--- Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> Wojtek objects to my label of gas tax as 'arbitrary'
> and calls it an
> efficient means of collecting user fees. As to
> 'arbitrary' I suggest
> he drive around this vast country of ours and
> compare how much tax he
> pays in each little hamlet; and maybe Doug will go
> with you and find
> out how much of that tax is spent on externalities.
> Color me stubborn,
> but I don't think there is such as thing as an
> efficient user fee: we
> all use the infrastructure whether we drive or not,
> so we all ought to
> pay for it. Unequally, if we can manage that. The
> only progressive
> tax we have in the US is the income tax, so I'm all
> for taking
> everything that the government pays for and putting
> it under one tax:
> the income tax. Yes, that includes Social Security
> and Medicare.
Jordan, it is a well known fact that densely populated industrialized states pay more in federal taxes than the less industrialized ones. Let's face it - rural or sparsely populated areas pay less taxes and receive more subsidies, not to mention more power in the congress and the senate. We, and by that I mean folks like me living in coastal states and paying high tax rates on higher income, subsidize those rural folk and their wasteful gas guzzling life styles big time. They require more roads per tax payer and thus more road services, they drive farther than folk in densly populated areas, and they could not afford that luxury if they were not subsidized by urban areas. The same holds for telecommunication services.
I have no problem with anyone living on ten acres of land and driving 20 miles to the nearest human settlement (I'm exaggerating of course), but let him pay for that privilege. I see no reason whatsover why his lifestyle should be publicly subsidized.
Another problem - you seem to look at this issue in black and white we either burn oil and rive with no restrictions, or dump oil and cars altogether. This does not seem to me like a realistic position. In my postings I suggested a more balanced position of changing the mix- less driving, more public transit, and said nothing about dumping oil altogether. Contrary to what you said, this is a very realistic and attainable position that has been implemented in many countries.
Therefore, behavior modification through changing the cost structure seems like a very reasonable proposition and the one that is likely to work. Again, I'm not suggesting herding everyone to buses and trains but to increasing the use of them while decreasing the use of autos. Driving is a privilege and convenince, and requiring drivers to pay the full price for that privilege and convenience is not only fair but also produces tangible public benefits (less pollution, less traffic congestion, etc).
Now, if you want to talk about income redistribution - that is an altogether different story that has little to do with transportation policy. Taxation by itself (unless confiscatory) does not strike me as a very effective mechanism of income redistribution. The state has a much more effective policy tools at its disposal to achieve that goal at the income end - from strengthening collective bargaining (unionization) to living wage legislation. Progressive taxation is relly a wimpy copeout for the governemnt unwilling to grab the bull by the horns and reduce the insane income disparities at their source.
Therefore, your concerns about regressiveness of gasoline tax seem to be misplaced. If you want to talk abot ways of reducing income inequalities, let's do that separately and set the right priorities of what needs to be done to that end. But let's not mix that with transportation and its externalities and the policies to change the current situation. And if you want to consider the economic impact of car based transport on the poor, let;s just say that car-based transport is already a huge drain on the income of the poor, and steering them toward public transit - even through initially painful measures like gasoline tax - will eventually have a beneficial effect on their incomes.
Wojtek
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com