It's Time To Raise The Gas Tax - Not

[LoArmistead]

Because gas taxes will decrease gas consumption and keep oil prices low?

 

I have to disagree.

 

Consumption taxes aren't as effective at decreasing consumption. It goes along the same lines of sales and property taxes. Consumption taxes incentivize people to work harder to pay for the higher cost of the commodity, which is good if the government wants to raise money... but if their objective is to decrease gasoline consumption, it won't work. Politicians who propose increasing gas taxes know this, because they have economists come before them in congress and present data from studies like this. Europe knows consumption taxes are effective at raising money while not adversely affecting the overall consumption of goods, which is why they have all instituted VATs and high ownership taxes in place of high corporate and individual income taxes.

 

My view: increasing the gas tax may have a very short-term effect on consumption, but once people have absorbed the increased price of fuel (which won't take long considering $5 gas is still in our recent memory), the tax will have little to no effect on the amount of fuel we consume. Oil prices were sky rocketing for years and we were still driving more and more. We didn't start driving less (thus oil did not start costing less) until the recession started, which proves that the price of gas alone does little dissuade its use. If we artificially inflate gas prices now via taxes, the government will get bigger, but we will drive the same.

 

I think it's a giant government conspiracy.

[Silverfox]

Increasing the tax will not decrease consumption ... but then that isn't the idea of it. It's designed to increase the revenues for the cock-ups that the US has inflicted on the rest of the global economy.

 

Americans still continue to moan about oil prices, yet you have some of the cheapest taxes on oil on the planet - more so for the fact that similarly developed economies pay two and three times the amount already. Deal with it - prices will have to go up and people will have to pay for it. End of. Boo hoo. Get a diesel truck and get over it!

[road-runner]

Increasing the tax will not decrease consumption ... but then that isn't the idea of it. It's designed to increase the revenues for the cock-ups that the US has inflicted on the rest of the global economy.

 

Americans still continue to moan about oil prices, yet you have some of the cheapest taxes on oil on the planet - more so for the fact that similarly developed economies pay two and three times the amount already. Deal with it - prices will have to go up and people will have to pay for it. End of. Boo hoo. Get a diesel truck and get over it!

Why dont you all reduce your your prices instead of us raising ours?

[LoArmistead]

Why dont you all reduce your your prices instead of us raising ours?

 

It's a different mentality. They WANT the government to run their lives - tell them what they can and can't do - steer them toward a politically correct lifestyle. Their governments have succeeded in running and controlling the country rather than letting the people decide how they want it to run and electing people to represent that sentiment in parliament. The government does what it pleases, and the people submit to it - we've seen it with gun control, and now with taxing oil just because "it's the right thing to do." They are subjects to the government, and they like it that way. Americans, on the other hand, are rebellious by nature . That's what you get for sending your convicts and less-desirables to the colonies . Our government was designed with maximum individual liberty in mind. The people do what they want, and elect people in congress to represent our opinions. Of course I shouldn't bash the europeans too much, our government will soon be just like theirs.

 

The European government view: "We are in recession and are facing a budget shortfall, we have to raise taxes to maintain governance."

 

The classical American government view: "We are in recession and are facing a budget shortfall, we have to cut back our expenditures to match the decreased tax revenues. After all, if our constituents, our bosses, are having to do with less, so are we."

 

We are transitioning from the classical American view to the European view.

[Turophiliac]

We are transitioning from the classical American view to the European view.

We sure are, and I cringe every time I see it happening.

[road-runner]

Yea I dont understand why some people want it to be like Europe, if they like it so much they need to just move on over there, instead they are infiltrating and trying to change America...

[LoArmistead]

We sure are, and I cringe every time I see it happening.

 

I've got a nice long theory as to why, and it begins with the downfall of our education system - the nationalization of education via the Department of Education. Once education was nationalized, it took a dump, and each generation of Americans since this point have become steadily dumber and dumber relative to the advancement of society. We've reached a point where people are too stupid to understand even the most basic economic principles, because they are forced to take Drama and music classes rather than civics and economics classes. The founding fathers placed a strong emphasis on good education, because they knew that for a democracy to function effectively, it required an educated, aware population. We no longer have an educated, aware population. We've reached a point where people know so little about what's going on that they are willing to be subjugated, willing to feel helpless, willing to let the government step in and decide what's best for them. Once you reach that point, there's no turning back. We've been reaching that point for the last 40 years, and it's not going to get any better. Just get used to it and live your life the best you can.

[NCC10281982B]

We've reached a point where people are too stupid to understand even the most basic economic principles, because they are forced to take Drama and music classes rather than civics and economics classes.

omg plus a trillion. I never saw the point of classes like that back in HS (or college for that matter). I don't think we even had economics at my HS.

[Kamikaze_Badger]

The industries that have a fixed consumption rate of fuel, screw them. Trucking and logistics, they should stop consuming so much <_<. Contractors should take a day off and not drive the truck with all their tools to the workplace. Farmers shouldn't be harvesting so much. What do they think they're doing, providing the base food line or something?

 

BS Yuppie thinking has already .ed over a lot of people with the banning of the horse slaughter market. Worthless grade horses past their prime that were living out their last few years could go to a quick and peaceful death, and we could recoup a few hundred dollars. Now, if you don't have some awesome bloodlines and papers to prove it, it's up to you to put down the animal and let it go to waste. It wouldn't surprise if me if before long farmers started getting heavily taxed for "excessive fuel use," because combines don't get 30 hours of 3/4 throttle operation per gallon.

[Verran]

Increasing the tax will not decrease consumption ... but then that isn't the idea of it. It's designed to increase the revenues for the cock-ups that the US has inflicted on the rest of the global economy.

 

I think you guys missed the point here. I disagree with this proposal, so I agree with you when you get to the bottom of it, but your justification is wrong. They're not doing it to decrease consumption. They're doing it to increase revenues which they say will be for road maintenance as well as alternative fuel research and incentives.

 

Again, I disagree with it as well, but I think many of you are arguing against sentiments that are not being expressed here.

[Kamikaze_Badger]

In that case, I could handle an increase, provided the roads here in IA actually improved a bit. Riding in WI is like heaven.

[ExRoadie]

For years, socialist in the United States have railed that our gas prices are too low and WE needed to increase the gas tax so there would be more money to invest in infrastructure. Of course, this is when oil prices were below $30.00 a barrel.

 

When oil prices started to climb and gas approached $3.00 a gallon, these same socialist railed against the evil oil companies saying $3.00 a gallon gas was a burden on the consumer.

 

$3.00 a gallon inflated by taxes is OK but $3.00 a gallon due to the price of oil is BAD.

 

Don't be fooled again.

 

Here's a thought! Cut out all the welfare entitlements that taxpayers provide and turn those dollars into infrastructure improvements. The jobs generated from the construction should just about put everyone to work and we can keep our now $1.50 a gallon gas.