Reply #71: This may sound crazy.

[lfairban]

Why is it that we are not all getting behind an increase in the gasoline tax?

From the article in the OP:

He was right to encourage fuel conservation by proposing a 50-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline and a fee on imported oil — in effect, a floor for fuel prices.

From the thread, this comment by Paul Krugman:

Why doesn't’t cutting the gas tax this summer make sense? It’s Econ 101 tax incidence theory: if the supply of a good is more or less unresponsive to the price, the price to consumers will always rise until the quantity demanded falls to match the quantity supplied. Cut taxes, and all that happens is that the pretax price rises by the same amount. The McCain gas tax plan is a giveaway to oil companies, disguised as a gift to consumers.

So, if we extend Krugman's argument that cutting gas taxes is silly, then raising them, as Carter purposed, is a good idea.

I fear that any competent politician would say, "See what happened to Carter. That is what you get for trying to make sense."

If taxes go up by $.50 then the price of gassoline will not rise nearly that much. Then the government could use the money to improve highways, reducing bottlenecks that waste gas (and time) and fund other transportation options the would reduce the number of cars on the road.

Even if the money was used to offset other taxes it would still be a good idea. What makes more sense, taxing gasoline, taxing sales or taxing income?