In this week’s video, I lay out the connection between big unions and big gas prices. I don’t quite have Glenn Beck money, so don’t expect an appearance from the chalkboard. It really is interesting to see just why liberals feel the need to extend the federal gasoline tax. Who’s at play here? Big Oil? Nope. Big Pharama? Get real. Big Unions? Ding ding! That’s where the money is, folks. Also, I fear munchkins.

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With Texas Governor Rick Perry now leading the race for the Republican nomination for President, only days after jumping into contest (according to Rasmussen Reports – full disclosure, I have endorsed Perry) – we can expect a withering response from President Obama and his allies on the left.  As John Podhoretz noted in Commentary, comparing Perry to Ronald Reagan, “The conservative boogeyman is back.”

Since the Republican Party’s natural constituency is conservative, more so in this tumultuous Tea Party era, most attacks on Perry will be from the right – the attacks from the left will come after Perry wins the nomination.  That the machinery of the left will aid in the early attacks from the right is a given; it’s all part of winning for them.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is one such emerging line of criticism against Gov. Perry.  First proposed by Perry in 2002, the north-south running road would have also included a railway, petroleum pipeline, power lines, and communications cables.

Some conservatives have linked the planned Texas road with the feared, but as yet theoretical, North American Union or NAU and NAFTA, dubbing it the NAFTA Super Highway.  That Perry would have proposed such a thing is yet more proof to them that Perry is somehow the “Establishment” candidate (never mind his comments about the Fed, the Tenth Amendment, and the fact that the same “Establishment” ran Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison against him for governor last year).

So, what’s the deal with Perry’s proposed superhighway and should conservatives be worried?

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From The Hill:

The Senate will hold a test vote Tuesday evening on a Democratic plan to repeal several tax breaks for the big five oil companies.

The plan would repeal an estimated $21 billion worth of incentives over a decade from Exxon, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron.

The vote on a motion to formally proceed to the bill will require support from 60 senators, and it faces big hurdles amid widespread opposition from Republicans and Democrats from oil producing states.

Because, as is noted, Republicans and several Democrats oppose the legislation, the measure could well fail.

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The key to winning the future in America, according to President Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is High Speed Rail.  According to the President, China is “cleaning our clock” when it comes to infrastructure. Why is this Administration wasting so much time trying to waste our money on something we do not want?

The existing rail systems in this country are heavily subsidized by all of us through gas taxes. The light rail lines in Portland, Phoenix and Charlotte are in deep debt, behind schedule in construction, and causing the local governments to raise sales taxes and cut back on bus service schedules and other vital services. The United States is not unique in this administration’s obsession with mass transportation. This report from The Telegraph establishes that the progressive agenda, in this case in the pursuit of high speed rail, is worldwide.

According to the report, “cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe under a draconian EU master plan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent over the next 40 years.”  It states further that “Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people out of their cars and onto “alternative” means of transport.”

It is apparent that the high speed rail mania our federal government has been relentlessly pursuing is not unique to the United States.  An article dated February 28, 2011 in the UK Independent describes that “Transport Secretary Philip Hammond today launched a consultation on Government plans to “redraw” Britain’s economic map by building a £32 billion high-speed rail network.”  The words used by Hammond are eerily familiar, as he states “We must invest in Britain’s future” and “We cannot afford to be left behind – investing in high speed rail now is vital to the prosperity of future generations.”  These identical talking points were heard repeatedly from local officials in Tampa during the elections in November 2010.

The British lifestyle is quite similar to ours.

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Some people think that marriage is the most absurd institution ever invented by man. But those that think so are ignoring what is truly the most idiotic, paradoxically absurd practice in all of human history: government. Yeah, yeah, necessary evil and all, but still there is nothing that exemplifies human folly better than politics and Washington State has uncorked a doozie for us.

From coast to coast and all over the world liberals are mindlessly going gaga for green. Anything that smacks of greenism is, with religious fervor, promoted and revered. The electric automobile, for instance, is one of the left’s dream modes of transportation. Pursuant to that dreamy green dream, liberals have made sure that all sort of tax breaks are lavished upon those citizens who dutifully jump up to their necks into the unprofitable and technologically untested world of electric cars. Washington State is no exception to this mania.

… and hilarity ensues.

The Associated Press is even a bit snarky about the whole mess.

After years of urging residents to buy fuel-efficient cars and giving them tax breaks to do it, Washington state lawmakers are considering a measure to charge them a $100 annual fee — what would be the nation’s first electric car fee.

Yes, that’s right. After giving them tax breaks to waste their money on electric cars, now Washington State wants to raise new taxes on those very same buyers. If that isn’t a bait and switch, what is?

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From The Hill:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when federal funds are short.

The report discussed the proposal in great detail, including the development of technology that would allow total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to be tracked, reported and taxed, as well as the pros and cons of mandating the installation of this technology in all vehicles.

“In the past, the efficiency costs of implementing a system of VMT charges — particularly the costs of users’ time for slowing and queuing at tollbooths — would clearly have outweighed the potential benefits from more efficient use of highway capacity,” CBO wrote. “Now, electronic metering and billing are making per-mile charges a practical option.”

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In today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the Ben Bernanke’s latest comments, the huge foreclosure mess, and Mitch Daniels’ call for new taxes, including a VAT.

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