The Government is trying to pick our pockets...again
I recently had to buy a new car and unfortunately I couldn't afford the car I really wanted. A Toyota Prius. I thought a Hybrid would be great for not only the environment, but also for my wallet. I'm sure many people who own Hybrids thought the same thing. Well someone in the Government has realized that if you aren't buying as much gas, you aren't paying as much gas tax and thus not paying for your "fair share" of road repair and improvement. So the US Chamber of Commerce wants to tax hybrids and other fuel efficent cars. They also want the gas tax of about 18 cents per gallon to be indexed for inflation and they want to bill drivers for miles driven. This is all because they say the federal highway trust fund is running out of money.
So let me get this straight, I am an owner of a non-fuel efficent car and I currently pay 18 cents per gallon in Federal Gas tax and I Gas up once a week. That is $2.70 a week or $140.40 a year on average. So they want to charge me more mony based on the number of miles I drive. Is that going to be part of the IRS tax form now? Are you going to have to get a certified mileage reading once a year?
This partially sounds like the oil companies whispered in the governments ear and they are trying to take the heat off of themselves for rising Gas prices. If the Gas tax is indexed to inflation, everytime the prime rate goes up the fuel companies raise the prices and say "It's not us, it's the gas tax." You know I really wish that instead of looking for ways to blame others or pick our pockets the fuel companies would embarce alternate fuel research and work with auto manufactures to make more fuel efficent cars.
Here are links to some of the stories I found about this on the web.
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tbrianp) wrote,
cranky
