President Obama’s current budget plan has been described as a “déjà vu document.” It is replete with rosy economic assumptions, contains only a few nods to fiscal discipline (such as agriculture subsidy reforms), and refloats a raft of punitive tax hikes. The $10.25 per barrel tax on crude oil, while new and different in its details, reflects an old line of thinking at the White House.
Having so often sought the credit – and the public’s gratitude – for low prices at the pump, the President paradoxically continues to pursue policies that assume everyday taxpayers ought to be shelling out more. What else would explain his interest in a new tax that could raise the cost of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon every time motorists fill up, on top of higher prices for the consumer products that rely on gas-fueled transportation to get to market.
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