DNC Doesn't Pay Gas Tax

On Tuesday The Rocky exposed a deal the Democratic National Committee had with the City of Denver which enabled them to get tax-free gas at special city pumps. There was even debate on whether or not the DNC would pay the discounted wholesale rate Denver locks in on its fuel contracts or have to pay a market rate.

After being caught, the guilty party quickly agreed to pay "fair market" plus taxes for the fuel used. I can't believe how quickly this story has faded from the local and national media. It not only exposes the hypocrisy of tax-and-spend elites but also how un-green (uh, brown?!?) the convention will be.

There's a lot of analysis about this on the web from Mayor Hickenlooper trying to say the RNC got the same deal (which they didn't), to the outright hypocrisy, to theories about this being done to cushion the DNC budget shortage, and so-on. But I think there's a fundamental piece missing when it comes to the justification of such taxes.

Gas taxes are championed by the left as a means of curbing carbon emissions/consumption according to the following logic...

Higher Taxes = Less Consumption

Less Consumption = Better for the Environment

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Higher Taxes = Better for the Environment

By this logic should anyone really be exempt from gas taxes?

Even with $4.00/gal gas, some are saying we should increase gas taxes to even higher levels to further limit carbon emissions. This, in a environment with stale wages, and an ever increasing cost of living, is crippling the middle class.

Progressive taxation, another favorite tool for "social and economic justice" would require higher taxes for higher incomes. In which case the DNC, with a budget in the millions, should be paying considerably higher gas taxes than the average Denver metro resident with a median household income of only $41,767.

But both Denver and the DNC thought $0.00 in taxes was a better number!