Thursday, September 08, 2005

Mexicans Skirt the Minutemen


This is rich. The Mexican Government has sent a convoy north over the border to aid relief efforts on the American Gulf Coast. I wonder if the Minutemen watched. Read about it here.

The Albuquerque Journal said in an editorial this morning that suspending the gas tax might be a good idea. Senator Joe Carraro and Congressmen Pearce came up with that idea. They said we could use the anticipated state surplus to make up the difference for road funding. I still think a windfall profits tax on the oil industry would be a better way of providing relief. Or, perhaps we could stop road construction projects that affect the good legislators districts as a way of making up lost revenues. I am sure Joe and the Journal wouldn't mind losing the Paseo project, would they? Ok, that was a dumb rhetorical question.

The more interesting question is should the gasoline tax be limited to 17 cents per gallon? New Mexico has a low tax compared to most of the states. See here. Seventeen cents might be a lot at $1 a gallon gas, but at $3 a gallon it is very low. It should really be a percentage if we want to properly fund transportation infrastructure. I understand it used to be that way and it might be a time to return to that scheme.

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