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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Valley Girl who wrote (135620)	6/4/2004 5:50:14 PM
From: Dennis O'Bell	Respond to of 281500

If you want conservation, you could do worse than to start with a big rise in the gasoline tax. It would be very disruptive, which is why missing the chance to phase it in gradually during the 90s is so tragic. Yes, it would hurt "the little guy", but then, it's the behaviour of large numbers of people that needs to be altered. This isn't a situation where you can soak the rich to solve the problem. Another part of this which I don't know the statistics on is how much of the daily driving of the typical American is behind our consumption, and what percentage is behind the scenes stuff like distribution of goods and things everyone now takes for granted (buying from Amazon, FedEx and UPS deliveries that are on time, well stocked supermarkets, etc.) Oil taxes would propagate through all these channels if they are ever to be effective, and it won't be fun when shortages start to really impact these things (and not just make people think twice about driving somewhere for the weekend.)

To: Valley Girl who wrote (135620)	6/4/2004 5:53:34 PM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Some sundry notes: 1. Having voted for John Anderson in 1980, I am aware of gas tax for conservation purposes proposals. 2. Living in a so-called "swing state", I'm somewhat more exposed than I'd like to be to the endless Kerry bashing that constitutes the official Bush reelection campaign at this point. One of the commercials bashes Kerry for allegedly supporting a gas tax of that nature. 3. I don't know what noises out of the Kerry camp you are referring to on the "cheap oil" front, but I think I know, approximately, where this round of the local discussion started: It wont be long before a massive coalition is forced together to occupy the oil producing areas. Soccer moms will be using their last gas to drive their sons to the military recruiting offices. #reply-20177717 I don't know, but I don't get the impression quehubo is in the Kerry camp, as it were. On the broader front, I'm sure there are still Republicans who believe in conservation, and probably some that still believe in fiscal conservatism too. I can't see where it makes much difference as long as W is President and party discipline holds.