Posted on 01/23/2021 8:42:50 AM PST by george76
When President Joe Biden announced former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg as his pick for Transportation Secretary, many scratched their heads. Why would he tap someone who oversaw a small budget, in a small town, in the midwest for such a roll? That puzzle is finally coming together.
It turns out that Biden favors Buttigieg's transportation views, specifically the idea that America should move away from the gas tax and instead opt into a tax based on the number of miles a person travels. It would be a new way to provide cash for the Highway Trust Fund, which currently funding from the federal gas tax. As it currently stands, the federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel.
Liberal states, like California, Oregon, Washington State, and Colorado are already contemplating this so-called "alternative."
Biden's administration would have to figure out how to pay for his $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes $160 billion for the transportation department.
During his confirmation hearing with the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Thursday, Buttigieg explained his take on the gas tax.
"I think all options need to be on the table. As you know, the gas tax has not been increased since 1993, and it has never been pegged to inflation, and it's one of the reasons why the current state of Highway Trust Fund is that there's more going out than coming in," Buttigieg said about a potential tax increase. "In the long term, we need to bear in mind also that as vehicles become more efficient and as we pursue electrification, sooner or later, there will be questions about whether the gas tax can be effective at all."
Instead, the transportation nominee wants to consider taxing Americans on the number of miles they drive.
"A lot has been suggested recently about the idea of vehicle-miles-traveled-based, so if we're committed to the idea of user-pays, then part of how you might do that would be based on vehicle miles traveled," he said. "But that raises, of course, concerns about privacy and there remains some technological questions too. These are examples of some of the things that could be part of the solution, but I know that's going to have to be a conversation, not only in the administration, but with Congress too."
Should the Biden administration move forward with taxing Americans based on the number of miles they drive on any given day, rural America would be the ones disproportionately impacted. They live further outside of metro areas. Many travel 20 to 30 miles one way to work or to do any kind of major grocery shopping. Farmers, especially those who live even further out – a few hours from a metropolitan area – would be punished because they don't live in the inner cities.
This is a prime example of why rural folks feel forgotten about. It's always about what's best for those who live in the cities, not about those who grow and transport your food, or do the dirty work no one else is willing to do. It's about those who work in fancy offices in New York City, not the loggers and miners who work in dangerous conditions to provide heating options for the very people who despise them.
So much for “I won’t raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000.”
GD liar.
Here in Commiefornia, we already are taxed by the mile. We pay over a dollar a gallon in taxes for gas.
Biden being proclaimed a moderate democrat......my a**.
your cell phone can be used to track your movements so i assume it would be rather elentmary to require odometers transmit mileage as it happens to a central processing and billing agency.
Thanks
This issue will need to be addressed eventually.....
Currently, electric vehicles utilize the existing local and federal roads without a penny going towards their maintenance.....
This means that all of us that use gas vehicles are paying the complete load......
Several new long-haul TractorTrailer electric trucks are planned to hit the road this year.
You can solely tax the trucks if you wish ... you will still pay for it.
You cannot tax a business as a business will only pass it along to their customers. They have to.
You can only tax people.
I’ve worked in the planning and design of transportation infrastructure for more than 25 years. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation has rarely ever been a person of any consequence or influence in that time. I don’t even remember who half those dopes have been over the course of my career. The typical USDOT head is a political hack who knows less about transportation than your average American with a driver’s license.
Freedom, we don’t know stinking Freedom.
It also means they get to monitor your movements.
A lot of the folks already have this happening with their insurance company to get a “discount”. It’s a module that plugs into the OBD port on your car and transmits via wireless.
Fweedom!
If everyone switched to riding bicycles they would want to tax that, too.
The blue cities have the most road infrastructure to maintain and it will fall on red areas to pay for it.
In Nevada we are required to report your vehicle mileage to renew your plates.
I’m fastening my overall galluses as I post. This won’t go over well with Deplorables.
Now where is my pitchfork?
correction ——. When illegitimate president biden announced.....
BS,
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