Weren't these the same people bemoaning the profits of big oil and gas companies when the price of oil skyrocketed last year?

I guess it's alright to pay 4-5 dollars per gallon as long as it grows government, huh?

Stupid is too kind a term for diane.

"This liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

Hey Diane. If you want to pay European gas taxes how 'bout you move there. You don't speak for real Americans who are sick of the idea that more taxes is the solution to energy independence and every other "problem".

GO CAVS!!!!!

I grew up with a father whose goal it was to pay as few taxes as possible.  He believed in taking care of himself and his family and small government.

It has been an extreme shock to my system (and it still shocks me) that there are people out there who push for higher taxes.  

Paying as little in taxes as possible is not about being selfish - it's about self preservation.  These people are obviously clueless as to what it's like out here for those of us in the real world.  

And once again, the hardest hit by liberal policies.... the poor.

Sawyer is right.  If we really want to limit the total miles driven in this country, then increasing the price of a gallon of gas is the way to do it.  Whether that is through higher taxes or demand exceeding supply the result will be the same.

Make all cars, on average, more efficient will cause drivers to drive more not less.  Unless the price of that transportation is prohibitive.  For example, the GM Bolt is estimated to cost $38k.  If that is true and it is also true that you will not be able to buy more modestly priced cars because of government mandates that call for battery powered cars, then less cars will be bought.  Care to guess what that will do to the auto industry?

Nevertheless, the reason that bambi, the first stupid liberal, doesn't have to increase the price of a gallon of gas it that his other economic policies will do it for him.  With the avalanche of debt that will hit the bond market, interest rates will soar.  The oil suppliers of the world will note this and cause the price of a barrel of oil to increase.  We are already seeing this in the market place now.  Oil is over $60 a barrel today despite more supply then there has been in decades.  It is called inflation.  Get used to it.  It will ripple across all commodities as more and more of the trillions of government debt hits the bond markets.

The above formula is a recipe for disaster for our economy.  Every dollar taken out of the economy in the form of taxes is a dollar that can't be used for investing in the private sector.  Every dollar that pays for the interest on debt does nothing for our economy whatsoever.  Every dollar sent overseas to the world's oil producers makes their standard of living soar and ours plummet.  Don't believe me?  Visit Dubai.  Visit Saudi Arabia.  

They want the taxes -- Any scam that will deliver is fine with the socialists. They simply need more free money to giveaway.

a federal money grab on the order of a European gas tax (we already have a pretty ferocious State tax here in CA) penalizes those who drive economically more so than those who are wasteful.

Someone who can afford a big @ss truck like a Hummer can already survive an increase in gas prices-they might have to sacrifice a luxury or two somewhere. Someone driving an older Civic or Tercel who's already getting 20-30 MPG is probably not one with a lot of disposable income, any driving they do a necessity not for fun. Doubling their fuel expenditure means a house payment is made at the sacrifice of savings against hard times, or nicer clothes for the kids. For others it is the difference between buying food for the freezer and saving in bulk, or paying extra for gas and having to buy in smaller amounts to make rent payments.

This is where Federalism shows it's ugly side. If it were so all fired important, *individual states* could decide to raise taxes on fuel-and correspondingly watch their economies fail and the drain on their coffers from increased welfare/unemployment claims takes out any gains from those taxes. Look to CA to see what happens in the REAL WORLD when these policies are inacted-leftist crime control ideas, social experiments, government interference and tax after tax, creates high crime, insufficient resources like water and land, out of control social service expenses, failing infrastructure and a bankrupted state government. 

And people want to create this "paradise" on a Federal level? WTF?

Besides, notice that much of Europe avoids spending money on fossile fuels to generate power, they have those "evil" nuclear plants. We could save a heck of a lot more oil shutting off gas or oil fired powerplants and switching to nuclear...but that would actually provide a solution other than oppression of the "common man" and economic sabotage of the nation for the profit of a worldwide elite.

WWW.GS2AC.COM. 2nd Amendment Grass Roots Action in the Bay Area, CA. We're not all "Breakfast Cereal" folks here! :)

....or at least in Italy.

I was stationed at a NATO HQs in Italy back in the mid-90s and the gas was going for over $4/gallon due to taxes.  I was in the southern party of Italy which is much poorer with greater unemployment than in Rome and the northern party of the country.

I asked my Italian boss how in the world the average person could afford the gas. 

His answer, "Simple, everyone cheats on their income taxes so it all evens out".

