David Streifford: Smoke and car mirrors

For readers like me who like to ponder “Notable numbers,” it was shocking to read that the United States ranks third-lowest in the world on gas taxes. “Only Kuwait and Saudi Arabia tax less” (May 2).

And now the North Carolina Republican leadership is taking steps to further reduce our onerous gas-tax burden. House Bill 927 would reduce the gas tax by 6 cents in July. But in smoke-and-mirrors style, the bill’s sponsors then hike DMV fees by 50 percent, raise the highway use tax from 3 percent to 4 percent and impose a new 6.5 percent tax on car and truck insurance.

And we thought Republicans didn’t like taxes.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 5:53 PM with the headline "David Streifford: Smoke and car mirrors."