Jessica McBride refers to this as yet another scold tax.  But the reality is that concepts like this are far more conservative than liberal:

Saying that he would not spend his final term in office "pretending that all is fine," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made a series of Earth Day proposals this afternoon to improve the environment of New York City, including charging a new congestion fee to drivers who come into parts of Manhattan during peak hours during weekdays.

The $8 congestion fee was one of 127 initiatives included in a sweeping plan by the mayor to help the city of currently 8.2 million people cope with an expected surge in population that he said is sure to put a strain on its transportation, housing and energy systems.

What is Michael Bloomberg proposing here?  Is he punishing people for driving?  That is obviously Jessica's take.  But the reality is that he is asking that people pay a premium to use a finite resource.

There are two ways to manage a finite resource.  Conservatives typically think this should be done by varying the cost.  As the demand for a finite resource increases, the cost does as well.  This forces people to be more frugal with that resource.  People will choose to drive at different times (perhaps going to work earlier and leaving earlier, or going in later and leaving later), or taking alternative routes, or combining trips in order drive less.  This naturally has the effect of using less of the finite resource (bandwidth on the road).  This is done all the time in business.  You pay more to use  your cell phone during peak hours than during off hours.  You pay more for gasoline during the summer when people drive more than in the winter when people drive less.

The typical liberal way to control a finite resource is by varying the time it takes to acquire it.  You should never increase the price gasoline.  Instead the price should be fixed, and people will use less because even though anyone can afford to get as much as they want, they'll wait in long lines and be rationed (hello 1978).  If everyone talked during peak hours as much as possible, then half the time you tried to talk on your cell phone, you'd get that annoying message saying the network was busy.  When the XBox first went on sale, the price was fixed despite incredibly high demand.  The controlling mechanism for who got one in time for Christmas was who was willing to spend the time to wait in line.  When the old Soviet regime was short on food, the price was fixed, but people waited in line for bread.  Those who spent the time got the bread.  Same with traffic.  The liberal way to control the finite resource of roads is to set a fixed price, and forcing people to waste their time by sitting in traffic.

The problem with forcing people to spend their time instead of their money, is that the overall amount of time you have in a day is fixed.  If you need to use that resource and it's controlled with money, you can spend the money and get it easily.  The same can't be said for a resource controlled by time.  Imagine a world where cars cost $100, but you had to wait 5 years to buy one.  You can't get a loan for more time, but you can get a loan for more money and pay it off over time.

Bloomberg's idea is a very conservative, business oriented idea.  I thought you were conservative Jessica.