Despite early indications that the Obama Administration did not want to follow the toll road policies of the previous administration, the US Department of Transportation is spending millions in federal taxpayer dollars to encourage states to impose tolls on new and existing roads. On Monday, the DOT published formal rules for states interested in applying to receive $1.5 billion in federal tax grants under the new “Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery” program. “TIGER discretionary funding will open up the door to many new innovative and cutting-edge transportation projects,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

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I’m beginning to like the environment. First, the greens spiked Charles “Double Nickel” Hurley’s nomination for the top slot at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As we reported earlier, Hurley’s federal pension plans came a cropper for daring to suggest that larger cars were safer than fuel misers (at the IIHS, back in the day). Now, tree huggers have torpedoed the current cash-for-clunkers bill. Reuters reports that California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a friend of the Friends of the Earth, is not happy with the compromise cash-for-clunkers bill.

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After Germany’s cash-for-clunkers sales surge, it was only a matter of time, and not much of it, before the US followed suit. The idea failed to make into the federal stimulus package (which is like calling an all-you-can-eat buffet a Weight Watchers’ Special). And so, a bill is born. CNNMoney says aloha, clunker-mania.

The bill, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, would provide on- the-spot vouchers between $3,000 to $7,500 to consumers who trade in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The size of the vouchers would vary, depending on the fuel economy of the car being purchased.

The older vehicles, required to have been built at least eight years ago, would be scrapped and their parts recycled, while the new vehicles would have to meet a certain fuel economy standard – 27 mpg on highways for cars, 24 mpg for light trucks, Sutton said. Consumers could also opt to receive a $3,000 voucher toward mass-transit fares.

Sounds great! How could that possibly go wrong? You know . . . other than all the unintended consequences?

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That’s the annual Peach State tax on cars. So eliminating it’s a good thing, right? As someone who can’t find their way around a calculator, I depend on The Atlanta Journal Constitution to tell me if the proposed elimination of a yearly property tax on autos works is a good thing or a bad thing. Only I’ve read the article and I’m still not sure.

Backers of a state House plan to ax the annual birthday tax on cars are confident most Georgians support what they’re doing.

But the bill they passed Thursday, which replaces the current taxes on cars with a big one-time title fee, is getting mixed reviews. Gov. Sonny Perdue, who would have to sign any birthday tax legislation lawmakers approve, said Friday that parts of the plan appeared “convoluted.”

“I’m still trying to digest the purposes of that, of how it all would work,” the governor said.

Not to coin a phrase, no shit.

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As someone who lived in the UK for 18 years, I was shocked to discover that Philadelphia’s mayor is named Nutter. Michael Nutter. I’m sorry, but the chances of anyone of that name being elected to public office in The Land of Hope and Glory are less than the chances that GM and Chrysler will pay back their federal loans early. OK, ever. So, anyway, WHYY reports on Mayor Nutter’s attempts to curb a good chunk of the the city’s taxpayer-funded fleet. Literally.

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I was wondering how to report this aerial photograph of two members of the bailout bestowing Presidential Task Force on Autos (PTFOA) returning one of Chevy’s plug-in electric/gas hybrid Volt mules to the paddock. I stumbled upon this description of the death of a black hole at WonderQuest.co. Seemed appropriate.

According to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, our space vacuum teems with invisible particles that flash into and out of existence like virtual fireflies.

Suppose a pair of particle-antiparticles pops into being, conveniently enough, within effective range of the black hole’s gravity.

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A newly elected member of Congress is leading the effort to ban the imposition of tolls on existing interstate highways. Last week, US Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) introduced HR 1071, the Keeping America’s Freeways Free Act. “Tolls are taxes, plain and simple,” Thompson said in a statement. “The Interstate Highway System—the greatest public works project in history—was built with federal funding to unite our nation. The Interstate Highway System’s profound effect upon the American economy has contributed significantly to development and improved quality of life through increased economic efficiency and productivity. The Keeping Americas Freeways Free Act will preserve this notion and allow for the free flowing of commerce not only in Pennsylvania, but across the nation.”

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Boston.com reports that Massive Taxes’ Governor is pledging to freeze toll charges throughout The Bay State. Before you get out your huzzahs, see: above. “Governor Deval Patrick said today he is looking at a Hummer tax—adding higher registration fees for gas-guzzling cars [ED: presumably SUVs will be rounded-up and shot] and offering discounts for those that do less harm to the environment.” The battle lines are drawn across entirely predictable boundaries, with common sense going out for a cup of Clover (at the taxpayer’s expense).

