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Rep. John Dingell, D-MI, has announced that he is going to introduce a bill that would raise the gasoline tax by 50 cents per

gallon to 68.4 cents. Such a tax is, of course, controversial, because it makes something we all rely on - transportation - significantly more expensive. And such a tax will doubtlessly affect those with lower incomes more than those with higher incomes (like the curiously large number of people with Rolls Royces and Bentleys here in South Florida). An energy tax of such magnitude would definitely have a lasting impact on decisions such as which car to purchase, running more than one errand at a time, and even where to live. So the question is really whether an increase in the federal gas tax would make gas artificially too expensive or whether the pollution effect of burning gasoline means it is already artificially too cheap because the externalities are not factored into the price. But I digress - I’m secretly (well, not so secretly anymore) hoping that my former economics professors are reading this and saying to themselves, “I always knew that Rick guy was sharp.”

The real point with this story is that Rep. Dingell is not introducing a piece of legislation that he believes in or that he even hopes will pass. No, Mr. Dingell, Servant of the People, is introducing his legislation in the hopes that it fails. He says that Americans are not willing to pay what it would take to tackle this problem. Here’s what he said (credit to Forbes.com):

“I will be introducing in the next little bit a carbon tax bill, just to sort of see how people really feel about this. When you see the criticism I get, I think you’ll see the answer to your question.”

Why would you waste your time criticizing someone over a bill he has already said was just a joke anyway? I suppose if you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time than to introduce bills that you want to see fail, this is a great idea. Dingell has been a Congressman since 1955 so I can understand being bored with proposing legislation that you believe in and thinking that maybe your constituents want a little excitement and want to see you have your staff spend time on a prank bill. Ha ha - here’s a good one: maybe he could get a donation from the automobile lobby to pay for this.