Why the gas tax is unfair to wage earners

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 When the state tacks fees on the price of a gallon of gas, it's punishing a class of people that are not only the least deserving, but the weakest element of the government. The wage earner.

The reason we, the weak, are taxed in the first place is because we don't have the power to fight back.

The US Supreme Court recently ruled that corporations are sovereign entities above and beyond the individuals that comprise them by upholding their ability to speak with a louder, more pervasive voice in government via campaign contributions. That gives the very rich incredible influence in government that the rest of us cannot access.

The reason the wage earner, the people that drive their cars for reasons of personal travel or to get to their jobs and many other non-commercial reasons, should not have to pay a gas tax is because they cause a minuscule amount of wear and tear on the roads in comparison to that of commercial users.

The unmistakable beneficiary of our roads are the corporations that use them to generate vast amounts of revenue. Pound-for-pound, semi trucks cause 60 times more damage than a passenger car. Even if I thought the people, who have a natural right to move about the country unencumbered by government regulations or corporate restrictions, were to fork over an equitable share for their road use, then it would be a tiny fraction of what they currently pay.

Let's also remember that the gas tax is not the only way in which the people subsidize over-the-road commerce. We pay huge in state and federal taxes on wages, tax on purchases, tax to give health care to elderly, disabled and poor people, and tax to supplement the incomes elderly people after they retire, without respect for financial need. Any of these moneys can be leveraged or converted to directly or indirectly fund road construction or gas subsidies -- on the backs of the wage earner.

There are no delusions that the government needs revenue to operate and keep the country on the rails. The question is, from which spigots should it be able to derive it? The problem is that some very powerful people and entities regard the wage earners as an enormous teat from which to enrich themselves.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little sick and tired of being the schmuck who has to pay all the damn bills around this place!

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