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Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell (R) is proposing a budget that increases the financial burden on drivers by $171M in order to close the state’s growing $850m deficit. Rell’s plan increases license and registration fees, imposes freeway speed cameras and assesses new charges on speeding tickets. If implemented, the programs would represent a permanent and steadily increasing source of revenue for the state.

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The taxpayer advocacy group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray H. LaHood its “January 2009 Porker of the Month.” “In his new position, Secretary LaHood will preside over the distribution of tens of billions of tax dollars for transportation projects in the stimulus package that is moving forward in Congress,” the group said in a statement. “As a member of Congress from Illinois between 1995 and 2009, then-Rep. LaHood made the most of his seat on the House Appropriations Committee and over time became adept at spending more and more of the taxpayers’ money… For his long-standing disregard for the taxpayers’ money and an abundance of concern over how he will administer the Department of Transportation, CAGW names Ray LaHood January Porker of the Month.”

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Leave it to a Texan to spin a subsidy of plug-in hybrids as a “damn the greenies and all things Washington, DC” move. Hard to believe, but that is what Gov. Rick Perry just did in his recent State of the State address. It’s an entertaining read for those who enjoy reading between the lines. Perry starts by decrying big spending interventionist government; then goes on to ask for more money for the state’s Emerging Technology Fund, Film Incentives,  Enterprise Fund, Skills Development Fund, the Texas Grant Program, the Workforce Commission’s Skills Development Fund …. well, you get the idea. But wait, this is The Truth About Cars, not The Truth About Government (someone start that site, ‘kay?).

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One of the most ridiculous aspects of the Chrysler bridge to nowhere $7b bailout buffet: we still don’t know who owns the ailing American automaker. Yes, it’s Cerberus Capital Management, a company with its fingers in many pies, from guns (Remington) to paper (NewPage Corporation) to a chain of TV stations (Four Points Media Group) to bad loans (GMAC). That’s disturbing enough– given that the federal government is shoring-up a deep-pocketed, privately-held company. Worse (again): we don’t know the identity of “about 100 co-investors” who anted-up when Cerberus bought the domestic automaker from Daimler. Anyone remember Cerberus’ official response to Senator Corker’s question: why don’t you use your own money to bailout ChryCo? “No one is asking General Motors and Ford to pour their money in, and Cerberus has the same shareholders as they do— retirees, pension plans and endowments.” Yeah really? Who are they? Whose investments are we protecting? So I called Cerberus.

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Motorists expecting change from President Barack Obama’s choice of transportation secretary will find only a slight adjustment of priorities. Former Illinois Congressman Ray LaHood (R-Peoria) appeared before Senate transportation committee colleagues yesterday to give the first glimpse at what he wants to do to with federal transportation funds after taking his place in the cabinet. “Tolling new lanes of highways is thinking outside the box,” LaHood said. “We need to think about those kinds of opportunities. If we’re going to think innovatively, those are some of the ways we’re going to have to think about these things instead of the gas tax.” LaHood referred to the federal fuel excise tax first implemented in 1932 as a “dinosaur” and repeated the claims made by former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that traditional funding sources were not bringing in enough money (more). LaHood suggested tolling was the “innovative” alternative that the country needs to “plus up” transportation revenue. Toll roads have been in use since the Middle Ages both as a means of generating fee income and of controlling public movement. And that’s OK, apparently.

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If you don’t think the automotive world is shifting beneath our feet, think again. USA Today reports on a growing trend: car makers and dealers pushing for higher fuel taxes, of all things. The auto industry’s newfound love of eco-friendly policy comes down its need to satisfy increasingly stringent federal fuel economy regulations. If gas prices stay low, the government-pleasing vehicles will continue to languish on the lots and docks, Prius-like. Small car profit margins will disappear, Prius-like. AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson was ahead of this particular curve ball when he called high gas prices a good thing. MJ is now joining the New York Times editorial board (amongst others) calling for increased federal taxes to git ‘er done. (After all, European motorists pay their governments through their nasal passages for the privilege of fueling their vehicles.) One of Uncle Sam’s new BFFs agrees. “GM CEO Rick Wagoner said taxing gas or providing rebates on fuel-efficient cars ‘is going to be the most effective way to move the needle fast.'” While Jackson and Wagoner are of one mind on raising gas taxes (or something), the AutoNation jefe is no fan of all this wild needle swinging stuff. “We watched the consumer stampede to fuel efficiency in May, and now the herd is getting ready to stampede back to their old ways,” says Jackson.