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Tithe to Climate Change: Dems want to increase gas tax
By sage of monticello | September 28, 2007
Democrats have recently filed legislation to increase the national gas tax by 50 cents in order to curb consumption of gasoline in an effort to lessen the alleged effects of greenhouse gases as a variable in climate change.
Representative John Dingell, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has said:
A fee on carbon emissions requires a tithe from all citizens and industries, but no one entity will be unfairly leveled with a devastating burden
Assuming the effects of climate change are real, and not imagined and acted upon for political gain with an important liberal constituency, are there alternatives to solving climate change that do not include tax increases.
Yes, alternatives do exist. President Bush has repeatedly urged Congress to find solutions that do not reduce the current levels of energy consumption but rather mitigate the effects of such consumption by making the energy we use more efficient. This approach is not founded upon disincentives to consume gasoline and therefore will have negligible effect on economic activity.
Democrats, however, are locked into an approach that seeks to deter behavior through government coercion and force, i.e. taxes. Unfortunately such an approach will have a detrimental effect on economic activity because it is founded upon disincentives to engage in the consumption of energy - energy which is vital to the functioning and further growth of our economy.
Once again, an issue highlights fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats.
Republicans want people to enjoy the greatest amount of freedom in the most efficient manner and seek policies to achieve this goal, such as innovating more efficient menas of energy consumption.
Democrats, though, see the freedom people enjoy through free markets as something inherently evil and detrimental to their conception of equality and therefore seek policies to regulate, restrain, and oppress the effects of the free market - the free market that is arguable the most populist element of our society because it is the aggregate of every consumer voting with his or her dollars.
So I guess the question becomes: which is more populist, a free society or a regulated one?
Topics: Global Warming, democrats, tax policy |
September 28th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
The dems in Maryland want to double our state gas tax as well. If that and the federal gas tax increase pass, there are going to be a lot of pissed off Marylanders.