Policy wonks what do you think of my alternative to the gas tax holiday

[mdmc]

Here is my idea.
1. Keep the 18 cent per gallon tax.
2. Use the money generated from this tax to:
A. Lower the price / tax on diesel fuel (thus giving some drivers and tractor trailers a break, plus help lower the cost of everything)
B. Fund / discount public transportation (perhaps offering tax credits for public transportation expenses). All public transportation, including air, train, and buses)


This proposal help everyone. Poor people without cars benefit from lower prices (lower shipping costs), public transportation use is advocated and incentivized, and rich people will save on their first class airfares.

And it pays for itself. What do you think?

[Divernan]

1. All good ideas, but fact remains you're taking $$$ out of state funds to maintain highways.

States like mine are in a constant struggle to replace dangerous bridges and maintain public roads and highways, and they rely on gas taxes to do that.

If we get the hell out of Iraq and DON'T start a 3rd war with Iran, we could quit spending billions there and have some funds for your ideas. I particularly believe we need to rebuild our national rail system - I think it would provide for less expensive freight transport in the long run. The number of huge trucks on our highways is insane. There was a decision made decades ago, favoring the trucking industry, to let the U.S. rail system basically fall into disrepair.

Compare our highways to those of the countries of the European Union, with their outstanding rail system for both freight and passengers. God knows train travel there, even in coach, is luxurious compared to our miserable air travel with cramped seats, multi-hour delays sitting in crowded planes on the runways - and those tiny, literally stinking bathrooms in planes. Give me a train with a snack car, and a dining car, and comfortably sized bathrooms that are clean and fresh and never start to smell, even with a 5 hour train ride.

[logosoco]

2. no one is going to go for that...

IT makes too much sense and may actually help people.:)

[ColbertWatcher]

3. My suggestion...

...post the CEO's salary and retirement plan at every pump.

Along with his name and contact info.

If cigarette makers have to have the Surgeon General's warning, oil corporations should have warnings on their products too.

[Donnachaidh]

4. I live in an area with MINIMAL public transportation

And quite honestly, I don't want to fund airlines with taxes. We've had too many of these merger deals going through, and that fund could turn into yet more corporate welfare. If we still had small airlines that could really use the help, I'd be more inclined to go for it.

Personally, *rich* people have had ENOUGH help in this country -- they should pay FULL fare.

We're in a suburb of Atlanta. The county has buses, but you really cannot call it public transport, because there aren't enough buses, or routes, to even use it as an alternative. They've gotten around to setting up buses that will take daily commuters into Atlanta, but the parking lots are too darned small, and AGAIN, not enough buses.

In larger cities with established and well run transit (man I miss the subways in NYC) I could see this going over. But I live in the land of the oversized SUV and the trucks with *them BIG Tires* - and any breaks would be used to make more roads. I don't see Atlanta coming up with anything realistic in my neck of the woods anytime soon. :grr: