The Obama to Propose a $10-per-Barrel Tax on Oil

"President Obama is proposing a $10-a-barrel oil tax, phased in over five years, to pay for a variety of transportation initiatives, including new rail corridors, highway projects, pilot projects for self-driving cars, and other technologies it said fall under the goal of a 'clean transportation' system."
Ref: The Washington Post

Why?

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
Ref: brainyquote

With $30 oil, that is a 33% tax on oil......If you really want to tick off his base, but a 33% tax on Starbucks!

Very disappointing as it is another regressive tax. (You know the poorer you are the higher rate you pay) Wall Street needs to be taxed not Main Street.

Knowing that it will never pass, he continues to work on his "legacy", so when he writes his $10 million guaranteed presidential memoir, he'll have that included as another thing he did trying to save the planet. He's about as hard to see through as a crystal clear pane of glass. My only question is will they put him on Lincoln's side of Mount Rushmore? Or will they have to put him on the "left" by Washington?

Both parties have acknowledged our infrastructure has been neglected and needs to be addressed. The gas tax has not been raised in decades but costs for maintaining infrastructure have risen....and gasoline mileage has improved remarkably which actually results in a massive decline in infrastructure revenue.

So you can put fourth an honest way to pay for the mutually agreed spending that is needed. Or you can tell the public you'll pay for it with tax cuts. Better yet, tell them Mexico will pay for it.

I'd support a tax on IMPORTED oil. A tax that varies with the world oil price. Like now when Oil is low the Oil Import Tax would be high. When Oil goes back up to $70 a barrel the tax goes away. That way Saudi Arabia no longer has the power to crush our Shale Oil and Clean Energy industries after the billions we've invested in them....and we become more Energy Independent. Is it protectionist? Yep. It's also a National Security issue. But....of course....that's not what's being proposed.

So about 70 cents of the $1.97/gallon I paid for gas in PA this week, was federal and state tax. That's a 36% tax rate. What is a good number? Only 60% of the federal tax goes toward infrastructure, the rest is for "earmarked" AKA "pork barrel" projects. I'd be all for a 90/10 ratio myself.

Let's talk about Liberal policy and sustainability. How sustainable is raising taxes every 10 years for eternity?

Notice that he wants an oil tax, and not a gasoline tax. Obama understands that this will confuse a large portion of the Liberal voting base, as they will believe that this tax is on "big oil", and not a tax on the gasoline buyer.

"Both parties have acknowledged our infrastructure has been neglected and needs to be addressed"

The tax is not for infrastructure but for "clean energy projects". Those projects have proven to be a waste