Last updated on April 14th, 2021 at 09:46 pm
Senate Republicans are demanding that Democrats raise the gas tax, which impacts the poor, than raising taxes on corporations.
Both Sens. Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski both suggested taxing the poor to pay for infrastructure:
Romney also brought up gas tax as alternative to corporate taxes. Fun situation now where R’s are either telling D’s to raise gas tax for bipartisanship or promising to utterly destroy them in the midterms for even thinking about a gas tax hike https://t.co/Lisf66p4pM
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— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 13, 2021
The gas tax is a regressive tax because lower-income people spend a higher percentage of their income on gasoline in order to commute to work than wealthy people. Republicans are trying to pass off the cost of infrastructure to the poor and working class.
If Democrats did what Republicans asked and raised the gas tax, Republicans would then turn around and use the increased gas tax against them in the 2022 midterm election. The push by Senate Republicans to tax the poor to pay for infrastructure that corporate America benefits from more than anyone else is a reminder that Republicans will always put corporations ahead of the needs of regular Americans.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association