Well I can afford gas and I'm not really bitching about that part of it. What I'm more concerned with is how the money is used. I keep bringing up the lottery because there is a HUGE amount of revenue generated by the State Lottery and only a small portion of it is being used for the school system. And then I watch as schools are down sizing and more costs are having to be paid by the parents of the children that are supposed to have a free education. And another reason I brought it up was our conversation you, Kathryn, Joanna and myself had on our way to Mt. Hood. I was appalled that the local government is okay with using a large portion of the gas tax for something that doesn't pertain to vehicles needing gas. How about widening the roads? Maybe make public transportation free? I saw that bridge we passed under and saw a special tunnel just for bicycles and was "Is that for the train?!" You responded "I think it's for bicycles" LOL
What I failed to mention is the $600 million dollars the water bureau is going to be spending on bike paths in Portland for the next 10 years. Both the change to the local gas tax or the $600 million going to be spent by the water bureau on bike projects was ever presented to the voters. I have no idea how to get bike riders to pay for the improvements that they want. But I would like a say in ideas (ie voting) that others come up with.
I drove through Portland. For every bicycle; there were 1,000 cars. I doubt that this puts a dent into traffic.
Or maybe "bike riders" pay a licensing fee for the privilege to ride their bikes in the great city of Portland? LOL
We're going to have such great bicycle paths here in Portland that the next time you drive up here you'll have bikes strapped to your Jeep! We're going to be the Disneyland of bike paths!
There are websites that tell bike riders here that if a car cuts you off how they can issue a citizen ticket by writing down the car's plate number and submitting a complaint to the cops. But if a bike rider blows through a stop sign or cuts me off I have no way of issuing them a citizen ticket. Even the city has admitting they catch bike riders all the time on red light cameras but they have no way to issue them tickets. I would welcome license plates on bikes.
just hit 'em. I ride my bike a lot. I hate riders like that who drive like idiots, giving the majority of us a bad name. It's frustrating to see. Generally, it's without a helmet, also.
and I'd happily put a plate on my bike, and pay fees, to "pay my share" in a sense. I'm sure tons of bikers would be opposed, but, lots of people don't like stuff.
No need for that. Implant RFID chips in every citizen and just read the chip. You can not only take care of stop signs, but you can also track movement and thus charge them by the mile. barfo
You don't know what "profit" means, do you. Not only has that stuff been subtracted in the profit calculation, the companies get it back a second time as huge tax breaks for those activities. Of course, they get it back a third time in future profits from new mines and inventions which those activities discover--which is why oil companies do those activities in the first place.
You don't know that government keeps the whole transportation system moving, free to oil companies? Do the companies own freeways, pay police to patrol them, etc.? Dum-dum as usual.
A lot of stuff is not subtracted from the profit calculation. Those are profit invested, which become balance sheet items. The land they buy and own and drill on is assets, so is any new equipment they buy, office buildings they build, etc. Of the things PapaG listed, Exploration is likely a capitalized (balance sheet) expense, as are new permits. Maintenance, distribution, R&D would show up on the P&L and thus affect profit.
So is it wrong for you to get a tax break on IRAs or Pensions? How about the mortgage of your home? Both of those investments give you tax breaks and possible future profits. But hey we're the little guys and it's a drop in the bucket to even complain about right? If we choose not to invest out profits (salary) for a house or investments, we can keep that profit. But if we invest in housing or IRAs we are considered good citizens. But if the oil companies do it, we label them scoundrels that just want more money. Lol
Wrong. The tax credits don't completely offset R and D, and they are tax credits, not free money. Plus, the government already makes more money off of this industry than it does any other industry known to the USA. I suppose you just want to nationalize it and get it over with? Of course, our idiotic President would then close off production and move us to his fantasy land of algae and unicorns. What's it like to be 60+ and so ignorant? Really, I do wonder this. I mean, you're just so consistently, and hilariously, wrong. The states' rights vs. US constitution stuff was just a joke, right?
