On Wednesday, President Obama attended a gala celebration in Chicago to celebrate his fiftieth birthday one day early. Attendees paid $35,800 a ticket to bask in the light of their Messiah, and to mingle with musical stars Herbie Hancock and OK Go.

Meanwhile, outside the Obama bubble, the stock market heralded President Obama’s 50th birthday with a 512 point decline — more than 10 points for each year he’s been alive. It was the Dow’s worst day since the 2008 financial crisis.

Many Americans find the President amiable and charismatic. That said, results are all that count, and by this measure, the President has fallen well short of the mark.

For those still blaming President Bush for an economy that has been all but stagnant for nearly three years of Obama’s management, the numbers speak for themselves:

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I am not sure what other states charge for an annual license and registration fee, but $111 seems a bit high. It is certainly a healthy deterrent against middle-income families owning more than one car in the state.

But I digress…

My problem with my registration fee is not the cost (though I still think it is high), but the payment deadline.

I received a bill from the state of California on a Saturday that is due this coming Tuesday. Of course, I cannot mail anything on Sunday.

In essence, if I had been on vacation for a short four-day weekend, I would surely have missed my deadline and had to pay a penalty.

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Last March, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Boeing for its decision to set up a non-unionized production line in South Carolina. The complaint alleges that Boeing is locating a second production line in that state to retaliate against striking union workers in Washington State.

Since 1989, there have been four strikes at Boeing’s Washington facility. The last strike lasted eight weeks and cost the firm $2 billion.

In 2009, Boeing invested $1 billion in a new factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, and hired 1,000 local workers. Had Boeing then laid off 1,000 workers in Washington State, the NLRB might have had a case.

However, Boeing actually increased its Washington workforce by 2,000.

It is perfectly reasonable for Boeing to install a second line in South Carolina to hedge against the uncertainty associated with unionized labor.

That is not retaliation- it is simply smart business.

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The Obama Administration has recently floated the idea of a national mileage tax. The government would install electronic tracking equipment in vehicles to determine how many miles drivers traveled, and drivers would pay the tax electronically at gas stations.

The President proposes creating a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office costing $200 million through fiscal year 2017, to study how to best implement such a policy. The new office would examine four areas including “the capability of states to enforce payments, the reliability of technology, administrative costs, and ‘user acceptance.’”

I think a mileage tax is a non-starter for several reasons.

1. Mileage Taxes Are Regressive

Any mileage tax would harm lower-income people the most as transportation costs consume a far higher percentage of their income than wealthier consumers. One could argue that these taxes will likely replace current federal excise taxes on gasoline today, so the status quo would not likely change for these folks. However, I am skeptical that the federal government will ever phase out the gasoline tax, especially since it will naturally go away as people start replacing gasoline-powered vehicles with electric-powered alternatives. In fact, that is really what this mileage tax is really all about. The government sees this trend coming and is trying to get ahead of the problem before revenue from federal  gasoline taxes start declining.

2. Mileage Taxes Will Likely Harm the Economy

The purpose of taxation is twofold: to raise revenue and to encourage/discourage citizen behavior. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, there has been far too much emphasis on the former and not enough on the latter. Sadly, a mileage tax will actually encourage behavior that harms the economy because it will discourage people from driving. When people drive less, they will be less likely to attend a movie or drive to the mall for an afternoon of shopping. The bottom line is that a mileage tax will likely discourage economic activity because people will drive less and will have less discretionary income for consumption.

3. Administering a Mileage Tax Violates Privacy

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While the national seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is 1.5 percentage points higher than during President George Bush’s last full month in office, life is surprisingly good for folks living near the Beltway. On an unadjusted basis and as of February 2011, the unemployment rate of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area was 3.6 percentage points lower than the national average. The gap between Washington’s local unemployment and the national rate is higher than it ever was during the Bush administration.

National Minus D.C. Metro Unemployment Rates (Not Seasonally Adjusted), Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

According to The Economist, the Washington D.C. metro area accounted for 6% of the nation’s job growth over the past year, in an area that holds just 2% of the country’s population. In the one-year period ending January 2011, the S&P/Case-Schiller Index of home prices fell nationally by 3% for 20 large cities, whereas it rose 3.6% for the D.C. metro region. In 2009, the region’s GDP grew at +2.2%, compared with the overall United States’ -1.7%.

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