a lot less. So, should they be exempt from paying their "fair share" in maintaining roads and bridges? Do you feel that a a family with kids who must have a van or SUV, or a guy who mows lawns and needs a pickup truck should be called upon to subsidize the owners of hybrids or electric vehicles? Or, do you feel that those people must be called upon to pay their "fair share" and pay an annual roads assessment ?
Really? If anything cheaper gas is going to get the U.S. government more gas taxes. gas taxes are per gallon, not per $1. High gas prices costs the government gas tax money as people use less gas. In 1993, gas was taxes at 18.4 cents per gallon. It's still being taxed at that amount, which is worth much less than it was. I would have no problem with it going up to 25 cents per gallon. The average person drives 12,000 miles a year. Average new passenger vehicle gets 24 mpg, so the average person with that new car would be buying 500 gallons of gas, which is $92.00 in federal gas tax. If we go up to 25 cents per gallon, that's $125 a year in federal gas tax.
It's called efficiency. It's not worth the cost to tax them. Electric cars are maybe 0.05% of the automotive fleet (100,000 electrics out of 200 million cars). Hybrids are about 1% (2 million out of 200 million cars). Electrics share of the road is so small to be almost nothing. Hybrids use gas, and IMHO, aren't all that efficient. Either way, taxing them isn't really worth it. It's simple math.
I have no problem with that. Our roads badly need repairs, and 'shovel ready jobs' somehow kept ended up being shoveless. And Thune is a damned good guy - he'd be one of my top 5 choices for President, if he had the political capital to get the nomination. But I agree, let's make a trade. Raise the petrol tax, reduce tax credits on things like hybrids and electrics.
The amount of subsidy is almost meaningless. Electrics are 0.05% of the car fleet. That number means 1 out of 2,000 cars is electric. Hybrids use gas, and the amount isn't that much less. A Prius gets 51 mpg city. A similar sized Corolla gets 40 mpg. Small cars don't damage the road as much. Let's just assume that all the electrics are corolla sized. Let's assume that they are driving 12,000 miles a year (national average). By driving an electric rather than a corolla, they are saving 300 gallons of gas, which is $55.20 in federal gas taxes. There are 100,000 electrics on the road. They are saving about $5.520 million in gas taxes. Please tell me a way to tax them that is going to cost the government less than $5.5 million? It's math that tells us why it's a waste of money to tax them.
was collecting a "gas guzzler' tax efficient? we all must renew our vehicle registrations so collecting the fee would be a simple task, code TH (for tree hugger) would trigger a $2500 annual road usage fee or some amount. Why do you feel that owners of those vehicles who use the roads should be exempt from paying for the upkeep? Where is your sense of social justice?
If people who use roads equally should pay equally, then the U.S. and the states should just fund roads with tolls instead of gas taxes. Or government could just pay for roads out of general funds. The idea that the only way to improve roads is to raise the gas tax, however, is simply absurd.
I respectfully disagree your assumption is that if you don't drive a Hybrid or Electric, you'd get a corolla. Why not a Ford Expedition? Anyway, your 40mpg is not city nor is it combined mpg let's split and say 30mpg then, let's use real tax figures shall we? fed tax is 18.4 cents per gallon let's use the state of NY where they add another 43 cents per gal let's round down and call it 61 cents per gal total let's use your 12k miles divided by 30 mpg = 400 gallons times 61 cents or $244. How hard would it be for a state to simply add a $250-$300 annual fee to the registration of electric/hybrid vehicles all in the name of social justice and paying their "fair share" ? think of the gas-guzzler tax. Owners of those vehicles actually paid more in fuel tax yet were also burdened with a punitive tax. If you chose to buy a few models of Cadillac, you know, from the mfr we the taxpayers bailed out and got screwed, you'd be paying anywhere form $1,000 to $1,700 in punitive taxes and still pay more in fuel tax each year. I again ask, where is your sense of social justice?
I absolutely concur. Or, a simple tag must be purchased and prominently displayed. The annual fee could be $250-$400 and all fuel taxes abolished. No more complex collecting from filling stations and, whether you drive the Flintstone-mobile powered by bare feet or a huge SUV, you all pay your "fair share" It also makes it fair for the poor who tend to drive older, less fuel efficient vehicles. Why should they be burdened more and subsidize the predominantly Democrat voting owners of hybrids and electrics?
