Gas Tax

Ramesh Ponnuru takes on Andrew Sullivan's support for a gas tax. Ponnuru's opposition is rather tepid, and he says that a higher gas tax might be ok in some circumstances.

What it comes down to for me is that we're going to tax something to pay for what the government does. Why not a higher tax on gas if it could be done in exchange for a lower payroll tax? Income is generally preferable to gas consumption, after all. Not that I want higher taxes if all else is held equal, but that would be a good tradeoff as far as I can see.