With MA Gas Tax Hike, MA Would Be Higher Than National Average

Increase the federal tax (0.00 / 1)

and then give it back to the states. We should work to eliminate any reason to drive to neighboring states to save money, it's a waste of everyone's time and obviously wastes gas, which is not something we can replace, there is a limited amount of it, we will run out of it.

We should also replace state sales taxes with a federal sales tax. Even income tax discrepancies cause people to live or work across artificial arbitrary borders and drive a lot more than they need to.  

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by: John Howard @ Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 19:17:36 PM UTC

Hell No (0.00 / 0)

Why on God's good Earth would we want to give more revenue to the Federal government!  They will spend and waste it leaving the states to come up with additional taxes to make up for their lost revenue.  How about we, instead, eliminate the Federal gas tax and have the states increase their gas tax by an equivalent amount.  Put the power back in the states hands and take power and money from the federal level!

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by: ConsEph @ Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 19:37:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ridiculously Regressive Tax (5.00 / 2)

The gas tax has been historically a regressive tax as those who end up paying the most are generally lower wage earners which results from a few general factors such as:

A). They are more likely to own older, less fuel efficient cars;
B). They are mor likely to travel longer distances to work as they are not able to afford the costs of living closer to their jobs; and
C). They work jobs that require them to be at work or commuting at times that Public Transportation is not running or running so infrequently as to make it unreliable.

In the face of this regressive tax, the Governor appears insistent on raising the tax to even higher levels during a period when the regressive nature of the gas tax has gotten worse because:

1). Housing costs continue to increase driving people to live further from their jobs increasing commuting expenses and
2). The growth in hybrid and electric only vehicles that carry a sticker price well beyond the means of many working class Americans.  These vehicles, purchased by the affluent, use far less gas and receive considerable other subsidies from the government (you only need to look to the Wall Street Journal story on FREE parking at LAX for electric cars with FREE recharging stations)

Yes, the gas tax is bad on many fronts.  It hurts small businesses that use trucks to transport goods or go site to site to provide services.  It drives up the price of goods and services delivered with vehicles hurting the purchasing power of all.  And the list can go on and on

But, from a "social justice" perspective, this is a really bad idea.  We end up hitting the workers at the lower end of the earnings spectrum hardest while leaving those with the means to acquire more fuel efficient cars or live in expensive homes closer to work alone(never mind that the hybrid and electric cars are heavy and cause significant wear and tear on the roads that they do not pay to upkeep or repair).  

Raising the gas tax is a BAD idea and one that needs to be fought on many grounds, including using the liberals own arguments against them.

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by: ConsEph @ Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 19:35:31 PM UTC