Posted on 12/31/2008 7:55:46 AM PST by ikeonic
Democrat governor proposes high tech scheme to charge drivers by the mile
Perhaps you've heard by now that the governor of Oregon is pitching a GPS-based mileage tax to replace the pay at the pump gas tax that all states and the federal government have used for decades. This high tech scheme would require every car to have a GPS unit so that the state could discriminate between mileage accrued in-state vs. out of state.
So just why did the State of Oregon decide to develop this hair-brained mileage tax scheme?
From ODOT's own website:
In 2001, the Oregon State Legislature authorized the creation of the Road User Fee Task Force to examine various revenue raising alternatives for replacing Oregon’s gas tax as the primary source of revenues for repairing, maintaining, and building Oregon’s roads. The purchasing power of the state’s gas tax has steadily eroded over the years for several reasons:
- the gas tax has not kept pace with inflation;
- voters have opposed increases in the gas tax; and
- the fuel efficiency of new vehicles, especially hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles, continues to increase, resulting in less gas tax paid.
Really? Voters have opposed increases in the gas tax? I've lived here 6 years and I've never once had the chance to vote on any gas tax increases. I was asked to vote on a stupid cigarette tax increase to pay for health care for poor children -- the ultimate blackmail to raise a "sin tax". But I don't recall being asked to raise the gas tax to pay for better roads. What voters are they talking about?
If voters truly believed that increases in the gas tax would go to pay for Oregon's roads and not for more mass transit, they would happily approve an increase in the gas tax. Freeways in the Portland metro have virtually the same lane mileage capacity that they did in 1970, yet mass transit continues to grow, grow and grow. Gee, I can't imagine why drivers don't believe ODOT is going to invest the money in roads.
It's this lack of credibility and trust that causes voters to reject increases in gas taxes. Most voters think the gas tax is a good thing because it pays for roads they actually use and are happy to pay the tax so long as it goes to its intended purpose. This mileage tax scheme will only exacerbate the feeling that we can't trust the state to be good stewards of the gas tax money.
Basically Governor Kulongowski has just given up persuading the public to raise the gas tax. 99.9% of all the vehicles on the road consume some type of fuel and we're a long way off from having the roads taken over by plug-in hybrids running off the power grid instead of fuel tanks. The gas tax has worked for decades because it's simple to figure, fair and reinforces basic supply and demand principles to encourage fuel conservation and efficiency (a lesson we should learn from Europe).
Ted, your logic is all wrong here. The national outrage is growing. You're going to lose this argument and lose it badly.
Like this article... read more at ModernConservative.com
If voters oppose gas tax increases, why would they support this? That doesn’t even make sense. The collection costs of this new scheme would really take a bite out of the revenue, requiring a higher rate. I could see this having value as a straw dog to push through a gas tax increase but as a series proposal? bah!
I want to chime in on this as an Oregonian.
Why should we be penalized with a higher tax just because we drive a van....KVs Wheelchair system is almost as big a lil car.
Not right to have to pay more for those that drive a bigger rig due to disablility.
And what about buses/dial a ride/ambulances....all those fares would be passed on to those using so NO stupid idea.
Our county roads get $$$$ from the state timber industry too btw.
Drivers pay a mileage tax each time they buy fuel!
Let me ask this...how exactly is this scheme fair to the folks who predominantly travel on private roads, especially logging roads, which criss-cross Oregon? Seems to me that they would be getting the shaft here.
I've often wondered why the disabled who require larger vehicles for their equipment don't band together and go after these insane vehicle laws as discriminatory under the ADA.
Time to fight them using their own weapons.
Well here in Oregon (I get the newsletter) the groups that advocate for the disabled ....would make the avg. freeper hurl they are so liberal.
No thanks.
Use the enemy's propaganda against it. Get them to twist themselves into knots over it.
Kulongoski says voters oppose raising the gas tax. What voters? He tried to blackmail us into making smokers pay for children’s health care, but during his tenure as governor I’ve never been asked to vote on the gas tax.
Governor Kulongoski has given up making an argument for raising the gas tax. The gas tax is one of the best taxes we have. It has worked for decades because it's simple, fair and reinforces basic supply and demand principles to encourage fuel conservation (a lesson we should learn from Europe ).
If voters truly believed gas tax increases would go to pay for roads and not for more mass transit, they would gladly vote yes. Freeways in the Portland metro have virtually the same lane mileage capacity that they did in 1970, yet light rail grows like wildfire.
Gee, I can't imagine why drivers feel hosed. Ted’s hair-brained mileage tax scheme will only exacerbate their frustration.
It'll be interesting to see if it makes it in tomorrow's paper. I tried to be "bipartisan" and stick to logical arguments because I knew if I came off as a wingnut, I'd get shot down. Of course, lefty moonbats always get published, but if you want to get a word in edgewise in Oregon you have to use the right tone. I now realize I erred in using 1970 as a reference point since I-205 wasn't finished until the 1980s but I think anyone will get the basic idea... especially anyone (like me) who think it'll be decades before they widen Hwy. 217
higher CAFE standards + electric cars and alternative fuel = less fuel being sold = less cents per gallon collected =less revenue for the Bureaucrats, resulting in their wanting to plant a GPS chip in your head and charge you for every step you take. (these panic alarms started going off the moment some enterprising chap retooled his VW Diesel Rabbit to run on used french-fry oil)
A few states are doing “pilot” programs right now. Iowa is running radio ads through one of the state universities enticing folks with $800, if they agree to play guinea pig for 6 months. Undoubtedly they will declare the experiment an unqualified success. Wonder who is funding all this??
Guaranteed to be rammed down everyones throat, the “program” is just a necessary formality.
I get it that we need to study the idea because one day in the distant future cars may not have fuel tanks and we might all be able to just charge up at home using the power grid or using the sun or wind. So the study is not without merit.
What I don't get is why we should abandon pay at the pump gas taxes NOW when 99.9% of road users are using fuels purchased from a fuel station of some soft. Most road users would be happy to pay more tax for better roads so long as they are sure it's going to roads and only roads.
But why should I be surprised that Oregon wants to be first with this mileage tax? We still don't let drivers pump their own gas. Every once in a while, I love crossing the Columbia into Washington for the thrill of self service, a choice Oregon has taken away.
This is the worst kind of big brother. Doesn’t Oregon have the ballot initiative? Even liberals who keep voting idiots like Kulongowski into office don’t appear too happy about the tracking part so why not stop the lunacy before it goes anywhere that way?
But, why do they need more than a more sophisticated odometer to charge a mileage tax? Why can’t they just use a second internal odometer -just like the ODB codes we all love so. Why do they need to know where we travel? Unless that’s the very goal!
The benign uses fade away very quickly.
The first goal might be to assess taxes and allot spending along corridors traveled or frequented. Then, taxes assessed on on-peak and off-peak use of certain corridors. Assess taxes based on commute verses leisure travel along certain corridors. Here they may give you a little break on the commuting taxes, but you’ll pay more on the weekend.
Then there’s the potential for abuse of coarse, which is huge.
Later maybe they’ll get nasty and track idling time, running time, and mileage. Then...AC usage, etc.
Once your equiped with a radar detector, radar jammers, and GPS jammer, and tinted windows to foil cameras. You can pretend you doing bomber run into some foreign air space as opposed to going to your mother-in-laws for dinner.
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