Gas Tax

[Behan]

That's funny how the gasoline prices vary by the pollitical party. At first I thought the letters were indicating regular, premium, etc.

[james]

[quote="halfnip"]So, why are you in the inaka again? Oh, and don't forget the long stockings combined with the *very* short shorts that have been popping up lately. ]

that's not the only thing popping up!

[Charles]

That's funny how the gasoline prices vary by the pollitical party. At first I thought the letters were indicating regular, premium, etc.

[SIZE="5"][color="Blue"]Gas Up, Bush Down.[/color][/SIZE]



From Professor Pollkatz.

[Buraku]

Time to get a new bicycle. I would love to get a Prius but I am too poor.

What I don't get is if they are putting the old tax back in why is the price going to be higher than before. It wasn't around 160 yen a liter before they took the tax out. I think it went up to about 150 yen or so a liter.

This is such a fuck up

When I've a bit more free time I'll explain in Buraku terms why the whole thing could suddenly come crashing down

[canman]

I was listening to an analyst on Bloomberg, who said that the real price of oil was about $80 a barrel, the rest was pure speculation. And that there was not a thing anybody could do about it, since most of the speculating was being done by big pension funds, like the California Teacher's Union Pension fund et al. Makes you wonder though is this a good thing or not.

[sublight]

I wonder if they'll waive the tax if you just plan to light yourself on fire?

[FG Lurker]

I wonder if they'll waive the tax if you just plan to light yourself on fire?

I think that only applies if the police are on hand to give you a light.

[Charles]

[ttjereth]

[FG Lurker]

Saudi is right. This is a bubble, not a supply/demand issue.

Oil will fall back to $80/barrel or so once this blows over.

[canman]

Well it seems that $80 a barrel won't be coming soon. I can't believe that oil can jump almost $11 in two days, and still there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency. I didn't plan on traveling out of the country this summer, but any of you flying out, what are airline tickets like this summer. The price must be brutal with the gas surcharge.

[james]

but any of you flying out, what are airline tickets like this summer. The price must be brutal with the gas surcharge.

my wife and kids are going to canada for the summer. i'm doing the smart thing and staying behind

we booked a couple months ago and got in just before the fuel surcharge went up. i'm sure it's gone up a couple of times since.

makes me wonder if if this isn't the beginning of the death knell for air travel catering to the unwashed masses.

[TFG]

The thing that kills me is, gasoline is taxed at source which the consumer has to pay then the bastards charge SHO HI ZEI on the tax you have already paid, which is technically illegal but the sheep and JAF let the government get away with it. Perhaps the only good thing to come out of the tax hike is that the LDP is possible going to lose power at LOOOONG last.

[Big Booger]

Well it seems that $80 a barrel won't be coming soon. I can't believe that oil can jump almost $11 in two days, and still there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency. I didn't plan on traveling out of the country this summer, but any of you flying out, what are airline tickets like this summer. The price must be brutal with the gas surcharge.

We were attracted by a price of 90000 yen round-trip from Osaka to the US.... once it was all tallied with the fuel surcharges, taxes etc... it was 185000 yen. So we passed on that.

Instead we went with a far more indirect route involving night buses, trips to Narita, a flight to LA and then on to our final destination.

We saved about 50000 yen per ticket including fuel surcharges and added about 10 hours to our trip... which sucks.

[FG Lurker]

We saved about 50000 yen per ticket including fuel surcharges and added about 10 hours to our trip... which sucks.

10 hours each way?!? You're paying yourself 2500/hour to suffer. No thanks! Traveling sucks enough already, for 2500yen/hour I am not going to make it worse than it has to be.

[james]

We saved about 50000 yen per ticket including fuel surcharges and added about 10 hours to our trip... which sucks.

blech. no way. travelling directly in and of itself is a right pain in the arse, especially with children. i'm by no means rich but i think for 50,000 i'd have gone the direct route.

[Big Booger]

10 hours each way?!? You're paying yourself 2500/hour to suffer. No thanks! Traveling sucks enough already, for 2500yen/hour I am not going to make it worse than it has to be.

Normally I'd agree with you. But it's at night so I'll be asleep. And it's for two, so we saved 100000 yen.

What is worse was we were debating taking a greyhound/Amtrak from LA to our destination on the east coast and it would have taken an additional 2 days... but the airplane ticket was actually cheaper than greyhound/Amtrak from LA. So instead of a 2 day trip, we'll spend 4 by air and still save money.

