The imported oil tax would go to the military that gets billions for protecting the ability to have no disruptions in the flow of oil.
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According to the National Defense Council Foundation, the economic penalties of America's oil dependence total $297.2 to $304.9 billion annually. If reflected at the gasoline pump, these “hidden costs” would raise the price of a gallon of gasoline to over $5.28.
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That was from 2003 when gas was around $2. Money would go towards inventing fusion batteries or better & cheaper electric car batteries. Coal power station taxes would go towards building renewable energy facilities (that the power company that paid the coal tax would still own). But, it would work without human interaction and be a cleaner source of power that we can make ourselves. And there are no price fluctuations with green power.
A porn or strip club tax might be interesting. Most of the porn is free on-line, so individuals wouldn't pay much. But, they still make a lot in advertising or something. Money from the porn production companies or strip clubs would provide a disincentive going into that business, and might push them into something else. Or the money could be put to use in sex education, disease prevention, internet addiction, and stopping sex slavery.
I also think an estate tax is a good thing to pay down the national debt.
Taxes are a necessary evil. And we need to come up with a way to pay the bills. Just adding it to the national debt and forgetting about it isn't going to work anymore. Hoping that lowering everyone's taxes and they will spend it all locally (instead of saving it or buying an imported item) don't really work it seems.
---------- Post added at 05:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:42 AM ----------
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Originally Posted by dogzilla
No, I don't support taxes like that at all. One question is who gets to define that objectionable behavior?
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Objectionable behavior is something that costs society to clean up what an individual (or others who partake in such activity) decides to do. If your impact on the amount of money the government needs to spend is low, you pay less in taxes. If you decide to partake in activities that might make the government spend a lot of money today or in the future, then you should pay for it.
The easy solution is just to levy income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. If you had to pay the full amount of taxes each year in order to balance the budget, I think you would be pissed and call our government socialist, even though you aren't getting very much compared to a actual socialist country.
If you taxed high fructose corn syrup to make it better to use real sugar again, it would be a good thing. Instead of food companies trying to make a quick buck by using the cheap option that is probably a major cause in the obesity epidemic, people would have to adjust their eating habits if a Coke or Pepsi was $3. Actually, with health care costs, psychiatric/mental issues, and subsidized gym memberships, it might be a lot more.
Then again, the whole French Revolution started when taxes were levied on every little thing... The American Revolution started when England was taxing us, but not letting us influence our own policy... Now, we just allow massive government spending and hand the bill to the next generation, I worry about the youth revolting.