This is the bottom line. The price of gas is going to rise whether we have higher taxes or not at the moment though we can do something to prepare for that by changing our infrastructure and development pattern to address that. Unfortunately as a society we do a very poor job at long range planning and prefer to just defer problems until we start feeling the pain. A gradually increase in the price of gasoline now will start motivating people to make changes to prepare for a future where we are well past peak oil. So to me raising the gas tax is a good idea to address problems now but also to spur on the changes that are going to be needed to be made. Also in terms of a gas tax being regressive I agree that is true but those poor people it is hurting are in many ways trapped by the infrastructure we have built. If gas taxes can be used to building more transit alternatives they won't have to be so dependent upon cars. Sticking with the status quo though just guarantees that for the poor the pain will be even worse down the road when gas prices inevitably rise and it is even more expensive to provide for things like transit and different development.
Another ROFL for you calling me out for "weak logic." Irony, your name is texxx. Weak "logic" is your specialty, brah.
I think I'm down with it. It encourages fuel efficiency and discourages sprawl. I'm not necessarily concerned with the regressive nature of the tax, because it can be counterweighted through legislation by shifting income tax burdens from the poor to the wealthy, augmenting unemployment aid, and increasing minimum wage mandates. Of course, in practice, Congress would manage to pass one and not the other, so you could consider my support to be theoretical only.
Good solution. Diesel has to stay down for this to reap the benefits the supporters of this hypothetical tax increase seek without as many negative consequences/inflation on the working poor.
