<DrumBeat: December 15, 2008 The Oil Drum DrumBeat: December 16, 2008>

156 comments on The Case for Higher Gas Taxes (and Lower Income Taxes)

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Engineer-Poet on December 16, 2008 - 11:59pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Now you've proven that you understand nothing I've said, because the issue isn't Social Security benefits but Social Security taxes (which are regressive, but are generally larger than the per-taxpayer fuel rebate under most proposals).

Until you show that discussion with you isn't just arguing with a wall, I'm done.

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Black_Dog on December 17, 2008 - 11:02am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Sorry, my one track engineering mind thought that we were discussing gasoline taxes and gas rationing. Sure, the SS taxes are "regressive" in that they hit the lowest income earners the hardest. But, that has little to do with a fuel tax that is rebated as the rebates would actually be progressive, i.e., the more fuel one uses, the greater the effective tax, since the rebate would be a fixed amount.

A rationing system with tradeable allotments would also be progressive, since the lower income earners and the unemployed would sell their excess allotments for cash. Again, those who wanted to consume more fuel than their allotment would pay extra to do so, resulting in a progressive "tax" on the gas gluttons...

E. Swanson

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Engineer-Poet on December 17, 2008 - 6:11pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Tradeable allotments = parallel currency, problems noted above and still unaddressed by you.

Good bye, wall.

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156 comments on The Case for Higher Gas Taxes (and Lower Income Taxes)

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