Was $1.80's is some places.
--but neither here nor there--
What I'm waiting for is all those that been complaining about high gas prices--explain their stance on Dems issue of raising gas tax to curb use of gas.
That should be hum-dinger.
"Talk of Raising Gas Tax Is Just That
Analysts Cite Advantages but Concede Its Political Improbability
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 18, 2006; Page D01
There might be a simple way to trim U.S. oil imports, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, encourage alternatives to petroleum and ease world energy shortages.
The method: raising taxes on gasoline or crude oil. Economists and policy experts across the political spectrum think it's a good idea. And with gasoline prices falling, now might be the perfect time to do it without eliciting cries of pain from U.S. drivers who have become somewhat accustomed to high fuel prices.
Now that prices have retreated, policy analysts wonder whether it's time to raise the federal tax on gasoline, which hasn't changed in 13 years. (By Mike Derer -- Associated Press)
But on the long road to a new energy policy, the idea of a higher gasoline or crude-oil tax is just another bit of roadkill.
Because of the thorny politics of raising taxes, the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gas levy hasn't changed since Oct. 1, 1993. And few policy experts expect a higher tax soon.
"We know the broad contours of some things that have to happen," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office who is now at the Council on Foreign Relations. "You have to price oil on a permanent basis to provide incentives to shift away from it. It's the key issue -- and the hardest one to make progress on."
Leon E. Panetta, a former congressman and President Bill Clinton's first budget director, sees things the same way.
"I don't think there's any question that as a matter of policy it makes a lot of sense to move in that direction," he said. "But politically it's a very high hurdle to get over."
Panetta knows from experience. When Clinton took office, Vice President Al Gore argued for a big gas-tax increase to promote conservation, and many administration members agreed, Panetta recalled. But, he said, "there were also those like Treasury Secretary [Lloyd] Bentsen who said, 'Are you out of your mind?' "
By the time Congress was done, what started out as a 50-cent-a-gallon proposal ended up as a 4.3-cent-a-gallon increase. Since then, just to keep up with inflation, the tax would have had to rise 6 cents, but it hasn't budged."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701327.html
