Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

The Great Tax Swap

Charles Krauthammer says the time is right to raise the gas tax and reduce the payroll tax to produce a revenue neutral result. Gas prices are low, and so the pain felt would be minimal. Obama could produce real change in the direction of reducing our demand for foreign oil and increased fuel efficiency without cumbersome and probably counterproductive new regulations.

Discussions - 8 Comments

Several points,

1. I am generally against substituting taxes that are visible on the pay stub with taxes that are mostly invisible to the consumer.

2. If Krauthammer's plan went into operation, what are the odds that we will hear people suggesting that we "save" social security and medicare by "repealing" the payroll tax cuts? Not really a tax increase, just a repeal to the not-so-high George W. Bush rates.

3. "Drill Here, Drill Now" doesn't get you very far by itself and it can summon no enthusiasm now that gas prices have collapsed, but conservatives should spend more time trying to come up with a realistic platform for cheap and abundant energy through market reforms rather than trying to find ways to keep energy prices artificially high.

The conservatives calling for a tax hike? Oh how the mighty have fallen.

hahaha ha ha

Struggling economy, likely depression, no ideas for growth.... lets take more money away from consumers to teach them the importance of energy conservation. When the did the government become a pre school teacher? They don't have to raise taxes, gas prices will shoot up as soon as they get their war in the middle east going full speed again.

Krauthammer's notion is as whifty a proposal as we've seen in quite some time.

Better idea, let's all call an end, based on the constitution, to all centrally planned economics, from trying to promote fuel efficiency, to farm subsidies, to the Federal Reserve system.

As for Charles' idea...ridiculous.

Watch out, mentioning the constitution will put you on the terrorist watch list according to the government. Have you not heard the newspeak, We live in a democracy with the potential for a new world order one world government system. Its simple Federalism, World state trumps National laws so the constitution is no longer relevant.

Brutus as always you're comments are right on. The constitution is a road block instead of the hwy. In relationship to lawlers recommendation, sin taxes are good ideas yet no one is discussing one of the greatest potential revenue producers. One of the greatest revenue producing acts FDR did post great depression was end prohibition. Isn't it about time marijuana was legalized. Brutus I feel you're comment about the constitution is the reason it hasn't happened yet. However, I am for lowering payroll taxes in favor of sin taxes but how about we condone those sins first then tax them.

I'm not ready to call fuel usage a sin and I am a little weary about the whole idea of sin taxes. Booze and smoke are heavily taxed. So we create a system where the government depends on vice? Would the government then promote vice, we all know what they do to get that precious precious funding? As for drugs being illegal, why legalizing them would end someone's monopoly on the drug trade. A large part of the poppy economy comes from Afganistan, and we can't get going in the morning without enough street heroin or oxycontin. It is ironic really that they tell us that drugs fund terror. That is the truth. Drugs fund the CIA who creates militant groups and builds them up and they commit terrorist acts. I guees then the intelligence community gets more government funding and after making money on both sides they can begin the proscess again. New forms of taxing are just a crutch, what has to happen is for the government to be cut back and for D.C. to look more like Detroit since that is what we have been told happens to failed business models. I guess we would be asking for people to spit at individual prosperity so its not that likely to happen. I think legalization is good, but there are many obsticles outside of moralistic groups that will keep that idea down.

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