Comments about ‘Letter: Stop gas taxes’

Wow, it sure seems like Paul has high expectations for Hatch's 7th term...

If he couldn't do all that you described in the 6 previous ones, why do you think he all of a sudden will in his 7th?

After the election, I imagine Orrin will return to his Rino ways and also dream up another Dream Act. I also suppose he has his sights set on beating Byrd's record so we can look forward to another 18 years of Orrin. The voters deserve what they vote for. Is there any hope for our country?

If you really think that drilling everywhere will lower gas prices then I have beach front property in Florida to sell you....

Just google our #1 export and you'll see.

Yes, drilling would increase the amount of oil on the market. But that doesn't mean prices would change or that more oil would stay here.

Folks need to come to grips with price gouging, speculation, and how oil is traded. Free market solutions and the invisible hand don't work when you have folks conspiring to keep the price of oil high. They decide the price and you and I pay for it.

The solution?

GET OFF OF OIL.

It's easy to keep repeating 'entitlements, cut taxes, cut spending'. We need more of a plan than that. And we need to realise that the services we get from government are real and have value.

@Henderson We don't export oil that we dril, we export refined oil that we got from elsewhere. Opening up drilling in the U.S. would result in lower gas prices since it would place another competitor on the global market, and competition is always good for lowering prices. In the past, mere threats of opening up our market have resulted in lower prices because the Middle East knows that U.S. drilling would significantly affect their profits.

Even the Democrats admit that drilling for oil domestically would help cut costs, but they refrain from doing so because "it would take 10 years or more to realize the benefits." Not only is this statement one of mere conjecture, but they've been saying that for 15 years. Had they been smart, we likely wouldn't be stuck with $3.50+ gas prices.

"GET OFF OF OIL" isn't a solution. Compared to oil, other options are not cost effective. The only time the world will get off oil is when there isn't any more oil to get on.

The article's second paragraph, "It was good to see him return to more conservative values in order to win," had me laughing. As if he can't just as quickly turn back to his non-conservative ways once he wins in November.

Basically–just like Hatch's comment about being representative of the Tea Party's ideals even before the Tea Party was formed–Hatch said what he had to say to get elected and the majority of Utah voters fell for it. Some would call this lying, but I guess in Washington, it is just good politicking.

When Hatch wins in November, it will be business as usual and nothing will get solved. Not by Hatch anyway. Voters can be so gullible...

Hatch eschewed true conservative values and pandered to the far right extremists to get the noination for Senator. Given Utah's propensity for voting for pretty much anyone that bears the Republican label, there is a good chance that he will be returned to the United States Senate. I hope that, if he is returned to the Senate, he stops panderig to the far right and returns to true conservative values (including working across the aisle for the benefit of the people of the United States, and not just playing political games). I especially hope that he will eliminate subsitities (especially those for the oil industry, which has had unconscionable profits while still being subsidized by the United States -- make the oil companies pay their fair share).

If the writer is referring to the gas tax which we pay at the pump -- that gas tax finances road construction and repair -- something we really need. If Congress wants to transfer that tax to the oil companies, fine, BUT we still need to finance the roads.

The author of this letter needs to figure out what is needed.

I stopped reading when "conservative values" was mentioned.

The patriot act isn't conservative
spy centers aren't conservative.
voting to take our 2nd amendment rights away from us isn't conservative.

Hatch is a radical he is not conservative.

Of all the taxes we pay, I think the gas tax is the most fair tax.

It is applied only to the people who use highways in automobiles and trucks and in amount according to usage. When it ends up in the price of a product, it is still fairly apportioned.

Paul, the state of Utah taxes each gallon of gas about double the feds and since it's been 30 years since a democrat led this state and I can't remember when they dominated the legislature who are the big taxers. Of course in Utah we call them fees not taxes. Gasoline is our #1 exported product. We subsidize oil companies enough each year to pay for a real universal healthcare system and the price of gas is determined by speculation rather than supply and demand. I haven't even scratched the surface of healthcosts. Fossil fuels causes more health issues than even smoking so lets start weaning.

Hey, stop picking on Orrin. He's going to overturn the ACA. That was a campaign promise. He's going to pass a "balanced budget amendment". That was a campaign promise.

If he's an honest man, he'll keep his word.

Let Utah's Legislature deal with Utah's taxes. Orrin is going to have his hands full.

Clinton says: " The only time the world will get off oil is when there isn't any more oil to get on."

True.

But if we don't work toward weaning ourselves off oil before then, we (or our grandkids) will be left in a dark, cold world.

The letter writer doesn't get it. Orrin Hatch doesn't get it. Oil isn't the answer. Oil is the problem. We can pillage and plunder every last drop of oil out of the ground until Utah looks like Iraq, and what good will it do? The oil will run out. The gas and the coal will run out. It may not happen in our lifetime, but what about our children and their children? All the oil in the world won't compensate for the loss of our public lands at the hands of greedy speculators and developers who care about nothing but lining their own pockets. These people are nothing but criminals, vandalizing the environment and robbing the American people at the pump. If you think more oil will change that, you don't get it either.

We can get rid of the gas tax, if we also agree to get rid of the roads it pays for.

Oil is a global product. Pricing is based on the global price, and oil produced in the U.S. goes onto the global market. Why conservatives think that increased oil production in the U.S. results in increased gasoline supply and significantly reduced prices for consumers is pure fantasy. Producers are concerned in profits, not decreasing the costs to the American consumer. It's all in the market: Sell oil for the greatest return.

These folks are not in the business of helping Americans deal with a difficult economy. They are in the business of making money! Those who think they should have lower gas prices because of increased domestic production are blind to the reality of global economics. Like many global products, if people in China will pay a higher price for gasoline, then the gasoline will go to the Chinese market. Who cares if Americans pay more. They certainly don't pay anything comparable to what Europeans pay for their gas!

A final fallacy of the wingnuts is that domestic oil production has stagnated under the Obama administration. The truth is that domestic production has tripled from where it was before Obama became President.

What if we added a "national defense" tax to gas to more accurately reflect the true cost to society.

We all want to pay less taxes, we just don't want to scrap what those taxes pay for.

"Even the Democrats admit that drilling for oil domestically would help cut costs,"

Please provide a link where a democrat is suggesting that more drilling will make more than a couple of cents difference in the price of gas.

"We don't export oil that we dril, we export refined oil that we got from elsewhere." Not true Clinton. 

"Well, the surprising top export for the US in 2011 was fuel. . . Fuel’s resurgence was due mostly to the oil liquids coming from the US’s expanding shale gas and oil fields. And we’re just getting started."-InsiderFortunes, And the  Number One Export for the US is. . . , Andrew Gordon, 1-6-12

"UC San Diego economist James Hamilton has a more in-depth analysis. Perhaps the biggest factor, he writes, is the glut of new shale oil in North Dakota. Since there’s not enough pipeline infrastructure to get all that oil down to the Gulf of Mexico for export, it’s been piling up in Cushing, Okla. That makes it cheap for refineries in the Midwest to refine it and ship it out than to simply ship the oil directly."-The Washington Post, America’s top export in 2011 was . . . fuel? Brad Plumer 12-31-11

Hopefully in the next few years COLD FUSION (LENR) will trump oil for energy needs.