WayneS

The Economic Impact of the G20 Ending Oil Subsidies

A subsidy is not money given to a tax payer, it is an adjustment to the taxes paid. It is a socialist policy. It is not under the jurisdiction of law. Tax them the maximum amount they can pay without going under. With "Big Oil", the difference between subsidy and no subsidy is 3%. If they lose subsidies, they will just move to where there is profit (overseas). For the 500 other oil companies in the U.S., this would mean bankrupcy and loss of millions of jobs. For the IRS, this would mean loss of $Trillions of revenue .
Polosi's idea of double-taxing "American Big Oil companies" is a better plan, except that is illegal at this time.

Prospects for Electric Cars

"Why drill, when there is oil (and natural gas) filling every available storage facility on the planet, with wells being shut down (and refineries soon to follow) in order to keep retail prices high."

David. Actually, retail prices are extremely low. If it weren't for taxes....
This glut is just a temporary thing. Just wait, people love to waste money on their vehicles. It is an extension of their "wannabe" psyche. Electric cars are not intimidating and will be a hard sell to the vast majority. I hope electric cars do become economically feasible. I plan on my next vehicle to be electric.

Fuel Prices Have Little Long-Term Effect on Car Purchases

I noticed I got "bad comments" for stating the benefits of efficient driving and carpooling. It gets worse.
So, I saved $1000 /year just by driving right.
I saved at least $1000/year by carpooling.
I saved $600/year because carpoolers didn't have to pay parking.
So, over my career, rather than putting money into commuting, I bought at least $75,000 worth of stock.
Also, for the last 10 years, when I did drive (25-35%), I set my cruise control on 70, while watching the next three lanes in stop and go traffic.
This saved on wear and tear on my vehicles. I probably bought one less car than if I drove everyday. Another $10-20K.

Fuel Prices Have Little Long-Term Effect on Car Purchases

No. We took turns. Three weeks, I drove once. the fourth week, I drove twice. I get 23 mpg. So, instead of driving 800 miles every 4 weeks, I drove about 300 (I had to pick the others up).
23mpg X 800miles / 300 miles = 61.3333333 mpg.


On Jul 23 10:57 AM Oh come on now wrote:

> Wow, driving a one ton dually four days a week and you get over 60
> MPG average! Unbelievable!!!

Fuel Prices Have Little Long-Term Effect on Car Purchases

Oh come on now - One size doesn't fit all. I actually got rid of my foreign-made "midsize" car and started to use my Dodge one-ton dually to carpool to work. With four large people, the Dodge got better fuel mileage and we didn't have to put our briefcases in the trunk to fit. Driving my Dodge one out of four days, I realized over 60 mpg.
Efficiency is the important "fundamental". Driving habits make a big difference. Our other car is a Buick LeSabre. This is a "boat" that gets 28 mpg in town and over 30 on the highway. I also have a Jeep Wrangler. It has a 4-cylinder, but because of the large tires gets 12-14 mpg. It is used for recreation only (15 yrs old with 56K miles). In couple of years when we move into our retirement home (15 miles from town), I hope to buy a Volt.

April Auto Sales: 'Green Sprouts' Overshadow Bankruptcy Tumult

All the talk about fuel economy is a ruse. American auto makers have been putting out vehicles that get better fuel mileage than the Japanese car makers for over 60 years. People just don't want them. They want big, fast, powerful cars that intimidate others. If they can't afford a big one, they get overly bright headlights to compensate. My first car, a 1960 American car averaged over 30 mpg and was the size of a Ford Explorer. It had overdrive and free-wheeling. My latest car, a 2003 Buick LeSabre gets over 30 mpg on the highway. PS, while I was working, I got over 100 mpg because I carpooled.
American car makers only problem is that they have hundreds of variations for each make, i.e., each car is customized along with the added expense. They need to go back to Henry Ford's original idea and have limited options.