Posted on 07/01/2009 6:40:29 AM PDT by wrhssaxensemble
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. What once was science fiction is being field-tested by the University of Iowa to iron out the wrinkles should a by-the-mile road tax ever be enacted. Besides the technological advances making such a tax possible, the idea is getting a hard push from a growing number of transportation experts and officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
No NO NOO
The per gallon tax is a good way to tax those who are heavier, faster and do more damage to the system to be taxed. A per mile tax would negate the progressive nature of the fuel tax..in terms of the vehicle.
Whatdya wanna bet we end up with 'em both?
We'll have both - a gas tax AND a road tax.
Government will NEVAH relinquish any source of tax revenue.
EVAH.
Exactly. And we’ll put up with it. It’s who we are.
Very funny!
“...a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove.”
Really? The system will know WHO was driving as well as where the car went?
The founders understood your sentiment.
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
But, they also understood that a time came when the evils were no longer sufferable.
Elections have consequences. The GOP needs a wake-up call.
Treason!
If this be treason, let’s make the most of it...
I agree completely... its kind of like that telephone tax I was reading about yesterday that Ron Paul (who I have mixed views on personally) is trying to create a bill to do away with....
the tax was created as a temporary measure to help fund the spanish american war.... 100 years later it is still there... government likes to tax the populace until they bleed and can be taxed no more
I still don’t get how a per-mile tax would be constitutional though
The year is 2020 and the gasoline tax is history.
Ridiculous! No tax ever goes away. A mileage tax will be simply overlayed on top of it.
The year is 2030, and the Federal Government has issued new micro GPS devices to be embedded under our skin. President Albert Gore III has decided that since each citizen expels an excess of carbon dioxide every time they move, a movement tax will be issued based on how many meters are registered each month by each citizen. As he signed this bill into law, President Gore said to those present, “I wish my late father could be here to see his dream finally become reality.”
Puts a whole new meaning “joy rides”....you could rack up the fees of selected friends. **Disclaimer: Yes I am only joking, was just having fun thinking of extra ways to pass the taxes to the democrats
if you really beleive that the feds are going to scrap ANY tax, let alone the gas tax, you’re crazy - they’ll simply tack the miles-driven tax on top of it.
this scheme is merely the government finding yet another pocket to pick.
hows about simply taking the gps device out of the car and leave it in the garage, then drive all you want....
First, why the need for GPS? Odometer readings will give mileage driven. Is the gubmint gonna bill you continuously? Are you gonna get a text message telling you that you are going to the grocery store too often & need to plan your shopping better? Or, do they just want to track you?
Second, this makes fuel efficiency no longer a priority - big SUVs are back. The Greens ain't gonna like this, but the Saudis will.
What do the words “limited government” mean? Anything? Nothing?
It’s only a matter of time before they install required fart detection and evaluation meters on your butt so they can charge you taxes on your methane emissions too! Who let the loonies take over Congress? The stupid American sheeple.
If you have to take a test to drive, why shouldn’t your intelligence to vote be tested too?
>>> Whatdya wanna bet we end up with ‘em both?
Not to mention the triple dipping for turnpikes and bridges!
“Shhhh.... buzzards!” (punch line of a joke)
EAGLE EYE Here we come!
Oh... and lets not forget that not too long ago we were called kooks for our outlandish predictions on what this new technology would be used for.
The GOP needs a wake up call, and needs to get it’s act together, true. But the entire electorate needs a wake up call and throw the bums in both parties out.
It’s not that the technology is bad -
it’s the power grabbing elitists that need some slapping around.
The confrontation is coming. They want to control EVERYTHING about us, and we just want to be left alone.
It’s gonna be ugly.
Won't matter WHO was driving, it's your car.
And yes, with GPS they will know where the car went.
The GOP has needed a wakeup call for decades!
That’s a hanging offense in 2020.
one tiny problem...
The GPS satellites, as it has been recently reported, are not expected to last into 2020
The biggest deficiency of taxes on motor fuels — and a deficiency that is likely to grow over time — is that there are more and more vehicles on the road that use non-traditional means of propulsion (electric cars, CNG fleets, etc.) that aren’t subject to these taxes.
Interesting question about the need for GPS. My guess is that the location where a vehicle drives would have to known in order to determine which jurisdiction gets the tax revenue. If I put 15,000 miles per year on my vehicle but drive half those miles out of state, then the state where the vehicle is registered has no authority to collect taxes on the full use.
Yeah, we really taught “the GOP a lesson”!
If you aren't doing anything wrong it shouldn't bother you if someone knows where you are ,what you say, and what you are doing at all times?(There are people who really believe this.)
Constitutional. Such a quaint notion in Obama's Amerika.
It’s not about money. It’s about control.
Sorry to say you need to check how over the road trucks are taxed. The semis that carry America’s goods get taxed by each state.
I understand what you’re saying. I was pointing out the facile and erroneous description in the article that says,
“...you get a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove.”
This is just not true. It should read, “You get a tax bill based on the total miles travelled by all cars registered to you.”
That’s a big difference.
This needs to be repeated. GPS tracking of your car is not about taxes. It is about the government eventually controlling how fast, when, and where you drive, where you park, and knowing who you associate with. This is the most dangerous threat to freedom that has been proposed in a long time, and must be fought with vigor.
GPS’s are too easy to screw with. Even by 2020 not all vehicles will have them, and they could push add-ons but those would be even easier to mess with (more exposed, less integrated).
Some states have already implimented this in one form or another.
If it can be done, it will be done, sooner or later.
It IS about money to me.
If I drive 20K miles per year and get 18 MPG (my Dodge truck), I will need 1,111 gals of gas. At 18.5% fed tax per gal., I will pay $205.36 in fed gasoline taxes. Same miles per year at $.02 per mile is $400.00. This law will cost me DOUBLE what I am paying now. It will also provide zero motivation for me to buy a higher mileage vehicle.
The other draconian measures (or possibilities) contained in this tax are already being discussed on this thread, so I will leave them alone.
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