Driving Taxes Upward
Op-Ed Contributor
June 12, 2009
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama endeared himself to many voters with a promise that 95 percent of Americans would get a tax cut. Those making under $250,000 "would not see a single dime of tax increase -- not on anything." Yet since Obama's victory, spending has skyrocketed. It was only a matter of time before his pledge fell by the wayside.
Representative James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wants a vehicle mileage tax, or VMT, imposed on every vehicle. And he wants it right away. When a colleague suggested state-level pilot programs to test the feasibility of the tax, Oberstar replied: "It's going to be done, it's something we have to do. Why not just move it along?" Oberstar hopes for a vote as early as June.
Obama's transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, promoted a VMT back in February. Although the White House backed off LaHood's trial balloon then, Congress may now try to ram it down Americans' throats. What about that campaign promise? Oberstar and LaHood -- and by extension Obama -- must believe only the richest 5 percent of Americans drive or buy goods and services delivered by truck.
A VMT is a tax on all Americans. We've all heard the outcry about oil companies making record profits last year when gas prices spiked. When people cut back on driving, gas tax revenue fell and scared tax-dependent lawmakers. The VMT is considered a new revenue fix. But, as the Heritage Foundation's Curtis Dubey notes, every car would need a device that records miles driven and transmits the number to a government database.
A VMT is a tax on all Americans. We've all heard the outcry about oil companies making record profits last year when gas prices spiked. When people cut back on driving, gas tax revenue fell and scared tax-dependent lawmakers. The VMT is considered a new revenue fix. But, as the Heritage Foundation's Curtis Dubey notes, every car would need a device that records miles driven and transmits the number to a government database.
Not only would this system cost millions, but it would also mean Big Brother could be watching our every moment. A backdoor tax increase is bad enough. To think the government would know and record Americans' behavior behind the wheel brings up new civil rights and civil liberties worries. How about a future where speeding tickets are based on drivers beating a government-estimated trip time? A parking violation is meted out by satellite? Government-sponsored health care is canceled after a driver is observed frequenting the local McDonald's?
The green lobby makes matters worse, having long demanded Americans reduce gasoline consumption. Making gasoline less affordable certainly helps. A VMT satisfies radical environmentalists while setting up a whole new system of taxation and government oversight.
It's obvious that politicians such as Oberstar and LaHood aren't thinking about the big picture. What about those who have been forced into suburbs by urban gentrification, but still have to commute in? What about families going on long drives to see relatives or our national parks? What about the mom and dad taking their child to look at a far-away college? All these life decisions may now have to factor in the politicians' cut.
Families living on the edge and those hoping to move up on the ladder of prosperity have a lot to lose. The American public, their rights to privacy, and their financial well-being are once again coming in second to politics as usual.
