McCain suggests a gas tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day - also suggests wealthier seniors pay higher premiums for Medicare prescription drugs

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

It's about $3.80 here (thanks in part to CA taxes). I have a little car and pay maybe $15 more for a tank that I did 5 months ago, as a result gas prices aren't such a big deal to me even though I live in one the most expensive areas. It's not breaking my bank but I can see how it's a problem if I had a big car/truck.

Your "little car" gets what, 25 mpg in the city, 30-35 mpg highway?

As opposed to 12-20 mpg for a big truck/SUV?

Not a big deal.

I get 30-35 MPH in city driving and almost 40 on the freeway - so that would be almost 2-3 times better mileage.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

$350/year, seems so unimpressive. Could mawilson be right?

well let's compare mileage. 22 x 5 x 52 = 5720 miles a year. know very many that drive that?

eta: the end result is move closer to work if you want to save money.

Both our cars go an average of 15,000 miles/year.

you drive too much.

my 96 camaro has just a tad over 110k on it, got it mid jun 96. that's almost 12 years.....

[Dan J 277]

$350/year, seems so unimpressive. Could mawilson be right?

Yeah, for some people thats nothing. But for others, thats a weeks pay.

$350/40 hours = $8.75/hour.

Around here, that population tends to either live by the bus lines or in daddy's basement. Not knocking them, just saying. Maybe that's why the increase in gas prices hasn't impacted driving habits as much as some expected.

In Minneapolis thats true also, but in the rural areas, some people drive 20-40 miles for an $8-10/hour job. For them, there are not really and public transit options. It is thier choice to live there, but they are defiently feeling the impact of the gas prices.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Both our cars go an average of 15,000 miles/year.

you drive too much.

Yeah, yeah

[Heracles 417]

It's about $3.80 here (thanks in part to CA taxes). I have a little car and pay maybe $15 more for a tank that I did 5 months ago, as a result gas prices aren't such a big deal to me even though I live in one the most expensive areas. It's not breaking my bank but I can see how it's a problem if I had a big car/truck.

Your "little car" gets what, 25 mpg in the city, 30-35 mpg highway?

As opposed to 12-20 mpg for a big truck/SUV?

Not a big deal.

a real life example:

truck - 17 mpg

camaro - 25 mpg

vibe - 30 mpg

round trip for myself or nessa is 22 miles. gas is currently $3.25 a gallon here

truck = 1.29 gallons = $4.19....per week = $20.95

camaro = .88 gallons = $2.86..per week = $14.30

vibe = $2.37...........................per week = $11.85

i save $6.65 by driving the camaro all week instead of the truck....

Times 52! = $345.80 per annum on 25 mpg vs 17 mpg.

Increase fuel economy by a little more... and save more. Drive your vibe

Probably more than that. I saw a guy in expedition fill up for over $75. I filled up at $35. Lets assume that we both fill up a a tank a week. That is over $2000 more a year. And that is not even considering that I get more miles than him. Therefore he may have to fill up twice a week to cover the same distance.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

It's about $3.80 here (thanks in part to CA taxes). I have a little car and pay maybe $15 more for a tank that I did 5 months ago, as a result gas prices aren't such a big deal to me even though I live in one the most expensive areas. It's not breaking my bank but I can see how it's a problem if I had a big car/truck.

Your "little car" gets what, 25 mpg in the city, 30-35 mpg highway?

As opposed to 12-20 mpg for a big truck/SUV?

Not a big deal.

a real life example:

truck - 17 mpg

camaro - 25 mpg

vibe - 30 mpg

round trip for myself or nessa is 22 miles. gas is currently $3.25 a gallon here

truck = 1.29 gallons = $4.19....per week = $20.95

camaro = .88 gallons = $2.86..per week = $14.30

vibe = $2.37...........................per week = $11.85

i save $6.65 by driving the camaro all week instead of the truck....

Times 52! = $345.80 per annum on 25 mpg vs 17 mpg.

Increase fuel economy by a little more... and save more. Drive your vibe

Probably more than that. I saw a guy in expedition fill up for over $75. I filled up at $35. Lets assume that we both fill up a a tank a week. That is over $2000 more a year. And that is not even considering that I get more miles than him. Therefore he may have to fill up twice a week to cover the same distance.

I have seen the same thing with other large cars myself. Mine cost $35 to fill up - $10 more than it did 6 months ago. If that extra $10 means so much (more for a bigger car) and high gas prices were "hurting" people so much, a lot more people would be trading down.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Gas is in the range of 3.35 here at the moment and is projected to hit 4.00 by the summer and McCain comes up with this grand idea to shave 18 cents off a gallon? That's some populism. Come to think of it, this would save me enough every ten tanks or so to buy a couple of movie tickets. Thanks Johnny!

Interesting. Maybe we can take the socialist European aka future Obama route. The price in Germany, as of today, is $8.15 US a gallon...

