Posted on 06/02/2008 9:33:04 PM PDT by The Pack Knight
So where in the Constitution is it written that the federal government is responsible for all the roads within the nation?
Thats the problem.. Federal Highways.. State Highways and all kinds of other roads are tied into the federal government dolling out money for projects. One of the largest examples is the Big Dig in Boston is one of the most glaring examples...
Granted.. in many states they have their own gas taxes.. which “also” goes to maintaining roads.. so you get double taxed for the same purpose.
What are you saying, that we aren’t taxed enough?
I’m not sure what I’d start shutting down.
The free breakfast and lunch programs at the public schools. The obscene OT for fire and police in my city (I’m all for fire and police, but this is just scheduling mismanagement). They can shut down the Gay and Lesbian Cultural Center. They can cancel welfare for all but the truly crippled. A local city just invested over a million building a movie theatre. They can cancel stuff like that. Hmm. They can cut the waste on the hundred dollar hammers and so forth. I could be more specific if I looked at the latest Golden Fleece awards.
Relieving us of this unnecessary tax burden would not only lower the cost of our commutes, it would lower the cost of our food. I stay home and cook, and I can’t get the food costs under control for my family. It’s getting beyond ridiculous.
There are very few justifiable taxes. I like the idea of users paying for what they use. It's very rational.
If we want to end the user taxes before the parasitic taxes, then we are furthering socialism.
An executive order to drill for more oil in places where Congress and the states have said we can’t?
I really don’t think the President has the Constitutional authority to do that.
Cheney is aware that the appearance of doing something about it counts as much as actually doing something about it. Also, that this is about all the Gov’t can actually do about it.
Closing the Environmental Protection Agency's 7.6 Billion dollar budget would be a good start. You reckon that'd build some good roads?
And they’re still going to spend that money, whether the federal government collects the gas tax or not. If they suspend it, then that just means more borrowing.
I’m all for getting the federal government out of the local transportation business. Unfortunately, McCain has made no such proposal with his gas tax suspension idea. In fact, I have no idea how he’d plan to pay for it.
While a lot of local transportation projects are Constitutionally dubious, I should also point out that the Big Dig is part of the Interstate highway system, the maintenance of which is a legitimate function of Congress under the Commerce Clause as well as the Post Office and Post Road Clause of Art. I Sec. 8 of the Constitution. Boston is a major port for goods that travel to and from many different states over those Interstates.
While the Big Dig might have been grossly mismanaged and not strictly necessary, and thus bad policy, its funding was fully within Congress’s enumerated powers.
That may be true, but it’s refreshing to hear someone in the government telling the truth about it.
I agree that there isn’t a whole lot government can do about gas prices. Even if the entire United States was opened to oil exploration, it probably wouldn’t reduce the price of crude a great deal, and the price of crude is what’s driving gas prices up.
I think the best they can do is end any biofuel mandates. Congress could also use its Commerce Clause authority to mandate a single standard gasoline blend for all 50 states. That might put a dent in gas prices at least.
Aside from that, it’s really time to just let the market do its work. Short of a global economic collapse, we probably aren’t going to see $1 a gallon gas again. That’s just something we’re going to have to get used to.
I never liked the idea of suspending the gas tax. It is a true user tax. Now if it is being exploited, that’s another thing.
But why trade the elimination of the EPA for a justifiable usage tax rather than reducing or eliminating one of the numerous parasitic socialist taxes?
I think everyone uses the roads. If they don’t drive (rare), virtually all of their goods and services are delivered by roads. Including emergency services and defense. So a user tax would have to be imposed on everybody.
The way prices are going, the need for highways will soon be irrelevant anyway - for most citizens.
Buy a horse, invest in alfalfa, oats and hay.
Transportation costs are definitely already passed on to the consumer. If one can rationalize charging someone who doesn't drive paying for my road repair and rest stop maintenance, one could rationalize any and all taxes.
The trouble is that consumers would get very little of that $.18 per gallon temporary tax holiday. Most would end up in the pockets of refiners, as anyone with even the most basic grasp of economics would understand.
I wouldn't mind it going to the refiners if it would somehow given them an incentive to invest in more refining capacity. But the temporary nature of the cut would ensure that that doesn't happen.
It's a stupid idea all around, and the faster McCain abandons it, the better.
Reality lies in the perception.
In an election year, the public perception is gas prices are too high and the government isn’t doong anything about it.
Allowing drilling in Alaska is something the Administration and Repubs in Congress should be pushing for, as well as drilling any where in the U.S. that is promising. Converting electric plants to nuclear energy and/or coal is also a good target. And opposing the elimination of Federal Taxes, however minimal the effect, is certain to looser a lot of votes - votes we need to keep Obama out the White House.
I see your point, but for it to be valid you have to assume that there are different "pockets" in which government keeps the money. It just ain't so.
Then how does targeting the justifiable taxes for elimination before targeting the parasitic taxes remedy that problem and bring more sanity and fairness to our tax system?
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