On Monday we may see a new gas tax introduced by Senators Graham, Kerry, and Lieberman as part of the energy and climate legislation they have been working on together the last several months.
Earlier this week we asked your fellow American Solutions members in South Carolina to call Senator Graham's office and ask him not to introduce new gas taxes. Many of them reported back that Senator Graham's staff responded by saying that Senator Graham does not support new gas taxes and doesn't have any plans to introduce new gas taxes. (But no word about Kerry or Lieberman's postition)
We hope that is true and that Senator Graham, along with Senators Kerry and Lieberman, has indeed changed his mind.
But we remain skeptical. We are concerned that the legislation we expect to see Monday will nevertheless contain new gas taxes. For the last several weeks it has been widely reported in the media that the legislation will contain new taxes on gas, diesel, and other transportation fuels. These will be assessed in the form of a fee or other costs imposed on oil companies, which will then be passed on to consumers in the form of higher gas prices.
If consumers pay higher fuel prices due to a requirement of government, we consider it a tax, whether it is imposed indirectly at the wholesale level of the oil company and then passed on to consumers in the form of higher gas prices, or directly at the retail level of the average American buying gas at the local gas station. We oppose new taxes on gas, diesel and other transportation fuels, which we believe will kill jobs and stagnate economic growth.
It seems as if the three Senators don't share this view and believe that new costs imposed on oil companies by the government, which will be passed along to motorists at the gas station in the form of higher gas prices, are not new gas taxes.
We disagree, but we can certainly appreciate why they don't want their new legislation to be seen as imposing new gas taxes. In a recent poll of 1,000 adults released by American Solutions, we found that:
* 83% of all adults and 61% of independent voters have very little or no confidence that a fuel tax will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
* 71% of respondents oppose higher gas taxes (sometimes called "linked carbon fees") in order to limit greenhouse gases.
* 78% believe that higher gas taxes will either kill jobs or have no effect on job growth.
* 69% oppose any new per gallon gas tax or fuel tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
* 64% of all adults are less likely to support a candidate for Congress who supports a gas tax, and 67% of independent voters are much more likely not to support a gas-tax candidate.
With the average gallon of gas already 80 cents higher than a year ago, it is not surprising that the vast majority of Americans oppose new gas taxes, which at least one organization has estimated could increase the cost of gas by 27 cents per gallon.
Come Monday, if the legislation proposed by Senators Graham, Kerry, and Lieberman contains measures that will increase the price of gasoline, you now know why American Solutions considers it a new gas tax and thus will vigorously oppose it. We will also be asking for your help in calling your Senators to oppose any such new gas taxes.
If next Monday the Senators are insisting that they are not introducing any new gas taxes, but instead are describing a "linked fee" or a requirement that oil companies buy carbon permits, you will know that they are supporting a bill that will raise gasoline, diesel, and other fuel prices.
I have maintained that this administration would raise taxes. I never said it would just be income tax. I can only hope that Monday will show they decided not to. But they have to pay the credit card bill somehow and it will be us that does it. The extra cost will mean less travel. That means less freedom to move about. Or you could look at it as another lost freedom that is government imposed. It isn't here yet but......................
This is CABL.com posting #300780. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mbqps
