The New Energy Tax

This Friday morning’s rant is being written on Sunday morning. I saw on television last night that several states are considering how to manage their transportation taxes. (California, Oregon, Utah, Rhode Island to name a few.) Heretofore, there has been a tax on a gallon of gasoline…we all know how that works. Unfortunately, the formerly high oil prices have finally begun to cure America’s appetite for gasoline, and we are driving less.

Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing? Apparently not!!! What’s good for global warming is bad for state budgets, and now they are in a quandary. State revenue has been decreasing, and they claim they can’t fix the pot holes. What to do, what to do!!!

Here’s a solution. Let’s eliminate the gasoline tax and tax you on much you drive!! These states are actually considering taxing each ¼ mile you drive. In order to do this, they intend to put a global positioning device in all cars which will report to the government how much and where you drive. Of course, where you drive will remain safely with the government. After all, there are privacy issues. And if you believe that, let me talk to you about a bridge I want to sell you in Brooklyn.

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad, and dangerous. These folks are dead serious. In the meantime, those big, bad oil companies who were gauging you at the pump are now losing beaucoup bucks as oil prices slide. Oil has to be at about $60.00/barrel to break even on new drilling. Whatever happened to the excess profit tax? All the while, OPEC is cutting back crude production…and you can expect the price of gasoline to go up again next year as the economies of the world recover. But don’t expect any additional taxes placed on gasoline, or miles traveled, to go away…they never do. Miss America’s come and Miss America’s go, but Bob Barker and government taxes are here forever.

Speaking of taxes, don’t forget about the “sugar” tax New York State is contemplating. They want to tax anything with sugar because it is good for you…right!!!!! That is the subject of another rant.

I have written several times about the unholy alliance between big oil, big government, big business, and the big environmental lobby. No matter how you slice and dice it, you and I lose. It’s time for America to wake up and smell the coffee, sans sugar. At the end of the day, the lifeblood of our economies is energy, energy, energy. We need to start paying attention to what these jack asses who are running our governments are doing.