Tax, Tax, Tax.

It must be remembered that it is individual states that seem to be going after these cars not the federal government. What the federal government could do as part of tax reform would be to raise oil taxes, get rid of oil subsidies - not including manufacturing subsidies that apply to many industries, and lower rates. Federal fuel taxes haven't gone up since 1993, and now we are paying for roads from general funds increasing the deficit.

What about these rogue states like Oregon and Virginia? I do believe in states rights even when they do things that are against the national interest. These are awful laws, but compared to Virginia's law recently repealed that it is illegal for non-married couples to live together. Really there is a lot of bad government out there.
Va. Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Bill to Repeal Law Against Unmarried ‘Lascivious’ Living | Christian News Network
I hope these states will come to their senses, the revenue will not make up for anything at these low levels of electrified transport. It didn't pass but texas proposed to partially fufill the gap by adding a state guzzler tax to SUVs, and I would have liked that. Instead we are privatizing and building toll roads instead of public roads. Its not as bad as a lot of the country but texas needs to add that guzzler tax and raise the gas tax and not cede road building to foreign corporations.

 

Not really, seen more intelligence in my horse than a room full of politicians possess.

 

Ummmm, yes, but Pedestrians and bicyclists don't put wear and tear on freeways.
Car Poolers already pay a tax, because someone is paying for gas....ditto for bus riders....the cost to the bus company/agency for your ticket already has their fuel bill baked into the ticket price

 

Great! And I suppose you are OK with a Tesla Model S, which weighs in at least 1500 pounds more than a Prius, being taxes at $0, while we Prius drivers still pay a gas tax?
Are you OK with an all-electric Hummer, Escalade or F35o paying no tax?
What about an all-electric heavy duty truck?
The point is, soon, gas-guzzlers will not be the only ones putting wear and tear on freeways.

 

Yes, I agree an annual odometer read could be a solution. But what if someone complains that a third of their annual miles were racked up in an out-of-state road trip? I suppose the state is still within its bounds to tax these miles....same as it taxes a TV you bought, even if the majority of shows you watch on it are coming from outside the state.
However, with an annual odometer read, we lose the ability to do congestion pricing that could be done with GPS. I think the best thing to do would be to make the annual odometer read the "Opt-Out" option for those who object to GPS on privacy grounds.

 

All you need to know is the sponsor is a wacky GOP state rep who hates clean air, clean water, innovation, US jobs and loves lobbyist dollars from oil companies and US auto industry that can't make a high mpg car to, literally, save its life. And that she is part of GOP minority and the bill is going nowhere. I'm sure it's a big seller to her Tea Party big rig drivers who gnash their teeth at the gas pump when three Prius come in and fill up while they are putting $120 into their erectile dysfunction compensator.

 

Amen!!

 

Good thing there are no liberal whack jobs playing fiddle for their lobbyist. Give me a break.

 

Difference is, liberals usually lobby for things that actually help society....you know, like green energy and pre-school for poor children. As opposed to the 1%, Big Oil, and defense contractors.

 

Yeah, right.
I wonder which is helping society more right now??
The insane spending or the punitive bureaucratic legislation?

You know what? Green energy and pre-school for children costs a lot of money!!! Ahhhh....Especially the way we've been doing "green energy' lately!!!
It's time to pay your fair share!!

I've been reading posts for the last two and a half years about how Prius drivers are soooooooooo much smarter, better, richer etc. than the poor unwashed philistines that drive 'regular' cars day in and day out.

If you want nice pretty roads and bridges to drive on? We have to pay for them. Since nobody is interested in spending more wisely, we're going to have to keep throwing money at the problem until people wise up.
Hybrid drivers have the money.

I've actually come full circle on this issue. If you charge a graduated (weight class) per-mile tax then we could collect the money from the folks that have these crazy commuting distances. Like Bob says...it's as easy as jotting down an odometer reading every year!
(pretty soon there will be no non-black boxed cars on the road anyway....so it will be a self-solving problem! )
It's the only fair way to do it.
Then you can get rid of the gas guzzler tax and the hybrid tax and just charge the folks that are chewing up the roads a rate that corresponds to the amount that they're USING the road.
Don't like the tax?
Take the &^%$#! BUS~

Of course.......if you do this then you will give up some of the rudder input that you have over the constituency, and we all KNOW that this isn't going to happen anytime soon---otherwise there would have been a graduated flat tax a loooooooooooooong time ago. People in a democracy (or a representative republic) usually get the government that they deserve.

