Obama Floats Plan To Tax Cars By The Mile

[Kythas]

"I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes...You will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime" - Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

And now we have this:

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/h ... y-the-mile

[RPB]

tax cars by the mile

I'm thinking that's what the gasoline taxes do already right?
I mean; unless the vehicle runs a lot while in park ... the more miles ... the more fuel is used ...
Amount of fuel used/taxes paid directly charged to the user/ one who went more miles ...

[Mike1951]

We already have that.

The feds get 18.4 cents on every gallon of gas.

[RPB]

We already have that.

The feds get 18.4 cents on every gallon of gas.

Exactly
Soooo he just wants to find more ways to punish people in "Larger States"

[Texas Dan Mosby]

The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax....

With trillions of dollars of debt, I can see how it would be wise to waste millions on studying how it would be best to implement a new tax that would further disrupt and hinder our economoy.....oh wait a minute, my mistake, NO I CAN'T.

Madness. Nothing more, nothing less.

[The Mad Moderate]

“This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”

distancing himself much?

(ETA)
Translation: We want to see how you react before we do it.

[mgood]

Big trucks have paid fuel taxes by the mile for ages. When I was a truck driver, I had to write down the mileage every time I crossed a state line. At the end of every trip, I had to turn in a report showing how many miles I drove in each state. At the end of the month, the company would compile a report showing mileage in all states by all their trucks.

We paid fuel tax at the pump. But it was not uncommon to fill up in one state and not drive very many miles in that state, then use that fuel to drive all the way across several other states without buying fuel. When all the numbers were crunched, the trucking company would owe taxes to some states (where they drove but didn't buy fuel) and some states would owe money back to the trucking company (where they bought a bunch of fuel but didn't drive much). It was a mess.
A couple of states, I remember New Jersey being one, would not repay the taxes back to the company. There aren't that many miles you can drive in the state of New Jersey, lol. So our company didn't allow us to buy more than fifty gallons at a time in New Jersey.

This system quickly gets waaaay more complicated than simply paying so much per gallon at the pump. I'm sure the government would have to hire a few more people to administer such a system. Their saleries would have to be recouped before any additional money would flow into the government coffers. So just for the government to break even, they'd have to raise your taxes. (I know, shocking, isn't it?)

[texasmusic]

[gigag04]

This seems Iike a good idea considering the rising fuel costs, rising cost of goods, and devaluation of the dollar...

One of the markers of a developed nation is that the logistics costs (inc transportation) comprise less than 10% of GDP. The US in the high elevens depending on who you ask. This is not insignificant.

I'm also for adding a consumption tax on top of everything else. This will ensure that our struggling, frail, economy will never recover, and drive us towards the open and incapable arms of big government.


We could go this route...or cut back, limit, and regulate government handouts and entitlements.

[SlickTX]

We could go this route...or cut back, limit, and regulate government handouts and entitlements.

Now that's crazy talk.

[i8godzilla]

I'd like to see a teleprompter tax . Say $1.00 for each word. If a teleprompter is used in telling a lie, then the speaker should face jail time.

[bnc]

I've heard about some states trying to do this, specifically for hybrid cars since they aren't going to be paying as much in per gallon taxes. Some even floated the idea of an annual fee for hybrid users to make up for their lack of gas taxes.

Don't overlook the fact that when the government charges per mile they will have to track your miles.

[TexDotCom]

Don't overlook the fact that when the government charges per mile they will have to track your miles.

We have a winner! From the article:

"Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven..."

No one is installing tracking equipment in my vehicle. It is *no one's* business where I go, *especially* the government's!

[CJATE]

I've heard about some states trying to do this, specifically for hybrid cars since they aren't going to be paying as much in per gallon taxes. Some even floated the idea of an annual fee for hybrid users to make up for their lack of gas taxes.

Don't overlook the fact that when the government charges per mile they will have to track your miles.

this is the real issue, he is pushing for better economy, so he is collecting less tax, as we are not buying as much fuel. it's a catch 22... he can't or should not have it both ways,

[mgood]

I've heard about some states trying to do this, specifically for hybrid cars since they aren't going to be paying as much in per gallon taxes. Some even floated the idea of an annual fee for hybrid users to make up for their lack of gas taxes.

And for those uncooperative folks who insist on walking or riding a bicycle to work, we'll come up with a tax for that too.