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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Apparently, the water the Germans are stewing in 
has been increasing in temperature for so long 
that they don't much feel the heat. Time heals 
all hurts? Offered for perspective:


Abroad at the Pump, Circumspection by the Barrel

[]


By 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/mark_landler/index.html?inline=nyt-per>MARK 
LANDLER
Published: May 7, 2006

MUNICH

THE German mass-market newspaper Bild carried a 
banner headline last week complaining about all 
the new taxes being proposed by the government: a 
higher sales tax, a health care tax and a surtax on rich people.

Nowhere did it mention fuel taxes, which account 
for more than half of every euro spent at the gas 
pump. On that very day, gasoline had hit the 
equivalent of $6.40 a gallon. But even at today's 
prices, few people here are calling for gasoline taxes to be cut.

The lack of debate about gasoline prices in 
Europe is instructive at a time when American 
politicians are scrambling to soothe their angry 
constituents with ill-fated proposals like a $100 rebate for motorists.

It's not that Europeans like paying $6 a gallon 
to fill up their Fiats. Nor do they relish paying 
taxes; Bild warns that the new taxes being 
proposed could strangle 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/germany/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>Germany's 
economic rebound. But for now, people here seem 
to agree that taxing gasoline is both necessary ­ 
as a way to raise money to pay down their huge 
public debts ­ and beneficial for the environment.

So while the latest spike in fuel prices has 
provoked howls of anguish from many Americans, 
Europeans have reacted like, well, Europeans ­ 
with a mixture of weary resignation, halfhearted 
anger toward "price-gouging" oil companies and 
bemusement at the furor across the Atlantic.

The rest of the story is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/weekinreview/07landler.html