Taxable Talk

Global warming, that is.

According to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Governor Schwarzenegger appears ready to jump on the global warming trail for tax increases.

First, some science. There's a big debate over whether or not global warming is happening. For example, you'll hear about the US having a warm winter. Well, Asia and Eastern Europe have had a cold winter. We hear that the icepacks in the Arctic and Antarctic are melting. If so, why haven't coastal cities had flooding problems?

Additionally, there have been numerous reports that Earth naturally has warm and cold cycles. Indeed, there was a recent report that Earth will soon have a mini-ice age. When I was growing up, I remember reading in Popular Science that the burning of fossil fuels would case an ice age. That was about 1970, btw.

Back to taxes. The Governator apparently will propose increasing taxes on fossil fuel to fund research into alternative fuels. Let's assume such a measure passes. Here are the impacts:
- California will be at an additional competitive disadvantage to other states;
- California will drive business away from vital industries, such as its ports and manufacturing;
- Tax increases are passed on to consumers. Always. So this will ripple through other areas of the economy.

I could continue in this vain but I think you get the idea. This is a bad plan that deserves to be shelved immediately.

Hat Tip: GOP Bloggers

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 2007 budget has $513,000 allocated to set up a "dynamic analysis" unit within the Department of the Treasury. Currently, the Congressional Budget Office uses static analysis to determine the impact of proposed changes in the Tax Code. The idea behind dynamic analysis is that tax changes can impact behavior.

News Story: Wall Street Journal [Paid Subscription Required]

The NAEA alerted me to a new act under consideration in my old home, Washington state. Acting on the success of the Tennessee Crack Tax, two legislators in Washington have introduced similar legislation. The act, if passed, would impose a stamp tax of $50.00/gram of cocaine, $200/gram of "other controlled substance or low street-value drug that is sold by weight," $31.70/gallon (or fraction thereof) of illicit alcoholic beverages sold by the drink, and $12.80/gallon of illicit alcohoic beverages not sold by the drink.

You can find the text of the proposed legislation here.

The Senate's top Democratic tax writer declared that the Tax Reform Report issued last year is dead on arrival. “That thing's dead. That's dead, Mr. Secretary,” said Max Baucus, D-MT.

When the panel's recommendations came out last year, that's exactly the same thing that I said; these "reforms" stood no chance of passage.

News Story: AP

Hat Tip: TaxProf Blog