akuma587 said:
Sure, why not. If a product is creating a negative externality that hurts society, you should tax it to reduce consumption.
Cigarettes: cost the healthcare system more money, cause harm to people through secondary smoke, are physically addictive, etc.
Vehicles that weigh over a certain amount/have larger engines than necessary: Use more gasoline than other vehicles and drive up the cost of fuel, typically emit more smog and other pollutants, endanger other people on the highway who drive smaller cars.
Carbon based energy tax: has become a national defense issue, hurts our long-term economic growth, many of the sources of energy we currently use create an unacceptable amount of pollutants, would encourage investment in nuclear and renewable energy.
Why not tax things that create problems for the economy and society as a whole? Its like putting regulations on businesses that cause harm to the consumer. Not to mention it generates revenue. And taxes that target a specific activity are a phenomenal way to decrease that activity.
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This. Cigarettes harm others, and for that reason, I'm okay with taxing them.
Vehicles are a little harder. Not all vehicles are used the same. Driving a sports car on the weekend is no where near as bad as that same car every day. Also, is it city or highway miles. Corvettes can get well over 30 MPG on the highway despite their massive LS engines. There's too many variables to fairly tax something like cars.
