I love Oregon so much I gladly put up with its hypocritical governor, its out of control budget, its quirky liberal tendencies, its high personal income taxes, its hopelessly anti-business environment, and its progressive health care system.

But here's where I have to put my foot down: Oregon officials are now proposing a special per-mile tax on "gas-sipping" drivers.

Frustrated by the drop in tax revenue collected at the pump as drivers shift to more fuel-efficient hybrids and pure electric cars, Oregon legislators now want to make up the difference by sticking it to anyone who's willing to pay more for energy efficiency.

And as bad as that sounds, there's every reason to believe that if this takes hold, a mileage tax will be in the express lane to your neighborhood soon.

Washington's already got a law on the books that will require electric vehicle owners to pay a flat annual fee and is considering an additional per-mile tax. And Nevada is now also looking at a per-mile fee, despite all its gambling revenue.

I don't know about you, but this kind of nonsense makes me want to go out and buy a fire-breathing V8 or fusion-powered DeLorean like Doc Brown drove in the hit movie series Back to the Future just on principle alone to replace my 2006 Prius.

I thought energy efficiency was a national priority.

Welcome To a Place Called Oregon

Then I thought: how silly of me. This is Oregon, where the wisdom of our legislators seems to more closely resemble government at the expense of the people rather than for the benefit of the people.

For example:

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