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Congress Mulls Research Into a Vehicle Mileage Tax
BJ_Covert_Action writes to let us know that an Oregon congressman has filed legislation to spend $154.5M for a research project into tracking per-vehicle mileage in the US, and asks: "Do we really want the government to track our movement and driving habits on a regular basis?" "US Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced H.R. 3311 earlier this year to appropriate $154,500,000 for research and study into the transition to a per-mile vehicle tax system... Oregon has successfully tested a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee... the [Oregon] report urged a mandate for all drivers to install GPS tracking devices that would report driving habits to roadside RFID scanning devices." Here is the bill (PDF). The article notes that the congressman's major corporate donors would likely benefit with contracts if such a program were begun.
Yes, too fucking bad.
Sucks to be an edge case.
Undoubtedly, Farmers will be given a tax break, so them driving on their roads won't be taxed. I say this becasue they always have been in the past.
If that is true, then you are a very minor edge case.
However, if you whine enough.. I mean get a lobby together, no doubt there will be a way to do a 'long form' version that allowes you to remove some of the taxes at the end of the year.
All this is pretty much how thinks have shaken out in the past. NO guarantee, of course.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I thought the Republicans were the evil ones trying to take our rights away... weird.
They're both evil. Let me break it down.
Republicans = corporatism, war, torture
Democrats = corporatism, eugenics ("abortion", "health" care), dependence on the state, war, torture
Both are bad. There's one great Republican (Ron Paul) and a few decent ones. I really cannot think of a decent Democrat (perhaps Kucinich, but not really).
Oh I forgot, we're talking about Oregon, the state where cyclists (who pay nothing) have more rights on the road than drivers who's taxes and fees actually pay for the roads. We're talking about a state where cyclist "gangs" actively ride the streets of Portland and have been known to pull drivers out of their car for ALLEGED infractions and beat the crap out of them (google cyclist violence portland to see what I mean).
According to the ODOT budget (see page 4), nearly half of their revenue comes from federal funds which, shockingly, everyone pays into. And a bicyclist does not have more rights a car (although a pedestrian does), they are supposed to be treated the same as any other vehicle on the road. Not to mention that a car causes just a tiny bit more wear and tear on the infrastructure than bicycles do.
Finally, the top few hits for "cyclist violence portland" mention a few people encouraging violence against cyclists and a few hit-and-run cases, but I don't see anything like what you're describing; I heard about one isolated incident a couple of months back, where the cyclist was severely road burned, but the stories leading up to the confrontation were conflicting. And while I've seen a fair number of cyclist parades and whatnot, I have yet to see a "cyclist gang" in Portland. Gimme a fucking break.
As for the GPS idea being idiotic and probably overly expensive, I agree with you on that.
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
The US Department of Inefficient Administration and Bureaucracy. I'd include a link, but they don't have a website; you have to go to the office in person.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
So, you want to tax those people that make a meager living doing real labor like construction, landscaping, farming, and the like, all of which require heavy-duty vehicles? You stupid weanies think things through about as well as the politicians do. "We'll solve the world's problems by imposing our mindset and way of life on everyone" doesn't fix the world because too much relies on others who are willing and able to do things you can't or won't (dirty labor, violence, etc). Take your narrow view and fuck off.
And yes, I AM a tech-minded 1st worlder that programs for living. I still realize the need for blue-collar.