Tax the MSM - they are the biggest source of gas on the planet.

What a surprise, another casting couch botox bimbo teleprompter reader with absolutely no economic literacy begs for even more unrealistic and punitive taxes in the heart of an economic meltdown.  The fact that the presence of this journalistic malpractice is tolerated...forget challenged...shows just how far we have to come before even making the slightest economic recovery.  The widespread ignorance of the average American enables Obama mouthpieces like Diane Sawyer to continue to spew job-killing garbage without challenge...and the stupid among the electorate will use this misinformation to continue to take the economy further down against their own interests...all over junk science.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill

It was my understanding that gasoline was already taxed? In fact were the higher prices thus less driving not responsible for the budget shortfall in the federal highway funds last year?.(there is a lesson here somewhere).. Or not, guess I just misunderstood, good thing we have crack reporters like Sawyer to help me keep my finger on the pulse of America.

You are one of the elites who cannot fathom those of us who must drive to work and are not driven to work.  You do not have to worry about the cost of fuel because you are rich.  You have toured Europe and dined in only the finest places and slept in the best hotels and were introduced only to European elites like yourself. How could you possibly understand us? You can't darling and that's just the truth.  Individual European countries are tiny compared to America and NYC is not similar to other parts of this country.  Oh, one more thing honey.  Europeans pay more for fuel because they have none of there own -- we do.  You and Barack just don't want to use it because you want to be thought of as cosmopolitan.

...were so obvious that it was sickening.  I caught this interview and just couldn't believe how clearly insistent she was on the "we should raise taxes" point.  Of course, the Obamaite never said that they wouldn't do this.  If anything, she grimaced lest Sawyer ruin the surprise. 

These people live in such an ivory tower that it is unbelieveable that we permit them to have the influence that they do.  Sawyer, for instance, makes a huge salary and affords to live in a swanky Manhattan apartment, no doubt.  She need not drive to work because it's close by and her chauffer can take her there and back each day.  As for the rest of her neighbors, well they can take a subway, train or walk.   Those horribly selfish people driving SUVs in suburban Dallas or St. Louis are as foreign to her as an Iranian is.  

These idiots have no clue.  No clue that we can't be "like Europe" for the many reasons already well described above.  No clue that people can't just live "near work" because of the cost.  They have no concept.  All they know is that a few extra bucks to fill up the gas tank for that occassional weekend to the Hamptons is nothing to them, but it will somehow 'save the planet.'  They give no thought whatsoever to the big picture here.  None.  And, they couldn't care less.  Rules are for other people to follow.  

This attitude was on full display this morning - as it is each day on the mainstream TV "news" shows.  It's nauseating.  

I'll say one thing: Obama will not have to do what Chavez is now doing to Globovision (a station critical of him).  After all, the media are already His servants and do His bidding.    Get a clue America!

I guess the limosine that picks up Ms. Sawyer in the morning and takes her home after work, runs on love and unicorn flatulance?

Some people have to drive to work, both ways! Some have to pick up their children, go grocery shopping, etc. Not everyone in the U.S.A. lives in Manhattan.

She is s-o-o-o out of touch!

 Yes, it is painfully obvious that this elitist b***h is a hardened Leftist and cannot wait to pay more and more money in taxes.  (Diane, sweetie, why not lead by example and volunteer to pay those tax rates that makes Europe so much better than this country?) 

But let's change direction; other posters have touched on this.  There is another form of bias at work here. It is a NYC bias. 

All of these elitists seem to think that the United States is much like the Northeast, with dense populations that make mass transit feasible.  Granted, I have spent less than a day of my life total in NYC itself; I have been elsewhere in the Northeast as well. But I can imagine quite easily living in NYC and NOT having, or needing, a car; especially if one were to live on, say, Manhattan. 

Problem is, not all of America is like that. These Leftists - and indeed others from that part of the country - are in for a severe culture shock if they were to visit, say, San Antonio or Houston.  San Antonio is, I believe, the 8th biggest city in the country.  Houston is #4.  Both cities use buses for mass transit, though Houston has one light rail line that connects downtown to the Medical Center and Reliant Stadium. Other than that, your options are limited, because the populations of the cities are not compact like NYC or Chicago.  S.A. and Houston are by no means unique; in fact, in this regard I'd say that they are in fact typical.

Maybe it would help if these elitist snobs would take occasional trips west of the Mississippi.  Or maybe, just west of the Hudson for starters.  But then again, they being the all-knowing Leftists...maybe not.   

"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)