A really bad idea that may sound really good to some people who’ve not taken the time to think about it enough is percolating in Congress: Federal vehicle registration fees designed to punish people who own battery powered devices on wheels (i.e., electric vehicles). The proposal – if it makes its way into law – would hit them with an annual $200 federal registration fee – in addition to the fee they (and everyone else who owns a vehicle) already pays the state/county/city in which they live.
Ostensibly to offset the loss of “revenue” from federal motor vehicle fuels taxes that are paid at the pump – which of course people who drive vehicles that plug in do not pay. It is easy to slide into the trap of wanting them to pay. And that is exactly what the people pushing this new tax – which is exactly what “registration” fees are, just the same as “tariffs” are and changing names doesn’t alter the fact – are counting on:
It’ll be them – not us!
This is what some people thought about another tax we are all now forced to pay.
Some people were foolish enough (and mean-spirited enough) to believe only “the rich” would pay it.
Many people do not remember this bait-and-switch because we’ve been living with it for more than a century now and thus there is not a single living American who can recall a time when working Americans were not forced to pay a federal tax on their income.
Prior to Feb. 3, 1913 and the passage of the 16th Amendment, no American was enslaved by the federal government because no American had to hand over a portion of what they’d worked for to the federal government. Frederick Douglass, the freed slave who became famous writing about free (and self-made) men contra enslaved men, described the event that finally caused him to “run away” – as it was described back then – from his owner. The latter had been hiring Douglass out to work and pocketing what Douglass earned. The latter eloquently described how it felt to know his own hands – his own mind – were not meaningfully his own since they could be used like a tool by his owner to enrich the latter rather than provide his own sustenance and reward for working.
Douglass is worth reading in order to remember what it is to be a slave. Because most Americans have forgotten.
They confuse the superficial status of being “free” with not being owned. Yes, they are “free” – in the sense that they are “free” to work for the benefit of their owners (plural now). But they are not free to not work for the benefit of their owners. This distinction is important.
Anyhow, back in 1913, people were egged on to support a federal tax on income via assurances that only rich Americans would have to pay it. The people pushing the federal income tax counted on the mean-spiritedness of enough people – on their envy and desire to punish “rich” people – to secure enough public support for the 16th Amendment, which became law. Within just a few years, everyone who worked had become a slave to the federal government because everyone was forced to hand over a portion of their income to the federal government.
De facto slavery had been legalized, in other words. And so it has been ever since.
Now our owners propose to apply another tax at the federal level, using the same technique to secure its passage. Many people – me among them – do not like battery powered devices. More finely, we do not like the way the federal government has been pushing them via a tag-team of federal tax subsidies awarded to people who buy them and federal regulations that punish vehicle manufacturers that do not not make them (and that effectively force them to make them).
Compounding this, many EV owners come across as obnoxious – just as “the rich” seemed obnoxious to many people back in 1913. It is easy not to like them – and easy to slip into the trap of wanting to make them pay.
This is dangerous foolishness – for reasons that ought to be as obvious as paying no mind to the sound of a rattle coming from behind that log you’re trying to move out of the way in the back yard.
Can anyone be foolish enough to believe that only owners of EVs will be obliged to pay federal vehicle registration taxes? Yes, of course. There are always people who are foolish enough – who are mean-spirited enough – to believe such things. And they tend to get exactly what they deserve. Unfortunately, the rest of us tend to get it, too.
And that’s exactly what will happen.
The proposal targets EV owners but also everyone else who owns a vehicle of any kind. EV owners would pay the most, at first – $200 every year – but everyone else who owns a vehicle will also be required to pay $20 every year, beginning in 2030.
It’s only $20, some people will say.
Yes, that’s so. Just as – at first – what most Americans paid in income taxes was “only” a relative pittance. But the principle of having to pay had been established and thus it became inevitable they would pay more. How much are Americans paying today? How much more will Americans who own vehicles have to pay come 2035, say?
The federal government always says it needs more “revenue” – as our expropriated income is styled, to make it seem to be something it isn’t. Much in the same way that slaves were once described as people in “service” to their owners. Such language is very effective , both in terms of getting the slave to think of himself as not being enslaved and also to ease the consciences of the owners, some of whom may feel uneasy at times about owning other people.
It is probable this new federal tax will be used not just to further the principle of our enslavement but also as an economic cudgel to further the policy of making vehicle ownership unaffordable for most Americans. Twenty bucks annually is one thing. But how about $500? How about $1,000?
