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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Democrats "gut and amend" tax holiday into tax increase

Uploaded: Apr 7, 2022
The danger of revenue overflowing the coffers in Sacramento can be seen in the variety of proposals to give motorists some relief from soaring gasoline prices.
Due to California’s higher taxes and special gas blends, residents here already have paid at least $1 per gallon more than the national average and it’s been even worse since the anti-fossil fuel policies by Biden Administration have transformed the United States from an energy exporter into an importer.
As prices started to soar, can you imagine U.S. officials asking (begging) OPEC (which includes Russia) as well as enemies such as Venezuela to pump more oil to be imported to the U.S. to alleviate the supply situation. It’s as crazy as having Russia play a key role in trying to redo the horrible Iran nuclear deal by bringing the Iranians back to the negotiating table.
In Sacramento, seemingly everyone is floating a solution as the state, thanks to federal pandemic money and strong tax revenues, is awash in funds. Note the federal funds are all borrowed and contribute to the staggering inflation we’re now enduring.
Republicans proposed a simple solution—a six-month holiday on the 50-cent fuel tax. That went nowhere as some groups, notably transportation and construction interests, opposed it because it could slow down maintenance and additional project. Of course, that could have easily been backfilled from the gushing revenues.
The Assembly Transportation Committee finally held a hearing on the bill by Republican Kevin Kiley only to “gut and amend” it and pass the new bill on a party line vote. Instead of the six-month suspension, the new language by Alex Lee, D-San Jose, would impose a new tax on gas suppliers when the gasoline price is “abnormally high” compared to a barrel of crude oil. It fails to add any definition to that term.
The shameful “gut and amend” is legal by Assembly rules and bypasses the normal hearings and scrutiny bills normally face.
The governor wants to send $400 checks to all motorists, including those who drive electric cars who already get a free pass by not paying the fuel taxes. Add in that fully electric cars are significantly heavier because of their batteries than gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles. A Tesla Model X (the four-door SUV) has a gross curb weight of 6,768 pounds compared to 5,684 for a fully loaded Ford F-150 pickup.
You might know that 18-wheelers pay extra fees based on the weight of goods they can haul.
Given the philosophical bent of the majority of the Democrats in Sacramento as well as the governor and their embrace of anything green at the expense of any practical considerations, you know what you can expect.
Incidentally, if you can find it, check out Wall Street Journal editorial writer Allysia Finley’s excellent piece that ran Monday, “You’ll miss fossil fuels when they’re gone.” Finley points out just how many other products, besides fuel, have petroleum as their base ingredient.




Democracy.
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Comments

Posted by RobertD., a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Apr 8, 2022 at 2:47 pm

RobertD. is a registered user.


Tim writes:

“the anti-fossil fuel policies by Biden Administration have transformed the United States from an energy exporter into an importer."

That is a conservative Republican lie. A simple Google search would take you to the US Energy Administration Information website that shows the US has never been a net exporter of energy. Here is a link to the graph.

Web Link

The Biden administration is pro renewable. Another conservative Republican lie is that the Biden administration is anti fossil fuel. But, they show ZERO evidence of anything that Biden has done to curtail oil and gas companies from generating more oil and gas.

Show the evidence,Tim!

The US begging Venezuela and Iran to pump more oil is another lie. What is your source? Fox cable Tucker Carlson or Wall Street Journal editorial?? Are you kidding me? They are the same as you are - a conservative Republican editorial blogger!! How about referring to an actual news article from Wall Street Journa?

What kind stupid people do you think we are when you, as a conservative Republican blogger quote another biased conservative Republican blogger (Alyssa Finley) to prove your point. You are not a thief but it is like having a thief say that another thief told him it is a good idea to steal.

PW can do a lot better than this!!!


Posted by Michael Austin , a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Apr 8, 2022 at 3:15 pm

Michael Austin is a registered user.

Independent Statistical Analysis.
U.S. Energy Information Administration provided the following:

In 2020 the United States exported about 8.51 MMb/d and imported about 7.86 MMb/d of petroleum, making the United States a net annual petroleum exporter for the first time since 1949. Also in 2020, the United States produced about 18.40 million barrels per day (MMb/d) of petroleum, and consumed about 18.12 MMb/d. Even though in 2020, total U.S. annual petroleum production was greater than total petroleum consumption and exports were greater than imports, the United States still imported some crude oil and petroleum products from other countries to help to supply domestic demand for petroleum and to supply international markets.


Posted by Michael Austin , a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Apr 8, 2022 at 3:29 pm

Michael Austin is a registered user.

Much of the crude oil that the U.S. imports is refined by U.S. refineries into petroleum products-such as gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, and jet fuel-that the U.S. exports. Also, some of imported petroleum may be stored and subsequently exported.


Posted by Jake Waters, a resident of Birdland,
on Apr 9, 2022 at 9:47 am

Jake Waters is a registered user.

To the Liberal at the top of the page-

The Democrats pushed:

The Covid 19 virus came from nature and a wet market in Wuhan: a lie.
The Russians helped Trump win the 2016 Election: a lie
The 2020 election was won fair and square with 80 million plus votes for Biden with no interference: a lie
The Experimental Gene Therapy posing as a vaccine will prevent the acquiring & transmission of the Covid virus: a lie
BLM cares about Black lives: a lie
America is a racists country: a lie
Cops are systematically killing Blacks: a lie
The invasion at our southern border isn't happening: a lie
CRT isn't happening in our schools: a lie
1619 Project is true: a lie
There are more than 2 sexes: a lie
Democrats are the Civil Rights party: a lie
We need to defend Ukraine because of their Democracy: a lie
Hunter's laptop was Russian misinformation: a lie
Climate Change is science: a lie
January 6th was an insurrection: a lie
Governor DeSantis' bill is an ‘Anti-Gay' bill: a lie
Biden isn't involved in Hunter's financial businesses: a lie


I can do this all day long.


Posted by MichaelB, a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Apr 9, 2022 at 11:44 am

MichaelB is a registered user.

If there are any tax increases being proposed, you can rest assured that Bauer-Kahan and Glazer will find a way to vote "yes" on them. To so called progressives, what people earn/invest/save really belongs to the "community" (not the individual) to be reallocated/redistributed based on "fairness" or "need".


Posted by Michael Austin , a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Apr 9, 2022 at 11:53 am

Michael Austin is a registered user.

There are more than 100 synonyms for the term "idiot".
The somewhat anonymous poster from Bridle Creek RobertD posted link to a graph indicating U.S. petroleum import and export

The graph clearly shows that finishing 2019 all through 2020 up to Bidens inauguration, is steady net export of U.S. petroleum.


Posted by KG, a resident of California Reflections,
on Apr 10, 2022 at 3:30 pm

KG is a registered user.

Removed because it was posted by the first commenter under a different pseudonym to make it appear there is more support for the original comment.


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