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| Tuesday, November 01, 2005 |
| Increase the gas tax |
Wholeheartedly agree with this editorial in the NYTimes last week recommending raising the gas tax.
Double benefit: increase revenue to the government (closer to a balanced budget), and decrease consumption of gas, which has enormous environmental and geopolitical benefits.
Problem: Gas tax is regressive, hitting poor people more.
Solution: Offset that tax increase with corresponding tax credits for low-income households. So poor people would end up paying more for gas but less in all other taxes, whereas the middle class and wealthy would be incentivized to drive less (or hybrids). No big budget solution, but the geopolitical benefits make it worth it. |
posted by CB @ 11:26 AM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Terrible idea! The editorial is poorly reasoned and poorly thought out. Gasoline is essential to American commerce, and another tax simply increases the friction in an already over-taxed system. Gas prices affect the price of everything else. Gas is used every time goods are produced, transported, sold, and carried home. Business would absorb some of the costs associated with the increased tax, but most would be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Of course, this would lead to inflation, which would lead to recession, which would lead to lower overall tax revenues (and lower government purchasing power resulting from the inflated dollar).
What you're trying to do is noble, but, if you're trying to change behavior, it's smarter to put a luxury tax on SUV's and other gas-guzzlers and give tax credits to those who purchase hybrids.
What I would love to see is a "Manhattan Project" for alternative energy. Hell, I'd be willing to throw in some extra money on my tax return if I knew that the money was going directly toward alternative energy research. Our entire foreign policy could change and our economic dominance would be secure for the foreseeable future.
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Terrible idea! The editorial is poorly reasoned and poorly thought out. Gasoline is essential to American commerce, and another tax simply increases the friction in an already over-taxed system. Gas prices affect the price of everything else. Gas is used every time goods are produced, transported, sold, and carried home. Business would absorb some of the costs associated with the increased tax, but most would be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Of course, this would lead to inflation, which would lead to recession, which would lead to lower overall tax revenues (and lower government purchasing power resulting from the inflated dollar).
What you're trying to do is noble, but, if you're trying to change behavior, it's smarter to put a luxury tax on SUV's and other gas-guzzlers and give tax credits to those who purchase hybrids.
What I would love to see is a "Manhattan Project" for alternative energy. Hell, I'd be willing to throw in some extra money on my tax return if I knew that the money was going directly toward alternative energy research. Our entire foreign policy could change and our economic dominance would be secure for the foreseeable future.