Now he wants to hit Americans who can least afford it with the bill. Be real. He wants to slap a $10 per barrel fuel tax on consumers, not “big oil.” Even those who enjoy seeing taxes raised on the poorest families must admit that Mr. Obama’s proposed gas tax will be dumped into the general fund as the federal government continues spending trillions more than it takes in. The new tax represents a 136 percent tax increase.
Anyone who has shed their political diapers knows energy companies will simply pass along the tax to consumers. Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, which tracks gas prices nationwide, said just that in an interview with USA TODAY, yesterday.”Something like this would trickle down and be a $10 per barrel tax on motorists,” DeHaan said. “This is not something oil companies are going to absorb.”
For his part, the lame-duck president will propose his tax hike plan when he reveals his budget next week. Despite having spent $10 trillion in deficits that the country can barely pay interest on, the new taxes are part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions and generate billions of dollars for mass-transit investments and self-driving vehicles. The new tax would be phased in over five years, and would apply to both domestic and imported oil.
Yes, self-driving cars. One of the main selling points of Mr. Obama’s huge new gas tax is development of self driving cars. As for mass transit, California has spent tens of billions of dollars on building light rail and other mass transit products in that state but trains are running on empty because of high crime rates and extended layovers in dangerous neighborhoods scare people off. In California mass transit is a problem because it costs residents more in taxes than it is worth to them. Mr. Obama’s proposal simply takes that to the federal level.
Currently, the price of gas at the pump is low, however unless historical facts and trends are altogether worthless for predicting the future, we will be paying big bucks at the pumps again soon, the aforementioned tax hike notwithstanding. Mr. Obama knows this, which is why he picked the moment when oil prices have bottomed out to propose his new federal tax. The president knows Americans have short memories and he must hit them hard while proposing taxes is most palatable.
Oil companies never have and never will pay gas taxes anymore than your phone, electric or utility companies absorb taxes levied against them. It is always the consumer who pays all of the taxes when they purchase products. According to experts, for every $15 gas purchase, consumers would pay a minimum of $2.76 more per day with Obama’s new tax – but that’s based on today’s price at the pump, and it doesn’t stop there. Mr. Obama’s proposed tax would also impact those who use heating oil to warm their homes and diesel to fill their trucks. However, Mr. Obama would supposedly balance your losses with a relief fund for families affected by higher energy bills. Sound familiar? It’s the basic formula of Obamacare. Working families get to pay a greater portion of everyone else’s living expenses. In truth, oil companies never absorb taxes.
Needless to say Mr. Obama’s spokesman on the matter, Jeff Zients, disagrees and would have you believe oil companies, perhaps out of the goodness and charity of their hearts will pick up much of the federal tax tab. “This is a per-barrel fee on oil paid for by oil companies,” the White House economic adviser told reporters Thursday. “So they’re the ones paying the fee. We recognize that oil companies will likely pass on some of these costs.”
Perhaps Mr. Zients should be retrofitted for a clean pair of political diapers after his outgassing at the press conference where he proposed a $10 per barrel federal gas against the poorest Americans.
