California is in Desperate Need of a Gas Tax

Mr. Wittenberg has a good article here and some ideas worthy of merit and futher discussion. I'm glad this one was available to see here.

I do have a little issue with the size of any gas tax increase in general. During the recent gas price surge, many folks took driving as an essential and less of a luxury. The latter includes movies, dinner out, shopping at more remot locations, less vacations (motel rooms, park entrance fees, etc). These industies will suffer, go out of business, be less of a tax revenue source, more of an unemployment burden. Just a less strong economy has hurt these industries. Another simultaneous blow via a too large gas tax hike may cause more to go over the edge.

(Europe is never a good comparison. Their national expenses on defense, health care, etc. plus population dynamics) are nothing like ours.

When the investors and OPEC quit playing fast and lose with the price of a gallon of gas, I would support this proposal. However, when a gallon of gas can go from five dollars a gallon to less than two dollars a gallon in a matter of months, the risk is too great!

When the investors and OPEC quit playing fast and lose with the price of a gallon of gas, I would support this proposal. However, when a gallon of gas can go from five dollars a gallon to less than two dollars a gallon in a matter of months, the risk is too great!

Dear Mr. Paul Wittenberg it seems to me that you may have Ben paid to place this post saying that we need a new gas tax or even a tax increase!

I say why you don’t find out whir all the taxes went!!!

Because there should be a surplus of gas taxes!!

Because of the resent hire than usual Gas prices!

Don’t insult me by telling me that we eliminated the taxes when they went up!!!

They f#^% it up! Take it out of their paychecks Not Mine!

And don’t even suggest taking funds out of are schools!!!!

Just because you can afford to send your kids to privet school dues not mean everyone can!!!!

Ps I say that if there is anyone out there that can afford it! Sue the state and make them provide a complete audit of exactly where all the money went right down to the bonuses and payrolls of everyone involved with the handling of gas taxes!! And ill bet you will find that most of it was sifted off to a few bank accounts in the hire echelons of management!

Nice try but you told everyone who you were when you said it would have the same effect as a carbon tax. That tells me you believe man made co2 causes global warming climate change. The only people who still believe this bs are the associates of the far left point of view or they are just stupid lemmings and have not looked at the science and the hundreds of scientist that have disavowed the UN quasi-science and the proponents that the whole hoax rests on. Either way it makes your proposal just more liberal taxes. A simple review of the history of our liberal legislative representatives tells the story on what they really spend our tax money on. NO MORE TAX HIKES.
CUT SPENDING. Suggestion: Stop using tax money on people who break our laws and are here illegally. Deport them like all the other countries do.

I OPPOSE THE GAS TAX: From what I've learned from a couple of sources, (while radio ads are hounding us to buy cars), taxpayers are subsidizing government cars from city to state levels. We pay for their cars, their gas, the maintenance and the various nuisance fees that go along with it.

----That's why our government couldn't have cared less about the SHEEPLE taxpayers getting royally gouged when the gas approached $5.00 a gallon.

In the meantime, our corrupt government runs amock and doesn't care about this common-sense list that I've sent numerous times: LIST

*ILLEGAL ALIENS
Not considering the massive costs they incurr through FREE: Births, WIC, etc benefits, schooling (including their COMIDAS GRATIS-breakfasts/lunches), the DREAM Act (Gil Cedillo constantly advocating this and then demanding we also give them either free school books or greatly watered down prices as well as cheaper in-state college rates) and he relentlessly pushes for drivers' licenses for illegals.

* SCHOOLS (always whining for more money-when they refuse to fix the obvious).
1. Evict ALL illegal aliens.
2. No FREE COMIDAS GRATIS
3. No DREAM Act (why should illegal aliens get the cheaper in-state rates) while legal citizens moving to another state get sacked with the higher out-of-state rates?
4. Evict all chapters like MEChA/La Raza, etc that advocate AZTLAN/ANAHUAC.
5. Terminate charter schools like Academia Semillos de los Pueblos {Marcos Aguilar} who also hate the stupid white race and advocate AZTLAN/ANAHUAC.

*OCTO-MOM {NADYA SULEMAN}
1. Do NOT give her a penny in public monies (she was already on the public dole with at least 3 of her children)
2. Make the participating hospitals/doctors eat the costs of their Irresponsible in-vitro fertilzation and medical care/births and offspring care after birth.

*CHURCHES/NON PROFITS/FOUNDATIONS:
End the tax-exempt status of ALL participating churches, non-profits/foundations who advocate for the ILLEGAL ALIEN CAUSE.

