Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Tex]

re renewal fees and transit tolls

Taxing fuel consumption is regressive, and taxing people for commuting to work isn't?

If you want investment in low-consumption vehicles, taxing people on the value of their expensive fuel-efficiency investments every time they get their tags renewed won't be a big incentive to do it, either.

The fuel tax has the benefit of hitting exactly where it creates the incentive: at inefficiency. You can motivate people to find alternatives in varying degrees by increasing the tax on waste. People who don't want to pay the tax can use mass transit -- or demand that it be built.

Taxing "windfall" profits of petroleum producers who are being asked to spend a fortune replacing the capacity that's vanishing won't exactly motivate new investment in that direction, either.

If you're worried about the impact on the lower incomes, there are ways to back out the cost of the tax: credits on the income tax, for example, and modifications to the withholding formulas to keep that income in the households all year long. Blaming petroleum producers isn't productive. Directly incentivizing efficiency and alternatives through a tax to fund those projects seems like a clear option.

Ahh, well. I've supported fuel taxes for energy policy reasons for some time, and I have little confidence our current politicians have the fortitude to do it.

Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss.

Take care,
--Tex.