So.....shaddup and pay yer tax!

 

So me too....but that's not where the country's head is at right now.
Taxes = GOOD (as long as YOU'RE not paying them! )
Spending cuts = Poo

 

In response to ETC(SS):

I've been reading posts for the last two and a half years about how Prius drivers are soooooooooo much smarter, better, richer etc. than the poor unwashed philistines that drive 'regular' cars day in and day out.

Perhaps you've been reading it so often, because it's like........ya know.......TRUE.
As they say, facts are stubborn things.
And reality has been known to have a liberal bias.

So, here are a couple of FACTUAL (that is, based on DATA) links for you to peruse at your leisure:

Debunking The Fallacy Of The Prius Rebound Effect | ThinkProgress

Hybrid Owners: Wealthier, Healthier, Smarter Than The Rest of Us | Autopia | Wired.com

 

This is the conservative talking point that has been drummed into the national consciousness so much so, that everyone takes it at face value as being 'true', and no one questions its veracity.

"Government spending"!!!??? Just what is that, exactly? Something bad, oh yeah. Right.
How about we call it governmental investment? It is a proven fact that the amount of money spent on the interstate highway system, the power grid, research and the like has returned several times the dollars actually put in.
Something like $7 in GDP gain for every $1 in evil government spending. It requires a long-term outlook, something today's cut-your-way-to-prosperity conservatives can't fathom.
If we had this mentality back in the 50's, the interstate highway system that carries so much of our commerce would have never been built, as it was big bad federal spending.
Reminds me of what they say a miser is: "Someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

 

while private investment has yielded much better.

The premise of government taxing and investment is that it can do so with more effeciency than private investors. While there are exceptions, the general case does not seem to be there.

 

It seems to me that this policy is intended to be retaliatory in nature rather than targeting an actual problem. I suspect there are petrodollars behind this initiative.

This tax amounts to $1,560 over 100,000 miles. Drive a 40 mpg car that far and you'll pay $9,378 for gas (@$3.75/gal).

I hope that the US DOT steps in and threatens to withhold highway funds to states doing this, because high gas consumption is a very dangerous policy for the nation. Yes, when we adopt a true electric car transition, such a tax makes sense, but at this time, putting it in place delays a transition that our economy needs.

 

Your post makes some good points!

I certainly feel the new Virginia tax plan is "retaliatory in nature rather than targeting an actual problem." I could not have said it better myself.

Yes (given Virginia situation) I *might* like the idea of US DOT (or EPA?) holding states accountable for retaliatory taxes on green cars. However, politics as usual, I fear the Feds may also favor the idea of retaliatory action against hybrids (eg; pro-PlugIn and anti-hybrids). If I thought the Feds would treat hybrids fairly, then I would welcome their over-sight.

I disagree a little on motives. I wish I understood the motives better but I think we are talking: (1) urgent need to get tax dollars somewhere, but Repubs vow no new general taxes, so targeted victims needed. (2) Dems need the tax money, so they are willing to go along with the victims identified by the Repubs in Item-1. In so many words, directionally putting more taxes on the folks who agree with need for taxes (Dems) and sheltering those who don't agree with more taxes (Repubs).

 

it is in the nature of the tax man to collect as much tax as possible from those who they think can best afford it with the least protest.

 

I've read that we are more responsible, paying thousands to help our country by using less oil so we don't have to pay for oil wars that ran up $14T in debt and 100,000+ US casualties, so we don't pollute air and water. Prius drivers put their money where their mouth is on being responsible citizens. That's what I've read.

So true. We have to get out of the nutty infinite tax cut ideology of the last 30 years that has run up the $14T in debt and raise the gasoline tax, raise the oil tax, raise the carbon tax and pay off our oil debts and rebuild US economy to use do more with less energy as the more developed nations have done.

Right on! Pay that gas tax! Make oil use pay its bill.

 

What part of "whack a hippy" do you not understand?

It doesn't matter what the Prius owner thinks if the those passing the tax laws have decided Prius is the car of those of the political opposition.

Bob Wilson