Trump Likes Lower Gas Prices

[Revoltingest]

Trump praises record-low July 4th gas prices

As travelers hit the road for the Fourth of July holiday, President Donald Trump touted record-low gasoline prices and expressed hope that they would continue to fall.

“Gas prices are the lowest in the U.S. in over ten years!” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “I would like to see them go even lower.”

I say this is bad public policy because it encourages big government.
Why?
Low prices discourage conservation, wasting resources, & making us more dependent upon
foreign sources. That has traditionally been addressed by regulation (CAFE standards for
automakers).
I'd prefer a fuel tax, one which can fluctuate to make pump prices stable & regularly increasing.
(Regular increases prevent comlacency.) This would provide revenue, & let the market drive
conservation...resulting in less government regulation & potentially better results.

Now, fellow posters, please attack me.
Show no mercy!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Now, fellow posters, please attack me.
Show no mercy!

Your sense of fashion is atrocious.

 

[Quetzal]

Your sense of fashion is atrocious.

Pack it in, @Revoltingest, this thread is over.

 

[Quetzal]

I'd prefer a fuel tax, one which can fluctuate to make pump prices stable & regularly increasing.
(Regular increases prevent comlacency.) This would provide revenue, & let the market drive
conservation...resulting in less government regulation & potentially better results.

I think it would be neat if the revenue generated went into renewable energy funding sources. I would be all about that.

 

[Revoltingest]

Pack it in, @Revoltingest, this thread is over.

Really....what of me breath, aroma, grooming, edumacation, politics, & unwanted advances?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Your sense of fashion is atrocious.

 

[Revoltingest]

I think it would be neat if the revenue generated went into renewable energy funding sources. I would be all about that.

I'd prefer that renewable resources be enabled by removing regulatory & tax impediments.
It's the small government approach.

 

[sun rise]

Trump praises record-low July 4th gas prices

I say this is bad public policy because it encourages big government.
Why?
Low prices discourage conservation, wasting resources, & making us more dependent upon
foreign sources. That has traditionally been addressed by regulation (CAFE standards for
automakers).
I'd prefer a fuel tax, one which can fluctuate to make pump prices stable & regularly increasing.
(Regular increases prevent comlacency.) This would provide revenue, & let the market drive
conservation...resulting in less government regulation & potentially better results.

Now, fellow posters, please attack me.
Show no mercy!

First, consider yourself attacked with the avenging feather or mild reproach.

But since this is not a humor thread, or at least not supposed to be a humor thread, you rely on rational consumers to consider the financial costs of their choices. That is a mistake. Irrational people make stupid choices so often that it's I think the norm. It would be nice if more people were logical and rational but do you seriously believe they would be?

 

[Revoltingest]

First, consider yourself attacked with the avenging feather or mild reproach.

But since this is not a humor thread, or at least not supposed to be a humor thread, you rely on rational consumers to consider the financial costs of their choices. That is a mistake. Irrational people make stupid choices so often that it's I think the norm. It would be nice if more people were logical and rational but do you seriously believe they would be?

Individuals are irrational, but groups tend to be more rational.
But even they will still flirty with lunacy. That's why I favor regular
price increases at the pump. This will cause people to over-react,
& conserve more than they otherwise would at a given price.

See! I take the modern economics view, which is more rooted in
understanding human foibles. It's about what works...not slavish
devotion to a particular theory. I call it "guided free markets".

 

[esmith]

Yeah, but when I go to fill up my 13MPG truck lower gas prices doesn't hurt as much.

 

[Quetzal]

I'd prefer that renewable resources be enabled by removing regulatory & tax impediments.
It's the small government approach.

Hmm, but aren't enabled by government subsidies? Also your favorite!

 

[Revoltingest]

Yeah, but when I go to fill up my 13MPG truck lower gas prices doesn't hurt as much.

My truck gets only 10 or 11, depending upon how much I'm hauling.
(I plan efficient routes, hauling loads in both directions.)
I enjoy these near $2/gal prices, but for the good of the country, I'm advocating for the increase.

 

[Quetzal]

Yeah, but when I go to fill up my 13MPG truck lower gas prices doesn't hurt as much.

Thought I saw you the other night...

 

[Quetzal]

unwanted advances?

Who said anything about unwanted?!

 

[sun rise]

My truck gets only 10 or 11, depending upon how much I'm hauling.
(I plan efficient routes, hauling loads in both directions.)
I enjoy these near $2/gal prices, but for the good of the country, I'm advocating for the increase.

Just to be a wee bit serious, I agree especially because with my driving habits and plugin hybrid I get north of 100MPG typically with roughly $1/gallon costs to recharge at night and about $2/gallon equivalent when I recharge during intermediate price times (I'm on time of day pricing for electricity).

 

[Revoltingest]

Hmm, but aren't enabled by government subsidies? Also your favorite!

I suppose someone will argue that reducing an income tax burden is a suibsidy of sorts.
But eliminating impediments to renewables is more about efficiency, ie, that the person
spending his own money decides what is best, rather than government micro-managing
the solution.

 

[Quetzal]

Just to be a wee bit serious, I agree especially because with my driving habits and plugin hybrid I get north of 100MPG typically with roughly $1/gallon costs to recharge at night and about $2/gallon equivalent when I recharge during intermediate price times (I'm on time of day pricing for electricity).

I also tend to agree since I drive a hybrid. Gas prices don't take me down as much anymore.

 

[esmith]

My truck gets only 10 or 11, depending upon how much I'm hauling.
(I plan efficient routes, hauling loads in both directions.)
I enjoy these near $2/gal prices, but for the good of the country, I'm advocating for the increase.

reminds me when we were living in our mothorhome and traveling.....9-10 with a good tailwind, 6-7 with a headwind

 

[Quetzal]

I suppose someone will argue that reducing an income tax burden is a suibsidy of sorts.
But eliminating impediments to renewables is more about efficiency, ie, that the person
spending his own money decides what is best, rather than government micro-managing
the solution.

I agree with you on both accounts, I just can't pass up the opportunity to jab at you about that stuff when the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Revoltingest]

Just to be a wee bit serious, I agree especially because with my driving habits and plugin hybrid I get north of 100MPG typically with roughly $1/gallon costs to recharge at night and about $2/gallon equivalent when I recharge during intermediate price times (I'm on time of day pricing for electricity).

Alas, my typical GCVW is over 26,000#.
So fuel economy will be low.
(And I don't drive enuf miles to justify switching to a diesel.)
But for cars I go for the fuel stingy ones too.
And even then, I avoid driving as much as is practical.
Not many miles per year.