Ending America's dependence on oil: What is it worth to you?

Question

What percentage of the taxes you pay should be applied to the goal of ending American dependence on foreign oil?

and a side question--would you pay higher taxes, expect the government to find the money elsewhere in the budget, or prefer higher excise taxes on gasoline (and maybe other oil products) so that people who stop using gas aren't paying the tax?

This isn't really an election question--it's a little more general. Candidates will differ on how to accomplish this, how much to spend, what to cut to pay for it, who's taxes to raise and lower, and so on. What I want to know is if, for instance, your federal (non-social security) tax bill was $2000, how much of that should go toward this cause?: $1? $20? More? Nothing--who cares if we import oil?

Answer 1

more appropriate is what it is worth to our future generations.  in my opinion, no matter what your party affiliation, it has to be a top priority for our countries soverienty.

Answer 2

we have already spent over 3000 lives and 5 trillion dollars to steal iraqi oil  . the powers that be have determine that we WILL be dependent  on their oil . i watched a documentary on the electric car mandate in CA . the oil companies made the people give back wonderful EV1 cars , then had every one shredded . washington does not want you free of oil dependece . its up to the average joe to use solar , windmills , and their VOTES to send a message . Ds and Rs seem to be only good at creating divicive anomosities . im going with Nader .

Answer 3

I should not have to pay higer taxes for us to end are dependence on oil  

Answer 4

Why would you think the government can or should try they can't do anything right the over taxed over regulated private sector will be the only one to find a solution if the government gets involved it will cost 10 to 20 times what they projected and still won't work  

Answer 5

Not knowing an exact answer to #1, I would have to go with the percentage of whatever oil costs us per year vs. what our national budget is.  That way you don't over/under value the importance of removing it.  

#2  No, I would not like to pay higher taxes to end oil consumption.  The governments (state, local, federal) already roughly tax about 60 cents per gallon.  Without giving a specific example (which I could do) there is almost endless needless spending in the gov't... way too much red tape.  Cut that and there will be a lot of extra cash for more worthwhile things.  

But everyone does need to keep in mind that oil is not solely for cars.  Virtually everything we use has one form of oil or another.  (I watched a lovely Discovery show on it)

Answer 6

I don't understand your question. What do taxes and ending dependence on oil have to do with each other.  The only thing I can think if is if you increased taxes on oil to say $10,000,000 a barrel, people would stop using it and end the dependence.

Other than that, I don't see what taxing it can do. The only way you can end dependence is to find another source. The free market will do that, through the laws of supply, demand and substitution.

Answer 7

I think that if we drilled here in the USA it would save money and create more jobs for the people living here. I think it's a great idea, and why should we even have to pay taxes to end the dependence on foreign oil? Why not just start drilling and gradually end the process that way?

I think the fact that we import oil is what causes the prices of gas to be so high in the first place.