There have been various proposals floating around to cut our dependence upon imported oil, such as raising the tax on gasoline. While I agree that our dependence on foreign oil is not good, raising the tax on gas by $1 or more per gallon would be extremely painful for our working classes and poor.
The poor are not going to switch to a new hybrid electric vehicle. How can someone earning $7-10 per hour afford a hybrid electric car, such as the new Chevy Volt. I have read that the 2011 Chevy Volt has a suggested list price of about $40,250, excluding taxes, charges, or incentives.
The working poor will continue to drive their old conventional gas cars, while praying that their old cars will not break down. Only, they will have to pay an extra dollar per gallon for gas, if we added a dollar tax to a gallon of gas.
It’s interesting that some politicians are ready to pounce on raising the “tax” on gas. What if, instead, we imposed a TARIFF on imported oil? This would accomplish everything that a gas tax would, but it would ALSO promise profit to those who could produce domestic fuel — a built-in incentive to put R&D dollars to work in finding new domestic harvests.
But oil is just a commodity. Should we really be worried about some “dependence” on foreign energy, when our military is dependent on foreign manufactured technology? I would think ending THAT dependence should take priority, but nooooo, the defense contractors are too busy trying to get guest-workers to be allowed security clearances.
after the gas tax increase they will unitonce to subsidize the agricultural population, low-income, unemployed, and non-profit organizations. So the subsidy is not general. However, because the gas price is government controlled, not market driven, when the market price is high you can view China’s lower price as an indirect subsidy. In the summer for example, when the US gas price reached $4, China’s was about half of that. But now people in China are complaining that gas costs twice as much as in the US .