Jim Doyle and Tax Hell: Reformulate This!

According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

WISCONSIN DRIVERS PAY THE HIGHEST GASOLINE PRICES IN THE NATION.

That's odd.

(CBS) CHICAGO -- Chicagoans are now paying the highest gas prices in the nation: $3.59 per gallon on average.

Whatever. Wisconsin. Chicago. It doesn't matter.

I am sick of being reformulated and taxed to death.

Madison -- Wisconsin's largest business group said Tuesday that soaring gas prices mean that Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed new tax on oil companies would bring in $100 million more than first projected and amount to a 7-cent increase in the gas tax.

"I think consumers will pay it," said Jeff Schoepke, director of tax and corporate policy for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. At current pump prices, the governor's tax increase would raise the 32.9-cent gas tax, already one of the highest in the nation, to about 40 cents, he said.

Of course consumers will pay it. They always pay. Duh.

Doyle insists that the tax would not be passed on to consumers and that criminal penalties included in the provision would ensure oil companies don't do so.

Nonetheless, University of Wisconsin-Madison business professor Rodney E. Stevenson said he expects any new Wisconsin tax on oil companies to be passed to consumers in some way.

Oil company executives "are very bright," Stevenson said. "If there's a way to pass it on, they will find it."

Stevenson is giving Taxman Doyle a pass and making the oil companies out to be the villains, screwing consumers.

Taxes count too when it comes to money being taken out of consumers' pockets.

The government isn't an innocent party at all when it comes to gas prices and their impact on Wisconsinites, their families and businesses.

Also, even though the governor's tax proposal includes criminal penalties for violators, "proving criminality would be an extremely difficult thing to do," Stevenson said.

No kidding.

Doyle's promise that oil companies will face harsh penalties for passing the tax on to consumers was just a tactic to deflect from the reality of his tax increase.

But he said the "most important" part of the debate over oil prices is the nation's over-reliance on foreign oil.

Well, not really.

For a guy sitting in his Ivory Tower that may be the "most important" part of the debate.

That's long term.

I care about now, and the cost of filling up the tank tomorrow or over the weekend or next week.

I don't think that our dependence on foreign oil will alter significantly by then. Just a guess.

And by the way, it would be great to use energy sources other than oil and be less dependent. It would also be great to drill more domestically.

The state Capitol debate in the week before the Memorial Day holiday did nothing to ease the minds of Wisconsin drivers, who are already paying the highest pump prices in the nation, said Pam Moen, director of public affairs for AAA Wisconsin.

Why is that in the article?

It's not true.

I have an explanation. It's the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.