dg806

by Bob Barr as published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 9:00 AM



There really aren't a lot of things in politics that frighten me. But politicians who like taxes, who fear drop-offs in "government revenues," who have too much time on their hands, and who are possessed of fertile imaginations, scare the dickens out of me. And, from what I've been reading lately about legislators and other government officials in a number of states, I have plenty to worry about.

It seems that government officials — elected legislators and unelected bureaucrats alike — in several states, including California, Oregon and Washington, as well as some folks in the Congress, are becoming worried that too many citizens in this country are doing exactly what government-sponsored incentives are pushing them to do: buy more fuel-efficient automobiles.

>From the silly-looking and ridiculously-named Toyota "Prius," to that box-on-wheels "Scion," Americans in increasing numbers are forsaking smart looks, solid bodies, and triple-digit horsepower, for lightweight, low-horsepower vehicles, including so-called "hybrids."

So why is this a problem that has begun to occupy the attention of government types from Washington, D.C., to Washington state? Simple. If people buy more fuel-efficient cars, they tend to buy less gas. And if people buy less gas, then state and federal fuel tax revenues drop. Get the picture? Anything that has the effect of reducing tax revenue worries government officials, who live to spend tax dollars and who constantly fret that tax revenues will drop.

What is the solution that is suddenly taking seed in the fertile minds of these single-minded public "servants?" Why a mileage-based gas tax! Hallelujah! What a clever notion. Instead of simply taxing each gallon of gas a motorist uses, they are proposing to tax the motorist on how many miles they travel between fill-ups. What could be fairer? What could be simpler?

Already, Oregon — which in 1919 became the first state to tax gasoline — is poised to begin implementing a program to test such a mileage-based gasoline tax. The U.S. Congress is considering it. California is thinking about it. Washington state is getting in on the act, too.

I tell you, folks, if we don't stop this nonsense now — right now — it will take hold in other states, and in our nation's Capitol; and once it does, rest assured, you will never get rid of it. It will never get smaller, and it will inevitably expand.

The notion of penalizing people for how many miles they drive over roadways (for which they have already paid through various tax programs) would be a rotten idea if that were all this was about. It becomes a truly frightening prospect, however, when you consider for a moment that the government would have to have some way by which to determine how many miles each motorist travels between fill-ups.

Enter 21st century technology, the tax collector's best friend: Global Positioning Systems. Each vehicle would be fitted with an oh-so-small and unobtrusive little computer. The itty-bitty GPS device that would be installed in your car, truck or sport utility vehicle (without your consent, of course) would track your miles driven. Each time you pull into the used-to-be-friendly gas station, it would communicate with the "smart" gas pump and add the appropriate tax to your gas bill, based on the number of miles you'd driven since your last fill up.

The government brainiacs already salivating over this tax prospect apparently are considering other ways in which to use the technology to raise even more tax dollars, and also to conform drivers' behavior to their notion of "good." For example, the GPS devices could determine how many miles a motorist had traveled on different types of roadways, or what times or days they had driven on them. Taxes could then be tailored to reflect higher rates for particular driving patterns the government deemed inappropriate.

Citizens concerned about privacy — not a concern to most government officials, whose sole purpose in being government officials is to take your money and spend as much of it as possible — are rightfully frightened by the prospect of having monitoring devices embedded in their cars that would allow the government to determine where they drive, when they drive, and how fast they drive when they do drive.

Oh, I forgot. Government officials in areas already employing monitoring devices akin to GPS, such as toll road transponders, have promised motorists opting to use the devices to pay tolls automatically that the information gathered from them will not be used for any other purpose, such as ticketing them for speeding or for some other government investigation.

Such promises have already been proved to ring hollow; as hollow as those promises now being readied by advocates of mileage-based gas taxes to justify this latest proposal from hell.

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1-Andro Rx Pro-hormone

bandaidwoman

I drive a Honda Hybrid so this pisses me off to no end

Official Race Member of the Crank Crushing Rednecks

Eat more mud, mountain bike until you die!

XX Feminine power

Flex

You've got to be kidding me.

At least now i got a jetpack

You're a funny guy, Sully, I like you. Dat's why I'm going to kill you lahst.


* Got juice?*Need Motivation?*How to Train*
*Arnold vs. Ronnie vs. Haney vs. Sergio*
*YEAH BUDDY...LIGHT WEIGHT!*Ahhnold*

musclepump

Fuck that.

Let's all join together and SPEAK ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

maniclion

Big Brother, Big Brother can Manic comeover?

"We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Natures inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
Thomas Edison: In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone

Dale Mabry

I can't wait til they find a way to tax me for walking to work, that will be sweet.

If sense were common, everyone would have it.

4/2007-Current 75th Ranked most popular image 1 spot behind Prince's bulge...

musclepump

They'll give you a pedometer, Dale. A penny for every step cycle.

Let's all join together and SPEAK ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

LW83

So they have 'Gas guzzler' taxes AND this?

maniclion

What's next caloric expense tax, tax for every calorie a health concious person burns?

"Sorry sir you burned 300 calories lifting weights today. You should've sat your ass on the couch and conserved energy."

"We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Natures inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
Thomas Edison: In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone

musclepump

What NEEDS to happen is that cities hook their electrical plants up to gyms. Use all that energy we burn on cardio machines to power people's lights.

Let's all join together and SPEAK ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

John H.

Hi Dale,

Never UNDERestimate...

They will.

Take Care, John H.

John H.

I understand Ohio is going to raise their gasoline tax I believe in June another 6 or 7 cents a gallon.

The less people buy something that is taxed the more the government will find a way to make up for the difference - AND ADD extra just to make sure. The IS GUARANTEED.

Some times they are outright about it and other times very sneaky. But they DO it. They love having an unlimited source of income. And do not care where it comes from ONLY THAT IT DOES - and FLOW FREELY in their direction.

Take Care, John H.

dg806

Tax and spend..............Tax and spend!

1-Andro Rx Pro-hormone

John H.

Hi Dg,

George ("Herbert Hoover") Bush has done MORE of it than ALL the previous Presidents and the debt is greater that ALL of the past COMBINED since the beginning of the USA. And he is still at it.

Take Care, John H.

Pepper

Um...W cut taxes.

While I agree he spends like a Democrat, he has cut taxes.

My Carb Cycling Progress - you can't hide from the numbers.

Pepper

Give this a while..I guarantee you this proposal is just like the tax on email...some goverment official mentions it but it has NO HOPE of becoming law.

My Carb Cycling Progress - you can't hide from the numbers.

Pepper

What is "No?"

I'll try "Ridiculous overstatements" for $200.

My Carb Cycling Progress - you can't hide from the numbers.

John H.

Hi Pepper,

Tax CUTS? Well it depends entirely on HOW you LOOK AT IT. CUT now? Yes. PAY LATER - BIGTIME - YOU BET. Have you ever thought of how much in INTEREST we and our children and our children's children... will have to pay to REpay what GW "cut"?

And what did you do with that "cut" - fill your gas tank?

Take Care, John H.

Pepper

1. The deficit is a spending problem, not a taxation problem.
2. the increase in gas prices nowhere near offsets the tax cut. The tax cut was very much needed. Mariage penalty relief, estate tax relief, so on and so on.

Reagan proved that lower tax rates INCREASES tax revenue, not decreases. The trouble with him and with W is that the spending was/is out of control.

My Carb Cycling Progress - you can't hide from the numbers.