It would never happen!
Really? What has happened to income taxes? How about property taxes?
Once you accept being a slave, the only question that remains is how much your owners allow you to have. More to the point, how much of what used to be yours they decide to take.
Which usually ends up being pretty much everything you have.
. . .
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“How much is enough?”
“Just a little bit more.” – John D. Rockefeller
Federal Registration Fees amounts to more armaments for more war.
There is every opportunity to take advantage of your peaceful existence, you will prosper.
Bibi’s war is Bibi’s war, not mine. It ain’t just a little bit more of war, it is always way more war and seems that it is permanent.
The karma hasn’t arrived yet for Bibi. It’s coming.
The wheels of justice grind a very fine grist.
There is precedent for federal taxes on personal property, and that isn’t comforting.
During the early years of the US, the federal government imposed a tax on carriages. This was at first ruled constitutional in Hylton v. United States, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 171 (1796). Yes, you had to pay a federal personal-property tax on your horse-drawn carriage. The Supreme Court ruled that this was not a direct tax as defined and prohibited in the Constitution, but a federal tax on land would be.
This ruling was overturned nearly 100 years later in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company, 157 U.S. 429 (1895), affirmed on rehearing, 158 U.S. 601 (1895). This was the famous ruling that also overturned the federal income tax of that era. It made an amendment to the Constitution necessary for imposing a federal income tax, which is why we have the 16th Amendment.
But get this: after Obamacare passed with the individual mandate to buy medical insurance, Chief Justice John Roberts cited Hylton as a precedent for declaring the individual mandate constitutional as a “tax”.
So watch developments closely if Congress debates a federal motor-vehicle registration fee.
Also note that heavy trucks are liable for certain federal taxes already. That “US DOT” number you see on truck fleets ain’t free to get.
Take your scam elsewhere.
Thanks, John – “Maggie” has been flushed.
They are also proposing a mileage tax in several States for the same reason. Our very own tyrant, JB “Jelly Belly” Pritzker, during a press conference the other day, had the nerve to say that since ICE cars are getting better mileage than ever before, and since most people buying new cars are opting for an EV, Illinois is short on gas taxes for road repair. He plans to introduce a mileage tax at the super low introductory rate of $0.30 per mile. He did not mention any equivalent reduction in the taxes we pay at the pump either. If he does that, my costs for just commuting to work would go up $22.50 per day.
Coming from a multimillionaire who ripped out his own toilets in order to avoid paying his own taxes, that’s more than a little bit risible.
Yes he did, only thing I’ll add is that he is estimated to have a net worth of $3.6 billion dollars. Imagine being a billionaire and trying to avoid paying, for him, what is a pittance in property taxes. But he will surely prosecute any of us who don’t pay their extortion.
Hi Bill,
Is he serious about the thirty cents a mile?! That would wipe out Uber and anyone else that uses their own vehicles for deliveries and such. Not that our overlords are ever concerned about that.
I think he is serious, but I think cooler heads will prevail as even the demonrat reps are mostly opposed to this scheme. However, that’s not to say they won’t pass something, he probably threw out 0.30 per mile as a ridiculous starting point and will settle for maybe 0.10 per mile.
It won’t be popular.
Everyone will scream. They will unofficially allow you to lie & won’t go after you as long as you put something down on your tax form every year. Then (unless people scream loudly enough to get it repealed, which is possible but I don’t know how likely) in about 10-20 years they will start to clamp down on that, if they think they can get by with it.
A few jerks get together, call Themselves Government. Write up what They declare a law that confiscates part of your earnings, have another person sign it then send it to you claiming you owe them $xxxxx.xx. Scam of the ages.
It is. Even in the best scenario, only a handful of people gave their consent directly to government. For everyone else, they are the mafia with fancy buildings and titles.
Taxes are armed robbery, collected at gun point. There is no such thing as a “good” tax.
The only acceptable tax
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5JFrbD5yhaA
I’ve got one of those tax collectors in my house.
“I’ve got one of those tax collectors in my house”
What tax collector.. I didn’t see anything.. 😉
The 16th Amendment was sold to the general public as to target taxes upon people who had incomes above a certain level. Is this not a *Bill of Attainder* and hence unconstitutional? Wouldn’t a national highway tax be the same?
no, because it imposes rules on a class of people, not named individuals.
