I've been reading lately about a commission set up by Congress to study ways to finance transportation projects and upkeep around the country. While I actually support funding this at the federal level as a public good and a function of interstate commerce (I don't support a lot of the things our government funds), the ideas proposed here are way out of bounds. The official report is supposed to be released sometime near the end of January according to the Associated Press, Fox News and a bunch of other sources. I expect I'll try to read this report since it has generated a lot of thought for me. Nonetheless, according to reports, it will recommend to Congress that we increase our gas and diesel taxes by 50 percent. That's 10 cents more per gallon for those of us keeping track. Now, it seems kind of strange to me that our government asks us to reduce our driving, conserve gasoline and buy more fuel efficient cars in order to bring gas prices down and then turns around and recommends (and will probably pass) an increase in the gas tax because we the people actually responded, did as we were asked and therefore lowered tax revenues. Oh, but they'd never do this to us you say? Guess again. Of course they would, and they'd probably try to do it either soon so it is forgotten by the 2010 elections or sometime early in 2011 after the elections. In my opinion, if we are having trouble funding transportation projects in this country, we should cut out some of the other spending (entitlements) that our government does and shouldn't in order to fund these things. They are actual responsibilities of government after all and everyone would benefit. This would also be unpopular however because people are becoming more and more dependent on government handouts rather than finding ways to do it themselves. This means you can't do that either. So, what are we to do? Apparently, lie to the people is the answer.
"Charles Whittington, chairman of the American Trucking Association, which supports a fuel tax increase as long as the money goes to highway projects, said Congress may decide to disguise a fuel tax hike as a surcharge to combat climate change.
Transportation is responsible for about a third of all U.S. carbon emissions created by burning fossil fuels. Traffic congestion wastes an estimated 2.9 billion gallons of fuel a year. Less congestion would reduce greenhouse gases and dependence on foreign oil.
“Instead of calling it a gas tax, call it a carbon tax,” Whittington said. “As long as we label it as something else we may have the momentum and acceptance to move forward.”"
Label it as something else. In other words, lie to the people and use a trumped up new tax idea (carbon tax) in order to make people feel better about driving too much. How about encouraging projects to build housing closer to where people live and spread out the commercial a bit to make it easier for people to get there without having to drive as far. This seems a much better idea than taxing me more. Now, the worse part of all of this is in the later part of the news stories, assuming it is in them at all (the more Democratic leaning sources tend to leave a lot of this out). The report is also going to recommend that we move away from a gas tax entirely since people are going to drive more and more efficient cars and are being more efficient in their use of their vehicles. So, we should again punish us, the consumer, for doing exactly what our government has asked of us by creating this new tax to tax us for every mile we drive. And I ask, would this exempt people who drive more fuel efficient cars or would it be a flat rate based on miles driven regardless of what kind of car you have. Again, where is my incentive to buy a fuel efficient car if the government is going to tax me anyway (more punishment)? However, how would we do this anyway you ask? That brings us to the final piece to this puzzle (and this is what you don't find reported in all sources) is that the report recommends we place GPS tracking devices in every car so that the government can track our usage. In other words, on the auspices that they'd be tracking how many miles we drive in order to give an accurate tax to us, the government would now have the ability (who believes they would not use it) to track our movements in a very big brother like way. Of course, the commission assures us in the report that it could be set up in such a way to avoid that outcome. Blow it out your ear is my response to that. Do you honestly think that any government, even ours, could resist the temptation provided by such a system? So, while Obama has said he is hesitant to raise gas taxes in our current economic environment, he has said he would install a carbon cap and trade system that would do nothing to reduce carbon emissions while bankrupting our coal industry and I haven't heard him back down from that one yet. So, instead of raising gas taxes, he can couch it in the lie that we are instilling a new carbon tax. So, now we come to my title. It is still an onerous tax, regardless of what you call it and who would it hurt? The poor? many of them use public transportation and therefore wouldn't be significantly hurt by such a tax unless local jurisdictions also got taxed by the state/fed. and then passed it on to their riders. The rich? Certainly it would hit them a bit in the pocket book, but really, they aren't the ones doing most of the driving in this country. So, the middle class? Absolutely. The middle class does most of the driving in this country. It is a simple concept. Whoever does the most driving gets hurt the most by this new system. So, a tax cut for the middle class along with a new tax on driving for the middle class along with eliminating the Bush tax cuts that already helped the middle class significantly. Yeah, that's change we can believe in all right. Tax the middle class by calling it a tax cut (even if I get Obama's 1800 dollar tax cut, elimination of the Bush tax cuts raises my taxes by 3000 so I don't exactly come out ahead) and then turn around and tax us all, the middle class in particular with a carbon tax which is just a politician's way of saying fuel tax increase or even worse install a completely new way of taxation which gives the state big brother power. All of which hurts who the most. The middle class. So, to all those who believe in change, really?
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