Posted on 01/14/2013 2:32:31 PM PST by lowbridge
An on-again, off-again move by the Obama administration to scrap the federal gas tax in favor of a pay-per-mile fee would boost the tab to Americans as high as 250 percent, raising their current tax of 18.4 cents a gallon to as high as 46 cents, according to a new government study.
But without a tax increase, said the Government Accountability Office study, the government's highway fund is going to go dry. One reason the fund is going broke: President Obama's push for fuel efficient cars has resulted in better mileage, and fewer stops at the pump.
The GAO study is just the latest review of federal spending that paints a grim picture of the nation's infrastructure. Just keeping spending at current levels, the GAO said, would require a near doubling of the gas tax to 32 cents a gallon, and that would jump to as high as 46 cents should the federal government add spending to fix crumbling infrastructure and build new roads.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
They tell us to stop smoking as it hurts all tax payers in health care costs. So we quit and they compplain about not having enough tax revs for state funded health care
They tell us to stop driving gas guzzlers. Love Mother Earth. So we do and drive eco cars. Then they complain because there isn’t enough tax money for the highways.
At age 62, I am a few years away from the end. And that will take care of the population problem. But after I go, they will complain that I am no longer paying taxes.
You can’t win !
It could be ‘special delivered’ by your county PD’s spy drone.
The administration floated that plan in the first term, but scrapped it when it was met with public outrage. However, several states and some in Congress are now eyeing the plan, keeping it alive as a federal option.
The simplest way to administer this would be to have the fees collected in arrears during the annual vehicle inspection, when the odometer reading is noted down. States that don’t require a vehicle inspection would probably need to set one up. Maybe they’ll arrange to split the fees over 12 months so as to minimize the immediate hit to the wallet.
The Highway Trust fund gets robbed on every project. First are the union prevailing wage requirements, then sales tax paid to the state on all the expenses, then impact fees used to send money to the communities along the route..it goes on.
The tax per gallon method is the fairest way to charge for the highways..bigger, heavier more powerfull pay more. Just think how many bureaucrats it would take to install, monitor, police, bill and otherwise administer a system that tracked every vehicle in the US?
You are correct...this is more UN Globalist Agenda 21 type nonsense just to track us...if they really needed just “more revenue” they’d merely raise the gas tax.
What scares me is how many GOP will jump on board? You can bet the usual PhonyCons (McCain, Graham, Rubio) will back Obama and Dems on this
Problem with mileage taxes is people using the roads traveling through and tourists pay nothing. Otherwise, it would be more fair than the gas tax, where as someone driving a Corvette, pays double what someone driving a Prius despite costing road maintenance no more.
Will Hussein and Moochelle be taxed by the mile while vacationing on Air Force One?
But Obama used the stimulus money to fund “shovel ready projects” to rebuild our infrastrucure........
Revenue is decreasing because usage is decreasing - because so many people are out of work, are under employed, fuel costs are so high - it has nothing to do with Obama’s efforts to legislate better gas mileage.
The problem is Obama actually believes his own BS.
It’s getting time to go Galt, my friends.
To everyone who thinks a flat tax or V.A.T. would make everybody "have some skin in the game". Liberals are always going to see to it that the entitlement crowd will never have to pay a net tax and will always receive a "refund" whether they ever pay in a dime or not.
They will find a way to tax you even if you walk or ride a bike once they enforce a per mile tax on your person. Wait until the GPS chip is implanted. Sure sounds nutty, but after the crap recently, not so crazy anymore.
Good let it go dry. There is no need for any gas taxes. I don’t accept their premise. The feds already get plenty in taxes that should be spent on roads, defense and essential services instead of entitlements and giveaways.
I see a rise in odometer tampering.
Onoz. A medical device tax and a per mile tax on 666 chip pedometers. This is not a thought I like. There’s going to be a tidy black market in bootleg inventions.
This proposal is just a way to track individuals, how is it any different in generating income to the government from simply raising the tax on gasoline? I'll tell you what it does for the oppressive regime we have: it will tell them how much you drive, where you drive and it will try to control your movement. Do you really want that? Because that is what it is really about.
But wait! That makes it harder for my Prius to save me money!
So at what point do the people wake up and shoot the bastards?
EVERY DOLLAR TAKEN OUT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR HARMS THE ECONOMY!!!!!
They are trying to herd us into high density living and make it difficult to leave or even to roam. Warsaw ghetto brought forward to the 21st century. What could possibly go wrong?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.