The 18 Cent Sop
Trump – who promised Americans a $5,000 DOGE rebate and that tariffs would replace income taxes (and the IRS) – is now dropping hint that he’ll temporarily suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax, to reduce the costs imposed by the stupid, evil war he started. This would something along the lines of the mafia thug offering you a crutch (singular) after he breaks both your legs.
As of May 13, the average cost – nationally – of a gallon of gasoline is $4.51 – up 25 cents in just the past five days. It is now very close to being twice as expensive as it was just five months ago, before Trump started this stupid, evil war which hasn’t ended and which Trump seems determined to continue. Having done that, Trump now proposes to “lower” the cost by 18.4 cents per gallon. That is the sum and total of the federal tax on gasoline. So, instead of paying $4.51 per gallon, Americans would only be paying $4.33 per gallon (which is what they were paying last week, it’s week worth pointing out).
Let’s do some math.
Eighteen cents off the price of unleaded regular at $4.51 amounts to about a 4 percent “discount.” Looked at from another angle, if the federal gas tax were not factored into the current price of a gallon of gas, the “savings” – assuming a typical 12 gallon fill-up, the capacity pf the average small car/crossover – would amount to about $2.16 per tankul. Assuming one fill-up per week, that “savings” increase to $8.64 per month and to $103.68 annually.
On the other hand, the all-year average “savings” – $103.68 – just about pay for two fill-ups at the “lowered” cost of $4.33 per gallon. You might have enough left over to pay for a (small) bag of chips.
Oh, thank you massa!
You is a good massa!
Even if all motor fuels taxes – federal and state – were rescinded, then “savings” would amount to about 50 cents per gallon, this being the (roughly) average/national add-on cost of federal and state taxes on motor fuels. In other words, it would amount to next to nothing – relative to what we’re paying. Unless you consider having to pay $4 per gallon (which is about what it woul;d be without any fuels taxes) something other than paying through the nose for what used to cost about $2.80 per gallon before Trump decided to start this stupid, evil war with Iran. Which has turned out to be (effectively) a war on the American working and middle class, the very people who bought Trump’s spiel about lowering energy costs by (his words) 50 percent. That’s substantially more than the 4 percent reduction he proposes that doesn’t begin to change the triple digit increase he says is “worth it.”
Does it not remind you of the chocolate ration being “increased” by Big Brother in 1984?
Also, does anyone wonder what tax will be increased to make up for the loss of the 18.4 cents per gallon the feds currently collect every time we buy a gallon of gas? Put another way, does the federal government ever rescind a tax that is not replaced by some other tax? And – in this case – it’s a tax that’s perhaps the one legitimate one, in that it’s more a user fee than a tax. It is not something you have to pay unless you use the roads, in which case you are simply paying for a thing you actually use. In this way, it is very much unlike all the other taxes, which are extracted from you even if you do not use the things they go to pay for. Motor fuels taxes are also anonymous. You do not have to file self-incriminating forms with the government.
At any rate, the problem remains:
If the federal motor fuels tax is rescinded, who will pay for “the roads”?
Well, we will – just via some other tax. A mileage tax, for instance. It is possible this dangling of the suspension of the federal gas tax is another bait-and-switch operation. Promise the rubes one thing and give them another, good and hard.
This mileage tax thing has long been a want in certain quarters for a long time, because it would do more than just generate “revenue.” It would justify further monitoring. The government would have to impose odometer reading checks, probably done electronically – and automatically – in the same basic way that a “smart” meter tells the power company how much electricity you’ve used. The government would be able to know when you drove, too. This information could and probably will be used to restrict your driving – by jacking up the mileage tax you are forced to pay when the government decides you’re driving too much during “peak times.” Again, very much of a piece with the way “smart” meters can be (and are being) used to charge more for electricity used during “peak times” and to restrict electricity use during “peak times.”
Probably, the mileage tax will end up costing us even more than federal motor fuels taxes, too.
How about Trump just issue us all those $5,000 rebate checks he promised? That’d actually help Americans struggling to pay for this stupid, evil war he started.
Which is of course why those checks will never get sent.