Redirect or Charles Krauthammer may be a genius, but perhaps he has been replaced by an alien pod person

Continuing the discussion:

Okay, I was a touch confused before, but Mr. Heath assures me that we are talking about oil prices rather than gas prices. I think I was mislead by someone telling me that "[Krauthammer] proposes a variable gas tax that would keep gas prices at $3/gallon."

But is it any better that oil prices be fixed than gas prices? Now, instead of Texaco or Shell getting the extra profit, OPEC will! Let there be no mistake, if OPEC learns that American oil companies will have to pay $3 a gallon no matter what the OPEC price is, the OPEC price will be $3! There will be no incentive to drill for domestic oil, since the primary point of trying to get oil domestically is to guard ourselves against OPEC's price fixing.

Yeah, yeah, I know that OPEC supports terrorism and all that jazz. But the Left in this country refuses to allow domestic drilling when there are advantages for us in the War on Terror and when we would get lower prices. What makes us think that they would allow it when it only brings us half the benefit?

So, we're back at the start. The government gets no money off this tax. How then will it replace the income tax? How will it benefit us at all? We would be paying the Saudis more money for oil while suddenly paying more at the pump, which would cause a sudden (though temporary) shot of inflation throughout the country. All this to make the Saudis richer? No thank you.

Look: the government does not need another tax, and the idea that, someday, another tax will be repealed because this tax is set up is a pipe dream. The government will never repeal a tax unless forced. The only way to force them is to destroy a tax as you are setting another one up. I would only advocate a national sales tax if there were a Constitutional Amendment to abolish the income tax immediately.

But Mr. Heath has it slightly wrong. I actually advocate no direct tax on the people, just like the Founding Fathers intended. I only think that the sales tax would be better than the income tax.

My objections stand. This tax would only hurt the people and not make the government a cent (as though that is a justification for hurting the people). It's a bad idea.

-Paul Lytle,
Primum Mobile Magazine

Comments? Email us.

Texian Weblog © Copyright 2005, Jason E. Heath