Gas Tax? HA!! MILEAGE TAX!

I think that if you are going to increase the gas taxes (which I am in favor of) on the poor and working people you have to rebate the money back to them through reduced withholding in their paychecks. You can't ask them to survive on less till they can file their taxes a year later and get a rebate.

 

I was actually just talking about the logistics, constitutionality aside. GPS tracking just doesn't seem ideal, imo.

 

I have problems with this idea, as well...but I don't think the government knowing where you're driving is a breach of some right to privacy. This isn't the bedroom...it's public roads built by public dollars. Driving is a privilege, not a right. You have next to ZERO expectation of privacy in your car. If it can be seen from the outside, it's fair game....and where you're driving is imminently observable.


My understanding Oregon, and Portland in particular, have a ton of behavior-changing laws and regulations that push people towards public transportation.

 

Also - we're not sure exactly what type of GPS systems they are talking about. It may be as simple as one of those GPS runner watches that tracks how far you've run - not one that actually tracks and records where you're going or where you've been. Basically, a high-end odometer that can't be maniupulated, possibly with the ability to transmit data directly to the taxing agency.

 

I'd likely agree with you if we were talking about police tailing somebody, but we are talking about electronic surveillance by government of all citizens. It just smacks of the kind of thing that the Constitution does not allow.

 

And I for one have complete trust that no government worker would ever go beyond their job description to check out the exact route taken. I also trust that this database would be adequately protected and secured.

 

I don't see why they would need to the route of a mileage tax to get more funds. From the article it seemed as the problem was that since cars are more efficient now, they do not get enough funds from the tax to maintain roads. They could get more funds by instead increasing the gas tax if they wanted. I guess the problem then is those driving that are not so efficient will pay the price, but to me it seems like a better way to go than finding a new way to tax cars.

Of course they probably want to do both in the end if they explore that option.