If it's just another sales tax, then it's as much of a burden on the low-income worker as any other sales tax on an essential item.

We also all know that a tax levied on a company (if that's the way it would be done) is eventually paid by the consumers of the company's product.

In a perfect world, I would say, yeah, sure, but give a standard reduced-tax account for a set amount of gas to everyone so workers have some chance of getting to work without spending their rent money.

Maybe it could work like a debit card: you put your own money in your reduced-tax account, you spend your own money at the pump. Everything spent through that account is taxed at a lower rate. The account expires after a certain number of gallons are purchased within the calendar year, and come January, we all start all over again. Same to everyone, and what gas you buy above the amount the account allows, you pay higher tax on.

Of course, I have no idea how such a project would work in real life, except that people would inevitably buy and sell reduced-tax accounts. And of course, the administrative costs would be, um, interesting.

We could have another talk about mass transit, with an emphasis this time on electric trolleys and electric trains. At least one isn't required to run them on gasoline.

It still doesn't solve the problem of the cost of such consumables as food and drug store essentials going up because of increased gas prices. That always hurts lower-income people most, because everyone needs food and aspirin and toilet paper in about the same amounts, but those with less income spend a greater proportion of it to acquire those things.