ShareThisMany Americans have been recently overjoyed as gasoline prices -- which earlier this year topped $4 a gallon -- dipped below $2. Is it time for a hike in fuel taxes? Charles Krauthammer thinks so.
The conservative writer proposes raising the 18.4-cents-per-gallon tax by a dollar. That increase would be offset by payroll tax reductions, but might prod consumers to cut back on their driving. That, in turn, could help America wean itself from foreign oil and lead to a new generation of fuel-efficient cars.
President-elect Barack Obama has promised that energy and climate policy will be top priorities. Is bipartisan action possible? Will Americans tolerate politicians who raise gasoline prices? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, jump into the fray.
JOEL MATHIS
Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, then-Sen. Trent Lott fought increased fuel efficiency standards by standing on the floor of the Senate with a picture of a European mini-car. "This is still America," he sniffed. "I don't think we should be forced to drive that automobile."
Lott and the car companies got their way, but at a cost: The market for gas guzzlers collapsed, leaving Detroit in shambles as Americans ditched their lumbering SUVs for sleek foreign cars. Some conservatives now realize reduced oil consumption could benefit the country's economic and security interests. Effective bipartisan action might really be within reach.
But there are obstacles. Even with reduced payroll taxes, Americans will howl at higher gasoline prices. They must be persuaded. Here's one way: Appeal to their patriotism.
Yes, Joe Biden was mocked for suggesting that paying taxes is patriotic. In this case, though, it's true. American reliance on foreign oil enriches tyrants and complicates efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and its allies. During World War II, gasoline was rationed and car production ceased entirely. If we are in a war against terrorism, shouldn't we also act to cut our fuel use? This is still America; surely some of us will accept higher gas prices -- and maybe even drive "that automobile" -- to keep the country safe.
BEN BOYCHUK
There is nothing wrong with raising federal gasoline taxes, so long as the government uses the revenue for what it was intended for. The Federal Highway Trust Fund, much like the Social Security Trust Fund, has long been a lucrative source of funding for every outrageous congressional pork-barrel project under the sun.
Oh, yes, and occasionally highways.
Talk of raising the federal gas tax now is fueled by dreams of subsidizing new "green" technology -- hydrogen fuel cells, gas-electric hybrid technology and the like -- to wean Americans away off foreign oil. That's well and good, but it ignores imperatives of the here and now. Specifically, the $1 trillion or so needed to expand, repair, improve and upgrade America's highways and byways.
U.S. roads, highways, and railways are in desperate need of an overhaul. Consider this seemingly regional example: The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle roughly 20 percent of all U.S. imports. Notwithstanding the recent economic downturn, the Southern California Association of Governments says it will cost at least $50 billion over the next 20 years to upgrade the ports and surrounding roads and rails to handle the influx in goods.
Why should anyone outside of California care? Because those HDTVs on sale in Denver, Des Moines, Chicago, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and everywhere in between almost certainly rolled through Southern California by truck or train, clogging area freeways and polluting the air. In short, California's infrastructure problem is really a national issue. Similar tales could be told from all over the country.
The United States needs new and improved highways, roads, bridges and railways. The private sector can and should fund some of that work. But federal and state governments, in all likelihood, will continue to build new roads and maintain old ones. Gas taxes are the best means toward that end.
(Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis blog at http://www.infinitemonkeysblog.com and http://politics.pwblogs.com/)
(Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis blog daily at www.infinitemonkeysblog.com and joelmathis.blogspot.com.)
REDBLEUEAMERICA
