Washington St. pushed electric cars, now wants to tax them because of lost gas tax revenue

From: The Blog Prof

Government. If you think the problem is bad, just wait until you see their solution. The more liberal the government, the more it's demanding we conserve energy, but when we do just that they slap a tax on us. Two years ago I wrote this post on exactly that topic: A Gasoline Conservation Tax on 95% of Working Americans. That's correct - a tax on conserving gasoline. Here's the deal: the government wanted us to conserve gasoline, get off foreign oil, save the environment. Citizens heeded the call that, along with higher gas prices and a deep recession, led to smaller cars and less consumption. Mission accomplished, right? WRONG! The same government that encouraged that very behavior now finds itself short on revenue from evil -- EVIL!!! - gasoline. The solution? Raise taxes!


This is a classic vicious circle. Encourage less consumption, see tax revenue decrease as a result, raise taxes, rinse, repeat:

From the AP: Wash. considers annual flat fee for electric cars

Drivers of electric cars may have left the gas pump behind, but there's one expense they may not be able to shake: paying to maintain the roads.

After years of urging residents to buy fuel-efficient cars and giving them tax breaks to do it, Washington state lawmakers are considering a measure to charge them a $100 annual fee — what would be the nation's first electric car fee.

State lawmakers grappling with a $5 billion deficit are facing declining gas tax revenue, which means less money to maintain or improve roads.

Rest assured that government union workers will still see free healthcare for life and generous pensions allowing them to retire in their late 40s and live off the taxpayers the rest of their lives.

"Electric vehicles put just as much wear and tear on our roads as gas vehicles," said Democratic state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill's lead sponsor. "This simply ensures that they contribute their fair share to the upkeep of our roads."

Other states are trying to find solutions to the same problem, as cars become more fuel-efficient and, now, don't use any gas at all.

It is interesting that a similar situation to this one came up before but on a smaller scale. I can't find it on Google at the moment, but I remember a radio report some months ago about a municipality in the Bible Belt that encouraged it's citizens to conserve water because of drought conditions. The citizens did just that, voluntarily. Months later, the municipality saw their tax revenues decrease because of the lower water use, so they ended up increasing the water rates. That's government for ya! Good intentions gone awry. The path to hell is said to be paved with good intentions. This is our path to socialism...