Taxes and wages

Paul Krugman and David Frum disagree on how to go about current climate change legislation. Paul Krugman takes a realistic view that while a carbon tax would be much more effective, it's politically impossible so going with cap and trade is the better option since it has a good chance to pass. David Frum agrees that the carbon tax is better, but he thinks that cap and trade is a boondoggle and not worth the time. What's funny about Mr. Frum's article is the comments. People have gone nuts over the carbon tax. I tend to think that most of the comments on Mr. Frum's article are from folks who would consider themselves conservative, which probably means they are hawkish on deficits. But their railing against taxes rings hollow. If you have credit card debt, you don't pay it off sooner by just paying the minimum payment. Arguing that adding taxes in a recession is unhelpful is just another argument by the trickle down crazies. Yes, if you impose a tax on companies, they would be inclined to pass those costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices. Couldn't you structure the tax to say that companies can not pass on the increase to consumers? Could you structure the tax so that it is taken out of company executives pay? Or how about instead of dividends to stockholders, you pay the tax? There has got to be a way to make those that benefit most from higher corporate earnings pay their share here. Of course, as an American I should be paying more considering how much oil America consumes.


Ezra Klein talk about how rising health care costs impact us all directly in lost wages.