The answer is really simple, they think of the government the way little children think of their parents - all it takes to get new stuff is to give someone this little plastic card and they give the card right back to you along with new stuff. Just like children, people think they "deserve" stuff for being good (or simply for not being bad). Most people don't think about details and implications of what they are voting for. They often vote for things with nativity of a small child - say "everyone is equally entitled to the same healthcare provided by the government", oh wait, does that mean that a homeless person gets the same private doctor and helicopter rides to the hospital as the president of the United States is provided by the federal government? Oh, ok, "there are exceptions, he does more for society than a homeless person"; well anyone who has a job does more for society than a homeless person, so they should be entitled to better healthcare by the government too, right? "Oh no, you are just trying to confuse me! Everyone should be able to get everything for free if they are good people, because they deserve it!"
Totally agree! Everyone thinks they are entitled now and they should just get everything they see their neighbors have because they "exist". But they don't understand that is the very concept that leads to socialism/communism which history tells us doesn't work and most people in this country are still against.
As I said earlier, $150 seems fair, as a way to help recoup the revenue lost for gasoline tax. So that will not get me to move to an ICE. Moving all cars to per-mile charge and removing gasoline taxes would be even more fair, but complicated to implement. $0.15 a mile for just EV's on other hand makes EV's more expensive to drive than a gas guzzler, so when making a decision of what to drive, a 1000hp car comes out cheaper to drive than a Tesla.
I too am foreign born and partly foreign raised in a communist country. I was lucky that my parents got me out when I was young. English is my second language and let me tell you when I was young even I could see that corruption was everywhere. Either you are well off by being ‘in’ with the govt or you are begging for toilet paper or you had to know someone who knows someone to get any kind of service. It’s the naive people who haven’t truly seen how communism/socialism works that keep voting for these govt officials we get under the false pretense of everyone getting everything for free!PS> I was born and raised in a communist country, so let me tell you first hand, communism doesn't work. If you think the government is corrupt now, it gets 100 times worse when the government owns everything (in the name of everything belonging to the people). As my father used to say, you know the system is a complete failure if it cannot even reliably provide toilet paper to its citizens - you had to have the right connections and pay the right bribes to get even toilet paper. There was a perpetual shortage as the factories were government owned and there was no opportunity to make money by innovation, optimization, etc - no matter the output of the factory, the workers got paid the same, so no incentive whatsoever to work. A lot of people just used newspapers if they didn't have the right connections. Funny story btw, after my family escaped and when I was learning other languages (including English which was my 4th language), I realized that while growing up, the word "buy" or "purchase" was almost never used. Everyone used the word "arrange" instead. You didn't go buy meat, you arranged for meat. You didn't buy toilet paper, you arranged for toilet paper. And yes, there were stores, but most of them had little but empty shelves, and for places like gas stations, you needed special government coupons to be able to buy gas (for people who had cars, which most didn't, and even if you did, the coupons allowed you to drive to work and back, if you wanted more, you had to arrange for extra coupons through the right connections).
As I said earlier, $150 seems fair, as a way to help recoup the revenue lost for gasoline tax. So that will not get me to move to an ICE. Moving all cars to per-mile charge and removing gasoline taxes would be even more fair, but complicated to implement. $0.15 a mile for just EV's on other hand makes EV's more expensive to drive than a gas guzzler, so when making a decision of what to drive, a 1000hp car comes out cheaper to drive than a Tesla.
As a Californian who’s actively trying to move, it irks me to hear so many flee the state due to high taxes and cost of living only to vote in the same type of government and policies that made this state unlivable for a middle class group.
Not sure how I’m floating to the bottom of the toilet bowl by saving most of my money rather than giving it to the government. Wanna talk about equitable wealth distribution, alright im down with that cause, can we start with Governor Newsom? He received over 200 million in campaign donations in 2020 from companies that later received government contracts (nothing shady about that) so how about he shares that with us toilet bowl floaters ...
You are so exactly right on all of this. That is exactly what is happening to us in Washington state. The govt adds new taxes under some false pretense and then reroutes it to the general fund, then complains there is not enough tax money for the original project and raises taxes again. If they truly used 100% of gas tax for roads, we wouldn't be in such bad shape.
Wow... this is wrong on so many levels. This is the first time I heard someone saying red-leaning people are making "emotional" decisions. It's the left that make emotional decision... in fact, justification for most of the left's policies are based on emotions only. They feel bad for the illegal children at the border, they feel bad for dreamers that were brought her illegally, they feel bad for the other nations that are poor... but they don't feel the same way about all the US citizens who are in the same predicament? The immigrants who follow the law and want to come here legally have to apply and wait 10+ years because others overrun the system with sheer numbers that just show up. US Citizens are homeless on the streets, yet we pay to house and feed illegals.
I agree with you that a car which cannot plug-in to the charge should not be paying the $75. As for the fee for EV's which can, I can get behind it even though I almost never use chargers outside of my house (heck, my wide has been driving a Tesla for 4 years and has only charged once outside of the house, 10 minute supercharge) - charging infrastructure will enable wider EV adoption, which is good for most people. Capitalism does require public investment in infrastructure, as it does in social programs which serve as a safety net to allow people to take risks which further the society. The $75 fee pales in comparison to the RTA tax for some future (20+ years from now) transit system (just over 1% value of the car, but value determined by some moron at the DMV, however the government won't allow said evaluation if was I simply to give them my car in lieu of taxes). They got that "only 1% raise in registration fees increase" past the math impaired voters who didn't realize that 0.1% to 1.1% is a huge increase because 1% sounds so small. They also learned from the Seattle monorail taxes not to promise anything before they retire (remember, they had to return the money because they didn't deliver within the 4 or 5 years they said they would?). This way, in 20 years when people go asking where is this new public transit system which people like me pay $2K a year for, they will say "we don't know what you're talking about, go talk to the retired politicians who voted it in, they took the money".
What you on about? Are you European? I am actually from the UK and what you’re saying is bollocks. The US is the greatest country in the world “because” of the free market. Socialism doesn’t work. Anyone can see that. But more than that is upward mobility which is non existent in European countries due to the class system. It’s very rigid. Here in the US we should be thankful not just for liberty but the ability to better yourself. It’s just not the case in other countries. Look at Canada right now. What a freaking shithole. Bloody police state. I do get tired of people that have never lived anywhere else criticize the US. It’s just plain ignorance.
. We are paying more now as EV owners vs ICE car owners and I own both.
