Kwazy
Shared on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 15:34As of this week, the presidential candidate with the least amount experience seems to be the only one with any concrete understanding of domestic economics...or at least the only one willing not to pander to the voting public.
McCain and Clinton are both loudly advocating a suspension of the 18.4 cent federal gas tax. Obama, like virtually all economists who don't enjoy their own show on Fox News, thinks it's a bad idea. Why? Well, let's see.
If the average fill-up is 13 gallons of gas, occurs once a week, and the cost of regular per gallon is $3.75, then your bill would be $48.75. Reducing this amount by eliminating the $.184 per gallon tax would bring your bill to $46.36. That's a savings of 5% or a whopping $2.39. What could you buy with that money once a week?
-One Starbucks coffee...not a latte or a cappaccino, but just a regular coffee
-One McDonald's extra value meal...if you split it with a friend
-Two bottles of common tap water labeled Aquafina
-The flag-drop plus about 50' in an Indianapolis taxi
-Twenty-seven seconds of phone sex on a 1-900 number
-$38 Billion worth of highway and bridge maintenance
OK, that last one is what everyone could buy with the savings, as that's what we'd lose per year if the tax were eliminated. In other countries, fuel taxes are used to raise general revenue. But in America, the vast majority of the revenue goes directly towards maintaining and improving transportation infrastructure. The fuel tax is essentially what is called a usage tax. The more gas you use, then presumably the more highway you use. This isn't a perfect system, but unless you want to stop every fifty feet to pay a toll, it's the best one out there. No fuel tax, well there's going to be some consequences. Stuff like last year's I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse comes to mind.
But as soon as the first whispers of eliminating the tax were mentioned, the masses started clamoring for it with all their voices could muster. In the words of Mayor Quimby: "Are these morons getting dumber, or just louder."
Louder. Jonny-Mac and Hillary hear them. Silly Barack and his elitist economic education!
And don't even get me started on drilling in ANWAR. But then again, if you support that idea you're probably not reading this as you're too busy digging up your front yard with a back-hoe because you think the pizza delivery kid dropped a quarter.
McCain and Clinton are both loudly advocating a suspension of the 18.4 cent federal gas tax. Obama, like virtually all economists who don't enjoy their own show on Fox News, thinks it's a bad idea. Why? Well, let's see.
If the average fill-up is 13 gallons of gas, occurs once a week, and the cost of regular per gallon is $3.75, then your bill would be $48.75. Reducing this amount by eliminating the $.184 per gallon tax would bring your bill to $46.36. That's a savings of 5% or a whopping $2.39. What could you buy with that money once a week?
-One Starbucks coffee...not a latte or a cappaccino, but just a regular coffee
-One McDonald's extra value meal...if you split it with a friend
-Two bottles of common tap water labeled Aquafina
-The flag-drop plus about 50' in an Indianapolis taxi
-Twenty-seven seconds of phone sex on a 1-900 number
-$38 Billion worth of highway and bridge maintenance
OK, that last one is what everyone could buy with the savings, as that's what we'd lose per year if the tax were eliminated. In other countries, fuel taxes are used to raise general revenue. But in America, the vast majority of the revenue goes directly towards maintaining and improving transportation infrastructure. The fuel tax is essentially what is called a usage tax. The more gas you use, then presumably the more highway you use. This isn't a perfect system, but unless you want to stop every fifty feet to pay a toll, it's the best one out there. No fuel tax, well there's going to be some consequences. Stuff like last year's I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse comes to mind.
But as soon as the first whispers of eliminating the tax were mentioned, the masses started clamoring for it with all their voices could muster. In the words of Mayor Quimby: "Are these morons getting dumber, or just louder."
Louder. Jonny-Mac and Hillary hear them. Silly Barack and his elitist economic education!
And don't even get me started on drilling in ANWAR. But then again, if you support that idea you're probably not reading this as you're too busy digging up your front yard with a back-hoe because you think the pizza delivery kid dropped a quarter.
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Comments
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 16:11
Submitted by GIJoeBob on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 16:44
Submitted by chilligan on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 17:06