Posted on 08/03/2021 10:49:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
If the bipartisan “infrastructure” bill passes, Senate Republicans who vote for it will have some explaining to do on two provisions buried in the text. One will make it too expensive to drive, and the other will eliminate local control of zoning. Both are extensions of Obama-era policy intended to destroy the suburbs by depriving them of funding to repair roads if they don’t let the federal government mandate zoning and make commuting from them outrageously expensive.
The first unacceptable provision the Republican negotiators agreed to can be found beginning on page 510 of the text. It directs the secretary of Transportation and the secretary of the Treasury to begin a pilot program for a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee. The fee is a revenue mechanism that charges people operating motor vehicles on the surface transportation system based on the number of miles traveled.
The pilot’s objective is to provide recommendations for the adoption and implementation of a national per-mile fee for all drivers. Some Republicans support a fee structure that will impact middle- and working-class families who are less likely to purchase hybrid vehicles and often live away from work because of lower housing prices or better quality of life. It won’t be a picnic for upper-middle-class families either.
According to the Congressional Research Service, this policy is an alternative to the per-gallon fuel tax. However, anyone who has been alive for longer than a few decades knows taxes do not get eliminated. The analysis also notes that both an increase in the fuel tax and a per-mile fee will face opposition.
The per-mile fee would also come with privacy concerns if an electronic method is used to calculate it. The options provided in the legislation are third party on-board diagnostics like a Fast Pass, smartphone applications,
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
The real purpose of the pilot is to figure out how to administer the program. The federal government did a dry run by funding programs under Section 6020 of the FAST Act and gaining an understanding of how to charge users per mile and based on traffic congestion. If the final bill includes this provision, a per-mile user fee is all but assured. Squishy Republicans are signing on to limit Americans’ freedom of movement, choice of where to live in relation to work, and possibly their ability to own and maintain a vehicle.
SEE HERE:
[EXCERPT]
An overarching trend of the legislation is concentrating transportation policy decision-making in the federal government. “If this BIF deal holds, it would put just a staggering amount of money in the hands of [Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg] to distribute via [DOT’s] own selection of projects (competitive grants) instead of the traditional formula-based distribution to states and cities. Just staggering,” noted Jeff Davis of the Eno Center for Transportation.
If the bipartisan “infrastructure” bill passes, Senate Republicans who vote for it will have some explaining to do on two provisions buried in the text. …. . . and to whom do they owe the explanation, and who will hold them accountable?
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They line up to pass stuff for Joe, and the various kickbacks.
Don’t get between them and a Biden spending bill, you’ll get run over.
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Mitch McConnell, Graham, Cassidy, and the rest have already said they’ll support the Infrastructure bill.
It’s more free money there won’t be a trace of in 4 months.
After 3-4 Porkulus bills, the Republicans selling this say, they want to get something done.
No joke
If the Republicans would agree to an increase in the excise tax collected at the refineries, there would be no talk of a Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax (VMT).
The administrative cost to collect the excise tax at the refinery is less than one cent on the dollar. The administrative cost to collect the VMT is 20 cents on the dollar.
That admin cost does not include the admin cost the private sector will incur as it works out it payments, estimated at 5%. That does not including the cost of tax itself.
How many of you have screamed at your representative in Congress saying no, don’t raise the federal gas tax!
You get what you ask for. Welcome to VMT.
Republicans are part of government, too. They want to increase government money while they say they want to reduce it. A bunch of phonies.
People don't need to drive if they are telecommuting.
Exactly. They go swimming in the DC Swamp, tell the constituents that they're working hard for them, then go ahead and do whatever the UniParty commands. When their announced efforts fail, they go home and say "Well, we tried".
The Founders never envisioned such spineless, stupid people in Congress.
The mileage will be tracked by location transmitters placed in every vehicle.
“The mileage will be tracked by location transmitters placed in every vehicle.”
That’s unacceptable.
But electric vehicles escape the gas tax that helps pay for our roads. How do we make electric vehicles pay for their use of the roads?
One solution is to leave things as they because of the tiny number of electric vehicles, and they are lightweight and do little degradation to the roads.
Another solution is to figure a way to level a road tax on the electric vehicles without altering the gas tax scheme.
The Founders never envisioned such spineless, stupid people in Congress.
They’re not spineless and stupid. They are playing for the other team: Team China.
Are they kidding?
DC Republicans are POLITICIANS.
If there’s a bill that democrats introduce which takes freedom and more money away from us and puts more into THEIR hands, they’re ALL in.
Oh, they’ll go on tv and tell us that this is unacceptable and that they will fight it.
A few weeks later, they’ll tell us that they fought the good fight but lost and we will just have to live with it - until WE vote to give them the majority again...
But away from the cameras and behind the scenes, they LOVE bills like this.
This pattern has been clear to see for decades. - To those who WANT to see it.
<>The Founders never envisioned such spineless, stupid people in Congress.<>
Not exactly. They expected a wild House of Reps that reflected the people’s passions.
Thank the 17th Amendment for trashing the Framers all-important deliberative Senate.
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