Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Gas Tax Rant

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

I held off on ranting for as long as possible. After all, this is an internet marketing blog, but sometimes I cannot help myself.

Two presidential candidates said this week that they would suspend the gas tax temporarily in order to give relief to consumers. All this does is mislead uninformed voters to vote for a candidate that knows nothing about the economy.

I love politics because I love economics. Unfortunately, none of the candidates this year know a lint lick about running an economy. If they did, they would know that raising the minimum wage hurts the lower class more than it helps them – ironic, because it is the same people that the government tries to help. They would know that when you subsidize something, you get more of it, and that is never a good thing.

And if they knew anything about economics, they would know that the gas tax is the BEST tax that we have! I’m not very clear in my video, because I’m simply ranting, but if anything, the gas tax should be raised. If the tax were to be suspended for a “holiday,” it would simply go back into the hands of the oil companies, because they could easily raise the prices. Furthermore, gas is an inelastic good, which is why they can charge whatever they want.

Finally, what happens when the gas tax is reimposed? People will hate the government for it. If ANYTHING, the next president should raise the gas tax and cut taxes from somewhere else, such as income for the middle class.

The ONLY way that the price of gas will drop is if the dollar strengthens and we consume less oil. Plain and simple.

P.S. Note to all presidential candidates: read a flippin’ economics book. Maybe it’s time to listen to Ron Paul.