Energy taxes the worst

Tue., Feb. 24, 2015

After campaigning on a platform of no new taxes, Gov. Jay Inslee has conveniently forgotten his campaign promises.

Taxes on energy, whether it be gasoline, natural gas or electric power, do the maximum economic damage to our quality of life and standard of living because energy is at the very base of the economic pyramid. An increase in fuel costs percolates through the costs of everything from postage stamps to home heating, from food costs to everything that is transported.

The least damaging taxes are the ones on the other end of the pyramid (i.e., consumption). Taxes on business are, for the most part, an illusion. Businesses (that survive) are tax collectors not taxpayers, as the tax burden is passed through in the price of their product.

Dave Barker

Greenacres

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