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The Tax That Dare Not Be Hiked
[THEATLANTIC] In theory, advocates of an infusion of spending to fix the nation's crumbling roads and bridges have found the perfect political moment.
| Drivers would barely notice the extra nickel they'd be forced initially to pay as a result of the tax hike |
Fuel prices are plunging to their lowest level in years. The Highway Trust Fund is broke, and Congress faces a spring deadline to replenish it. The obvious answer—the only answer, according to many in Washington—is to raise the 18.4 cent-per-gallon gas tax, which hasn't gone up in more than 20 years. Since prices at the pump have dropped more than a dollar per gallon in some areas, drivers would barely notice the extra nickel they'd be forced initially to pay as a result of the tax hike.
| Initially the income tax only applied to the 1%.... |
That wasn't true until recently: For years, the pocketbook punch of the Great Recession combined with gas prices that peaked above $4 made an increase both politically and economically untenable.
Posted by: Fred 2014-12-09 |
