Suspending Gasoline Taxes

An article in the local paper indicated that 86.9% of NC business owners said that gas prices were having a "dramatic impact" on their business and that the state should temporarily suspend its $0.271/gallon gas tax. The governor said he would not suspend the tax because it would cause a $120 million deficit in the transportation budget.

This got me to thinking about the role of government. In school I was taught that democratic goverment was "by the people, for the people".

What better way for government to help the majority of its citizens than to temporarily suspend gas taxes. Virtually everyone gets immediate financial relief including small businesses that make up so much of our economy and without the "shipping and handling charges" that governments take out of our taxes.

The temporary loss of revenue to the transportation department would be off-set by increased sales and personal income taxes generated by people and businesses having more money to spend and invest.

Perhaps, schools should now teach that a democratic government is "by a few elected officials, for a few special interests".