New York State is poised to institute a charge for driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street, where there is plenty of mass transportation, and even though the charge will not go into effect until 2021, Fox Business host Charles Payne, an African American who can surely afford the cost, joked he'd need to sneak into work via an "Underground Railroad."

Fox News reporter Laura Ingle acknowledged that several other cities “have seen success” with congestion pricing, reporting “a decrease in traffic, a boost in revenue and cleaner air quality.” She also noted that officials believe the plan could raise $1 billion a year that will go to improving mass transit.

The Nation likened the congestion-pricing plan to a Green New Deal for New York.

So, naturally, Fox News conservatives couldn't wait to attack it.

Host Charles Payne griped, “I drive into New York everyday, right? And it’s amazing that the same city that went on a road diet – they’ve got bike lanes, they’ve got bus lanes, they’ve got all kinds of things - would have the nerve to talk about congestion and make me pay for it, and it’s going to be more, right?”

For some reason, the “expert” for this discussion was Emma Meshell, of Campus Reform. Although a regular Fox News guest, she seems to lack a single credential in urban planning, transportation or even tax policy. But she immediately turned the issue into demonizing Democrats, which is probably the only credential Fox cares about.

“Let's be clear here, this isn’t about congestion, this is about control,” Meshell began, “because the Democrats and the Democratic government of New York City want to have control over people’s lives in every way possible, and they do that through taxation.”

She called it a way to “bring in revenue for a bloated government.”

Payne agreed: “That’s the point here, isn’t it? They’ve taxed almost everything that moves.”

“Democrats will raise taxes on anyone, for any reason, in any way they can get away with,” Meshell accused. Her proof? “I bought a car, I paid a few hundred dollars in sales tax for it, and I just had to pay my property taxes on it last week, and every time I go to fill it up at the gas station have to pay a fuel tax.”

Payne ignored what Ingle had just reported, that the funds are earmarked to improve mass transit, in order to keep up the gripefest. “They would like to have a city where everyone’s on a bicycle or a scooter,” he said.

“This green label is just something that they’re putting on it so they could sell it to people better,” Meshell said, without bothering to offer any proof for the accusation.

But Payne, who is black, likened the plan to the Underground Railroad that African Americans used to escape slavery. “Who would have ever thought we’d have to actually kinda sneak into work, right? Like an Underground Railroad, just to get to work.”

Watch Payne act as though he’s about to be enslaved from a measure that could actually make his trip to work easier below, from the April 1, 2019 Your World.