Can you at least try and stay with what's at issue here? At issue is a "relief" package that amounts to an average saving of $130.00/year assuming average mileage of 15K and average fuel efficiency at 20mpg. It's negligible but sounds - oh so good. Hence, I call it what it is: Populism.

ETA: It isn't even proposed for a full year but rather 3 months. The average savings from this rescue now shrink to a mere 35 bucks. Some initiative...

Edited April 15, 2008 by Mr. Big Dog

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

A lot of McCain's policy ideas are like that - little wrapped pieces of chocolate presented in such a way as to suggest he's giving you the whole bar. Have you read his proposal for healthcare reform. You'd have to have a lot of brass face to call that a "plan".

[Caladan 19]

$350/year, seems so unimpressive. Could mawilson be right?

Yeah, for some people thats nothing. But for others, thats a weeks pay.

$350/40 hours = $8.75/hour.

Around here, that population tends to either live by the bus lines or in daddy's basement. Not knocking them, just saying. Maybe that's why the increase in gas prices hasn't impacted driving habits as much as some expected.

I figure it's more just inelastic demand. If you use your car to commute to work, chances are you don't have a whole lot of options except to pay the higher prices. (People aren't going to sell their cars overnight, and in a lot of areas public transportation isn't a viable option.)

[mawilson 2,133]

a real life example:

truck - 17 mpg

camaro - 25 mpg

vibe - 30 mpg

round trip for myself or nessa is 22 miles. gas is currently $3.25 a gallon here

truck = 1.29 gallons = $4.19/day....per week = $20.95

camaro = .88 gallons = $2.86/day..per week = $14.30

vibe = .73 gallons =$2.37/day.......per week = $11.85

i save $6.65 by driving the camaro all week instead of the truck....

Charles,

Doesn't the Camaro use premium gas? My GTO certainly does.

[mawilson 2,133]

Probably more than that. I saw a guy in expedition fill up for over $75. I filled up at $35. Lets assume that we both fill up a a tank a week. That is over $2000 more a year. And that is not even considering that I get more miles than him. Therefore he may have to fill up twice a week to cover the same distance.

His gas tank is bigger than yours, Boo.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

a real life example:

truck - 17 mpg

camaro - 25 mpg

vibe - 30 mpg

round trip for myself or nessa is 22 miles. gas is currently $3.25 a gallon here

truck = 1.29 gallons = $4.19/day....per week = $20.95

camaro = .88 gallons = $2.86/day..per week = $14.30

vibe = .73 gallons =$2.37/day.......per week = $11.85

i save $6.65 by driving the camaro all week instead of the truck....

Charles,

Doesn't the Camaro use premium gas? My GTO certainly does.

nope, regular 87 octane.

Probably more than that. I saw a guy in expedition fill up for over $75. I filled up at $35. Lets assume that we both fill up a a tank a week. That is over $2000 more a year. And that is not even considering that I get more miles than him. Therefore he may have to fill up twice a week to cover the same distance.

His gas tank is bigger than yours, Boo.

vibe at 12 gallons, camaro at 14, truck at 25......

[HOHOHO 0]

Maybe I'm crazy, but why won't the oil companies invest in and attempt to develop alternative methods of power? It would be smart (and to their benefit) to do this, since one day we will run out of oil and then we'll have to do something else for power. But if a company thought ahead and had some other power source developed and brought it out when that happened, they'd not only look like a hero, but bring in tons upon tons of money.

uh, because, the Oil Companies are making record profits. Why on earth would you expect them to invest in something else.

[Amby 490]

a real life example:

truck - 17 mpg

camaro - 25 mpg

vibe - 30 mpg

round trip for myself or nessa is 22 miles. gas is currently $3.25 a gallon here

truck = 1.29 gallons = $4.19/day....per week = $20.95

camaro = .88 gallons = $2.86/day..per week = $14.30

vibe = .73 gallons =$2.37/day.......per week = $11.85

i save $6.65 by driving the camaro all week instead of the truck....

Charles,

Doesn't the Camaro use premium gas? My GTO certainly does.

my z28 uses premium and that is why I don't drive it! I'm not into gas guzzling and low mileage.

my sister has a mustang and it costs her about $55 to fill up and it only lasts her 2-3 days!

Edited April 15, 2008 by Amber&Neil

[mawilson 2,133]

Maybe I'm crazy, but why won't the oil companies invest in and attempt to develop alternative methods of power? It would be smart (and to their benefit) to do this, since one day we will run out of oil and then we'll have to do something else for power. But if a company thought ahead and had some other power source developed and brought it out when that happened, they'd not only look like a hero, but bring in tons upon tons of money.

uh, because, the Oil Companies are making record profits. Why on earth would you expect them to invest in something else.

Most oil companies are heavily invested in finding alternative sources of fuel - we are simply not there yet.

Chevron has spent over $1 billion since 2000 developing alternative and renewable energy.

Shell has a solar and wind energy unit (Shell Renewables).

I think Exxon-Mobil is the only oil company that isn't investing in alternative energy sources.