Once Again, Civil Liberties At Risk on the Left Coast
(Drudge)This time, the Left's own propoganda backfired on government, causing them to want to infringe on civil liberties. Hypocracy or stupidity? Both, I think.
Because of higher sales of gas-hybrid cars, which people on the Left are a huge proponent of, (I myself could care less as to what car you drive, but agree that new energy s good energy, but with the reservation that hyrbids are not a solution) places like California and Oregon are losing their precious (yes think Gollum) tax dollars due to falling gas tax revenue. Oregon is testing the "tax by the mile" system, and California is mulling it.
"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim. Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one. "So, if you drive 10 miles you will pay a certain fee which will be, let's say, one tenth of what someone pays if they drive 100 miles," says Kim. The new tax would be charged each time you fill up. A computer inside the gas pump would communicate with your car's odometer to calculate how much you owe. The system could also track how often you drive during rush hour and charge higher fees to discourage peak use. That's an idea that could break the bottleneck on California's freeways.
Having GPS in my car is good if I'm the only one who knows where I am (or agree to having one through OnStar or another such service. Having the government being able to track everywhere I drive is bad. Very bad. The GPS would be forced upon all, and we know how trustworthy government officials are. What's to stop someone from finding out where I buy my grocieries and selling that information to a competing store so they can ad target me? GPS in a car also means that the government can tell if I speed and issue tickets electronically (A simple calculation of location over time). This is ridiculous! Cut some programs and kiss your gass tax goodbye.
Because of higher sales of gas-hybrid cars, which people on the Left are a huge proponent of, (I myself could care less as to what car you drive, but agree that new energy s good energy, but with the reservation that hyrbids are not a solution) places like California and Oregon are losing their precious (yes think Gollum) tax dollars due to falling gas tax revenue. Oregon is testing the "tax by the mile" system, and California is mulling it.
"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim. Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one. "So, if you drive 10 miles you will pay a certain fee which will be, let's say, one tenth of what someone pays if they drive 100 miles," says Kim. The new tax would be charged each time you fill up. A computer inside the gas pump would communicate with your car's odometer to calculate how much you owe. The system could also track how often you drive during rush hour and charge higher fees to discourage peak use. That's an idea that could break the bottleneck on California's freeways.
Having GPS in my car is good if I'm the only one who knows where I am (or agree to having one through OnStar or another such service. Having the government being able to track everywhere I drive is bad. Very bad. The GPS would be forced upon all, and we know how trustworthy government officials are. What's to stop someone from finding out where I buy my grocieries and selling that information to a competing store so they can ad target me? GPS in a car also means that the government can tell if I speed and issue tickets electronically (A simple calculation of location over time). This is ridiculous! Cut some programs and kiss your gass tax goodbye.
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