Regarding the gas tax....There was an interesting post on FR the other day. The poster pointed out that the gasoline tax is the one tax that directly impacts everyone equally based on their consumption of services....ie, the money (theoretically) goes to upkeep of roads; everyone pays the tax; and the more gas you buy, the more tax you pay AND the more you use the roads.
I'll grant that the states don't use all of the money that they rake off from the gas tax on Road Upkeep, but the poster's point was that the gas tax is one of the few taxes that actually works correctly.
I hadn't thought about it in those terms, and I'm inclined to agree.