President Trump wants to suspend the federal gas tax to lower the price pressure created by his reckless war in Iran. A great idea! We could all use the help. But he needs an act of Congress to do it.
Back in the “good old days,” the GOP always wanted giveaways like this to be paid for through offsetting spending cuts or increased government revenue from somewhere else.
Suspending the gas tax would add $3.5 billion to the deficit each month. That is more debt to be paid off in the future. Here’s a suggestion for our representative, Jeff Hurd: Rather than moving in blind lockstep to grant the president’s request, how about including a way to pay for it?
Here are three options that would make the proposal roughly revenue-neutral. For every month the gas tax is suspended: (1) increase the marginal tax rate on the top 5% of earners (more than $272,000 per year) by 3%; (2) increase the marginal tax rate on the top 1% of earners (more than $675,000 per year) by 4%; or (3) increase corporate income taxes by 8%.
A true conservative wouldn’t simply add another $42 billion to the annual deficit, especially when we are already spending billions more on the war that is causing the problem. Shouldn’t we deal with the consequences of our current actions and mistakes rather than shuffling the burden onto our kids and grandkids?
Lawrence Gross
Durango
