Big Brother, Where Art Thou - Oregon

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has come up with a brilliant idea to make up for the lost tax income from all our fuel efficient cars: put a government GPS on every car and tax it according to the miles driven. Read the article here.
Comrade James Whitty, manager of the agency's Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding has this to say:
    "Vehicles are coming that get upwards of 100 miles per gallon and electric vehicles are coming," he said. "They're not too far away, and they won't pay any gas tax. We need a road revenue system that can sustain itself."

This raises some serious issues:

  1. Apparently the car you purchase is not totally yours. The tracking device that will log the miles you travel using GPS technology will be the property of the State and I'm sure it will be against the law for you to destroy it, even though it's a part of the car you purchased. Huh, property rights anyone...
  2. They can and will track you from the dog track over to the liquor store all the way to Airborne for Men adult entertainment in Providence, RI. They’ll even know when you car is visiting with known enemies of the state like Libertarians. Sure they say they aren’t tracking you but of course they are. A computer must keep the data stored and of course that data is accessible. Does that seem big brother-ee to you?
  3. This is a huge regressive tax. Anyone who has to drive long distances will be punished. Conversely those who can afford to live in downtown Portland won't be as hard hit. Sure a gas tax is the same but since Oregon has no sales tax than really this will only hit those who have to drive long distances.

Anyway I wonder if these car tracking devices were discussed with the agreement to bailout the car companies? I'm sure they were not because the US of A stands for liberty, right?

No comments:

Tax-efficient investment placement
