How stupid do you have to be to believe this? I don’t know. But in my brief tenure as a Californian, I’ve seen voters believe that giving politicians billions of dollars would solve “homelessness”, vote for most tax hikes and the most insane leftist politicians.
Tax hikes to lower gas prices? Bring them on.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is lashing out at oil companies who he says are “fleecing” Californians with gasoline prices that are rising disproportionately in the Golden State.
“The fact is, they’re ripping you off. Their record profits are coming at your expense,” Newsom said in a scathing video posted to Twitter Friday in which the governor called for a new windfall tax on oil companies.
They are ripping you off. And by “they”, I mean Newsom and the Democrat supermajority.
Let’s look at the cost of gas at the California pump again.
A report from Stillwater Associates last year found that California consumers were paying an extra $1.19 a gallon. This year the added costs include a 51 cent state excise tax, an 18 cent sales tax, 20 cents for Fuels Under the Cap, part of the state’s corrupt environmental cap and trade program and 17 cents for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Californians are paying a $1.41 federal and state tax markup on $3 bucks of crude.
Or almost half.
Biden and other Democrats have blamed corporate profits, but the gas stations and suppliers are making a mere 33 cents a gallon or less than a third of the state’s added $1.08 in various taxes. Even the refiners are only making 72 cents. The biggest piece of the pie is coming from the taxes, many of them hidden, imposed by Democrats in the name of saving the planet.
While Newsom and Big Green describe some of these taxes as allowances and credits as part of a marketplace, they are really a corrupt scheme to force consumers to pay money to special interests and politically connected companies under the guise of “saving the planet”.
Democrats sold the fuel taxes as penalties on polluters. They claimed that imposing them would “make the polluters pay”. Few Californians seemed to understand that by “polluters”, the Sacramento political establishment meant the single mother picking up her son from school, the supermarket cashier commuting to work, and everyone else who can’t afford a Tesla.
The California average gas price is now over $6 a gallon, compared to $4.60 for the rest of the country, because Democrats are making ordinary drivers, whom they call “polluters”, pay.
Are Californians going to be stupid enough to fall for this again?
Newsom said the windfall tax would “ensure these profits go directly back to help millions of Californians who are paying for this oil company extortion.”
What Newsom really means is that instead of a gas tax holiday, the Sacramento mob decided to send ‘rebate’ checks to car owners. The ‘rebates’ will be financed with more taxes which will raise the price of gas. And Newsom will respond by railing some more at the companies and then raising taxes to finance a new round of rebate checks. Most of the money from the taxes will actually be diverted to assorted special interests, while consumers will get a $400 gift card.
That’ll be enough to pay for how much gas.
Newsom is betting that this class warfare from a wine country millionaire will be eaten up by the suckers. And who’s to say it won’t?
“The degree of diversions from the national prices has never happened before, and oil companies provide no explanation,” Newsom said. “We’re not going to stand by while greedy oil companies fleece Californians.”
The explanation is the high level of taxes and regulations imposed by Newsom and his Democrat supermajority on Californians.
And Newsom and the Democrats won’t stand by while greedy oil companies will fleece Californians. That’s their job.
The U.K. fuel tax was 83% last time I looked. But, like the leftist elites in legacy media, the BBC keep telling everyone that the oil companies are making vast profits.
Very few people walk anywhere, they drive 200 yards to the local shop to buy a loaf of bread.
There’s a local McDonald’s that the government taxes has subsidised claiming it is the first net zero carbon McDonald’s in the world. 99.999% of its customers drive to it.
This and other hysteria is what governments do, they manipulate their stakeholders, as suggested in the U.K. government guide to programme management written in 2011 and suggests that there will be an increase in pandemics, the manipulation advice is in section 6.6.? Guess which number follows?
A net zero carbon McDonalds? If cows spewing methane from their buts is one of our biggest concerns in this hoax, how is a place thats main product being hamburgers net zero?
I almost believe that these people would fall for the old “you got two 20’s for a 10.” trick.
