That's some bad gas.....
A lot of attention is being given to the proposal of suspending the sales tax on gasoline. As a Libertarian, the idea that the taxpayers might receive a little relief is a welcome idea, but before we start any celebrations, we need to examine all of the issue.
Indiana has the 15th highest gasoline taxes in the nation, and the 5th highest diesel taxes. This is before you add on the 6% sales tax, inspection fee and diesel surcharge. Couple this with staggering property taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, etc., and you have to wonder just how much a sales tax suspension on gasoline that would save most Hoosier families about $3.00 a week would really help.
The real problem isn’t a 6% sales tax on gasoline. The real problem is governments’ insatiable need to spend money. Hoosiers work nearly 5 months of every year just to pay their tax burden, and neither the Republicans nor Democrats seem to be overly concerned with that. They shuffle taxes from businesses to homes to farms and then back to businesses, depending on the election cycle. They pass the blame back and forth between state and local governments, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the money they are spending ultimately can come from only one place, the taxpayer.
The real answer is not just temporarily suspending the sales tax on gasoline. The real answer is to return government to proper place, which is providing essential services to its citizens with the prudent use of our tax dollars. That means using our road taxes on Hoosier roads, instead of sending them off to Washington so they can be used to build horse trails in Virginia. It means using the tax dollars taken for education on education, not on entertainment.
While the Republicans and Democrats argue about whether or not to save your family $3.00 a week, remember that the Libertarian Party is out there advancing the idea of fiscal responsibility and limited government that the other parties have so obviously abandoned.
Indiana has the 15th highest gasoline taxes in the nation, and the 5th highest diesel taxes. This is before you add on the 6% sales tax, inspection fee and diesel surcharge. Couple this with staggering property taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, etc., and you have to wonder just how much a sales tax suspension on gasoline that would save most Hoosier families about $3.00 a week would really help.
The real problem isn’t a 6% sales tax on gasoline. The real problem is governments’ insatiable need to spend money. Hoosiers work nearly 5 months of every year just to pay their tax burden, and neither the Republicans nor Democrats seem to be overly concerned with that. They shuffle taxes from businesses to homes to farms and then back to businesses, depending on the election cycle. They pass the blame back and forth between state and local governments, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the money they are spending ultimately can come from only one place, the taxpayer.
The real answer is not just temporarily suspending the sales tax on gasoline. The real answer is to return government to proper place, which is providing essential services to its citizens with the prudent use of our tax dollars. That means using our road taxes on Hoosier roads, instead of sending them off to Washington so they can be used to build horse trails in Virginia. It means using the tax dollars taken for education on education, not on entertainment.
While the Republicans and Democrats argue about whether or not to save your family $3.00 a week, remember that the Libertarian Party is out there advancing the idea of fiscal responsibility and limited government that the other parties have so obviously abandoned.
posted by Rex Bell at 10:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home