Albany Coddles the Oil Addicts

The President has said that we are “addicted to oil”. An addiction needs to be treated seriously, not actively enabled. But this is exactly what NY State’s legislature wants to do. They are set to approve a 4-9 cent reduction in the gas tax in yet another attempt for politicians to look like they are doing something about increase gas prices.

Although I tend to think that a federal gas tax would actually be a good thing, I can understand the political distaste for such a decision. However, I don’t understand why they won’t let the current status of the state tax just stand. Once the gas tax is lowered, it will be politically difficult to raise it later on, regardless of whether the wholesale prices of oil either raise or lower. That is, one day the politicians might wake up and understand why a stiff gas may be the best thing for us, despite high wholesale prices. Or prices might (temporarily) lower, in which case they’ll want to raise the tax again, but could face a public outcry.

The Oil Drum: New York City