In the Internet Heavyweight category, James Lileks destroys Andrew Sullivan’s (admittedly weak) idea of a $1/gallon gas tax. Sullivan thinks it's a necessary sacrifice to pay for the war, Lileks sez:
That's a thousand dollars out of my pocket, and if you think that would go directly to the war or the deficit, you've never seen the face of a Senator who sees bounteous budget numbers for the coming fiscal year.
Lileks sounds like a typical conservative - "It's my money and I should get to keep it." Well those who agree with this sentiment need to ask themselves, "Just how are you going to PAY for the failure to impose this new tax? Well?? HOW, Mister Smartypants!" Oh yeah, and "Where are the budget offsets?!" Stupid conservatives, don't they know that wealth can't be allowed to concentrate in too few hands?
Posted by: johngalt at April 19, 2004 05:18 PMHenry Reardon was asked, "Doesn't anything matter to you except money?" To which he replied, "Yes; the fact that it's my money."
.
Posted by: Macho Duck at April 19, 2004 10:37 PMLileks is a dad not an ideologue. He knows he can spend $960 better than his fictitious but realistic Senator.
Posted by: jk at April 20, 2004 08:15 AMBut "idealogue" or not, the fact that he believes he can spend it "better" is NOT what makes it RIGHT for him to keep it. I know that you know the real basis of that right, and it seems pretty clear Lileks does too. Sullivan, on the other hand, is a lost cause.
Posted by: johngalt at April 20, 2004 09:40 AM