The Gas-Tax Hustle
Congress toyed with the idea of a tax holiday on gasoline as a way to drive the price down to address constituent complaints. But, as you might guess, they rejected it. Why, oh why, did Congress decline to give us a bit more liberty, aside from the obvious fact that they like the revenue and power? Well, we can't go too much aside after all: they like the revenue and power. From their point of view, why give it up? FULL ARTICLE
Comments (3)
David K.Meller
One reason they gave it up was they believed, or at least had reason to believe, that we voters would not support it. An extensive letter writing, e-mailing, and phone campaign to Congressmen, (who are running for re-election now in 2006) MIGHT cause them to reconsider.
Let Congress know that their demagoguery of blaming "greedy oil companies" may have worked back in the '70s, but people are just a little bit smarter today!
You might also take the opportunity to remind them that the US government's efforts in Iraq, and threats against Iran, are certainly NOT doing anything to normalize oil and gas prices, and are creating additional problems down the road for us. I don't think that this will commit Congress to peace and diplomatic neutrality by itself, but it never hurts to ask, does it?
GOD BLESS AMERICA!!
Published: May 6, 2006 2:37 PM
Nick Bradley
The only problem I could see with a repeal of gas taxes is a state of DE-FACTO price controls.
Say that the Gov't gradually reduced taxes towards zero in high-demand pediods (the summertime) and gradually increase them in the rest of the year.
The result would be a price that is the same regardless of what demand is.
Some statists have wanted to do this for years. Charles Krauthammer, for instance, proposed making the price of gas permanently $4 a gallon, with the extra taxes being returned in a payroll tax cut. The closer the true price of gas got to $4, the less of a tax cut there would be. Krauthammer claims that this will make us immune from "OPEC threats", giving us a stronger hand in the Arab World. I don't buy it.
Published: May 6, 2006 5:47 PM
David K.Meller
That would certainly be a problem in the beginning, but a large, and growing consituency would be emerging in support of future tax-cuts, specifically for the purpose of lower Gas,(and home heating oil) prices. Politicians who tried to obstruct plans for future tax cuts, for ANY reason, would put themselves in the way of this large (and growing) bloc of voters. It would be one of the few times when democracy and the demands of the free market more closely coincided, especially if the price of gas was around $4./gal !
PEACE AND FREEDOM!!
David K. Meller
Published: May 9, 2006 12:41 PM