Long-Thompson’s trying to pull an O’Bannon – don’t be fueled
Posted by Dan in UncategorizedWhen former Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon suspended the gasoline sales tax back in July of 2000, it was nothing more than a political move to garner votes in the upcoming November elections. O’Bannon was promising Indiana Hoosiers a 10 cent per gallon savings, or between $22 and $26 million. Jill Long-Thompson is now attempting to lure voters using the same ploy.
What the leftards and specifically Long-Thompson seem to conveniently forget is that we live in a free-market economy, and eliminating gasoline sales taxes will not cut gas prices over the long-term.
Consumers only benefited by initially by 4 cents a gallon. The gasoline suppliers however benefited 3 cents per gallon, nearly as much as the consumers, and Hoosiers only put about $2.50 in their pockets for each month of the suspension. The state of Indiana lost $40 million in revenue in the process.
The gasoline sales tax suspension in Indiana ran from July, 2000 through October 25th, 2000. By September 4th, the price of gas in Indiana had risen back to only 2 cents below the national average.
Currently the national average for unleaded gas is $4.108 per gallon. Indiana is at $4.205 on a statewide average. So, go ahead and place a moratorium on the gasoline sales tax and watch the prices rise again.
JLT is just pandering for votes.
AWB
Sources:
www.fuelgaugereport.com/
Michael F. Martin PHD
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Good research, I guess it stands to reason that when you drop sales taxes the gas stations will try to keep some of those new possible profits … I’ve talked to gas station owners who say that their profits are pretty dismal if not zero on gas right now.
Is there any research though suggesting that if we reduced the gas tax we would make more money, ala supply side economics, due to more fuel purchased in Indiana from border cities?
Also, since I’m in NW Indiana which features the highest fuel prices in the state, can the Governor suspend the multi-mixture laws that require our area to feature a special gas cocktail where Central Indiana has a cheaper blend? If not suspend, request a holiday?
Hey, didn’t someone once say:
“There NO fuel…like an OLD fuel”
B.G.
(and yes, PUH-LEASE do AWAY with all these regional/seasonal “mixtures” of gas…just gimme plain old 87-89 octane…period.)
“… I’ve talked to gas station owners who say that their profits are pretty dismal if not zero on gas right now.”
Sorry, I don’t believe them.
Dan,
The sales tax has absolutely nothing to do with gasoline prices. There are numerous factors that go into the price of a gallon of gas and trying to decipher what isolated impact removing the sales tax will have is pointless.
If one believes the assumption that the sales tax has very little impact on the price point then one must, by definition, buy the argument that removing the sales tax will save consumers 7%.
I for one believe the prices are set by factors completely independent of the sales tax rate…
As I recall, didn’t Indiana have a deficit at least partially because of the late governors’ decision to suspend the tax? And, didn’t he do this in a bid to get re-elected? JLT is rather sad if this is the best she can come up with. I dread the thought of any possibility that she could win.
You have got to love the democrats; they love to give money away to get elected. JLT said she would take us in a new direction; back in debt.