Quote: I am dumbfounded that you can sit there and repeatedly throw out that $15 figure as a burden applying equally to all citizens.
When did I ever say that it would be the same for everyone. I said that I would pay $15 more. I never said you would. So pull your head out of your own ass.
Of course it would be different for everyone else; but I would say that I drive at or above the average -- pumping ~60 gallons a month. At an average of 25 MPG that's 1,500 miles per month -- dead on the average mileage -- would yeild an increase of $15/month.
After going through all the math, which I apparently have to do to satisfy you, I will concede that I actually pump closer to 75 gallons per month, so @ a 25 cent tax increase, I would pay a whole $18.75 a month in taxes.
Quote: WOULD YOU PLEASE PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BUM AND REALIZE THAT FIGURE IS DRASTICALLY HIGHER FOR OTHER CITIZENS!
Drastically higher?
I want to see your math on this.
Even if you drove a whopping 3,000 miles per month at an average of 25MPG you would still only pay $30/month for a 25/c tax increase.
Yeah, that's sooooo drastic. A whole $15 more.
For a very small minority of people, 50 cents a day could mean a lot. I concede that. But those are the exact same people that would be first to take advantage of alternative modes of transportation if they were made available to them. Otherwise they're really going to be screwed when the gas prices climb high on their own, they can no longer afford to drive, and there's no alternatives for them because no one thought to invest in it years before.
EDIT: And yes, every state is different. My figures are for my state. I never advocated "doubling" specifically across the board, only to a specific 25 cent increase -- that just so happens to be about double what we pay in Texas, which is why I said "double" in the specific quote that you posted.
Doubling in CA would be way too much of an increase, as their taxes are already very appropriate, which is why they have a great highway system and a rapidly developing alternative transportation infrastructure.