They will justify a highway tax thusly:
1. Highways are integral to interstate commerce
2. Federal funds are used to build and maintain these highways
3. You do or can drive on these highways to work, school, out of state
4. Therefore highway use is related to interstate commerce – give us your $$
For as long as I can remember, proposals from politicians for new fees, taxes, or even an increase in existing taxes have ALWAYS been framed as “It’ll only affect the rich!”, and to this day, there are people stupid enough to believe it. Why, even in Oregon, there was a governor who, a few years ago, signed into law what’s called the Corporate Activity Tax, which I’m sure was also framed as “Making the Wealthy pay their fair share!”, but really ended up being a de facto sales tax, albeit hidden. She even passed a state transit tax for people’s pay checks that largely benefits the transit system in Portland. I don’t know what it is with Democrat governors & legislators in Oregon who invariably ONLY seem to be looking out for PORTLANDIA & propagandized $#!+ libs instead of the entire state.
We had a governor who chided us with “it’s just the cost of a cup of coffee per week”
The 16th, 17th, and 18th Amendments were all social engineering driven by the media of the era, particularly Hearst. All were punitive measures against easy targets at first so passage happened rapidly for the first two.
In 2007, the service fee to have electricity provided to the farmhouse was 8.00 USD per month.
Obama was elected, had to have an increase in electricity prices, prices would necessarily triple is what I remember Obama saying right after he was elected.
Now the fee is 59.75 per month. Instead of 96 dollars per year, the cost is now over 700 dollars each year.
It’s a tax.
You can’t trust any of them.
I don’t understand how you guys afford to live
My utility will charge a $25 service free if you don’t use at least $25 of electricity per month – example vacation house that’s not occupied.
But are you saying this is $700 annually in addition to electricity used?
Yes, it is the basic monthly fee, electricity is metered after that.
Obama is the culprit, the perpetrator.
If only Obama wasn’t a Jewish puppet like the rest.
The Jews are the culprits. Usury is THEIR THING.
Not sure how it’s an Obama thing when that fee isn’t nation wide but I understand the revulsion at Obama, the feds, and hidden taxes.
I fully concur it’s a ridiculous surcharge
But again not sure how you guys afford to live in places that do this stuff.
First off, I don’t want a newer/better DMV at the federal level. No doubt they would use this as an excuse. Vehicle emissions inspections aren’t required where I live, as well as many other rural places. I’m sure thats the first thing they would change. The answer is no.
I get the vibe there is more to this idea than just the revenue shortfall. It might create precedent for our shitty managerial elite to implement a national property tax on owners of real estate. Maybe even unrealized gains. It wouldn’t be sold that way, and it might only start as a tax on second homes or investment property, but we all know where it would lead. Of course, there would be a Finklesteen exemption written into the law, for those deemed too big to fail.
Its couch cushion time for these vile blood beasts. The empire is dying and they refuse to accept this fact. So, expect more of this grifting behavior writ large. Punishing the snotty, virtue signaling, dumbs hits who buy and drive these clown cars, would be stellar. But, it’d be no different than pissing ones pants while standing outside in a blizzard. Might make one feel nice and warm for a brief bit, but the aftermath would suck.
‘Within just a few years, everyone who worked had become a slave to the federal government.’ — eric
Then the US fedgov took over higher education. Now we get this:
‘EAB, in a presentation called “Strategic Use of Grant Aid 101,” discusses up to 200 variables that [colleges] can use when setting an individual admitted student’s price, drawing from data on over 350 clients and 1.5 billion “student interactions.”
‘So a school makes an opening bid. For lower-income families, it might refer to the discount off the school’s list price as need-based aid. Or for a more affluent family, it could call the discount a “presidential scholarship” — or anything, really, that it thinks will get in a student’s head and sway their decision.
‘But it is only an opening bid.’ — NYT
https://archive.ph/i9Rm7#selection-1167.0-1171.31
Price discrimination is illegal for normal corporations. But in the degenerate, fedgov-dominated world of higher education, prices are haggled as if in a middle eastern bazaar, using data purloined through digital spying.
And now deviant Leviathan has taken over the car biz. Watch it crash and burn.
Why not?
We’re already paying a new, federal sales tax on imports that varies by country of origin.
Instituted merely via executive fiat…and which changes week-to-week.
“don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the guy behind that tree”
‘it wouldn’t be that hard to figure out what the equivalent to a gasoline tax would be’ — Landru
Indeed. Simplest way: states just add a gas tax equivalent to their EeeVee registration fee.