*BUSINESS/CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE/OIL COMPANIES WHO ADVOCATE IRRESPONSIBLE RUN-AMOCK CORPORATE BEHAVIOR:
1. End ALL tax breaks for ALL corporations and other above-mentioned bodies who either advocate or actually: Offshore, outsource, use all manner of visa holders and illegal aliens.
2. Make oil companies pay "Extraction fees" --without passing it onto the consumers.
2b. Oil costs are rising again (supposedly because there is "maintenance"going on)....Are we getting deliberately screwed again????
3. Tarriff ALL foreign goods.
4. Bring manufacturing back to California.
5. Use E-VERIFY

*REMITTENCE MONEY
HEAVILY tax ALL participating: Banks, businesses and wiring services as well as the money itself.

*ENVIRONMENT:
It's expensive to Chem Trail almost every day in this state (despite all the yammer about the environment). Why do you permit it?
While we keep hearing about the "environment" and carbon taxes, etc, why is Chem Trailing ignored?
I myself have MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity), so I am extremely environmentally minded, but I've also learned about HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program)-weather manipulation, weather wars & Chem Trails and it's ludicrous to me that I hear NOTHING from the "environmentalists" about: HAARP, Chem Trailing or MCS. (for that matter), they also don't breathe a word about Depleted Uranium & White Phosphorous or those ill with Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome or 9/11 rescuers (including their animals) or the workers and/or residents downwind of 9/11.

CONCLUSION: The corruption is massive in this state (in BOTH parties! It is only common sense to address ALL these issues before you even begin to think about taxing us more..... Great, Obama might give us a "tax break" at the Federal Level while the individual states will soak up those "tax breaks" at the state level...How wonderful of you.

I support the message here. I don't have narrow vision. People are pointing out really narrow-minded comments about "Octamom" & illegal aliens issues, etc. When an opinion is written, have the courtesy of addressing the article in an objective or encouraging, open-minded way. That said, allow me to offer my 2 cents.
I have a Masters degree in Public Administration from Cal State Bakersfield. I watched, like everyone else did, the collapse, and band-aid supply to many businesses and industries that needed the all-important TARP money. I'm not a proponent of this. BUT, that said, no one can tell me they don't know 1, or 2, or 5 people currently out of work. I was laid off last year for five months. It sucked! I just started working for the state of California at the Employment Development Department as a EPR (Employment Program Rep.). I am a determinations rep for those seeking unemployment benefits (i.e., making sure people don't get money because they were fired instead of laid off or another compelling reason). Trust me, making sure everyone has a little money in their pocket is key to the success of this state. This leads me to my point...
Why do people feel the need to strike down every tax increase as if it were going to kill you? Taxes are very helpful. Tell me, how are those laid off friends of yours doing? I just sent them a tax-provided relief check last week. Think they felt a little better? Tell me, how's that street you always are complaining about? Tough, you don't want to pay taxes to fix that cruddy pothole. Tell me, how did your kids do in school - pretty well? Great, your taxes provided them a good teacher, who won't get raises because of you! Tell me, how's grandma doing? She'd be doing better I bet if you provided a little more tax dollars to help her get the operation she's in desperate need of through Medicaid / Medicare. Tell me, while the state is going through layoffs that YOU gladly provided by voting against some recent minor tax increase, don't you feel better it was 10,000 people who got laid off, or the other 2/3's of the state currently going through furloughs (this affects me and 10's of 1000's of others - you know, it's where we work every day, but don't get paid every other Friday for working that day). OOOOHHHH, I should just be glad I have a job. Yeah, that's right, feeding a family of 4 on $1900 a month living in the Bay area after the 2 furlough days, my retirement I pay into, and the $200 in health insurance I pay...yeah, that was because you don't want an $.18 or $.25 tax hike per gallon. Sorry, I forgot, rather than helping others by helping get everyone out of this stinky situation, you'd rather bitch about the $4-$5 you'd be losing at the pump once every ten days. Enjoy that $5 coffee every other day, though. Tell me how you justify voting against something that would affect you in a better way long term.
BOTTOM LINE
We need taxes. I, for one, would be willing to accept a $1.00 per gallon increase for one year, down to $.50 a gallon the second year, back down to $.18 the final year, and staying put. Think about it...It still won't get to $4.50 like last year, it comes down each year, and by the final year, we'll most likely, even by weak estimates, be better economically. People, it's not easy to swallow...but this recession is something you will never see again in your life! We need to make immediate changes now for the better of you, your friends out of work, your kids in school, and grandma! Like I said, I went to school and studied this stuff. Cutting programs might help a little, but overall, we have too big a state with a 17%-18% unemployment rate (yes, the state tells you 11% - but this is only those that are currently receiving benefits, not those no longer receiving them, fired, or illegals, etc.). Big picture, not small thinking...like me, me, me - it'll hurt me. New tax dollars create new jobs. Fewer people to pay taxes because they are unemployed means less tax dollars. THINK!!!

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