States consider fees for hybrids to recoup lost gasoline taxes

Fuel Fix ^ | 6/9/2013 | Chris Kardish

[rktman]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina is joining a growing number of states exploring new fees for hybrid and electric car owners to help make up for revenue those drivers aren’t paying in gas taxes on their fuel-efficient vehicles.

[Mastador1]

so one imbalance does not justify another, I don’t know the answer but there has to be a better one.What always happens is the little guy gets squeezed. Just look at the toll lanes in Orange county,CA. They jack the rates up super high at rush hours, to keep the toll lanes moving don’t you know, and effectively prohibit lower income drivers from being able to access them.

[SaraJohnson]

The chicken little fascists have a plan for this. They are going to put meters in cars in anticipation of charging a heavy tax by the mile you drive.

[Fledermaus]

Take that greenie-weenies!

[Fledermaus]

They are retarded tryants!

[Fledermaus]

But the gas taxes are NOT used as intended. NO tax is.

Governments are out of control.

[SaraJohnson]

The chicken little fascists have a plan for this. They are going to put (or have put in) meters in cars in anticipation of charging a heavy tax by the mile you drive.

[Fledermaus]

You don’t need meters in the cars. Just take down the mileage every year when the car tags are renewed.

[johniegrad]

This is crazy. How can you pay a penalty for something you DON’T buy?

[Political Junkie Too]

The problem with taxing tires is that most tires are good for 40,000 to 50,000 miles, which may not all be driven in one city, county, or state. How do you pay for using the roads in Los Angeles if you bought the tires in Las Vegas?

-PJ

[Oberon]

Why, it's simple... you wind up paying for the roads closest to where you live. Places with the highest population density will have the highest revenue, which is appropriate because they also have the most expensive upkeep for roads.

The free road upkeep you get by driving on roads in other areas is compensated by the free upkeep they get by driving on your roads. Best part is, if you don't want to support your local road maintenance efforts, just minimize your driving. Kind of like it is already with the gas tax.

[NCLaw441]

We have 3 Priuses. Oldest one has about 180k miles. Hybrid battery still strong.

This proposed tax reminds me of the 70s energy crisis. Everyone cut back on electricity so they raised the rates. Less electricity but same bill.

[cuban leaf]

But the gas taxes are NOT used as intended.

---

Yep. That’s why I used the wording I did...

[CharlesWayneCT]

If there are limited resources, you need a way to determine who gets those resources.

Money has been a good way to do that, because at the core, it represents contribution. You work hard, you earn money. The more you work, the more you contribute, the more money you have.

There are other ways to distribute a limited resource. You can ration equally, making sure everybody has exactly the same number of square feet of housing for example. The problem is, as the communists found, if you do this, people tend to get lazy. Why work harder when you get exactly the same thing as your neighbor who doesn’t?

You end up with a large group of people trying to out-mediocre each other. And a few people who are motivated by some other thing, like self-worth, who will still work hard, and therefore bear the burdens of society for everybody.

The number of people who are mullionaires through non-productive means is large, but really in the noise when you look at the entire population. and what you really want to do is not figure out a better way to ration, but a way to improve productivity and create MORE, so there is more to go around.