The *truth* behind high European gasoline prices.

[benburch]

http://www.keithtuckercartoonist.com.nyud.net:8090/images/wn_049_color.jpg

The Neocons loves them their KoolAide. But, why is it brown and lumpy??? :scared:

[helderheid]

1. recommended Ben!

[benburch]

2. Thanks! nt

[enid602]

3. Europe

The higher gas prices have also insulated their economies from the effects of still higher gas prices, in that relatively more expensive gas has long influenced density and living patterns, car and engine size and has provided an impetus to invest in alternative sources of energy. Also note that many European governments have no no foreign debt, in part thanks to these taxes.

[benburch]

4. I have a number of films from Germany that are railroad "cab rides"

You would not believe how many windmills now dot the German landscape!

[MamaBear]

5. Don't they have a bigger "gallon" as well?

Isn't the metric equivalent of a gallon contain 20% more, like 5 quarts instead of 4?

Great toon. Recommended.

[benburch]

6. Well, I assume that is converted from liters to gallons.

The old "Imperial Gallon" was indeed larger than a US Gallon, but is no longer used in trade.

[ToeBot]

7. 1 gal = 3.8 L (approx.) eom

[misternormal]

13. Gasoline is sold by the Liter in Europe... n/t

[Uncle Joe]

8. Thanks for the post benburch,

it's off to the greatest pages for you.

:kick:

[benburch]

9. You're welcome! nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. They also don't tell you is it's nowhere near enough to pay for healthcare

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2257360&mesg_id=2257997 - fuel duty £23 billion, national healthcare £73 billion. It's just another tax - it isn't "to pay for healthcare and social programs". In fact, in the UK, a specific reason for fuel taxes going up was as anti-pollution measure:

"The government is committed to the principle that people should pay for the pollution they cause. The fuel duty escalator is our most effective weapon in the battle to reduce CO2 from road transport."

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/4219/newsDate/19-Oct-1999/story.htm

(The fuel escalator was stopped in 2000, after blockades of oil refineries.)

[benburch]

14. Which in no way invalidated the point of the cartoon. nt

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

17. Actually, it completely invalidates the point of the cartoon. n/t

[benburch]

20. Nope.

You didn't GET the point of the cartoon. See below.

[magellan]

11. If you include the UK in Europe, that's not exactly so

UK fuel taxes (all told accounting for around 70% of the cost of a litre) are supposed to be used to fix/upgrade the roads and public transport, but in truth only a small fraction winds up there. Most goes into the general revenue pot, which does disburse to social programs in a limited fashion but also goes many other places.

To cover healthcare, Brits pay contributions into the National Insurance from their paychecks.

[benburch]

15. Europe is a lot more than the UK.

Though the UK doesn't think so.

[magellan]

16. You did notice I said "if you include the UK in Europe" didn't you?

How the UK views the EU doesn't matter. I simply couldn't tell if the comic strip meant to include the UK.

BTW, now that I've revisited this and looked around, fuel taxes do not subsidize the national health care systems in Germany and France. They both use the same employer/employee contribution scheme towards health care as the UK, but there's no additional funding from the general revenue; they're closed systems funded by the higher NI contributions the Germans and French are required to make from their earnings.

The French and Germans have good systems that should be looked to as models for national health care in the US. But it's not true that high European gas prices subsidize EU health care; it doesn't, at least not in Germany and France.

[benburch]

19. You fall into the trap of "earmarked funds"

When you make your budget, you might have "earmarked funds" for a particular purpose, but all the money goes into the same pot, the treasury. If those taxes were not on gasoline, they would be on something else because you have to make the budget. So, yes, all those gasoline taxes pay for health care and social programs, as do a lot of other taxes. The point being that the price of gas there is TAX, and that the tax goes to funding a social good, that is, making the national budget.

[jmowreader]

12. This man is an exceptional artist

And he thinks correctly too.

Unlike Chuck Asay, another editorialist with beautiful mechanical skills, but bad politics.

This Asay, however, we can all get behind...

[eppur_se_muova]

18. Most excellent cartoon. The last frame takes a moment to "get"...

When he says freedom is "more expensive", the foreground is dominated by the **soldiers who paid that price**, not by the "easy" centerpiece, the flag. A very well thought out, very well framed commentary.