Not to mention, the law of supply and demand will just cause the price of gas to go to the old, after-tax price. The only way to reduce the price of gas is to reduce demand or increase supply.
An independent Congressional investigation into price-gouging by the oil companies would be nice. (Maybe after they establish a commission to investigate war profiteering.) Not going to happen. In any case, I don’t see how such a protest by truckers is going to change anything.
Don’t forget “barrel of hair.” Always liked that one because even the idea of putting hair in a barrel is dumb.
Wow, a personal potshot that has nothing to do with the thread subject, but rather a need by you to throw it in there like a turd on a stick. Good showing. Your post makes me feel better about my recent posts.
You, sir, are a dick.
Like a what? How would you throw a turd on a stick? How would you even get a turd on a stick in the first place?
Cite?
Lower the tax by (say) 20 cents can be modelled as a shift in the supply curve (downwards) along a downward sloping demand curve. Quantity consumed would increase (relative to the amount before the tax cut).
It’s true that the equilibrium after tax price will drop by less than 20 cents. To the extent that gas demand is inelastic (which it is over the short run, less so over the longer run), this effect will be small.
Nonetheless, lowering the gas tax would be a bad idea. My understanding is that gas taxes don’t currently cover the external damages associated with driving.
You could try to overhand it, maybe put some spin on it. That runs the risk of spinning the turd off and possibly back in your direction. I’d suggest an underhand toss if it’s close, or a javelin style throw for distance. You could even get it to stick point first in the ground.
I’d lean against picking it up unless you’ve got gloves on. Try to skewer it the long way for better stability, and find a good solid piece.
Any other questions?
When there’s a freeze in Florida, California orange growers benefit.
Krugman alluded to the current situation in Friday’s column.
"Funny, isn’t it? During the California crisis, some of us deduced from economic evidence that electricity shortages were artificial, the result of market manipulation by energy producers and traders. This deduction was later confirmed by the Enron tapes, but at the time we were voices crying in the wilderness.
Now, much of the public believes that corporate evildoers with close ties to the administration are conspiring to drive prices up. But this time they aren’t, at least so far.
Just in case you think I’ve gone soft on the energy industry… <snip>
In fact, the current crisis is nobody’s fault, except Mother Nature’s. Both Katrina and Rita were stronger hurricanes when they plowed through offshore oil and gas fields than when they made landfall. And because damaged refineries and other energy facilities are competing for a limited number of repair crews, it’s taking a long time to get those facilities back up and running. "
I understand that natural gas production was hit even harder. Just wait until heating season…
[nitpick]
dumberer
[/nitpick]
WOW! Someone who is an expert on my life and how I think and feel. I am so flattered that you have taken me on as your personal idol and have tried to find out so much about me that you can speak for me on issues.
Huh? That’s not the case? Oh, sorry - I guess you’re just a dumb shit, instead.
Ouch! I’m in awe of your well-thought-out retort! 
If a protest is supposed to bring attention to your cause, then I would say this one did what was intended.
On the other hand, if it’s also supposed to make people agree with you, have the potential to effect change, and generally not make everyone think you’re a bunch of arseholes, then it failed spectacularly.
We need to increase the hammer tax.
When you take it from my cold, dead fingers!
At what length do they cease being tax and start to be nails?
Indeed, I had no idea that fuel prices had gone up recently, when did that happen?
[/sarcasm]
Until they do it again and again and again and again. If they do it enough then people will get so pissed off that they’ll agree with anything to make them stop.
It seems to work for the French truckers who blockade ports on the drop of a hat.
True, but they do it a) mostly to foreigners, b) in a manner which has a definite economic impact rather than merely pissing people off, and c) in a country much more accustomed to taking it up the ass from whatever lazy git happens to want to take three sickies a week and have the union strike for their right to do so. Oh, and they also generally protest about some form of government policy, rather than against the rather immutable laws of supply and demand. As well stage a go-slow in protest against gravity. After all, all that inconvenient friction is affecting our mileage!
The other day, I spend fifteen minutes at an intersection while hundreds of bicyclists sped past as part of a Critical Mass protest, aimed at getting drivers to think more about bicycle safety. I don’t think it worked quite the way they intended, though, because by the time they were done, all I wanted to do was run over a bicyclist.