Rubbish - Senator McCain proposes a gasoline tax holiday
This entry was posted on 4/19/2008 9:42 PM and is filed under Tax Shifting,Gasoline,Elected representatives.
Last week Senator John McCain proposed a federal gasoline tax holiday for the upcoming summer months; motorists would not pay the 18.4 cents/gallon tax. MSNBC article here.
Some big problems this proposal creates:
- more greenhouse gas emissions;
- increased dependency on foreign energy;
- more air pollution;
- a larger trade deficit.
The best argument for a federal tax shift that lowers income taxes and raises non-renewable energy taxes may be seeing the problems an energy tax reduction causes.
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Bonus quote 1 from the article:
"....Vice President Cheney famously said in April of 2001, 'Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis all by itself for sound, comprehensive energy policy.'"
Agree. By itself, conservation is not the answer even though it reduces our dependence on foreign sources of energy and greenhouse gas emissions. But it is a cornerstone along with creating an environment for non-renewable energy to flourish. The quote tells us exactly how we've gotten to where we are.
Bonus quote 2 from the article:
"Scolding Dole in 1996
And some in the oil and gas industry scolded Dole for thinking too small. (Dole proposed a 4.3 cent gasoline tax reduction)
'If he wants to distinguish himself from Clinton, he should remind people of what the President — urged on by his hyper-environmentalist Vice President (Al Gore) — wanted to do to them with fuel taxes (a 50 cent per gallon increase in taxes), not what he settled for (a mere 4.3 cent-per-gallon tax hike),' said an editorial in the trade publication The Oil and Gas Journal in May ’96.
As Gore recognized back in 1993, higher gasoline prices would encourage conservation and research on non-carbon-based fuels. But since then both Democrats and Republicans alike have been loathe to acknowledge that higher prices could play a useful role in spurring conservation."
Always ask -- who's got a horse in the race?
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bottom line: we can pay some now....or pay a lot more later. (more on this tomorrow)
