Lower Demand = Higher Taxes is Supposed to Work?!

Okay, I have found one law I want adopted IMMEDIATELY! I think every politician should be required to score at least 90% on a basic economics test or they lose their job. (To make it easier, they should have to be like graduate students where they take the test first, and then apply for the job.)

Here is why I am saying that today. So because people are driving less after changing habits because of high gas prices over the summer, states are complaining they aren't getting enough gas tax money. (People buy less so they pay less in taxes, the highest component in the price of a gallon of gas.) So in their amazing wisdom, states want to raise gas taxes, thinking that will raise money.

Ummm...no, not gonna happen. That is a basic error of 100-level economics. (Meaning, in other words, freshmen in college learn that lesson in the first week of class.) See, people are demanding less gas because the price was higher in the summer. As the price fell, they demanded some, but the recession cut back that increase.

So what does that mean for this? Well, by raising gas taxes, people will buy LESS gas, and as the states showed, less gas means less taxes, even if they raise the gas tax amount. Simple economics. Higher prices lead to less quantity demanded. You can't get around that, not even with the Messiah in the Oval Office.

The article also talks about needing to find money to build new roads. However, there is one simple solution: disband the construction unions, all prevailing-wage laws, and fire all incompetents currently in a construction job. (For example, cutting the wrong wire on a bridge should lead to a hefty fine on the construction company. No more ripping up 15 miles of road to barely work on 1 mile.) All it takes is some smarter building procedures. I have never worked in road construction, but even I could plan a better building schedule than the idiots in my state. There is no reason that they should waste time and money moving orange barrels out of the way of traffic coming north on Friday just to move it for the traffic coming south on Sunday. They have more than enough info to figure out about how much road they can build in 5 days; no point marking off more than that amount. (Well, unless you consider the OTHER reason for long construction zones. See, if you get caught speeding in a "construction zone," you pay double the fine. And we wonder why they barrel off 45 miles at a time...pathetic!)

Go ahead Democrats! Pass this tax. I guarantee a repeat of 1994 for ya.

Oh and calling this a "carbon tax" to fight global warming won't work very well when, oh yeah, half the country is freezing its behind off! Wanna see a repeat of the Boston Tea Party? Pass this "carbon tax!"