Why Friedman’s Gas Tax Idea Stinks

1. Why Friedman’s Gas Tax Idea Stinks Tom

2. Bob This is Bob Bluecollar. Bob is a regular, hard-working American with a wife, three kids, and a mortgage.

3. Will This is Will Whitecollar. Will makes six figures, eats at fancy restaurants, and cheats on his wife with his 23-year old secretary.

4. Will Bob Bob and will are happy!(see the smiles?)

5. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 Bob and Will both drive about 18,000 miles per year.

6. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 19mpg Bob drives a 2001 Chevy S10 that gets 19 mpg. Bob would like to buy a new car that gets better mileage, but Bob has kids to feed and bills to pay.

7. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg Will drives a 2011 Cadillac Escalade that gets 13 mpg. Will doesn’t need a huge SUV, but Will is douchebag who is obsessed with impressing his white collar buddies, and besides, he has lots of money.

8. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 Both Bob and Will pay the same for gas - $3.50 per gallon.

9. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 Bob pays $3315 per year for gas.Will pays $4846 for gas. =$4846 =$3315

10. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 Bob pays about $276 per month for gas, while Will pays $403. $4846 $3315 12 mo 12 mo $403 $276

11. Tom This is Tom. Tom wrote a couple of books. Tom thinks the government should increase taxes on gasoline by $1 per gallon.

12. Tom Will Bob Bob is very concerned about Tom’s idea because Bob’s paycheck is stretched as it is. Will, on the other hand, could care less. He has money.

13. Tom Will Bob Is Tom’s $1 per gallon tax a good idea? Let’s find out.... ? ?

14. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 $4.50 $4.50 Both Bob and Will would have to pay $4.50 per gallon if Tom has his way.

15. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 $4.50 $4.50 Under Tom’s plan, Bob would have to pay almost $1000 more per year in gas. Will would have to pay almost $1400 more. $4846 $3315 $6230 $4263

16. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 $4.50 $4.50 Will is still happy. Will doesn’t really care about paying more for gas. He’ll pay whatever it takes to keep impressing his douchebag friends with his living-room-on-wheels SUV. $4846 $3315 $6230 $4263

17. Will Bob 18,000 18,000 13mpg 19mpg $3.50 $3.50 $4.50 $4.50 Bob is sad. Unlike Will, Bob does care about how much he pays for gas. Because he now pays more, he can’t afford the newer, more fuel efficient car he has been dreaming about buying. $4846 $3315 $6230 $4263

18. Tom But, if gas prices are higher, people will drive less!! Now, Tom might say, “But, if gas prices are higher, people will drive less!”

19. Bob That is true. Bob still has to drive to work, though. So to drive fewer miles, he is going to have to skip that family road trip to Disney World he was planning. Now Bob’s family is sad. Thanks a lot, Tom.

20. Secretary Will Will’s Wife However, Will won’t drive less. He has money to burn. He is going to keep his Cadillac SUV, keep eating at nice restaurants, and keep banging his secretary. The only one that is sad is Will’s Wife, but that is because she is married to Will, not because of gas prices.

21. Tom Tom’s idea is pretty bad because it is hard on Bob but not hard on Will. Plus, Tom’s plan does not reduce the number of gallons of gas Bob and Will consume by very much.

22. Tom Is there a better idea than Tom’s idea? You bet there is! ? ?

23. Will Tax $$ Instead of taxing gas, we should tax gas-guzzlers. When douchebags like Will buy vehicles with poor gas mileage, they shoould have to pay a tax at the time of sale.

24. Will Bob Tax Break $$ Tax $$ Then, when hard-working people like Bob want to buy a new fuel-efficient vehicle, we can use the tax money paid by people like Will to help people like Bob afford their new vehicle by giving people like Bob a tax break.

25. Tax Break $$ Vehicles above the CAFE standard would get a tax break. The higher the fuel efficiency, the more the tax break. Better MPG CAFE Standard MPG Tax Break

26. Tax Break $$ Tax $$ Vehicles below the CAFE standard would get taxed at the point of sale. The higher the fuel consumption, the higher the tax. Worse MPG Better MPG CAFE Standard MPG Tax Break Tax

27. Tax Break $$ Tax $$ How will this work out for Bob and Will? Let’s find out.... Worse MPG Better MPG CAFE Standard MPG Tax Break Tax ? ?

28. Bob Bob is happy. He gets to buy a new fuel efficient car with the help of a tax break.

29. Yahoo! We get to go to Disney World! Bob Bob’s family is happy! They get to go to Disney World!

30. Will Will is happy. He doesn’t care if he has to pay more for his SUV. He is a douchebag who will pay anything to impress his douchebag friends.

31. Will’s Wife’s Boy Toy Secretary Will Will’s Wife Even Will’s wife is happy now. She started an affair with a 22-year-old bartender as revenge for Will’s affair with his secretary.

32. Joe Taxpayer Joe Taxpayer is happy because the gas guzzler tax incentive does not increase the national debt. The Earth is happy because more people will drive fuel efficient vehicles, which means less carbon emissions.

33. Everyone is happy!

34. Tom One last question:Why would Tom propose an idea that would hurt regular people like Bob? ? ?

35. Tom Probably because Tom is a millionaire who made his money selling books, and who has no clue how his dim-witted ideas will affect normal people…

36. Tom Why didn’t Tom think of this great idea? ? ?

37. Tom Will Bob In other words, Tom is more like Will and less like Bob.

38. Tom Do all of us a favor Tom. STFU.