Word: deficits
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...taxes, which is one of the lowest levels in the world -- and below 1950 prices after inflation is deducted. In a TIME survey conducted last week by the opinion firm Yankelovich Clancy Shulman, nearly three-quarters of those polled said they opposed any tax boost to reduce the budget deficit. A nearly equal number acknowledged, however, that an increase seemed likely during the Bush Administration. When asked which tax they would rather see raised if an increase was necessary, 26% favored the gas tax. The measure was second to the untried notion of a national sales tax, which 44% selected...
Still, supporters of a gas-tax increase say it has emerged as the best option for cutting the deficit. Each 1 cents per gal. would bring in $1 billion in annual revenue, according to a widely used rule of thumb. Rostenkowski last month suggested a 15 cents-per-gal. increase but would probably settle for less. To ease the burden on low-income motorists, Rostenkowski would provide them with income tax credits. Says Rostenkowski: "I don't think it's as regressive as people make it out to be." Advocates of the tax also point out that by throttling back...
State legislators maintain that federal fuel taxes should be used only to pay for roads and bridges, as they mostly are now, and not to cut the deficit. Besides, with taxes already ranging from Georgia's 7.5 cents per gal. to Wisconsin's 20.9 cents, state leaders are worried that a higher U.S. levy would restrict their ability to increase their own rates. Georgia Governor Joe Frank Harris has proposed a 6 cents raise in his state's 7.5 cents tax, and last week Governor Michael Dukakis asked for a 6 cents increase in Massachusetts' 11 cents levy to help...
...issue has caused a split among Detroit automakers. Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca applauds the increase proposal and calls a reduced budget deficit "good for the whole country." A tax increase could hurt Iacocca a bit less than his Big Three rivals, since Chrysler's fleet of mostly midsize-and- smaller cars gets an average of 27.5 m.p.g., vs. 27.2 for General Motors and 26.6 for Ford. GM Chairman Roger Smith has denounced a higher gas tax as "cruel" and "unfair" and argued that it would dampen auto sales. Ford has straddled the fence. Vice Chairman Harold Poling said his company...
...showdown will probably come next summer when Congress and the Administration decide how to meet the $100 billion Gramm-Rudman deficit ceiling. After an extended bout of recrimination and finger pointing, both sides will have to agree to raise taxes or cut some $30 billion to $40 billion from cherished defense and social programs. "It's fairly likely that a modest increase in the gasoline tax will be included" in whatever package emerges, says California's Beilenson. "You've got to have something that's wrapped up with a solution for a bigger problem to provide political cover." If that...