by Jack Lee
Since gasoline prices crossed over $3 a gallon we’ve seen a trend start and it has been gaining ground ever since…enter the small car with good gas mileage. This guy could be you in a few years!
Drivers are being forced to cut back on their miles driven and quite a few of us have taken the dramatic step of buying, electrics, hybrids, compacts and subcompacts just for their fuel/cost efficiency. I have to question part of this logic since it will take a very long time to recoup any cost savings benefit at the pump. Figure in the cost of the new compact car or hybrid ($19,000-$31,000 average) and what you will actually save at the pump and it could take 10 years or more to justify that purchase. For example, my Buick Riviera gets 35 mpg hwy., why should I spend another $20k to get 40 mpg?
Our new reality is pump prices are high and staying high for the time being, especially if Obama is re-elected. Now, here is the downside for government: They are about to lose billions in tax revenue. How’s that? Simple, highway or road tax is derived at the pump, if prices there go up consumption goes down, way down.
Some states are so worried about the sudden drop in gas tax revenue they are seeking creative new ways to make up for it. To offset what hybrids and electric vehicles are costing them in lost revenue states are now talking about taxing those particular fuel efficient vehicles more than ordinary cars. I’m not kidding, check this out, “As a result, Oregon is one of many states that has been toying with the idea of switching to a VMT tax, which would ensure that drivers of hybrid, electric, and fuel-efficient gas vehicles pay their fair share for using the roads. Though the initial Oregon bill, HB 2328, applies only to plug-ins, VMT-like taxes are likely to one day become a preferred method for collecting road fees.”
If there was ever a way for liberals to tick off their green base, taxing electric vehicles and hybrids would be it.
Jack that photo is a riot. In America he would need a helmet though, that baret won’t cut it. He’ll also have to ditch the pipe.
The revenue problem is serious. It’s not surprising, however. Almost everything being done now is designed to cut productivity and therefore revenues have to drop.
Does VMT stand for vehicle mileage tax? If so you know this would eventually apply to all vehicles.
Over $4.00, Jack. That’s where we are.
What? You will not be a manly man in a Prius?
I’ll tell you a secret: You’re not a manly man now. Get over it.
And state infrastructure should be funded from property taxes, like always … well, like olden times.
Libby, its not that I would not own a Prius, it’s that I will not spend $20k to buy one when I already get good enough mileage in my comfy Buick! This has nothing to do with my testosterone, but thanks for the personal jab. However, I won’t respond in kind.
It will be awhile before we know see this technology widely used. The dreams of the greens will run up against what is actually possible and the desires of others. Science fiction fortells future technology but rarely does the story paly out in the bizarre form that authors imagine.
In the mean time, because we live in a free country, the little green devils have the choice to help fund the technology by purchasing a Prius. And Jack, holding out for a better product, also pressures the innovators to perfect their product.
Free market principles work.
Captcha: Bringn electric
This is kind of off topic but it has been on my mind.
I am sure you guys have seen the commercials for Progressive Insurance (I will not buy because of the name), have you seen the new thing they offer? Its a little gadget you plug into your cars computer for a month and it records how you drive so they can determine your rate. It records things like miles driven, speed and I would guess locations like freeway’s or city streets. So all that info gets feed into a database and then what? With a name like Progressive, how soon will all that info be in the hands of the EPA and the people who want to tax you on miles driven? Say NO to Flo! Commie pinko @#$%&. I am only half kidding.
Oh, but I am a loyal Progressive customer. They were the only entity that would insure my Honda scooter, what I rode in the 90s, in the city. And when I dropped it the first month I had it, they were so … professional. And now they insure my 21-year-old Colt wagon. Well, not the wagon, just my minimally required state liability for driving the wagon, which, every four years, works out to be what I paid for the wagon. This can’t be right.
And Jack … don’t want to talk about the state property owners and their refusal to fund state services? Just don’t crab when the impoverished have crawled into your basement for shelter.