Posted on 08/05/2011 12:15:58 PM PDT by cotton1706
In normal times, renewing the federal excise tax on gasoline would be another routine vote in Congress.
But as the past month of rancorous and intensely partisan debate about raising the debt ceiling has shown, the times are anything but normal.
And with most of the 18.4-cent tax per gallon of gasoline set to expire Sept. 30, renewing the tax could be the next political controversy to spark a brawl in an ever more deeply divided Capitol Hill....
One transportation advocate who works on the issue told POLITICO that the relevant congressional committees barely seem aware the issue is pending and needs to be resolved.
“I was raising this issue because I consider it pretty important,” said Jack Basso, director of program finance and management for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, a lobbying group of state highway officials. “They really don’t understand that this thing is expiring.”
Already, a handful of conservative groups are eyeing the expiration as the next potential front in the spending and tax fight — including Grover Norquist’s influential Americans for Tax Reform group — but are mum about any potential legislative strategy.
“In general, ATR has always supported the idea of ending the federal tax on gas and having states pay for their own roads,” Norquist told POLITICO, but he declined to say whether he or his group plans to pressure congressional Republicans to let the excise tax expire.
“ATR would love to help begin such a dialogue,” he said.
That's not the case here!!! All the House of Representatives has to do is do nothing and the gas tax is gone forever. The Senate can't do a damn thing about it. Let's see Reid and Schumer make the case for this one!!
Think of the children and the elderly /sarc
Somehow I think the extension will pass quickly. I don’t think the GOP is going to fight it, much.
Think of the children and the elderly /sarc
Thing is, the states don’t get back the 18.4¢/gallon they send in—DC is nothing more than a huge money-laundering operation.
Agreed. This is perfect opportunity to put road building back onto the states.
I see you’re in Ohio.
Down here in NC it might be safer to send the gas Tax through washington.
Around here it’s open season on the money collected from the state gas tax. And then the politicians cry for more money because the highway fund is running low.
Excise taxes are regressive taxes, and excise taxes on gasoline are the most regressive of all, because gasoline, unlike alcohol and tobacco, is a necessity for most people rather than a luxury.
I oppose all federal excise tax, but the gas tax moreso.
“Thing is, the states don’t get back the 18.4¢/gallon they send in”
Some states are big winners, some are big losers. Even the losers are happy to get something back. It smacks of a protection racket.
LOL 18.5 cents per gallon, LOL ,try 40 cents per litre LOL hey what am I laughing at
Just imagine having to pay $9 for 4 liters of gas (4 liters = 1.056688204 Gallons), like I did today X(
I DO understand the difference though... being all fuel is imported here.. but is IS ridiculous in any case :/
I, on the other hand, like the gas tax better than just about any other tax. It is the closest tax to a user fee for delivery of government services there is. Use it a lot, pay a lot. Use it little, pay a little. Use it indirectly (so you stay at home but have UPS dropping by every day), those that use the road for your benefit will pay and pass on the bill. No BS about social justice or the rich should be paying more because they have fancy new cars while you have a 1990 Oldsmobile.
I would rather have it collected at the state level than laundered through Washington. If Massachusetts thinks the Big Dig will improve Boston traffic, they can pay for it without Hawaii's help.
I was talking about the federal tax, not the state tax, even though those too are regressive.
I wouldn’t object so much to the state gas taxes IF they were used solely for the purpose of road building and maintenance, my objection is when they are used for everything but the intended purpose of them.
The federal government shouldn’t be collecting excise taxes of any kind.
I was discussing with my girlfriend how this could backfire on us and usher in a BO 2nd term... If the gas tax is repealed, the economy will surely rebound because everybody is spending money on transportation again and BO will then claim that lifting the debt ceiling is what caused the economy to grow...
Mark Twain put it best:
“The Republic is safe, as long as Congress is NOT in session”.
So, basically, I hope the House takes the month of September off. Come back in October.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/gasoline-tax-profits/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_does_the_US_government_make_in_taxes_per_gallon_of_gas
Go re-read your Constitution and get back to me.
I know what you are saying and I am not disagreeing but for crying out loud, there has got to be a limit somewhere on what kinds of taxes they are collecting, shouldn’t there?
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