The absence of both taxes to fund the infrastructure proposal marks a shift from Buttigieg's comments Friday.
"I think that shows a lot of promise," Buttigieg said of the mileage tax. "If we believe in that so-called user pays principle, the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive.... The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it -- it's not anymore, so a so-called vehicle-miles-traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it... [I]f there's a way to do it that doesn't increase the burden on the middle class, we can look at it, but if we do, we've got to recognize that's still not going to be the long-term answer."
That was last Friday, after which Buttigieg got "roasted" (according to The Week). The big problem with that "user pays principle" is that richer people live in the more close-in suburbs and have the benefit of a shorter commute, and the poorer people who must buy further-out real estate and put up with a longer commute would now be expected to pay more for their opposite-of-privilege.
Here's Buttigieg displaying absurd glibness embracing the principle and acting like he and that principle never met:
As @jaketapper says after, "something of a backtrack" on this:https://t.co/FBafw2Tudx
— The Recount (@therecount) March 29, 2021
