What Kind of Tax Incrrease Can We Serve You?

I wonder what mix of tax increases and tax cuts you’d prefer from your favorite presidential candidate?

Hillary Clinton joins John McCain in lifting the federal highway taxes on the gasoline. Most reports put the savings at about 18 cents per gallon. Barack Obama opposes the 3-month suspension of petrol taxes and accuses the other two candidates of playing to the polls. That’s rather ironic from a candidate who has consistently told his prospective voters what the polls tell him they want to hear. Pandering, is it? I understand Obama’s grasping for any straw which will get the media off the Rev. Wright debacle but, come on….the gas tax?

Over the road truckers would certain welcome the temporary suspension of the gasoline tax, that’s for sure. Eighteen cents a gallon over a lot of miles means a lot of cost cutting. I’d be happy to save 18 cents a gallon, too. Besides, Obama seems to be wrong about the amount of savings—I think it would be more than the $30.00 per month that Obama claims, even with self-limited driving. But even if the savings were only $30 bucks, what’s wrong with that? I’m not sure how heating oil is taxed but the doubling of heating oil prices ($3.70 per gallon) had a crippling effect.

It seems that Obama’s economic proposals are aimed at getting people used to paying higher taxes. It’s economic equality, Obama style. The fairest thing to do would be make everyone poorer. I love wind projects, too, but the presidency requires more than a wind project, isn’t it?

Here’s what Obama and other Donkey Party politicians are proposing to tax:

Excise or windfall profits on “Big Oil.” Few people will weep but mugging the oil companies doesn’t necessarily mean that Americans will get anything back from that except schadenfreude.

Hillary Clinton, at least, says she’ll use that tax to replace the highway money funds which will be lost by dropping the gas tax.

Obama wants to increase capital gains taxes and estate taxes and lift the top limit on social security taxes. Lots of Americans have small stock holdings these days. I made $800 bucks over 2 years on 500 shares of a small bank stock so naturally I’m looking forward to paying a higher capital gains tax if I sell it. Why should a big wall-streeter like me get away with a “windfall?”

Another pet project of the Obama brain trust is to let the Bush tax cuts expire. That would be a large federal tax increase which will strangle a limping economy. Clinton’s about in the middle on that issue, whereas John McCain wants to keep the tax cuts in place beyond the expiration date.

The only good news on the economic front is that Obama’s political trend line is moving opposite to bulk oil prices.