tagged w/ Gas Tax
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On Fareed Zakaria this a.m., G.M. CEO states that they are sitting on 25 to 30 billion in profits, and WE, ( the PEOPLE ), own 30% of it!
He supports a gas tax increase to drive alternative energy development. Not only have they mfg'd the electrical Volt, but they are working on a hydrogen fuel cell with 0 pollution emissions.
When Big Oil with our Congress does not suppress alternative energy development, we can do anything in alternative energy!On Fareed Zakaria this a.m., G.M. CEO states that they are sitting on 25 to 30 billion... more
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And thirty-six years ago Capitol Hill was just a little bit different - okay, maybe a lot different. Well . . .you get to hear how different by hitting the "play" button when you get to the site.And thirty-six years ago Capitol Hill was just a little bit different - okay, maybe a... more
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We've been focusing so much on health care (and Iran) that we haven't written very much about climate change. And yet, after making concessions to farm state Democrats, the House is prepared to vote on the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill on Friday. Ezra Klein wonders where exactly the President is in all of this. Climate change, obviously, was a key piece of Obama's agenda. But why is the House about to vote on this bill now, when Obama is more focused on health care?
First of all, we don't necessarily know that this is Obama's doing. It's the House's job to -- well, to vote on stuff. It's the Senate, where bills are much easier to block through a variety of tactics ranging from filibusters to holds to plain old stalling, that is more inclined to play traffic cop and where the President probably has more influence on the timing process.
But if this is a deliberate strategy on the White House's behalf, I think it's a pretty smart one. The reasoning is as follows:
1. No climate bill will pass the Senate which has not passed the House. In contrast to health care, where using the reconciliation process remains a possibility (meaning that a vote could not be filibustered and only 50 votes would be required for passage), the Senate has already banned use of the reconciliation process on climate. There's pretty much no way that a climate bill could get 60 votes in the Senate but fail to garner a majority in the House.We've been focusing so much on health care (and Iran) that we haven't... more
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As I argued in an earlier post, any serious effort to bring deficits under control must entail finding additional sources of revenue. The prospect of new taxes is never pleasant, of course. But if tax we must, why not kill two birds with one stone by taxing activities that cause harm to others? By eliminating waste, such taxes actually make the economy more productive.
In addition to being urged to tax carbon directly, President Obama has also been urged by the New York Times editorial board and others to adopt steeper taxes on gasoline. In contrast, Matt Yglesias of the Center for American Progress and others argue that a carbon tax (or a carbon cap and trade system) would make higher gasoline taxes redundant. But limiting greenhouse gases is not the only, or even the most important, reason for taxing gasoline more heavily. Gasoline taxes are required not just to discourage carbon emissions, but also to limit many other costs that gasoline consumption imposes on others.
Selling carbon permits and levying higher taxes on gasoline will also generate billions of dollars of additional federal revenue. Unlike the taxes that conservatives bemoan, these taxes will make the economy more efficient, not less. But because they will raise the prices of basic commodities, they will also cause distress for at least some low-income families. The traditional remedy has been to return some or all of the tax revenue by reducing the payroll tax, which falls disproportionately on low-income workers. There is, however, a far more effective way of reducing the burden on the poor. More on that in a moment.As I argued in an earlier post, any serious effort to bring deficits under control... more
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One thing we do NOT want in the next President is someone who panders bullshit ideas like this to the public.
From Bloomberg:
"More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a letter rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a summertime gas-tax holiday.
Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Congressional Budget Office Director Alice Rivlin and 2007 Nobel winner Roger Myerson are among those who signed the letter calling proposals to temporarily lift the tax a bad idea. Another is Richard Schmalensee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was member of President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.
The moratorium would mostly benefit oil companies while increasing the federal budget deficit and reducing funding for the government highway maintenance trust fund, the economists said. "
Terry McAuliffe, Hillary's campaign chairman, says "Economists don't matter." Watch: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/37834-mcauliffe-economists-don-t-matterOne thing we do NOT want in the next President is someone who panders bullshit ideas... more
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INDIANAPOLIS - Barack Obama likened Hillary Rodham Clinton to President Bush for threatening to "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacks Israel and called her gas-tax holiday a gimmick as he tried to fend off her challenge ahead of two pivotal Democratic primariesINDIANAPOLIS - Barack Obama likened Hillary Rodham Clinton to President Bush for... more
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Senator John McCain's once famous "Straight Talk Express" has taken a detour down Senator Hillary Clinton's Deception Highway.
Americans like to believe "every little bit" helps, but the "gas tax holiday" that has been proposed by McCain and endorse by Clinton is a bogus political pandering stunt that doesn't hold up to basic math or common sense.
Senator Clinton demanded a vote on the gas tax relief to which Senator McCain said "She's got my vote." Too bad he isn't a democratic superdelegate.
Senator John McCain's once famous "Straight Talk Express" has taken a... more
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As much as McCain and Clinton might want to rally behind the "gas tax holiday," the experts and facts say clearly: it's a dangerously bad idea. Not only that, it's a gimmick.
The stupidity of the idea was summed up aptly by Thomas Friedman yesterday in the New York Times:
"It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. 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.
When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit.
No, no, no, we’ll just get the money by taxing Big Oil, says Mrs. Clinton. Even if you could do that, what a terrible way to spend precious tax dollars — burning it up on the way to the beach rather than on innovation?"
Read the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?ex=1367294400&en=0588e238277893d6&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalinkAs much as McCain and Clinton might want to rally behind the "gas tax... more
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Hillary and McCain are lining up behind a temporary break in the gas tax, saying that they 'feel the pain' of drivers in America. Barack Obama does not support the break, because in the end it amounts to $30 in savings over the summer. Thirty Bucks! (While at the same time taking money away from repaving roads and maintaining bridges.)
This gas tax issue is what will be used by the spinsters in Washington to call Obama out of touch. Hillary and McCain are lining up behind a temporary break in the gas tax, saying that... more
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