Federal government has nothing to do with vehicle registrations. I'm just talking about federal gas taxes. I don't care what your state does.
I was comparing cars of like size and comfort level. Of course it should cost you more gas tax to run a Ford expedition. You are wearing out the roads at a faster pace than in the corolla. State is a different matter. I don't care what your state does about gas taxes and taxing for the road. My concern is just about federal gas taxes, which go to repair interstates, etc., I'm not worried about state level gas tax. Sure for state taxes. But for federal taxes it would be foolish. As I said, I'm not worried about the state gas tax, that is a worry for people in that state. Gas guzzler tax is a one time thing. Not really comparable. I don't really care about social justice. Life isn't fair. Deal with it. - - - Updated - - - Electrics and hybrids together are only about 1.05% of the cars out there. That isn't skewing "social justice" much. What are you a progressive?
people who can afford an electric car that provides reasonable power and range... do not need tax rebates.
wait a minute you said 1% we continue to hear how the 1%er's should pay more in tax. Well, here is an example of 1%er's who pay nothing
No ones arguing against investing in our infrastructure. At least I'm not. And while I don't disagree with governments role in regards to infrastructure, I do think it's prudent to examine how responsibly they've performed their role BEFORE raising the fuel tax, not after. You appear to be located in FL, so I'm familiar with your comments about the roads, but I also travel extensively on business and can testify that in comparison to many areas of the country our roads aren't nearly as bad as many areas in the NE or upper Midwest. Just say'in.
Of course they choose this time to implement it so we won't notice the additional price in the fuel when prices return to normalized market prices. Nothing like sticking it to the public deceptively! Who'd scream too loudly about an extra few cents while prices are down over a dollar per gallon? But wait till they go back up and keep going up as a result of further taxation.
Democrats never met a tax they did not like http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...b11a3a-928a-11e4-ba53-a477d66580ed_story.html
Exactly! Where is all the money from that huger cigarette tax? No telling what they spend it on. Maybe even themselves. But,that's what happens when people support a government that's allowed to steal money.
I'm mainly talking about the size/age of roads. We have a couple of local bridges that needed replacing years ago (per their design documents). They are undersized for current traffic, and are major bottlenecks. The major one that needs replacing was built in 1960 with a proposed 50 year life span. The fuel tax is not a percentage tax, it's a per gallon tax, and it hasn't been raised for inflation. When it was raised to 18.4 cents per gallon, gas was about $1.20 a gallon. Gas is twice as much, but the fed gas tax is the same. - - - Updated - - - You are a progressive, then.
Don't mind building infrastructure, but it pisses me off when they spend the money doing this [video]http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/us-bridges-roads-built-chinese-firms-14594513[/video]
I'm not sure how it is in other states, but a vehicle registration tag is already purchased and required to be displayed on license plates. It would be even easier to implement your solution since it would only require increasing the registration fee and getting rid of the gas tax. No new program needed--the system is already there.
a sticker which goes on the lower left of the windshield for example. Some states require inspection stickers, why not a "pay your fair share" sticker
That's just great! And I live in Western NY where, for some reason good old Chuck Schumer just can't find out, gas prices are the highest in the state and NYS pays the highest gas prices/taxes in the country! Here are the ten states that pay the most in state gas taxes: New York 50.6 California 48.7 Hawaii 47.1 Connecticut 45.0 Illinois 39.1 Michigan 38.7 Indiana 38.0 North Carolina 37.8 Washington 37.5 Florida 35.5 And the ten states that pay the least in state gas taxes: Alaska 8.0 Wyoming 14.0 New Jersey 14.5 South Carolina 16.8 Oklahoma 17.0 Missouri 17.3 Mississippi 18.8 New Mexico 18.9 Arizona 19.0 New Hampshire 19.6
Try living in Western NY! Not only are we paying the highest price in the state (for a reason nobody can figure out) but we're paying the highest price in the country. I spent the holidays in NJ and when I left gas was $1.95 there. When I hit my are it was $2.89!!!! It had come down a lot from almost $4.00 but not enough compared to other states!
