Abba Zabba

I just saw an ad for Kerry Healey, the Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts. During the ad she attacked all 3 of the Democratic frontrunners simultaneously. (I guess she didn't want to wait until one Democrat was chosen before starting the attacks.) Then, a bunch of her policies flashed quickly across the screen. One in particular caught my attention: "Repeal the gas tax."

That is the worst idea ever! First of all, the only thing that will make people use less gas is having gas be expensive. Gas is cheaper here than in Europe. In Europe, people drive more fuel-efficient cars and use more public transportation. Coincidence? But it gets worse. The gas tax here is 23 cents per gallon. Eliminating the tax would be less than a 10% decrease in gas prices. And it would totally screw up the state's finances. Gas taxes are an important part of the state's income, and they're usually marked for spending on road repairs. So Kerry Healey wants to encourage people to drive more and stop repairing state roads. And this is a selling point for her campaign?

Maybe you're saying that it would help the poor. And that's a reasonable point. The poor spend a larger percent of their earnings on gas. But repealing gas taxes still doesn't help the poor that much. Want to help the poor? Give them health care. Decrease other types of taxes, like sales tax, which also disproportionately hits the poor. Hell, give poor people who drive a lot a tax rebate for some of what they spent on gas. But repealing the gas tax is one of the worst economic policy ideas available. And the fact that Healey is pushing it as a centerpiece of her platform is evidence that she deserves to lose very, very badly.