I can't remember the last time this happened but it is definately significant. Here is an excerpt from an article

"The Honda Civic has become the best selling car in the United States in May, beating out the the Toyota Camry by 53,299 for the Civic and 51,291 for the Camry.

If you really want to see what $4.00 a gallon gas has done, then note that it has beat out the Ford F-150, the long time best selling vehicle, by 10,326 units!

Never underestimate the power of the pump!"

 

But on the flip side the Ford Focus sold over 32K and the Fusion sold almost 20K. So Ford is hanging in there. Truck sales are going to be bad, but it will bouce back. Truck sales are going to be bad because there is going to be alot of used truck trade ins and there is going to be some good deals out there. So time will tell. Ford is offering some good deals on trucks though, Employee pricing for June is back. The saving could pay for the gas.. It is going to be sad for some if gas drops again

 

UH OH... GM's going to have to pay all those union schlubs to eat Cheerios in their undies and watch Judge Judy!!

 

Wow! I haven't heard about that.

 

I believe it.

I was crunching the numbers in my hotel room on Sunday night to see if getting a great deal on a new full size work truck right now (say a basic XL with air, auto and the 4.6) would pay for the extra gas usage I would incur over a nicely-equipped Ford Focus. Using a base line of 12,000 miles per year, and a gasoline cost of $4.00 per gallon, you started "losing money" on the truck after only about 3 years -- assuming 15 mpg for the truck and 30 mpg for the Focus......

 

What do you expect with gas hovering at $4.00+ a gallon! This country is really starting to stink!.............

 

Gas in the US is still cheaper than most other countries. If high gas prices is enough to get you to bash the United States you've got some issues. I'm betting if you lived in N. Korea, Iran, or China you'd be sitting in prison at the least; possibly sitting in a pool of your own blood. If the US were that bad we wouldn't have an immigration problem!

 

Other countries, have their income taxes,health care, etc, factored into those high gas prices! Heck at least their getting something out of it! The money we pay for gas here in the USA goes to FAT **** oil company CEO's who butt *&^% us without any KY every time we pull up to fill our vehicles!
This present administration could give a rats **** about how Americans are being butt raped on a daily basis from BIG OIL!.....

 

The US is the 44th cheapest place to buy gasoline. Eurpoe is averaging 8 plus dollars a gallon. Paying over 2x a month in gas... ifyou spend 400 dollars a month in gas, in European prices thats about 900 dollars a month. I'll take my 500 a month and buy my own insurance. Currently I'm paying 150 bucks a month for health coverage for me and my wife. I'd rather not let the Govt decide when, where, or if I can have a procedure!!

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/01/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

 

At least two of these plants are outside of the US. One is in Canada and another is in Mexico.

 

Ummm... hate to break it to you but they also pay over 50% income taxes to support those government programs. The European gas taxes are actually that high to force more people to use public transport. The price per gallon for the fuel is about the same in the US and Europe.

The rest of your post is not even worth commenting on; so I'll treat it like the turd that it is and just step around it.

 

He would prefer we just ignore his uneducated comments and not correct him. Again we are crowding the forums with what some people tend to ingore... THE TRUTH. Most folks just spout off uneducated comments and people let them go because they would rather have them shut up than correct them.

 

Do a little research. Most euopean nations allow their citizens to enroll in a health plan that best suits their needs. Germany, for instance, has over 600 private, nonprofit "sickness funds." Sickness funds are nonprofit and cannot deny coverage based on preexisting conditions; they compete with each other for members, and fund managers are paid based on the size of their enrollments. So quality of care is an important part of the equation.

In addition if you miss work due to illness you automatically earn 80% of your income much like Aflac provides to pay normal bills like rent, food, car, etc..

Its not only health insurance that those additional taxes provide for the citizens of the european nations.

Here are just a few stats so that we have something to compare apples to apples and not just the sticker price at the pump.

Lets continue to look at Germany:
Entry wage $13/hour
Taxation of an individual's income is progressive. In other words, the higher the income, the higher the rate of tax payable (just like U.S.). In 2008 the Germany tax rates for an individual are 15% - 45%. An annual salary up to $81,320 (52,120 euros) is taxed at 15%.
http://www.worldwide-tax.com/germany/germany_tax.asp
The work week is set at 37.5hours.
http://www.germany.info/relaunch/inf.../working3.html
Federal statute ensures that everybody (even the janitor at the local supermarket) gets a minimum 18 days paid vacation each year. 70% of the workforce accrues 6 weeks.
http://www.germany.info/relaunch/inf.../working4.html
Post secondary (College/university) education is free. That's right, medical school is free.
http://www.germany.info/relaunch/inf...ersities7.html
Massive state maintained mass transit system. Well maintained highways and no toll roads anywhere.
http://www.germany.info/relaunch/inf...ortation1.html

Granted this is not a comprehensive look at the entire tax base, but I think you can agree that the citizens of this nation enjoy a few more government supported benefits that truly offset the higher cost of fuel. Its the big picture that I'm looking at not just the price at the pump.

 

The money is not going into the pockets of the oil companies - it's going to the commodities speculators that are driving the barrel price up - and to OPEC. 70% of the price of gas in the US is the price of a barrel of crude. The other 30% is taxes, refining and transportation costs, and profit to the oil companies, middlemen, and retailers.

 

"The money we pay for gas here in the USA goes to FAT **** oil company CEO's who butt *&^% us without any KY..."
"This present administration could give a rats **** about how Americans are being butt raped on a daily basis from BIG OIL!"

- Love that! - Og