Stealth Taxes

Here in East California Colorado, there's a thing called the TABOR amendment to the constitution that says that all taxes and/or increases must be approved by the voters of the state.

The issue relates to Tesla's corporate problems and California's efforts to bail them out at the taxpayers expense.

“Today, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission rubber-stamped California’s vehicle emission regulations,” said CADA President and CEO Tim Jackson. This will add a $2,110 tax to the sticker price of average new vehicles in Colorado, a tax that will be even higher on the SUVs and trucks that Coloradans prefer. This is hard-earned cash that the typical new vehicle buyer in Colorado will not recover and will have the biggest negative impact on working families and the economically disadvantaged.

Read the whole thing to see what's going on. Just as General Motors was bailed out by BHO, I guess we can rest assured that Tesla would be bailed out by a President Hickenlooper with taxpayer money so that $150,000 compact cars can be sold for $30,000.

UPDATE: So it's not an actual tax, just an estimate of the price increase on an average car due to Colorado's conformance to California's emissions and fuel economy standards. It's a very low number as the price of a new car seems to grow by 3.4-4%/year all by itself.