them for this reason. He freely 'loans' out of the Reserves to the Big Oil Companies when they request it.

I propose the government cut the tax off of the gas. Everyone wants a tax cut or tax break, let this be it. That way the majority of America benefits from a tax cut on gas. Everyone, from people who work to big companies that need to transport their goods benefits from a tax cut like this. Win win win.

Answer 6

Raising it to $4 a gallon? You're lucky! In UK, petrol (gas) costs about $6 a US gallon! And proposed 'congestion' charges, which will mean drivers having to pay to enter and leave a city, look like being around $10 a visit!

Answer 7

Actually, as a Republican, I think it'll work because at that price, people will have to open their eyes and open their minds to the idea of ACTUALLY CONVERTING THEIR CARS to run on ethanol, then buying a still and growing enough switchgrass that they can fill up for FAR less than we're paying now.

Answer 8

FACT — DESPITE PAST RHETORIC, FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCE HAS INCREASED: President Bush has pledged to reduce our energy dependence in every State of the Union he has delivered since taking office. At the same time, the United States has become increasingly dependent on foreign oil, from 58 percent of oil consumed in the U.S. in 2000 to 70 percent in September 2006. U.S. dependence on OPEC nations for oil imports “has risen to its highest level in 15 years.” By focusing on expanding domestic exploration, he perpetuates our dependence on oil.

Answer 9

They think it will reduce peoples dependence on fossil fuels. If that hurts some people they figure it will be worthwhile in the long run (by preventing or reducing global warming).

Answer 10

What're you talking about? I've not heard a democrat that wants to raise gas prices.