Motion for a Recess » taxes

$8 a Gallon Gas

cshenoy — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:30:05 +0000

Eight dollars. That’s about the average price of a gallon of gas in Europe. More than double our current prices. I’ve heard this before and now it feels pertinent to talk about when comparing to our current situation. But it seems like Europeans, for the most part, are fine with what they pay (unlike most Americans). It doesn’t cost more to produce gas in Europe than in the US. The reason for the markup is a result of government levied taxes, funding various initiatives such as health care and public transportation. Studies show that taxation has been the primary cause for reduced oil consumption. While US consumption has grown about 21% in the last decade, our European counterparts have seen stagnant or reduced consumption.

As much as I don’t like government intervention with certain policies, I feel this is a pressing matter that needs to be addressed. There are two options to choose from: we can either start passing legislation that increases fuel economy or we can increase the taxes that we pay on gas. Either way, some action is needed to curb our growing hunger for oil so we can fund public transportation projects or invest in alternative energies.

Graphical Representation of Worldwide Fuel Economy

The Gas Tax Repeal

cshenoy — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:35:04 +0000

The federal excise tax on gasoline has been the cause for major buzz in all the presidential campaigns recently. John McCain and Hillary Clinton are proposing a temporary lift on the tax (an 18.4 cent one, mind you) for the summer so that a partial burden is lifted off the American people’s shoulders. Seriously? Barack Obama, who seems like the only candidate to understand the difference between political expediency and forward-thinking policies, has spoken against this repeal saying it does nothing to curtail consumption. And most economists agree.

Thomas Friedman writes:

This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.

Paul Krugman provides us with a quick lesson in economics:

The McCain/Clinton gas tax proposal comes too late for that. So it’s Econ 101: the tax cut really goes to the oil companies.

Lovely. So two of the three potential presidents are supporting a plan that does little to help us, if not hurt us. What I don’t understand is what their economic advisers are actually advising them with. I understand that politicians want quick fixes that seem to help out average Americans while overlooking the long-term effects but when economists and like-minded individuals unanimously agree that its a terrible policy, why keep pushing it?

Lame Democrats

cshenoy — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:46:23 +0000

Once again, the Democrats have proved to concede to the Republicans and White House War agenda. A couple weeks back, Bush requested more funding for the War to which Democrats responded in their usual way – only if a deadline was approved for troop withdrawal. But of course, Bush threatened to veto any bill passed that included a timetable and has stuck to his word. Now let’s get one thing straight. After nearly 12 years of a Republican-controlled Congress, the Democrats came back to the majority by vowing to end the Iraq war and bring the troops home. I understand it takes time to pass legislation and every small push towards achieving the end goal is important, but I have not seen one instance in which Democrats have thoroughly stood up to the Republican demands and followed through with their intents.

I think our anti-war Representatives and Senators are compromising on their values and succumbing to the bullying tactics of both the White House and other pro-war lobbyists and politicians. I find it ridiculous that we can keep funding a failed war for which we have no real answer for our occupation in the area and at the same time can’t provide for those who live in our own country (eg the poor, those without healthcare, etc).

Another important bill passed recently with the Democrats again heeding to the Republican demands. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which originally meant to tax the wealthy who usually end up paying little to no taxes, has in recent years affected more and more households which aren’t considered to be especially wealthy. Congress finally decided to take action and curb those affected by the AMT who should not be. I’ll discuss further in depth about the AMT in another post but for now suffice it to say that there needs to be a “patch” to fix the AMT rules. This patch was written but was immediately criticized by Republicans saying that the provisions to pay for the bill are too costly. So the bill was re-written to take out those provisions meaning we would be spending money to save money. For now it is a debatable topic over whether or not that was a wise choice but with our national debt increasing at a fast rate, there needs to be some reform over the AMT so it does not hurt those who it did not intend to affect.

And finally, it doesn’t make sense to fund a war when we have less and less funds to provide towards it. The Bush tax cuts of 2001 just make it worse since lower taxes equates to lower revenue for the government. Yet War spending and defense budgets are exorbitant and are ultimately going to cost taxpayers a lot more over the long haul. All of this is just too complex and needs to be handled by apt politicians who know what to do. And from the looks of it, we have a while until it will be solved. The Democrats need to stop yielding to Republican and White House demands and should start passing legislation that they promised when taking the majority in 2006. At this point, the Democratic compromise and reluctance is not what is needed to fix this country.