by John F Mann

Created on: May 03, 2008

Mention "gas tax" at your local watering hole and you will likely spark a lively "discussion" bordering on cries for revolution. If you dare to voice an inclination to support an increased gas tax, you risk, at a minimum, being taunted with the political "L" word.

One defense to the "liberals as tax hikers" attack is to explain (with a smile) that supporting increased gas taxes is actually a conservative approach. With this disarming move, you can then take the offensive.

Allowing everyone (and every business) to drive as much as they want, without paying for the real costs of the highway system, is liberal in the extreme.

For at least the past 25 years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has issued their annual "report card" on the state of national infrastructure. Invariably, our highways and bridges have been rated substandard. Repair costs (conservatively) have been estimated in the hundreds of billions (with a B) dollars.

The problem of course is to fund necessary repairs. Unless we start selling every bridge and highway to foreigners or hedge funds, the only sources of funds is our government.

For several important reasons, we Americans must also reduce consumption of gasoline.

Rational thinking of these two problems should result in the conclusion that higher gas taxes are necessary and much-preferred compared to the alternatives.

The only realistic way to significantly decrease consumption of gasoline in the US is to greatly increase the price. Of course a much larger war involving Iran and Saudi Arabia would also put a large dent in gas consumption, though we would not be in control.

Based on just about any recent news report and opinion poll on the subject of gas taxes, a very high percentage of Americans claim that they do not believe any increase in gas taxes is warranted or fair. Yet, at the same time, a very high percentage of Americans also claim to agree with the notion that, as a nation, "we" need to do all we can to reduce consumption of oil, especially oil from non-American sources.

The NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome, applied to personal finance, jumps to mind as one way of explaining this obvious inconsistency. A more accurate explanation however is likely more complicated. When you listen to Americans try to explain why they claim to believe these glaringly inconsistent positions, it becomes clear that there is a general lack of knowledge about basic economic principles among the population.

Unless foreign suppliers were to literally

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