Still, the common people have very little control over taxes. I would gladly pay more for gas if the taxes would go into public transportation, but I really can’t see that happening until Alaska’s reserves have been run dry.

That’s a really good point, well made (and nicer to read than the automatic Euro political slagging of previous commenters)

However, one of the reasons we have a public transportation system in the UK (yes, even in rural areas and long distance) is because we pay a higher fuel tax. So if your fuel taxes were higher, you could have a bus service which would be cheaper and less shitty for the environment, no?

I say it again – you /really/ like your cars…

You Yanks really like your cars, don’t you. Ever heard of thinking about the well-being of your nation/community as a whole, rather than selfishly bleating about your $5 commute?

Of course, it won’t matter much when the sea levels rise due to car pollution, will it? Or is global warming a socialist plot to get us to share all that hard-earned money on hippy solar power, man?

Yes, I’m being facetious, but you do all sound like a bunch of old women complaining that the price of fish isn’t what it used to be.

Gotta go : I need to go back in line to fill up my car. The French fishing fleet is on strike, blocking gas distribution networks. They’re complaining about the $9.4 p/gallon price (gas+$3.8tax+19.6%VAT).

I miss my US daily driver : an 81′ Vette with a 350 block… Could not afford it here

That’s like comparing apples and oranges in addition to being an old and worn out argument. Most of what you’re paying for fuel is taxes used to fund numerous socialized programs.

We don’t fund programs like these with the taxes we pay on fuel unlike the U.K. and the rest of Europe. No failed socialized medical programs and none of the other ludicrous programs you fund when you buy fuel via the taxes!

We get nothing for the taxes we pay on fuel. We pay for private health insurance which you don’t etc. Add that alone to the ludicrous prices we’re paying for fuel and you’re way ahead of the game!

So quit your whining and do something over there to change the socialistic path your government has taken!

Going back to private health insurance alone would knock a huge amount off the taxes you pay on fuel!

Another benefit is that people won’t have to spend months waiting their turn to see a doctor only to wind up dying before their turn comes up. Please don’t tell us this doesn’t happen because I have numerous friends in the U.K. and I know for a fact it does. Not too long ago a friends grandmother died waiting her turn. Had she been able to see a doctor in a reasonable amount of time instead of having to wait 3 months she’d be alive today!

Go back to the free market, drop socialism, and instead of financing every program that comes down the road with taxes on fuel! Your cost will drop dramatically!

I don’t have to worry about high gas prices, insurance, parking tickets, car accidents, speeding tickets, license plates — and I’m much more in shape now that I’m walking & riding my bike everywhere. Sometimes I take the bus for $1.25 and it is a relaxing ride. I just listen to my mp3 player and let the driver do all of the work.

If you’re worried about the high gas prices, don’t be. You can survive without driving so much if worse comes to worst. Less pollution too!

- Sherine Harivandi

The latter trip I made this past weekend… wish I had seen this map beforehand, or we would have waited until Mass. to gas up!

But It’s $4 here, and $4.75 for premium.

Actually, this is simply a map of the comparative states’ taxes on gasoline — with a bit or regional variation of prices mixed in.

Green = low state gas tax (not cheap gasoline)

That’s some grade-A trolling, right there. The US has, within its borders and EEZs, a massive amount of oil and natural gas, and it’s easier to ship oil here than to England. We also don’t get half our oil from a pipeline controlled and taxed by neo-Soviet Russia. There’s a reason oil is so expensive for you. Americans are pissed about the price of gas because we know how ridiculously cheap it is to produce and transport for us.

In the UK at the moment we have just almost (but within a month will have) hit £6.00 per gallon. Six pounds. That’s roughly three times what you are all moaning about.

Get used to it, or buy a bike.