[Buraku]

Libya's threat to cut oil sends out the jitters
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f4fd87e-44ab-11dd-b151-0000779fd2ac.html

Envisioning a world of $200-a-barrel oil
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-oil28-2008jun28,0,3035464.story

[Mock Cockpit]

[CrankyBastard]

[Mock Cockpit]

That is very nice!
Direct both ways? Any mileage points?
Have a good trip,

No miles, I don't travel enough that I'd use them.
The flight is via Doha so it's quite a bit longer than taking a European carrier but it's worth it money-wise and they're by all reports a decent air-line. Anyway the flight leaves Kansai just after midnight so a few cans from Lawson and an Ambien and I'll be lights fucken out most of the way.

[CrankyBastard]

Yeah, it's a long haul, you'll need those few cans.
I used to, long ago take the Alaska route(18hrs) and on a few occasions the PanAm Clipper(33hrs)
I've since joined ANA and travel 11 or 12 hrs each way non-stop and get mileage.
But price wise you've got a good deal. Have a safe and pleasant trip.

[Mock Cockpit]

[Buraku]

Only 2 ways to fly I reckon- drunk or asleep.

Whatever you do don't wander around Doha in a drunken state, it might be a modern city and a top airline but I know someone who almost faced one of those Islamic punishments for not being tuned in to the local "culture"

[Buraku]

Saudi is right. This is a bubble, not a supply/demand issue.

Oil will fall back to $80/barrel or so once this blows over.

No relief as OPEC tips $US170 oil

http://business.smh.com.au/no-relief-as-opec-tips-us170-oil-20080629-2yup.html

THE president of OPEC, Chakib Khelil, has predicted that the price of oil will climb to $US170 a barrel before the end of the year on a fall in the value of the US dollar and political conflicts.

Political pressure on Iran and the depreciation of the US dollar had caused a surge in oil prices, said Mr Khelil, who also serves as Algeria's oil minister.

New York-traded crude has more than doubled in a year and touched a record $US142.99 a barrel at the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. This has pushed prices at the pump in Australia to more than $1.70 a litre for premium unleaded petrol.

An oil price of $US170 a barrel would push the price of petrol to just under $2 a litre.

Mr Khelil's comments come as the world's biggest crude producers and consumers gather in Madrid today to discuss the crisis over rising fuel prices

[Mock Cockpit]

Whatever you do don't wander around Doha in a drunken state, it might be a modern city and a top airline but I know someone who almost faced one of those Islamic punishments for not being tuned in to the local "culture"

Won't be leaving the airport, the connections are pretty good both ways. Friend of mine who lives in Doha reckons it regularly hits 50 celsius in August. Lovely.

[Mulboyne]

[Buraku]

Jpn oil refiners increased wholesale oil product prices by 5-6 yen per litre from Aug 1, during the peak summer driving season, pushing retail gasoline prices to new record highs.

average pump price of regular gasoline in Japan was 185.1 yen ($1.71) per litre ($6.47 a US gallon)

The days J-tourists are numbered?

Fuel prices expected to hurt visitor numbers
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS01/808190301/1002
Island consumers now pay 48 cents a gallon less compared to Guam's all-time peak price for regular grade gasoline, which was $4.92 last month.

All three Guam gasoline brands -- 76, Shell and Mobil -- mirrored each other's prices in recent days, with regular grade at $4.44 a gallon.

But while island consumers immediately benefit from the lower prices, it's uncertain whether recent declines in fuel prices will hold long enough to keep the local tourism industry from ending this year with a slump.

With fuel prices dampening travel, particularly for Japanese tourists, Guam's overall visitor arrivals at the end of the year are expected to drop by about 3 percent compared to last year, according to a Guam Visitors Bureau projection.

Higher fuel surcharges on air travel are expected to "hinder" Japanese consumers' overseas travels by 7 percent this year, according to a report last month by travel wholesale giant JTB Corp.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Govt to keep gasoline tax at same rate

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday the government plans to scrap the provisional gasoline tax rate at the end of March and introduce new measures to keep taxation on the fuel at the same level. From the standpoint of securing tax revenue, the government has effectively maintained the provisional tax rate, and has shelved the Democratic Party of Japan's pledge in its manifesto for the recent House of Representatives election to reduce the price of gasoline through tax reductions...more...

Reaction of Kazumi Ota on being reminded of her support for lower tax:

[FG Lurker]

So the DPJ have reneged on populist promises they made to get themselves elected (abolish highway tolls, abolish the gasoline tax), appointed an ex bureaucrat to run Japan Post, talked the yen up to the point of bankrupting countless small manufacturers while encouraging companies like Toyota to offshore more & more of their jobs, and have done a very good job of fucking up international relations with the US... They've done all this in their first 100 days! No one can say they haven't acted quickly!