Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
I wonder if the OP realizes that gas at $5 a gallon not only impacts cars, but trucks, trains, ocean freighters, etc.. So the cost of ALL goods and services go up because of high gas prices. HE may be in favor of high gas taxes, but I am not.. and either are a lot of other people who prefer to make their own decisions about transportation and not have the government mandate their choices away.
After all, if its a womans RIGHT to have an abortion.. surely we have a right to determine how we want to travel? Unless we could somehow impose a $5000 per child abortion tax? Maybe then it would be fair.
:roll: Nice red herring trying to introduce abortion into the debate.
The point is that many North Americans do not have a choice in their transportation methods. Even if you wanted to travel using an alternative method to vehicles, you probably couldn't.
Mass transit either doesn't exist, doesn't go where you need to go, or is too slow or infrequent. Traveling by bicycle or walking is impractical because of the large distance involved.
So you are forced to drive. Now, the type of vehicle you drive should be your choice, but it should be taxed relative to the external costs it imposes (pollution, land use, etc.). These costs are different for larger vehicles than for smaller vehicles.
As for other forms of transport, freighters, trucks, trains, planes, etc. do not use the same type of fuel as cars. They also don't use the same filling stations as passenger vehicles.
Any kind of taxation would be applied only to passenger vehicles. Vehicles used for business should be taxed differently.
You also have to provide alternatives before you can start removing choices (i.e. build up mass transit first so that people have the option to use it, rather than taxing vehicles without improving transit and leaving people no option but to continue driving, but at increased cost).
