From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!orion!lime!we13!otuxa!ll1!ihldt!ihnp4!ihlpb!nickles
Newsgroups: net.politics
Title: Re: gas tax - (nf)
Article-I.D.: ihlpb.139
Posted: Tue Nov 30 13:58:01 1982
Received: Wed Dec  1 07:16:10 1982

#R:floyd:-88200:ihlpb:19100003:  0:1362
ihlpb!nickles    Nov 30 13:48:00 1982

OK.  Agreed.  Any money in the federal government's hands is money
ill-spent.  But, sighting my economic reasons given previously,
should we ashcan the tax?  Maybe pressure should be put on the states
to have a gas tax.  Then the states can manipulate the work force
as they see fit.

I really don't like being taxed.  I hate seeing 1/3rd of my paycheck
vanish every week.  But, I use the roads.  I will have driven approximately
20,000 miles in 1982.  Driving parts of I-90 through Penn. and I-70
through West Virginia, or even I-57 through Kankakee, Illinois, is
proof enough that the roadways of this country are in need of
serious repair.  I'd be the first to cheer if the rail system was
re-vitalized.  (Does anyone know which form, truck or rail, of transportation
is cheaper, and which way the current tax laws favor?)  I'm in favor of
a usage fee for roads.  And a gas tax, since gas is heavily imported,
seems to be the right way to get it at the right time.

So, is the method of states taking control of the gas tax legitimate?  It
then prevents the behavior that sjb was worried about.  Also, it would
heighten the price of fuel, maybe creating a more permanent oil glut
(which helps ease the recession).  Or should the tax be in the form of
an excise tax per weight of the vehicle, and miles on the odometer?

						Jack Nickles
						ihlpb!nickles