Gas prices

["Jacob Haagerup" <jh@domain.elided>]

Can't help but jump into this one.

Living in a social-democracy the general idea here is that
everything and everyone should be the same - money wise,
intelligence wise (no pun intended), educationally,
health-care etc. etc.

So how do you even things out? Slam taxes on anything that
you can get a hold of!!!!

My current income tax: about 60%
Sales tax: 25%
Vehicle registration tax: 180% (plus sales tax)

So the petrol is currently priced at about 8,50 DKK which is
about $1.10 / litre.

What do we get for our taxes? You would expect things to be
somehow ironed out. 

Petrol and vehicle registration tax going towards better
roads, better (and cheaper) public transport in the face of
an intention of an environmentally friendly traffic policy
could be an example.

But the thing is - this doesn't happen. The income from
private transport taxes to the state is sunk into the
greater economic picture and the money is probably used to
pay back debts and the like.

The reality is that despite wanting to reduce private car
transport and moving people towards using public transport
and their bikes, the price of a train ticket is enormous, a
local bus ticket in the city where i live is about $2 and
this will only take you around the city centre and the
potholes in our roads aren't even filled, the railway tracks
are in dire need of replacement on many sidetracks (which is
where much of the commuting takes place) etc. Even our
hospitals which used to be the pride of the nation are
seriously under-funded resulting in long waiting lists - but
the waiting time is free!!! (so is the treatment but who
cares if you're dead by the time you make it to the top of
the list) :-)

I think the general principle of funding public transport
systems by taxing private car transport is a sound one - it
has to work that way though - otherwise it's just another
source of income for the state.

Don't mind paying taxes by the way since most of my life I
have been supported by The System throughout the 10 years of
my education.

Just my 0.25 Danish Krone on the subject.

Jacob Haagerup,
Aarhus, Denmark (springtime, yeh!)

'75 GT 1600 Junior (1750 engine and in serious need of a
wash)

'75 FIAT 500L (grrrrlfrrriend's still hibernating)

------------------------------