Cheap Gas, Lotsa Tax

I was reading ARMOR GEDDON and Neil, the blogger posted a complimentary e-mail from a Frenchmen, Herve, towards the US Military. In his e-mail he listed reasons why the French hate the US. He believes it's mostly about jealousy, the jealousy the selfish have-nots hold towards the haves. One of the roots of jealousy he mentions is the cheap gas in America.

My employer is involved in Alaska politics. One of his strengths is finance, funding plans, and budgeting. He will lose the crowds attention in 10 seconds when he goes into line-item detail of some financial subject from memory. I think his inability to publicly speak in easily marketable sound bites ended his political career.

He was one of the Council of 55 that went to the state capital a year, or so, ago to review proposals to modify the 34 billion dollar Permenent Fund (yea, that's the source of our annual check from the state which was a big pleasant surprise for me and, unfortunately, a draw for welfare parasites). He knows what makes the state tick financially and talks with us about it.

One fact that amazed me was that it costs 30 cents* a gallon to get gas to the pump, including the 'evil' petrolium companies profit. The rest of what we pay for gas is State and Federal tax.

Same goes for France, except that they don't have to ship the crude as far as the States since they are closer to the source. Their 6$/gallons of petrol are mostly tax.

So France taxes itself into tiny little cars, then hates us because we don't let ourselves be taxed as much. This reasoning makes no sence to me. Maybe stinky cheese causes stupidity? Or do you just have to be stupid to eat stinky cheese?

I am glad to see that some Frenchmen still have a brain and backbone. In the 40's Herve would have been ambushing German supply convoys and rescuing downed Allied pilots.

*This price is about a year old.