Policymakers Refusal To Contemplate Higher Gasoline Taxes Has The Country On a Path To Disaster

WASHINGTON — A combative President Barack Obama blamed Republican lawmakers Friday for failing to stop automatic spending cuts that were to begin kicking in later in the day, arguing he can’t perform a “Jedi mind meld” to get Republicans to agree on a deal. Republicans said the fault was his, for insisting that increased taxes be part of the resolution. Obama, pressed on whether he bears some responsibility for the stalemate, expressed frustration and mixed his sci-fi metaphors.

Stanford’s Jon Krosnick explains that Americans believe climate change is real, believe it’s caused by human activity, and want to see it stopped—but they diverge from experts in how it should be done:

There's been a lot of anxiety over leaks outlining the compromises being made in the Senate Finance Committee's health-care plan.

He's got the beet sugar.

The federal gasoline tax doesn’t bring in enough money to meet the country’s transportation spending needs. What’s more gasoline taxes are a good way of raising tax revenue—they’re economically efficient and environmentally beneficial. But of course nobody in politics wants to touch the idea of higher gasoline taxes. So it seems noteworthy that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was talking about the idea yesterday:

A Senate committee moved Tuesday toward a pivotal vote on a sweeping health care bill that fulfills President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. "It's time to get the job done," Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus declared as he convened his panel for the long-anticipated action.

It's true that Ted Kennedy could only rack up his incredible list of achievements because he was elected as a young man and thus had the time to amass incredible seniority. The same goes for Joe Biden, or Max Baucus, or virtually any of the longtime committee chairmen who are still sharp enough to chair a meeting. Youth is only a bit less important in the eventual power of Senate candidates than in Supreme Court nominees, but it is discussed much less openly.