It is no secret that gas prices keep going up, and up, and up, and up. Of course many government officials are trying to figure out how to bring the gas prices down and I’ve already addressed that issue in earlier blogs. Today I want to applaud some lawmakers, and also point out some flawed thinking of others.
First, lets give a round of applause to lawmakers who are trying to bring the prices down. Many are suggesting a suspension of gas taxes on both the federal and state levels. In New York State, Senator Joe Robach is the latest to call for such a suspension. The Senator is calling on New York State Governor David Patterson to suspend the state gas tax from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Senator Robach said such a suspension would take 33 cents off the current price of gas. Then, you link that with the seven cents of sales tax that’s already capped, consumers would instantly see a 40 cent savings at the pump. The Senator went on to say, “It will be immediate relief as the average car with an 18 gallon gas tank would save $7.20 on each fill up.”
I say, bring it on! That extra 7 bucks will be better spent by me than by the government.
Now, lets address some flawed thinking here.
Some are concerned that cutting the government tax portion of gas sales will effect how the government balances their books. They fear cutting taxes will mean less money for the government, and then they won’t be able to make ends meet. First off, when was the last time the government made ends meet? If normal people balanced their household budgets like the government balances their budget, power would be cut off, cars taken back and homes foreclosed on. Isn’t it amazing how that’s already going on, but even though the government has no clue on how to balance their books, no one puts them out of their homes.
Secondly, the only way cutting the gas tax could effect expected government revenue to make a budget work, is if government leaders were already in bed with the oil companies when making a budget. (Of course that may not be too far off the mark.) Lets think this through for a moment. The government sets the budget on projected income. However, unless they were in on the recent record breaking gas price mark up, there’s no way they could have planned for an unexpected winfall of income from gas tax money. In other words, unless government officials worked the budget with a projected gas tax on a $4 dollar, (or more) gallon of gas, they’re not losing out and do not have to fear a cut of the tax, cutting into their expected income.
Is the government effecting the high gas prices we’re seeing right now? To a certain extent yes, but it has nothing to do with the thought of lost revenue to make their budgets work. For some time now the federal government has stockpiled oil for future shortages. As a result, as they buy up oil to put away for a rainy day, the price of oil continues to go up because suddenly there’s a stockpile that’s not on the market. Could it be this line of thinking needs to head back to the drawing board? Maybe.
Whatever the case may be, we the consumer, are feeling the pinch at the pumps each and every day. But now the pinch is not only felt at the pumps, now we’re feeling it at the grocery store and pretty much every other aspect of life we can think of. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s time to regulate the monopoly known as big oil companies and realize the only ones laughing all the way to the bank, are those lining their pockets at the top of the big oil companies. Could this be likened to an Enron scandal? Just a thought to make you say…”Hmmmmmm…”
Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus