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![]() "John" wrote in message om... My wife goes to the grocery store (12 miles each way) almost everyday to get something that she forgot the previous day, so she could certainly improve her trip planning. As a result of cheap gasoline, people are living great distances from their workplace with commutes of over an hour being common in many parts of the country. If gasoline was $5/gallon you would see commute distances shorten, more telecommuting, smaller vehicles, better trip planning. The economic costs of doing all this are tiny and probably there is actually a benefit. If there was simply a $4 tax on gasoline and an equivenenat tax credit (transferable) for income taxes, there would be no net economic cost and a huge incentive to use energy more efficiently. There would be casualties in businesses catering to people traveling by auto but that is about it. Mike MU-2 Mike - I don't agree with your statement that there are no economic costs. The government bureacracy to administer a $4 dollar fuel tax and process a $4 income tax credit would be enormous. Also, I presume you would be in favor of refunding your $4 fuel tax to lower income people who don't pay income tax or pay it at low marginal rates? If not, then you are really looking at an additional tax on middle/lower income people at $4 per gallon. If you are interested in refunding the tax irrespective of taxable income, then you haven't really caused anyone to change their driving habits - you've just created a new government department to collect money and refund it to the same people. I like a lot of your ideas on this newsgroup. This one, though, doesn't seem to be as practical as many of your other ones. John The topic started out as a way to end our dependence on imported oil. The whole gas tax idea is simply a way to provide an incentive to conserve. My only point is that it would be relatively easy to end our dependence on imported oil if we really wanted to do it. Collecting such a tax would be fairly easy since there is already a federal tax on gasoline, only the amount would be changed. I agree that the refunding portion would be problematic. Mike MU-2 |
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![]() "Mike Rapoport" wrote in message hlink.net... I like a lot of your ideas on this newsgroup. This one, though, doesn't seem to be as practical as many of your other ones. John The topic started out as a way to end our dependence on imported oil. The whole gas tax idea is simply a way to provide an incentive to conserve. My only point is that it would be relatively easy to end our dependence on imported oil if we really wanted to do it. Collecting such a tax would be fairly easy since there is already a federal tax on gasoline, only the amount would be changed. I agree that the refunding portion would be problematic. What you suggest was tried in '93, but North Easterners are not about to have their fuel oil taxed. The economic impact is basicly a cash transfer from everone else into New England. |
#3
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![]() "Mike Rapoport" wrote in message hlink.net... The topic started out as a way to end our dependence on imported oil. The whole gas tax idea is simply a way to provide an incentive to conserve. A better and much more efficient way would be to encourge PRODUCTION. What's more, encouragement to conserve has many pitfalls when under a bureaucratic blanket. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". My only point is that it would be relatively easy to end our dependence on imported oil if we really wanted to do it. It would be if the MARKET made that determination, rather than bureaucrats and politicians and their cronies. Collecting such a tax would be fairly easy since there is already a federal tax on gasoline, only the amount would be changed. I agree that the refunding portion would be problematic. That's the problem: Collection is easy, the subsequent portions ALWAYS bogs down. A good example is the state lotteries -- after a year or two the funds mainly go into the general fund where the looting commences. |
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