Yesterday, John McCain disclosed details of his plan to cut the use of fossil fuels—and thus greenhouse gases--through a cap and trade system of mandatory emissions reductions. As we have written, cap’n trade is not the name of a cheesy seafood restaurant. It is Washington-speak for a huge new tax on oil, gas, and coal. This is a good thing, but we ought to talk about it honestly.   more »

$451 million in tax breaks for timber companies. Ka-ching. $500 million for biodiesel. Ka-ching. $126 million for racehorse breeders. Ka-ching. $20 million for Aggie bonds. Ka-ching.    more »

Before you get the idea that a big increase in energy taxes is just the latest raving of an elitist, inside-the-Beltway policy wonk, you might want to know that I’m not the only one who likes this idea. So do John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.    more »

While TaxVox and others have disclosed the folly of a federal tax holiday, some have suggested that temporary state gas tax relief might work better. Some New York State legislators are already pushing for such a plan. But before cash-strapped states jump on the bandwagon, they might consider how a previous experiment in Illinois and Indiana worked out. In 2000, Indiana announced that it would be suspending its 5 percent gasoline sales tax for 120 days beginning July 1. In response, Illinois also suspended its levy for six months that July.. Quaint as it seems today, the changes were spurred by a spring spike in Midwest gas prices to (gasp) $2.00 – a level drivers would now gladly embrace.    more »