Here’s the propaganda link:
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/newsroom/article/uk_net_zero_carbon.html
Good one Mo 🙂
Excellent analysis.
Looking at the supply and demand curves in my head, I think the idea that raising gas taxes lowers gas prices violates the supply and demand curves.
Well, we gotta remember, obama said Americans were stupid. This shows just how much the left believes he was right.
What goes around, comes around. When it is their turn it will be double, Since they show no mercy, they will receive none. As the scripture says, what they have taken from everyone else, will, be taken from them. The more they take, the more they will have to lose. I can’t begin to imagine how they will find themselves having to endure twice the poverty they will have inflicted on the poor and everyone else who wasn’t what they considered to be an, elitist.
It would be great if they had their turn but they won’t.
“How stupid do you have to be to believe this?”
But Californians and their elected representatives keep doing it over and over again. At some point one has to say that, Stupid Is As Stupid Does.
Yeah, an incredible level of voter stupidity and institutionalized vote fraud are a bad combo. I live in CA and even I can’t tell what the rough proportion of stupid voters is because the fraud prevents any realistic estimate. I do know most of the morons who are legal citizens are leftwing carpet baggers from shitty blue cities in other states and their begats. And our miseducation system manufactures as many Dirtbagocrat automatons as possible, as in every state.
For every Greenfield who moves here from out of state, countless people like him move out. CA and NY seem to be in competition for the most people fleeing our states, and I’ve noticed most of them are moderates and conservatives. Too bad they don’t move to conservative counties and other enclaves. All of them are quite pleasant except for state imposed sanctions like astronomical taxes. Newscum’s regularly issued diktats are ignored by conservative areas.
Of course, the hordes of illegal invaders are all allowed to vote so CA has been lost except for particular counties and enclaves. So far as I know, all the coastal counties and their big cities have been subjugated by the Dirtbagocrats except for Orange County in the South and Del Norte County in the Northwest corner of the state. I do know some of the counties South of Del Norte have more conservatives than D-Bag voters but they don’t have the power to resist the subjugation the way wealthy and powerful counties like Riverside and Orange do.
In California, $400 is 4 fillups on a 17gal. Tank. How often does gavin send that check out? My last data had refiners making 7-9 cents on a $3 gallon. Is yours gross or net profit, Daniel? The california government may be worse than you think.
And ten bucks says I never receive that $400. anyway.
“The ‘rebates’ will be financed with more taxes which will raise the price of gas. And Newsom will respond by railing some more at the companies and then raising taxes to finance a new round of rebate checks. Most of the money from the taxes will actually be diverted to assorted special interests, while consumers will get a $400 gift card.”
That’s typical. That says it all.
The left’s level of contempt for the average citizen exceeds inflation by at least a factor of four. The left keeps lying to and stealing from the people and the people keep putting up with it. What’s next, participation trophies?
that $400 “rebate” is not for everyone..if you receive social security it seems you dont need any more government help..so no rebate for you..and there are other groups that are deemed not worthy of the rebate…
ahhh..selective vote buying ??
Another hidden tax on gas in California – California Air Resource Board requires special formulations of “clean air” gas. There is different formulations for Winter and Summer.
All of it is produced by a limited number of refineries. Most if not all in California. Those refineries have to shut down to change over. When they shutdown invariably they find things that need maintenance and the shutdown takes longer than managements hopeful estimates. This further constrains the supply in California and you can’t ship in gas from other states because they don’t meet the formulation requirements.
One issue with California – most of the state’s 58 counties are actually conservative leaning. However, both houses of the legislature are apportioned based on population. As a result 8 counties dominate the state politics.
Ever wonder why farmers in the North can only sit by and watch as water from the North flows south through a massive canal project? The 8 counties are all around LA or the Bay.
Forget about gas, get food and get to know your neighbors because…
Famine. It’s what’s for dinner.
https://tritorch.com/famine
Seriously guys, get prepared or starve.