From the Kansas City Star:
The year is 2020 and the gasoline tax is history. In its place you get a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove — tracked by a Global Positioning System device in your car and uploaded to a billing center…
The idea of shifting to a by-the-mile tax has been discussed for years, but it now appears to be getting more serious attention. A federal commission, after a two-year study, concluded earlier this year that the road tax was the “best path forward” to keep revenues flowing to highway and transportation projects, and could be an important new tool to help manage traffic and relieve congestion.
The decision by the 15-member National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission was unanimous, which surprised Robert Atkinson, the group’s chairman. But he said it became clear as the commission’s work progressed that a road tax on miles traveled was the best option.
“If you’re committed to the system being improved then it was a no-brainer,” he said.
A “no-brainer” indeed… 🙂
Interesting isn’t it. You do not need a GPS system to record the number of miles driven by a motor vehicle, an odometer does just fine. You do need a GPS tracking system if you want to know the destinations. This is not to tax you by the mile driven, this is to know where you go, and who you go to see. Anything else is just a lie.
And to think these are the same people who regularly decry any and all “right wing” efforts to intrude into our bedrooms. Rank hypocrites they are. Strike that. They are totally without first principles, to their is nothing for them to be hypocritical about. They are cynical and manipulative megalomaniacs – interested in power over the lives of others and little else.
My arguments exactly, Iam321. What if you make too many unapproved stops at the local custard stand? What if you go to a church that – as Obama said – has “outdated” attitudes toward certain things? What if some government bean-counter thinks you can walk the 3-4 miles to the store rather than drive?
GPS can follow you everywhere.
How much will it cost to have every vehicle fitted with a tracking device and hire a bunch of people to bill travelers for the miles traveled? Where are the civil liberties people to decry the fact that there is someone knowing where they are every minute of the day? Will they give me a traffic ticket if I exceed any speed limit during my commute? In the end it is easier to apply the tax to the fuel and not invade my privacy.
Gee, Big Brother gets to go everywhere with us, isn’t that lovely. Will they charge you extra if you stop at a state rest area?