we get it... daily
August 30, 2005
Gassy?
You may have noticed by now that we're not ones to put blind faith in our government doing the right thing by it's citizens. Simply too much evidence to the contrary. However, bad as it is, we're still surprised when we find a situation where government agencies make blatant and outrageous profit at the misfortune of Joe and Jane average citizen.
We can all complain about the price of gas, how the Bush toadies play to their friends in the oil biz and the obvious payback (Come see me after you retire from office son) there. That's old hat (no cattle.)
What just struck us is that much as we roil about record profits by gas companies during these "crisis" times, how the "got mine" Suburban drivers scream indignantly about unjustly being hated and their right to burn away limited world resources, there's an even bigger stinker in this gassy mess.
Who? The tax collector. He's pulling in as much as 25% of the price of your gallon of gas - profit right off the top. That's a bunch of fixed taxes that stay the same regardless of whether the price goes up or down. So when gas goes up a dollar, your taxman is making a windfall $.25 of your buck. Automatically, through the magic of fixed taxes. That's going right into programs that supposedly are based on road use, use which arguably goes down when gas prices go up. Talk about fucked up.
So where's that extra profit going? Where's the adjustment against the unexpected, or is it really, rise in price? Where's relief at the pump? Where's our sense of wonder and innocence? Where's the honest politician?
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