Posted on 02/05/2016 4:28:38 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
President Barack Obama is about to unveil an ambitious plan for a "21st century clean transportation system." And he hopes to fund it with a tax on oil.
Obama aides told POLITICO that when he releases his final budget request next week, the president will propose more than $300 billion worth of investments over the next decade in mass transit, high-speed rail, self-driving cars, and other transportation approaches designed to reduce carbon emissions and congestion. To pay for it all, Obama will call for a $10 "fee" on every barrel of oil, a surcharge that would be paid by oil companies but would presumably be passed along to consumers.
There is no real chance that the Republican-controlled Congress will embrace Obama's grand vision of climate-friendly mobility in an election year--especially after passing a long-stalled bipartisan highway bill just last year--and his aides acknowledge it's mostly an effort to jump-start a conversation about the future of transportation. But by raising the specter of new taxes on fossil fuels, it could create a political quandary for Democrats. The fee could add as much as 25 cents a gallon to the cost of gasoline, and even with petroleum prices at historic lows, the proposal could be particularly awkward for Hillary Clinton, who has embraced most of Obama's policies but has also vowed to oppose any tax hikes on families earning less than $250,000 a year....
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Congress should make an effort to "start a conversation" about the incredible federal over-reach that currently exists by proposing to replace the entire federal tax code (personal, corporate or otherwise) with a flat 10% sales tax at the point of consumption only, placing severe limits on fed debt limits based on GDP and forcing it to live within it's means by reducing govt to fit revenues generated by that %10 sales tax and import tariffs.
That's a conversation that might find some interest.
Yes - the Civil War - or more accurately the War of Northern Aggression.
The government was taxing all the bales of cotton. The cotton was supplying 80% of all the money coming in to the new US government. There was no income tax.
The people of the south got tired of being bled and deprived of their (states) rights.
Civil War.
And everyone is taught that the civil war was over slavery. That was an afterthought, to get more people on board.
Even more than an afterthought - an after the victory revision of history.
Hundreds blacks fought in the Confederate Army. They were fighting to keep from being impoverished by the onerous taxing by the north - and to maintain the rights of states.
Missing from the current history textbooks are the stories about the blacks who petitioned the courts to go back into the slavery arrangement. They were having trouble feeding themselves and keeping a roof over their heads. As slaves they didn’t have to worry about that.
Remember - Massachusetts never outlawed slavery for centuries. One of the reasons was they were afraid the cities and towns would have to provide food and housing for their freed slaves.
Imagine what would happen now if the government told the current slaves of the welfare plantation that they could no longer be slaves and they would have to support themselves.
Good points, thanks.
House GOP: "A $10/barrel tax is an outrage! We'll go along with $9.75, but not a penny more!"
With the current Republican Speaker and Senate Majority Leader already signaling they will give Obama everything he wants, don't be too certain they won't sell out again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.