But FedgovCo NEVER intends to live within its means. Two tells: 1. ‘Defense’ [sic] budget to be hiked over $1 trillion; 2. Debt ceiling to be raised by $4 to 5 trillion.
Rum-soaked RINOs are just Elmer Gantry rebooted: ‘Reverend Dr Elmer Gantry, the protagonist of Sinclair Lewis’s 1927 satirical novel, is attracted by drinking, chasing women, and making easy money.’
This is the only business model our kleptocratic rulers have — until they run out of Other People’s Money.
They jumped into his pickup, Sonny jammed her down in gear
Sonny looked at Sherry, said “Let’s get on outta here”
The stars were high above ’em, the moon was in the east
The sun was settin’ on ’em when they reached Miami Beach
They got a hotel by the water and a quart of Bombay gin
The road goes on forever and the party never ends
— Robert Earl Keen, The Road Goes On Forever
Hi Jim.
The main advantage of having the charger collect the tax is so that it would be deemed reasonable. Jim’s way sounds like it would work on reported mileage but might shock someone not prepared for a demand for several hundred dollars when hey renew their tags.
Either way people who drive more, pay more. The people who only go through the equivalent of a few tanks of gas a year should not pay as much as some one who drives for several hours a day.
All that said; taxation is not only theft but akin to slavery. One benefit of taxing EV use is maybe it might convince those leftists that taxes and fees are wrong and must be reduced if they can not be eliminated.
I’ve never understood the mentality that says, “That guy’s not paying as much in taxes as I am. Tax him MORE!”. Instead of thinking, “Hey, why are you taxing me more? Give me my money you sleezebags! And, who anointed you to decide what my “fair share” is in the first place you SOB!!”
People are either obtuse or really stupid…and I don’t think they’re smart enough to be obtuse.
Hi Mark,
That mentality is envy. I never understood it but there are many people who hate watching others succeed and they think higher taxes or more taxes is a way to even the field.
Indeed, RG. Envy = Covetousness = sin. We are commanded to no covet our neighbors wife or property but, it’s a resume enhancement if you want to get elected.
Ask a government employee about taxes.
Guarantee 95% of them will tell you that THEY PAY taxes.
Cognitive dissonance is the rule, not the exception.
Years ago a nominally libertarian county commissioner asked me to go over the county budget and look for things to cut. I was glad to do it. The most egregious thing was funding positions that were never filled. Yes, of the taxes they took in they allocated money for jobs that were unfilled. Why?
But, what really struck me were the line items to cover state and federal income taxes. Again, yes, we were being taxed so these employees could say, “Well, I’m a taxpayer, too.” It was total BS. I suggested we stop having GovCo employees pay state and federal income tax and just give them their net pay and save the Producers a ton of cash. Needless to say the suggestion died in its crib; smothered by bureaucratic hubris, arrogance and greed. This economic dog chasing its own tail continues unabated.
Hell, I think “why in the world are you greedy Feds” not going on a financial diet? There will never be enough taxes to satisfy these bastards.
Key paragraph from the Ars Technica article:
‘The House Transportation and Infrastructure committee cannot mandate that states collect these new taxes on drivers. But just as the federal government used the withholding of federal highway funds as a stick to force all states to raise the drinking age to 21, this bill would require the Department of Transportation to withhold 125 percent of the estimated total registration fees if it did not comply.’
This is a standard strategy of big-government, RINO Repugniclowns to micromanage our lives from WARshington, DC.
They eat out our substance under the never legally enacted 16th Amendment, and then use those purloined funds to destroy federalism, even as they pay lip service to it.
I regard RINOs the same way I regard Israelis — as foreign, alien oppressors, contemptuously picking our pockets while they cry out in pain as they strike us.
It didn’t take me long to make the connection with income taxes and know that they would go after ICE vehicles later on. If it was just a matter of collecting an equivalent to the gasoline tax that allegedly goes toward road maintenance this could be easily done by having the EV chargers collect it when they are charging the vehicle.
I’m guessing it wouldn’t be that hard to figure out what the equivalent to a gasoline tax would be and as those chargers are probably connected to the internet the power company would know that John Q. Public was charging his Tesla and not welding together a trailer in regards to power consumption and tax the power used appropriately.
Sadly people don’t want to come to grip with the fact that we don’t have a tax revenue problem but rather a GovCo spending problem. Maybe GovCo should contact Ramsey Solutions because agents are standing by to help you deal with your debt load. They’ve helped many people maybe they can help GovCo live within their means also.