Gas Taxes: Raise Them for The Public Good

Here in New York City the price to take the subway or ride a public bus just rose an astonishing 25%, from $2.00 to $2.50.

It is a case study in government doing exactly the wrong thing for society as a whole.

Our 'leaders' should be doing everything in their power to encourage travelling by mass transit for a whole variety of obvious, incredibly important reasons such as global warming, safety, efficiency, foreign relations, the environment, etc...

One clear way to encourage people to abandon their cars--at least somewhat, in favor of mass transit would be to significantly raise the federal excise tax on gas.

I know, I know, this is an incredibly controversial proposition, especially during a recession, but raising taxes will never be popular with the American people.

We ostensibly elect our leaders to make tough decisions for the public good, and this would incontrovertibly be good for nearly everyone.

America, the richest country on the planet, is a third world backwater with regards to our decaying rail system. The very car companies that succeeded in crippling the rail companies at the turn of last century are now themselves bankrupt.

It's time for Washington to use its power to tax to charge more for Americans to fill up their cars, then direct that money in its entirety to develop mass transit.

It's now or never.