Posted on 07/06/2006 1:25:43 PM PDT by proudofthesouth
I heard about the following on Fox News today and could hardly believe it. Thought fellow Freepers would be interested in this. After all, what starts in the western part of the U.S. usually heads eastward.
In 1919, Oregon was the first state to tax gasoline. This fall, the state will launch the nation's first high-tech experiment to tax drivers for the miles they travel rather than the gas they buy. The program is the first step in a long-term plan to replace the state's gasoline tax, which pays for about 40 percent of Oregon 's road projects. As in many states, Oregon officials are worried gas tax revenues won’t be able to keep up with the rising costs of road building, especially with improved mileage from both traditional and hybrid cards...............see link for rest of article
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=32957
(Excerpt) Read more at stateline.org ...
Utterly asinine. Gas taxes are better from both an efficiency and environmental standpoint. And if they aren't producing enough revenue (which I doubt), then just raise them. The only conceivable "advantage" of a mileage tax is that the government gets to track your movement.
How about we ONLY charge hybrids this extra tax?
This is yet another success tax.
If you successfully have a vehicle that uses less gass you have to be penalized to protect the TAX REVENUE!
The politician who signs off on this should be shot out of office in a cannon.
And you can bet the tax and tax government liberals in "Wonderful WA" are watching this very closely - we'll have it here in a heartbeat if the drones in Oregon put up with it!
I'm a free marketeer. Really, but motorcycles and especially helmetless motorcylcists annoy me. Here's why. Suppose that gold-plating cars became a status symbol. And lots of people did it. But now, the average fender bender generated $80,000 in repair bills. What would happen? Insurance rates would skyrocket, and speed limits would probably come down.
Now, you might say, well, only if it's your fault would your insurance company have to pay the $80,000 to fix the gold-plated car. But no one's perfect. There are potholes, black ice, faulty brakes, etc. Right now, the expectation is that an average wreck will se the insurance company back a few thousand in property damage (there are also medical fees, but these would not be any different if a third of the cars were gold plated). In gold plated world, property damage would be significantly higher.
So back to motorcycles. I feel the same way about motorcycles as I would about gold plated cars. They cause the insurance rates to skyrocket for everyone else. If I'm in a 35 mph rear-ender with another car, it'll probably cost about $15,000 in damage to fix both cars, give or take. And whatever whiplash or whatever. But if I rear-end a motorcycle at 35 mph, the medical bills are probably going to be through the roof. Yes, I know all about personal responsibility and all, but there's still an expectation when driving about the damage that is a potential. At 65 mph, there's no guarantee that there's going to be no pothole, black ice, a sudden backup, whatever. You drive with these expectations in mind.
Think about it. If every fender bender were going to cause $80,000 in property damage, would you drive in the same manner as you do now? How is the motorcycle any different from a gold plated car?
Your car could easily be equipped with a camera to record your actions at all times. The future doesn't look too bright wrt personal privacy.
Nail...hammer...head!!!!!
Oh please, this is the idiotic state where you can't even pump your own gas. I wouldn't live in Oregon even if someone offered to pay me a million dollars. So there. Gee, my son and family just moved there. Which means I may have to visit, but I ain't staying.
When did any government remove a tax?
Case in point: If governments were really concerned about our health, they'd outlaw tobacco.But the taxes are far more addictive.
This is going the way of the BTU tax and going nowhere. First, it requires mods to all cars. Secondly, this system would have to charge a person only for incremental miles driven since last fill up while also not charging them if they drive outside Oregon. This would require an enormous amount of detail tracking per automobile. I don't even see how this is possible unless the system continously uploads miles driven to a computer and alerts the system that the car has left Oregon or has just entered Oregon.
A simpler solution for the politicians to just campaign for higher gas taxes. Tree huggers out there probably go for it.
DING! DING! DING! and we have a winner!!!!
This is EXACTLY what this tax is about...
For a state that is populated by tree huggers, it strikes me as curious that this "user fee" would actually level the playing field between hybrid vehicles and Chevy Suburbans. Who is the friggin idiot that came up with this one. The greenies (who generally love to tax stuff) must be freaking out over this one.
I guess they will pay a gas tax, as they do now. I wouldn't be surprised to see the tax go up in order to stick it to the out-of-staters. I'm moving to Oregon within the next couple of years, and this just makes me cringe. I almost feel sorry for the people who are spending thousands of dollars extra to get a hybrid, thinking that they will eventually recoup the extra cost. They never will with this plan.
Your daughter, and your other children, if any, and your wife and you should be wearing a helmet when riding a bicycle! It isn't a matter of freedom or personal rights, it is a matter of life and death!
Sheesh!
"if buying gas is so bad for the enviroment why not encourage those to get hybrid or hydrogen vehecles with a tax break, this is just the governments way of making sure they get their cut once we move away from fossil fuels and a GAS tax..."
My thinking exactly!
Actually last month the phone tax that was started dating back to the Spanish American war was. It just took a very long time but your point is correct.
GPS jammers
and
equal protection suits
This is like that asinine impact tax that FL had under the democrat governor. Vehicles from out of state paid an extra tax. This will be an instate only tax which ONLY residents pay for the same goods and services.
Might be a strong deterrent to car theft.
Sounds to me like this is a way to get MORE money, as, apparently, the gas tax isn't generating enough revenues to take care of the state's highway system.
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