In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly

Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by eitally on Sunday October 11, 2015 @11:11AM (#10369556)

Well, in California specifically (and the Bay Area even more specifically), how do you think that would be fair for lower middle class service employees commuting 2hrs+ each direction every day to get to their jobs on the peninsula or in the city? In this case, a use tax just penalizes people who have already been marginalized due to decisions municipalities have made about RE development.

I'd be more in favor of increasing property taxes to cover more highway infrastructure than I would taxing the vehicles themselves. And for that matter, Prop 13 has to go.

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Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by protomyth on Sunday October 11, 2015 @01:42PM (#10370182)

Property tax is more painful to low income people and already makes it so schools in low income districts suffer. Use taxes are much more fair and immediate so it doesn't require future budgeting.

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Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by pmoriarty on Sunday October 11, 2015 @02:30PM (#10370355)

Property taxes could be progressive. The more your dwelling costs, the more (percentage-wise) you could pay.

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Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by protomyth on Sunday October 11, 2015 @03:18PM (#10370533)

and that is just more taxes without fixing how property taxes are used - we don't need more "progressive" taxes like that. Never mind the contractors and laborers who would be hurt by a lessening of new, more expensive homes. We tried that with luxury items and killed the yacht building industry in the US and put a lot of skilled craftspeople out of work.

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Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by pmoriarty on Sunday October 11, 2015 @03:25PM (#10370563)

Somehow I can't imagine luxury home building and luxury yacht building industries are going to get much sympathy from the vast majority of Americans, whose median family income is around $40k per year.

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Re:In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly by protomyth on Sunday October 11, 2015 @04:21PM (#10370781)

So, we should only have jobs that build things that people who make $40K can afford? That is a pretty short-sighted way to make economic decisions.

Well, Americans should have sympathy for the workers who spent lifetimes learning crafts that just disappeared at the stroke of a politicians pen.

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