Unindexed excise taxes, to me, show one of two things: ignorance about the need to index; or control of the law by the special-interest taxpayers, rather than the public.
But I learned a lesson from Senator Bentsen’s Finance Committee Health Counsel long ago: She had a plaque on her wall saying something like, “In politics, there are no permanent victories.” So I think Republican candidate Ben Carson overstated the ability of indexing to solve problems:
CARSON: “Negotiate a reasonable minimum wage, and index that so that we never have to have this conversation again in the history of America.”
Never in history? I doubt it. But we haven’t gotten around to fixing an unindexed dollar amount from 200+ years ago. The Founders didn’t count on inflation with this number in the 7th Amendment: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.”
Debate is at http://time.com/4037239/second-republican-debate-transcript-cnn/
The Center for New Revenue 