Which would you rather tax (for example to pay for children's healthcare)?
Category: Real World > US Politics
Cigarettes
2
Cigarettes taste better the more expensive they get. It is proven. This is a win-win situation, folks.
Add Opinion
Gasoline
0
Cigarette taxes are regressive, as only poor people smoke anymore (statistically speaking--I'm sure you can find some specific examples to the contrary). However, politicians don't have the balls to raise taxes on a broader base of people by raising income taxes, or to raise taxes on luxury goods.
Gasoline would be a perfect thing to tax. Sure, it's also a little regressive (poor people spend more of their income, as a percentage, on gas than do rich people), but not too much, and the tax base would be much broader. And it might actually have beneficial effects on gas consumption, emissions, and global warming.
0
Perhaps if we had a more stringent tax on gasoline, we could reduce some of it's effects on the ozone.
