Bushies: "Silence is golden"

[AlpineK]

I believe most of the gas tax goes to pay for roads.

 

I think folks would be willing to pay more for gas, and it wouldn't have a drastic effect if you added a tax for research or carbon sequestration.

 

In the end we need to come up with some new tecnology. Guess what that tecnology is going to be built by a business and in the end it will be a positive contribution to our economy. Of course we could do nothing and let China come up with the tecnology and then buy it from them and increase our trade deficit with them.

[AlpineK]

Oh yeah and to make Jay B happy we're spending 1 billion dollars every 4 days in Iraq. We could be developing new tecnology.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Ah, I think I get your point. Do you think that the excessive gas tax is collected mainly to reduce consumption?

 

It could be, if the US chose to go that way. IMO, that is the case in Europe. I was more arguing against using gas taxes for this purpose, than stating that they are used this way in the US today.

 

In the US, state and local governments raise gas taxes more to increase revenues than control people's behavior. And they do this incrementally over time, always increasing them. Since gas taxes are just one more tax, they tend to get swallowed up in the overall picture (aggregate total of taxes), and people fail to realize that they are being "nickel and dimed" to death. What makes gas taxes insidious is that people can rarely avoid them. Indeed, many choose not to. It's been a while since I took economics but there is a name for items that government can raise taxes on without affecting people's behavior much (e.g. tobacco, alcohol). These are freebies for them - raise taxes, comsumption will not drop, revenues increase.

 

On the other hand, I think our state and local governments in Seattle ARE attempting to socially engineer behaviour by refusing to solve problems with traffic and congestion in our state. They refuse to improve the freeway system, and, despite hundreds of millions that have been pumped into voter-approved mass transit initiatives, we have little to show for our money. One wonders exactly what the gas tax money is spent on, yet alone the voter approved taxes. One really wonders, when you see an on-ramp being worked on by a work crew for 9 months (no kidding) before it is actually completed. They must be paid by the hour...

[Dru]

I think we should bring back horses as a form of mass transport. Efficent use of biomass as fuel (grass), wastes primarily organic compost, and Co2 and methane I guess same as those damn cows. Plus you get saddlesores and chaps and "pretty damn Western" stuff like that. Use climbing knots to tie up Mr Ed to the ol' hitchin post while you go into Starbucks for a latte... instant yuppie envy! "Still driving that old nag? I just bought a new Lippizaner!"

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I think we should bring back horses as a form of mass transport...

 

[cj001f]

On the other hand, I think our state and local governments in Seattle ARE attempting to socially engineer behaviour by refusing to solve problems with traffic and congestion in our state. They refuse to improve the freeway system, and, despite hundreds of millions that have been pumped into voter-approved mass transit initiatives, we have little to show for our money. One wonders exactly what the gas tax money is spent on, yet alone the voter approved taxes. One really wonders, when you see an on-ramp being worked on by a work crew for 9 months (no kidding) before it is actually completed. They must be paid by the hour...

Most of the "freeways" are Federal Highways - thank your weak congressional delegation.

[TheJiggler]

 

What makes gas taxes insidious is that people can rarely avoid them. Indeed, many choose not to. It's been a while since I took economics but there is a name for items that government can raise taxes on without affecting people's behavior much (e.g. tobacco, alcohol). These are freebies for them - raise taxes, comsumption will not drop, revenues increase.

 

 

You are suggesting gas has an inelastic demand. This has not really been demonstrated. Nor is it true that you can avoid paying this tax. Sell your hummer and buy a civic. Bam, your tax burden is cut by two thirds.

 

There is an alternative to a gas tax though. Lets privatize the roads and get rid of the gas tax. The government shouldn’t be I the business of owning bridges anyway. I’m sure all of us commuters would have no problem paying $10 to drive across the 520 bridge

[KaskadskyjKozak]

You are suggesting gas has an inelastic demand. This has not really been demonstrated.

 

Hmm, I guess you disagree with cj001f and the link he posted.

 

Nor is it true that you can avoid paying this tax. Sell your hummer and buy a civic. Bam, your tax burden is cut by two thirds.

 

My car gets 24 m/gal on the freeway AND it is paid off. I am not going to sell it to buy a new car (new debt that I can not afford) or a used car, whose history I know nothing about (I'm the only owner and I've performed all the recommended maintenance). I also have no access to reasonable public transport (i.e. that doesn't take much longer with about the same expense). I can't afford to move closer to work, and I can't find a job closer to home.

 

If the government chooses to raise gas taxes, I will have to reallocate other parts of my budget to cover it.

 

Many people find themselves in similar circumstances.