Fredericksburg.com - GOP: Fun with math

search local
Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook

Get a printer-friendly version of this page. E-mail this story to a friend.
Make a post about this story on FredTalk.

-

Visit the Photo Place

GOP: Fun with math
Don't play funny with road numbers, Stafford Republicans
Date published: 4/17/2008

SUSAN STIMPSON, chairman of the Stafford County Republi- can Committee, on Tuesday launched a preemptive strike on our advocacy of a higher gasoline tax, this attack presumably coming to support the tax-averse House GOP caucus during a special transportation session Gov. Kaine will shortly convene. In her letter ("Raising the gasoline tax isn't the answer"), Mrs. Stimpson stole the words right out of House Speaker Bill Howell's mouth when she accused us of being "out of touch by calling for a 40 percent increase of the current gas tax." Oh, what a naughty use of the "%" key!

"Forty percent" sounds big, which is the effect Mrs. Stimpson intends. But it isn't very big when the numbers referenced are small. If the price of penny candy rises to two cents, for example, you must pay 100 percent more for a piece. But the "felt difference" between one cent and two is nil. To return to gasoline, Virginians pay 38 cents in taxes on each gallon they buy. We've advocated a 10-cent increase in gasoline taxes, which would raise about half the $1 billion per year in new income Virginia needs to fix and build mobility infrastructure. What we're proposing, then, is a 26 percent bump-up in the current gas tax. At the pump this translates to about $1.50 more per fill-up for the average car or small truck.

other percentages

Speaker Howell and his acolytes shouldn't talk in gas-tax percentages, because it's a tricky lingo for them. For example, the General Assembly last raised the state gas tax in 1986. A dollar from that year today buys 51 cents in goods--a 49 percent drop in purchasing power. Although Virginia is a fast-growing and relatively prosperous state, only 10 states have lower gas taxes, which means that 80 percent of the states impose higher gas prices.


1  2  Next Page  


Date published: 4/17/2008



Most recent reader comments:

Viewing 5 out of 9 comments. (Sorted in reverse order, with most recent post at the top.)

Display comments on this page. | Sort:

PLEASE READ: These reader comments are not moderated. Each user is solely responsible for any message (s)he posts here. The Free Lance-Star does not endorse the views expressed within these comments. All users who post to this Web site must agree to the terms of the FredTalk User Agreement. We rely on our readers to police themselves, and report any content that violates our User Agreement. In accordance with our User Agreement, we reserve the right to remove any post at any time for any reason, and will restrict access of registered users who repeatedly violate our terms. Any reader can report inappropriate content by clicking the "Report this post to admins" link at the bottom of each comment. You need not be registered to report a post.

Immigration does fuel traffic (posted by LibBuster , Apr. 17, 2008 4:22 pm)    0 likes
Chriswald, you can pooh pooh my logic all you want but within the next 30 years 80% of our population growth will be through immigration. I know numbers, data, facts, reason and logic can be behind the comprehension of many on the Left, but more people equals more cars equals more traffic. The root cause of traffic congestion is population growth and immigration is the root cause of population growth.

Percentages? (posted by CBVAUSA , Apr. 17, 2008 9:00 am)    0 likes
Instead of taxing fuel at a cents per gallon rate, how about taxing at a flat percentage per gallon rate? That way, as prices increase (as most believe will), we can be more realistically indexed to inflation (or deflation!) and tax revenues will rise to keep pace with the devaluating dollar. Today we need fewer bridges to nowhere and more preventative maintenance on roads that are in use today.

My edition of the FLS says... (posted by bhaas , Apr. 17, 2008 8:43 am)    0 likes
that they advocate a 10 cent increase. That seems to be fairly specific. gramps aka Bill Haas

Wow! Even the conservative FLS is dumping on the GOP! (posted by Chiswald , Apr. 17, 2008 8:23 am)    0 likes
Finally, even the most conservative Republicans are waking up and getting religion on this issue! The gas tax makes sense. Bill Howell is a liability who does not deserve to be in office. And LibBuster...that was a great comment you made blaming traffic congestion on immigrants! Thanks for the laugh!

continued (posted by larryg , Apr. 17, 2008 7:36 am)    0 likes
The Free-Lance might advocate for "more". Why don't you be SPECIFIC? Do we need a nickel? a dime? 40 cents? Come out from behind the bush you're hiding behind and show a specific plan.... I submit that the reason this is not done by the gas tax advocates is because when you do that - it becomes painfully clear that a gas-tax ONLY approach fails miserably at being a solution. so.. the tax advocates play the "we need more" game without being specific -which I think is just this side of being disengenuous

What do you think?
Enter your FredTalk username and password to post a comment on this story. If you are registered on FredTalk or another part of this site, use that login here. Otherwise, you can just REGISTER here... .

Posting guidelines

1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
2. Please avoid offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or defamatory language.
3. Agree to read & follow THE RULES.
4. Use the "report to admins" link for posts which violate the rules. 5. Keep it on-topic. Posts which contribute nothing of value to the conversation will be deleted.

Username:
Password:

Post title:


Please keep it brief (Limit is 512 characters). Please note, attempts to circumvent this limit by making
multiple posts back-to-back (ex: 'continued', 'part1, 2', etc) will be deleted.

Please make sure CAPS LOCK is off. Posts in ALL CAPS will be deleted.)


By checking this box, you agree to the terms of the FredTalk User agreement.









The Free Lance-Star fredericksburg.com 93.3 WFLS Print Innovators Classic Rock 96.9 99.3 The Vibe wntx radio