[EBUCK]

"I don't think Americans are ready to be subjected to that type of civil liberties intrusion," Edwards explained, "where government tracks them around wherever they drive."

We're not ready "yet", a few more years and we'll probably be conditioned properly.

EBUCK

[Wolfie]

On the contrary, I think we're ready now.

[Ingtar]

LOL - They missed one other flaw in the system. How are you going to charge out of state drivers and Mexican Truckers for their use of the roads? But this is minor compared to the invasion of privacy.

[Cagey]

State GPS Tracking Your Mileage and Your Movements

NewsMax tends to get a little hyperbole with their headlines sometimes. The headline used here makes it sound like this GPS system is being used by the state today.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The solution seemed clear to Whitty.

Well Mr. Whitty, then maybe you need to clear the fog from your eyes. This is America, not Cuba or North Korea. Do us a favor and practice your big-brotherism somewhere else.

[Shermy]

Noting that gas taxes are unfair because of the large differences in the fuel economy of automobiles

Ah, there's the rub. Which PR firm developed this idea for Mr. Whitty, and what's the money behind it...Saudi? Opec? SUV interests? Trucking interests?

[toddst]

You know, the last time I checked we pay quite a bit in fuel taxes for road use now. Did I miss something?

[goodnesswins]

Jim Whitty gets around....in a cursory google search this is what I found.....

He is/was on the Oregon Economic Development Board

He is/was on the Oregon Marine Board

and then the following from an article in 1999.....

Jim Whitty, of the Environmental Stewardship Partnership, said the hope is that measurable goals will make natural resource management more successful economically and environmentally. Often, he said, businesses have difficulty making gains because they are so focused on regulatory compliance. They see themselves spending heavily in return for minimal environmental and economic returns. He's supporting HB 3135 because of its reliance on cooperation from all segments of society. "We can't deny Oregon is a state most likely to adopt progressive environmental policies," he said."

[Squantos]

In my state we have the vehicle inspection stickers that must be renewed each year. If they are gonna tax me based on my annual mileage then just look at the gosh damn sticker with last years mileage on it and do the math versus making me also pay for a GPS-SAT WhatchmacallitPOS Socialist tewl !

Stay Safe EBUCK !

[RobRoy]

There is OBVIOUSLY a hidden agenda here. Taxing cars based on gallons consumed causes people to at least consider fuel economy when purchasing a vehicle. If you're taxed by the mile, that goes out the window so gas guzzler sales would go up. That is not what Oregon would want.

Therefore, they have some other reason for proposing this - a hidden agenda, pure and simple - and it doesn't take a tin foil hat to come up with some good guesses as to what that agenda might be.

[RobRoy]

There is OBVIOUSLY a hidden agenda here. Taxing cars based on gallons consumed causes people to at least consider fuel economy when purchasing a vehicle. If you're taxed by the mile, that goes out the window so gas guzzler sales would go up. That is not what Oregon would want.

Therefore, they have some other reason for proposing this - a hidden agenda, pure and simple - and it doesn't take a tin foil hat to come up with some good guesses as to what that agenda might be.

[hattend]

Are they going to sneak these tracking devices into your car? They'll have to because the first thing I would do is break the antenna off the transmitter.

Tom Sullivan discussed this story on Rush's show New Years Eve. It's a loony idea that can't be economically inforced.

[HiJinx]

You guys know how to jam GPS signals?

[Charles Martel]

Hmmm... remember last year or so, when some car rental company made the news by dinging a client's debit card for speeding? It seems they use a GPS tracking system which measures distance over time and the driver hit the "tripwire" numbers several times. Each infraction caused a $200.00 debit from the driver's account (or some similar amount). Anyone recall if there was any follow-up? IIRC, the driver was mad as Hell and talking about litigation.

For this sort of system to have a shot at working, all older vehicles would have to be equipped with the tracking gear... or forced into the salvage yards. That is a tougher sales pitch than even the anti-gun people have.

Yeah, this has possibilities *way* beyond mere "road-use tax" calculations. Just as the red-light cameras harvest money for those specific moving violations, this gear would be used to rat out speeders and mail computer-generated tickets. RoboCop incarnate.

[Myrddin]

We've had this discussion on another thread. Here is how I would build the telematics unit:
1. NVRAM array of data cells for 50 states, 5 years. Mileage is accumulated by state when the car is traveling on a public road. The GPS and internal mapping ROM would determine when you are only a public road and running up miles.
2. NVRAM array of electronic odometer value for each year.
3. Read the data from the vehicle data bus LAN including VIN at a federally approved "test station"
4. Bundle the data with (VIN, current year GPS state mileage, current year odometer), digitally sign and submit to the IRS electronically.

The IRS would be responsible for allocating the tax due to each state. The vehicle location would never be disclosed to the politicians. They would see only elapsed miles by state. The GPS miles and odometer miles should be fairly close. Signal dropout and miles accumulated on private property would account for a small disparity. Tampering with the GPS telematics unit (including intentional blocking of the antenna) would be treated in a manner similar to tampering with the vehicle odometer.

[Mercat]

Bring it on. I have a totally boring life. I hope someone is wasting his time tracking it.

[KneelBeforeZod]

geez, you mean that lady I work with that lives in California but registers her car in Oregon for $40/year might get caught. poor baby.

[J Jay]

State GPS Tracking Your Mileage and Your Movements

Why not? Everybody thinks its great having their cell phone tracked. <>/sarcasm<>

[Dane]

We're not ready "yet", a few more years and we'll probably be conditioned properly

Actually, I don't think Americans like having druggies or whores on their streetcorners, but leave it to the democrats to propose such a thing(GPS monitoring of cars) and Libertarians to scream that it is already happening(i.e drug laws, etc. etc.).

Oh well the politcal circus never ends.

[Jhoffa_]

We're not ready "yet", a few more years and we'll probably be conditioned properly.

No kidding, just tell people it's tied to the war on terrorism and" "to drive without a GPS is riding with Bin Laden!" (the start singing the Star spangled Banner or something and at least half of FR will instantly support the measure.

PS: there was some cornflake on here a week or so back who was pushing this same gps idea, except his angle was hi-jacked cars.

You know, I bet "Big Insurance" would like to have this capability. Oh yeah..

[Henrietta]

This proposal makes absolutely no sense to me. Oregon already has a gas tax, and with that you pay for the roads based on what you use (gas consumption being relatively proportional to road use). So why the GPS?

I can't think of any good reasons, but I can think of a lot of evil ones...